DAKAR, 24 October (IRIN) - Seydou Diarra has announced that he plans to stay on as the prime minister of Cote d’Ivoire’s broad-based government of national reconciliation, despite a call from President Laurent Gbagbo’s Ivorian Popular Front (FPI) party for his resignation. Full report

JOHANNESBURG, 22 October (IRIN) - A leading women's advocacy group in Zambia has appealed to health authorities to spend more funds on improving maternal care. Full report

NAIROBI, 22 October (IRIN) - Crop failures from poor rains in the Northern Highlands region of Tanzania have left some 180,000 people in need of food aid, while thousands more require seeds for the upcoming planting season to help avert further food shortages, according to an assessment by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, a USAID-funded organisation. Full report

NAIROBI, 22 October (IRIN) - The pastoral zones of northwestern and southeastern Djibouti are likely to experience worsening food shortages during the next six months as a result of inadequate rainfall, a famine early warning agency reported on Thursday. Full report

BUJUMBURA, 21 October (IRIN) - Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye signed into law a new interim constitution on Wednesday, immediately after it was endorsed by a special joint session of the country’s National Assembly and Senate. Full report

LUANDA, 21 October (IRIN) - Bureaucratic wrangling over airport fees is threatening to halt all World Food Programme (WFP) flights in Angola. Full report

NAMIBIA: New hope for Caprivi with launch of AIDS treatment

LESOTHO: Special report - Food crisis deepens

DRC: Security in east improves as UN mission cleared for more troops

SWAZILAND: Parched fields mean another year of food aid

NIGERIA: Trade unions draw more support than opposition parties

GUINEA: Japanese-backed company signs deal to build $2 billion alumina plant