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DAKAR-BISSAU, 18 May 2012 (IRIN) - On 16 May a transition pact brokered by the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) and signed by all parties except the majority PAIGC [African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde] - officially nominated Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo as Interim President of Guinea-Bissau for one year. The decision was made after weeks of political wrangling following a military coup on 12 April that interrupted presidential elections, in which ex- Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior from the PAIGC party was the clear front-runner. While many fear the decision to install Nhamadjo will lead to yet more division in the politically polarized nation, others just want the country to get back on track economically, since markets and basic services have more or less been at a standstill since the latest coup.

BLANTYRE, 18 May 2012 (IRIN) - A sizeable devaluation of Malawi's currency, aimed at reinvigorating the economy and wooing back international donors, has triggered steep increases in the price of basic goods and pushed many Malawians deeper into poverty.

MOGADISHU, 18 May 2012 (IRIN) - It is Friday morning in Mogadishu and Lido beach presents a scene reminiscent of seaside towns around the world. At the top of the beach, women sit with their wares, selling water and ice-lollies from cool-boxes. The middle-beach is dominated by young men playing football using driftwood as goalposts. At the water's edge, boys and girls, the latter heedless of their long flowing garments, hurl themselves into the waves or bob on the surface like apples.

MBABANE, 18 May 2012 (IRIN) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has withdrawn its advisory team from Swaziland, saying it is unable to support the government's proposed financial reform programme.

COLOMBO, 18 May 2012 (IRIN) - Three years after the government of Sri Lanka declared an end to decades of civil conflict with separatist rebels, thousands of people are still missing, according to the UN and Sri Lankan activists.

KAMPALA, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - The arrest of a senior Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) commander has reignited debate in Uganda about what to do with alleged war criminals: let them go, to encourage other rebels to surrender; or prosecute them in the name of accountability and justice.

SEREKUNDA/JOHANNESBURG, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - In 2011, the rains failed in the Central River region of The Gambia, where Mawdou Danso, a farmer, struggled to raise a crop big enough to tide him over to the next harvest. He invested in an early-maturing, high-yielding rice called Nerica (New Rice for Africa), which had recently became available and promised to fit in well with the erratic rainfall patterns.

TEL AVIV, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - Blessing Akachukneu was already looking for a new place to live when her south Tel Aviv apartment, which doubles as a day-care centre, was firebombed in April. Her Israeli neighbours, she explained, had complained to the landlord about the noise from the day-care centre and she had been asked to leave. Otherwise, she had not had any problems in Shapira neighbourhood.

BANGUI, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - The Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) process relating to former rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) is back on track: More than 1,000 already disarmed fighters of the Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD) led by Jean Jacques Démafouth began to be demobilized on 12-13 May.

VIENTIANE, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - The government of Laos has taken the unique step of stating its ambition to graduate from the UN list of Least Developed Countries (LDC) by 2020.

KATHMANDU, 17 May 2012 (IRIN) - Some 7 percent of Nepal's almost 27 million people may lack citizenship documents, excluding them from government-funded services. “This is the central document of existence in Nepal,” said Hari Phuyal, a human rights lawyer in the capital, Kathmandu. “The denial of a citizenship certificate means the denial of access to the state, which means these people are stateless.”

ABIDJAN, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - South of the Sahel, where drought, high food prices and other factors have pushed some 16 million into hunger, 320,000 people in Côte d'Ivoire are also grappling with food insecurity. A combination of forces is causing region-wide high prices for rice, but the government's efforts to make the staple food cheaper lack teeth and are proving difficult to impose.

GISENYI (WESTERN RWANDA), 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - In the last few weeks fighting between government troops and “mutineers” has ended three years of relative peace in North Kivu Province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and thousands of refugees have been streaming across the border to Rwanda.

PESHAWAR, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - The recent outbreak of measles which claimed the lives of at least 12 children and one adult in Pakistan's North Waziristan's tribal agency is directly linked to conflict between militants and the army, according to local experts.

KABUL, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - Bonded labour in Afghanistan's brick kilns is one of the most common forms of hazardous labour in the country. More than half of the brick kiln workers surveyed in a recent report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) were children, with most under 14. Few are getting any education to allow them to develop skills needed to break out of work in the kilns.

CHIANG MAI, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - A recent decision to undertake a national census could prove key to empowering Myanmar's more than 100 ethnic groups, provided it is inclusive and conducted to international standards.

BANGKOK, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - A Geographical Information System (GIS) is being used to map vegetable production in the greater Bangkok region, seat of Thailand's capital, to analyse how urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) contribute to food security in the city of more than 14 million.

KARACHI, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - The dead fish recently washed up on the shores of Lake Keenjhar, the largest fresh water lake in Pakistan, shocked nearby villagers in Thatta District in the southern province of Sindh.

LONDON, 16 May 2012 (IRIN) - The past decade has seen great advances in child survival, but while toddlers and small children are benefiting, the death rate for new-born babies remains stubbornly high. Now a new report suggests that paying more attention to their mothers' health, and focusing on certain damaging but treatable diseases, could be one key to tackling neonatal mortality.

ABUJA, 15 May 2012 (IRIN) - Aid organizations and rights groups are putting more pressure on the Nigerian government to release a promised US$5.4 million in aid for lead-poisoned children, but government officials keep ducking the issue.