UGANDA: Britain cuts aid over concerns about democracy, 22/Dec/05
KAMPALA, 22 December (IRIN) - The United Kingdom is to cut 15 million pounds (US $26.4 million) in direct assistance to Uganda due to concerns about democracy in the East African country ahead of general elections in February 2006. ... Full Report... Email Report

ZAMBIA: Govt extends maize importation, 22/Dec/05
LUSAKA, 22 December (IRIN) - The Zambian government has extended its commercial maize import programme by three months in a bid to ensure adequate tonnages to feed 1.7 million food insecure people. ... Full Report... Email Report

SWAZILAND: Brighter prospects for textile exporters in 2006, 22/Dec/05
MBABANE, 22 December (IRIN) - The Swazi apparel industry that once seemed the salvation of the economy has had an extremely rough year, but some insiders say the worst may be over for the surviving garment makers. ... Full Report... Email Report

SIERRA LEONE: With no prospects, youths are turning to crime and violence, 22/Dec/05
MAKENI, 22 December (IRIN) - A new generation of Sierra Leoneans are eager to put fighting and war behind them but the lack of jobs and the legacy of their own messed up education, are driving many to crime and violence that could destroy peace.... Full Report... Email Report

SENEGAL: Everyman’s library, 21/Dec/05
DAKAR, 21 December (IRIN) - On the floor in front of literature student Tamimou Li's bed lies a pile of dog-eared books accumulated over the course of many visits to the Senegalese capital’s cheap roadside booksellers.... Full Report... Email Report

LIBERIA: UN renews ban on arms, diamonds and timber, 21/Dec/05
DAKAR, 21 December (IRIN) - The UN Security Council took just four minutes to unanimously extend bans on the sale of arms, diamonds and timber for six to 12 months in post-conflict Liberia.... Full Report... Email Report

NIGERIA: Eight children die in attack on oil pipeline, 21/Dec/05
PORT HARCOURT, 21 December (IRIN) - Attackers blew up an oil pipeline on Tuesday sparking a major fire killing eight children in southern Nigeria, said residents and industry officials.... Full Report... Email Report

NIGER: Campaign targets double threat of polio and malaria, 21/Dec/05
SAY, 21 December (IRIN) - Niger launched a new offensive against two health scourges on Tuesday, vowing to protect its children from polio and malaria. ... Full Report... Email Report

AFRICA: High unemployment undermining economic growth, 20/Dec/05
ADDIS ABABA, 20 December (IRIN) - Africa is suffering from record levels of unemployment that are undermining economic growth and deepening poverty across the world's poorest continent, according to a new United Nations report released on Monday.... Full Report... Email Report

CONGO: EU, gov't sign US $73.8-million road building deal, 20/Dec/05
BRAZZAVILLE, 20 December (IRIN) - The European Union and the Congolese government have signed a 40-billion-franc-CFA deal (US $73.85 million) to build a road linking the capital, Brazzaville, with the town of Kinkala in the Pool Department. ... Full Report... Email Report

EGYPT: Economists welcomed WTO accord on cotton subsidies, 20/Dec/05
CAIRO, 20 December (IRIN) - Egyptians economists welcomed an agreement by the 149 members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), to end state export subsidies to cotton farmers in developed countries. ... Full Report... Email Report

YEMEN: Fishing industry gets US $25 million credit boost, 19/Dec/05
SANA, 19 December (IRIN) - Yemen’s fishing industry is set to receive a much needed boost following an agreement for a World Bank credit of US $25 million, the Deputy Minister of Fisheries Mahmoud Sagheri confirmed. The credit was approved by the bank on 15 December. ... Full Report... Email Report

MIDDLE EAST: Appeal to Arab world to give more to world’s poorest, 16/Dec/05
DUBAI, 16 December (IRIN) - Activists launched a joint appeal to the Arab world on Friday in Dubai, the commercial capital of the United Arab Emirates, to donate more money to ease poverty in Africa. ... Full Report... Email Report

PAKISTAN: World Bank approves US $400 million for earthquake recovery, 16/Dec/05
ISLAMABAD, 16 December (IRIN) - The World Bank on Thursday approved an emergency credit of about US $400 million to support the earthquake recovery and reconstruction efforts in Pakistan over the next three years.... Full Report... Email Report

ZIMBABWE: Health budget fails to address brain drain, 16/Dec/05
JOHANNESBURG, 16 December (IRIN) - Although Zimbabwe's ministry of health has received 12 percent of the national budget - its highest allocation to date - government officials and health experts agree that this will do little to address the brain drain afflicting the sector.... Full Report... Email Report

SENEGAL: Frozen chicken imports threaten local farmers’ livelihoods, 16/Dec/05
KEUR MASSAR, 16 December (IRIN) - Frozen chicken legs may seem an unlikely enemy, but Lamine Toure has seen the foreign imports force scores of his fellow poultry farmers to shut up shop and is worried he might be the next victim.... Full Report... Email Report

COTE D IVOIRE: UN extends sanctions to diamonds, 16/Dec/05
DAKAR, 16 December (IRIN) - The UN Security Council has unanimously approved a new resolution to ban imports of rough diamonds from war-torn Cote d’Ivoire and renew an existing arms embargo.... Full Report... Email Report

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 308 covering 10-16 December 2005, 16/Dec/05
DAKAR, 16 December (IRIN) - ... Full Report... Email Report

CONGO: Rural residents left high and dry for lack of clean water, 15/Dec/05
BRAZZAVILLE, 15 December (IRIN) - Although the Republic of Congo is one of Central Africa's wettest countries, the majority of its rural population has no drinkable water due to a lack of infrastructure.... Full Report... Email Report

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Attorney General finds ‘serious flaws’ in the award of oil exploration contracts, 15/Dec/05
SAO TOME, 15 December (IRIN) - The Attorney General’s Office of Sao Tome and Principe says it has found “serious flaws? in the way that contracts were awarded to oil companies to explore offshore waters shared with Nigeria.... Full Report... Email Report