JOHANNESBURG Thursday, July 22, 2010 (IRIN) - People and wildlife have never been in greater competition for limited resources as human populations invade shrinking natural habitats in a fight for living space, food and water. In this vignette of a planet-wide battle, IRIN looks at how to keep elephants away from your crops and raiding monkeys out of your food stores.

VIENNA Thursday, July 22, 2010 (IRIN) - This is my second International AIDS Conference and now I know for sure, Mexico wasn’t a fluke – I really do love these gatherings. I love the passion of the speakers, the excitement the boffins create around their new research and the “let’s all get behind this” spirit the activists bring.

DAKAR Tuesday, July 20, 2010 (IRIN) - IRIN consulted the heads of some of the largest NGO networks on what they thought should be the top priorities of the incoming UN Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC) and Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Valerie Amos, who is expected to take up her role within two or three months.

NAIROBI Wednesday, June 30, 2010 (IRIN) - Pastoralists across East Africa are set to benefit as the region’s national borders are relaxed amid joint efforts to mitigate the risks associated with their migration.

DAKAR Tuesday, June 29, 2010 (IRIN) - For the first time in half a century, the number of new diagnosed cases of human African trypanosomiasis – also known as sleeping sickness - has dropped below 10,000 thanks to partnerships with drug companies and improved screening, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

NAIROBI Monday, June 28, 2010 (IRIN) - The aid world is an acronym jungle. Sometimes there are simply not enough good ones to go around, so they get used twice.

KIWANJA Monday, July 19, 2010 (IRIN) - It is a sunny day at the Mashango primary school in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu Province. That is good news for teacher Dusaba Mbomoya who is holding a geography exam under a roof filled with holes in a classroom where flapping pieces of plastic do duty as walls. Even the blackboard has holes large enough for students to peer through.

DAKAR Friday, July 16, 2010 (IRIN) - Accusations of child witchcraft are on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa - spurred on by urbanization, poverty, conflict and fragmenting communities, creating a “multi-crisis” for already vulnerable children - says the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

KINSHASA Thursday, July 15, 2010 (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have fled their homes amid an army offensive against Ugandan rebels, presenting fresh impetus to humanitarian agencies’ efforts to adapt their response mechanisms to sudden displacement.

KAMPALA Thursday, July 08, 2010 (IRIN) - When Macklean Kyomya came to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, at 19, she found work as a lap-dancer in a nightclub and was soon accepting money from clients in exchange for sex.

NAIROBI Wednesday, July 07, 2010 (IRIN) - Local East African programmes are discovering the benefits of bringing HIV services closer to rural communities, with mobile drug distribution improving HIV-positive patients' adherence to antiretroviral treatment.

DAKAR Tuesday, July 06, 2010 (IRIN) - More than half the paediatric fevers treated in public health clinics in Africa are caused by diseases other than malaria, according to a study by Oxford University and other research groups, whose authors caution against the "continued indiscriminate use of anti-malarials for all fevers across Africa."

ABIDJAN, 30 July 2010 (IRIN) - Ivorian health officials are vaccinating people against yellow fever in Abidjan, the commercial capital, and two other major cities, after the disease killed two people and struck nine others in recent weeks.

HARARE, 30 July 2010 (IRIN) - Health and nutrition experts in Zimbabwe are worried that one of the lowest exclusive breastfeeding rates in the region could have a negative impact on the country's prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programme.

SABOTI, 30 July 2010 (IRIN) - With only days to the constitutional referendum in Kenya, the issue of land - ownership, quantity and usage - remains the most controversial, with proponents and opponents suggesting different interpretations of land rights detailed in the draft.