COTONOU, 17 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - Thousands of Togolese refugees have fled the Lokossa camp in Benin after fierce clashes with local residents in which 29 people were hurt, some by gunfire, local officials told IRIN on Friday.Full report

COTONOU, 16 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - Weeks ahead of presidential elections in Benin, registration glitches and continued financial constraints are clouding efforts to select a replacement for exiting 72-year-old leader Mathieu Kerekou.Full report

COTONOU, 24 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Six of Benin’s seven trade union confederations on Tuesday began a two-day stoppage to demand that the government hand over funds needed for presidential elections next March.Full report

COTONOU, 20 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - Amid worries that a cash crunch could delay Benin’s presidential elections set for March, trade unions, concerned individuals and parties across the political spectrum are digging into their own pockets to help fund the poll.Full report

COTONOU, 22 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - Opposition parties and civil society groups are turning up the heat on Benin’s President Mathieu Kerekou so that he will keep his promise to hold elections as planned early next year.Full report

COTONOU, 15 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - After announcing a shortage of funds in state coffers to finance next year’s presidential election in Benin, the government has said it nonetheless plans to purchase of a new fleet of 237 luxury vehicles. Full report

COME, 14 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - While some of the refugees who streamed across the border from Togo into Benin by the thousands last April have finally gone home, more than 19,000 are still in exile, according to the UN refugee agency.Full report

COTONOU, 9 Dec 2005 (IRIN) - At a busy crossroads in the Benin capital just over a week ago, four people turned into human torches and shops and traffic lights were scorched in the latest of a string of accidents blamed on contraband petrol.Full report

DAKAR, 16 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - Over 65,000 people forced to flee Togo or seek shelter within the country from political violence, will stop receiving essential food aid unless the World Food Programme secures just US $1 million from donors by the end of the year. Full report

COTONOU, 15 Nov 2005 (IRIN) - A continuing economic crisis in Benin has left the government without funds to pay for presidential elections in March 2006, according to Finance Minister Cosme Sehlin.Full report

BENIN: Smuggling, corruption and another term for the president

BENIN: Lives go up in flames as petrol-smuggling rises

BENIN: Armed hold-ups, car-jackings on rise amid economic woes

BENIN-TOGO: Refugees from Togo still trickling across the border

BENIN: Children crushing stones into gravel to get through school