"Swoop on illegal fuel dump...3 arrested", is the headline of the lead story on the front page of the Times. The story says the Police Buffalo Unit on Thursday arrested three people at "Middle East", a suburb of Ashaiman for allegedly operating an unauthorised petrol filling station.

In another front page story, the Times reports that global efforts to find effective vaccine to combat malaria in the tropics are unrelenting. The paper says in pursuit of this, 201 researchers and scientists from Africa, Europe, United States, Australia and Latin America have began a three-day meeting in Accra with emphasis on how to mobilise resources for sustainable malaria research in Africa.

In an inside page headlined: "EC t o encourage more female candidates for polls", the Times says the Electoral Commission is to encourage political parties to present more women as parliamentary candidates in future elections. The Commission will also ensure that 30 per cent of government appointees at the district and unit levels are women.

And the question is: Is that the job of the Commission?????

The Ghanaian Times, in a front page banner headline story, "Varsities funding to be spread...President urges objective discussion", reports that the President, Flt-Lt Jerry John Rawlings has urged Ghanaians to dispassionately and objectively discuss the issue of cost-sharing in educational institutions in the country - at least, at the tertiary level.

In another front page story, the Times reports that an ex-convict, Kwasi Taku, has been to jail nine times for stealing and bonded twice for similar offence, but these were not enought to reform him.

The Times in an inside page story reports that the University College of Education, Winneba (UCEW), has with effect from this academic year, reviewed its course structure in line with the changed focus of the college to train teachers for basic education schools.

For more details and more besides, read Ghana Review International.