Malawi First Lady Goes Shopping As Nation Starves

PARIS — When the president of Malawi, Bingu Wa Mutharika, returned from a summit on Africa in France last week, he left behind a lasting impression of the poverty blighting his country. Calling for more international aid, he highlighted the problems facing a famine-ravaged society where the average monthly wage is just $41.

Unfortunately, Mr. Mutharika also left his wife Ethel behind — plunging him into a scandal about her extravagant spending habits.

Malawi's first lady was last seen filling her shopping bags in the designer boutiques and jewelry shops of Cannes, the millionaires' playground on the Cote d'Azur.