by Raphael Tenthani

BLANTYRE, Malawi (AP)—A gay couple from Malawi have kept out of the public eye after being pardoned and freed from prison, in what a relative said May 30 was a deliberate decision prompted by the conservative view of homosexuality in the southern African country.

SENTENCED—Tiwonge Chimbalanga, right, and Steven Monjeza, left back, are led from court in Blantyre, Malawi, May 20, after a judge sentenced the couple to the maximum 14 years in prison for unnatural acts and gross indecency under Malawi’s anti-gay legislation.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza were released May 29, hours after President Bingu wa Mutharika pardoned them without condition. But in giving his pardon, which he said was on “humanitarian grounds only,” Mutharika warned that homosexuality remains illegal in the conservative southern African country.

JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Africans offered tough love for their leaders and expressed hope for the future May 25 as they assessed progress since 1960, the year that brought independence to a third of the continent.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, a Ghanaian, said contemplating five decades of freedom gave him hope for the future.

“We think Africa does have the ability to become the next frontier, if we organize properly and if we govern ourselves properly,” Annan told reporters in Johannesburg. “We can look forward with hope, provided that we do the basic work.”

KOFI ANNAN

HAVANA (AP)—Fidel Castro speculated June 2 that a nuclear strike on Iran might help President Barack Obama win a second term in the White House and also suggested the United States could attack North Korea.

The former leader of Cuba, who has not been seen in public for nearly four years, also portrayed the U.S. president as a victim of fantasies planted in his mind by sinister advisers.

The column published by Cuban state media floated the idea that a nuclear attack on Iran—perhaps even without U.S. authorization—might help Obama win re-election in 2012.

by Tanalee Smith

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP)—Young Barry Obama is struggling with his pingpong shot. Or rather, 12-year-old Hasan Faruq Ali is struggling to play left-handed in imitation of the character he is portraying in a new Indonesian film, “Little Obama.”

‘LITTLE OBAMA’—In this photo taken on May 18, 12-year-old American actor Hasan Faruq Ali smiles during an interview with the Associated Press at a location for shooting of film “Little Obama” in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia.

“Hasan has the walk, he has the posture of Barry,” said Slamet Djanuadi, a consultant on the film and a childhood friend of President Barack Obama when he lived in Indonesia from 1967 to 1971.

“But Barry was a better pingpong player,” he laughed, watching Hasan hit the ball off the table.