A Burundi court has sentenced nine people for participating in the murder of albinos, and then selling their body parts for witchcraft potions in neighboring Tanzania, the BBC reports. One person was sentenced to life in prison and the rest were sentenced to serve between one and 15 years in jail for the murders of at least 12 albinos in the east African nation. The court also acquitted three other suspects in the killings. In recent years, there has been a surge in albino killings the region due to the fact that some witchdoctors have claimed that good luck potions made with albino body parts are strengthened. This is the first trial of albino murderers since the surge of killings took place in 2007, reports the BBC. In Tanzania, although at least 200 people have been arrested for trading albino body parts, no one has been convicted. An albino rights organization in Burundi says that the response from authorities is improving, but could be better.

Voters Head to the Polls in Malawi 
Millions of voters cast their ballots Tuesday in Malawi’s general election, reports the BBC. The nation is electing a president and a new parliament. While there are seven presidential candidates, most consider to two main contenders being current President Bingu Wa Mutharika and John Tembo leader of the Malawi Congress Party. With a large voter turnout (6 million votes cast at nearly 4,000 polls) many are expecting the results to be close. The results of the vote are expected by Thursday. Mutharika’s predecessor, Bakili Muluzi (who has already served two terms as president) recently threw his support behind Tembo after a court ruled he could not run for a third term, reports the news service. Because of a disagreement with Muluzi, his former supporter, Mutharika quit the United Democratic Front to form his own party, the Democratic Progressive Party in 2005.
 
 

Accused Albino Killers on Trial
Eleven people accused of killing 12 albinos are on trial in Burundi, reports the BBC. All of the defendants have denied murder charges and if they are found guilty, they face life in prison. In recent months, murders of albinos in East African nations have increased, with 50 people losing their lives, BBC reports. Albino body parts taken from Burundi are sold in nearby Tanzania, authorities say. Witchdoctors have claimed that potions that include albino body parts will bring clients success and good luck. While officials in Burundi are starting to crack down on the killings, more can be done says an organization fighting for albino rights.

Six-year-old girl killed for her body parts. In East Africa’s Burundi, a 6-year-old albino girl was found brutally murdered, with her head and limbs cut off, reports the BBC.  The day of the killing, attackers broke into her home, tied up her parents and shot her in the head, said local officials. Killing albinos for their body parts has become a disturbing trend in the country as well as in neighboring Tanzania because witchdoctors have claimed their limbs can be for magic potions. But this was not always the case in Burundi. According to Kasim Kazungu, who heads Burundi Albinos’ Association, albinos were not a target until word got out about the money they could make from selling body parts in Tanzania. And, recently, a man in Tanzania was arrested for trying to sell his albino wife to traders from Congo. This is the sixth albino person in Burundi killed since September.   
Powerful quake hits Panama overnight. An earthquake measuring 6.2 in magnitude shook Panama overnight, reports Reuters. It hit at 1:11 a.m. local time about 35 miles from David, Panama. While tremors were felt in the capital of neighboring Costa Rica, there are no immediate reports of damage there, according to the nation’s emergency commission. People in Panama, who called into a local radio station, said they felt the quake intensely along with several aftershocks. Another caller, who said he was a Red Cross worker, reported that there wasn’t any signs of major structural damage or landslides near the quake’s epicenter, reports Reuters.

Albinos in the east African nation of Burundi have left their homes over fears they will be killed by people wanting to sell their body parts in nearby Tanzania.  At least four are currently under the watch of police in Ruyigi, reports the BBC. The actions come after an Albino girl was murdered in August and after two murdered albinos were found with their legs and arms missing. There have been 26 albinos killed in Tanzania in under a year. Witchdoctors, who believe they use albino body parts to create potions to make people rich, are thought to be behind the bizarre killings. In fact, after the killing of a teen albino, six of her attackers came back to the murder scene to get her body parts. After they were arrested, they told police they wanted to sell her parts in Tanzania. There are an estimated 200 albinos currently living in Burundi.

Thieves steal food from Haiti’s needy. Thieves recently stole food that was supposed to go to Haiti’s storm victims and tried to sell it, reports Reuters. Authorities in the nation devastated by four back-to-back tropical storms, raided three storehouses of the stolen food on Tuesday. Officials were tipped off by residents who were upset that rice, that was supposed to be free for people who needed it, ended up being sold for profit. “A lot of people were buying the rice because it was much cheaper compared to prices on the regular market. You can read on the bag ‘Donated by Taiwan’ and on some other bags we read, ‘U.S. Rice,” said Yvon Jerome, mayor of Carrefour, the city where the crime took place. The food will be given out to needy families again, the mayor said. The consecutive storms that battered Haiti, which was already the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, killed at least 800 people and left almost the entire town of Gonaives under water. Police are still investigating and looking for suspects in the food thievery but are still unsure how big the operation was.