Malawi leader in call for beatings

Malawi's president has urged ruling party activists to beat up his critics in a call that has shocked civil society and religious leaders.

At a rally in Blantyre on Sunday, Bingu wa Mutharika said party members must "protect their father and discipline critics who insult me".

Mr Mutharika, who ends his second five-year term as president in 2014, said that he had been "patient for the last seven years from insults by critics" and that it was the ruling party's duty to "beat up" those who insulted him.