TRIPOLI, Jul 05 (IPS) - On the eve of Libya’s historic elections for a General National Congress on Saturday, Jul. 7, the seaside capital’s bustling streets are lined with hundreds of campaign posters advertising electoral candidates - including those of women and youth - jockeying for a stake in their country’s future.

Patricia Kollie should be at school today but instead she is at home in Gbarnga, Liberia, pounding a pile of cassava leaves in a wooden mortar. Her entire body is slightly swollen. Her dress fits a little too snug at the stomach.

'The macroeconomic climate is looking good, with a growth rate varying between five and seven percent,' said Jean-Claude Masangu, governor of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Central Bank as he justified the release of new denominations of the Congolese franc.

WASHINGTON, Jul 05 (IPS) - The one agreement that talks between Iran and the P5+1 - the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany - produced after a "technical meeting" in Istanbul was a decision to schedule more talks.

PRETORIA, South Africa, Jul 04 (IPS) - As South Africa grapples with reducing its sanitation backlog, scientists seem to have found a way to reduce the build up while simultaneously combatting the country’s food insecurity. The solution? Safely using human waste as fertiliser.

BENGHAZI, Libya, Jul 04 (IPS) - With Libya's first election in more than four decades looming, a vocal group of people in the east of the country is far less enthusiastic about this democratic milestone than those in the west.

, Jul 04 (IPS) - WASHINGTON, Jul 3 2012 (IPS) - On Monday, his first day in office, new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said he sees the institution’s recent decision to pull out of a massive bridge project in Bangladesh as “appropriate”.

, Jul 04 (IPS) - DHAKA, Jul 3 2012 (IPS) - At first glance the smart young women in white overcoats, black rubber boots and protective face masks seem out of place in impoverished Bangladesh’s dirtiest industry – brick making.

WASHINGTON, Jul 04 (IPS) - After weeks of delay, the United Nations released Monday its full annex by the U.N. Security Council condemning the Rwandan government for its support of Congolese rebels.