West Africa has the lowest coverage of drinking water and sanitation in the world, and the numbers are rising not falling, according to the United Nations children’s agency (UNICEF). As populations have boomed throughout the region, the absolute number of people without drinking water increased from 124 million in 1990 to 157 million in 2004, and the number without sanitation from 173 million to 225 million, according to a UNICEF report released on Friday.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called for EU nations to adopt a common, tough standard in dealing with illegal immigration. "We can't all continue to have our own immigration policies," Mr Sarkozy said, ahead of talks in Madrid with EU members from southern Europe. Mr Sarkozy has accused Spain of causing a surge in illegal immigration by offering migrants an amnesty.

The Cape Town Anti-War Coalition notes that the City has made much in the media of the fact that it intends to house homeless people in shelters, and "rehabilitate" jobless people who take the initiative to work outdoors, such measures are not contained anywhere in the By-Law itself, which instead sets out a system of heavy fines, unaffordable for unemployed and homeless people and casual workers.

It has been described as the silent killer, North America's epidemic, affecting all who fall in the path of its sometimes lethal sword. It wreaks havoc with our immune systems, causes coronary heart disease, gastrointestinal problems, hastening cancers and psychological illnesses. Statistics show more women fall victim to this modern-day scourge known as stress than do men. But North American black women face an even bleaker picture.

MS-TCDC is a Training Centre for Development Cooperation in Eastern and Southern Africa. We are situated close to Arusha in Northern Tanzania. Throughout the year different courses and workshops run concurrently in a lively international atmosphere promoting sharing of experience and cross cultural discussions.