Spoiling for a fight
On the eve of the Franco-African summit in Paris, forecast to be dominated by discussions about the civil war in Ivory Coast but boycotted by the country's president, armed Ivorian opposition groups hold back on their war threat, writes Gamal Nkrumah

Bush's blasting budget
United States President Bush's 2004 budget pledges more to the army and less to the environment or health, writes Moheb Costandi

Cypriot change of guard
By electing Tassos Papadopoulos as president, Greek Cypriots signal radical change in the island-nation's political direction, reports Michael Jansen from Nicosia