POLITICS-AFRICA: An Underwhelming Response to the Pan-African Parliament

With less than a month to go before the first session of the African parliament, interest in the new legislature appears to be at a low in various parts of the continent.

HEALTH-SIERRA LEONE: Strong Medicine for Fake Doctors

Authorities in Sierra Leone have started a campaign to rid the country of its so-called "pepper doctors": people who practice medicine under false pretences.

CORRUPTION-NIGERIA: Scam Artists Find Themselves in the Cross Hairs

"Our point is this," says Shamsudeen Usman, Deputy Governor of Nigeria's Central Bank: "You may not be able to catch all of them, but Nigeria must begin to catch a few and make a typical example of those that you catch. That is the way you can remove the incentive for other people to join them."

EDUCATION-CAMEROON: Schools for Scandal

Authorities in Cameroon are engaged in a battle to stem corruption in the education system where, as mathematics teacher Victor Pene describes it, graft "is in the process of institutionalizing itself".

POPULATION-MALI: An Ever-Growing Diaspora

It's a common sight in the Malian capital: large groups of young people queuing in front of the French and American consulates with one objective in mind - to obtain an immigration visa.

TRADE: Burkina Faso Records Bumper Cotton Crop, Despite Depressing Market

Burkina Faso has recorded a good cotton harvest this year, despite the depressing international market.

DEVELOPMENT-NIGERIA: Government Faces Vast Challenges in Water Provision

Nigeria's Niger Delta region is one of the largest wetlands in the world. It is a source of great irony, therefore, that people living in the area struggle to get hold of clean drinking water: they take what they can from creeks and rivers.

HEALTH-BURKINA FASO: Each Abortion a "Family Planning Failure"

Health workers in Burkina Faso have called for a more open discussion of issues related to sexuality and abortion. This follows the release of a report by the Demographic Research and Study Unit, which found that up to 8,000 illegal abortions take place each year in the country's capital, Ouagadougou.

RIGHTS-LIBERIA: Armed Militias Terrorise Civilians in the Countryside

Armed militias continue to violate human rights and international humanitarian law, despite the progress being made to end Liberia's 14-year conflict, a human rights lawyer says.

POLITICS-CAMEROON: Full Steam Ahead For Electing a Woman President

With a bumper crop of elections due in Africa this year, the extent to which women have a voice in government will be coming under renewed scrutiny. This is especially true of Cameroon, where the campaign to elect a female president during polls in October is gaining momentum.

HEALTH-AFRICA: A "How To" Manual for Churches Which Help AIDS Orphans

A Baltimore-based aid agency, World Relief, this week issued a guide in Kenya to assist churches with caring for AIDS orphans in Africa.

CORRUPTION-NIGERIA: Police Anti-Graft Squad Has Limited Success

Two years ago, Nigeria's Inspector-General of Police - Tafa Balogun - came into office promising to clamp down on corrupt police officials.

MEDIA-LIBERIA: Community Radio Gets a New Lease on Life

When former Liberian President Charles Taylor took up Nigeria's offer of exile last year, he left behind a country where the flow of information had slowed to a trickle - particularly in rural areas.

POLITICS: Drained Liberia Receives Drops of Aid

After nearly 14 years of civil strife that claimed the lives of over half a million people, a war-battered Liberia is looking for a new road map to political and economic recovery, and money to pave those ''roads''.

POLITICS: Drained Liberia Receives Drops of Aid

After nearly 14 years of civil strife that claimed the lives of over half a million people, a war-battered Liberia is looking for a new road map to political and economic recovery, and money to pave those ''roads''.

ECONOMY-NIGERIA: Pensioners Become Beggars

While African culture may venerate the aged, the continent's pensioners don't always find themselves living out a peaceful retirement. This is nowhere more true than in Nigeria, where the collapse of pension schemes has pushed many former civil servants into poverty.

TRANSPORT-NIGERIA: Bad Drivers Find Themselves on the Couch

For those who navigate the chaotic streets of Nigeria's commercial centre, Lagos, it can seem that the city was designed to test the patience of commuters.

ECONOMY-SOUTH AFRICA: The Brain Drain Proves Colour-Blind

The so-called "brain drain" of professional expertise from South Africa has been a source of concern for several years now. Discussions of the trend have tended to focus on white professionals - but, it appears that black South Africans are also joining the exodus.

HEALTH-LIBERIA: Civil War Leaves a Legacy of Drug Addiction

For many people, photographs of crazed child soldiers operating under the influence of drugs were amongst the defining images of Liberia's civil war. These pictures no longer occupy the front pages of newspapers - but the problem of drug addiction on the part of youthful combatants persists.

ECONOMY-SIERRA LEONE: Disillusionment, As Cost Of Living Skyrockets

Three years after the end of Sierra Leone's devastating civil war, the living conditions of the majority of the people is getting worse by the day, as the economy shows no signs of picking up.

DEVELOPMENT-NIGERIA: Compensation Disputes Haunt Anniversary of Ikeja Blast

Relatives of those who died during the 2002 explosions at a military barracks in Lagos have boycotted a ceremony to commemorate the event, Tuesday - this to show their displeasure at government's treatment of blast survivors.