■ Political role for Rawlings: A long interview given by Flight-Lieutenant J. J. Rawlings to the people's evening news of Accra contained this significant paragraph: “I believe June 4 in the Forces will find its counterpart in the civilian sector of society. ■ Time for UN action on Chad: While some African leaders are calling for an end to the bitter fighting in Chad the one symbol which have given weight to their calls has been removed from Chad ■ Behind the strike call in Liberia: A correspondent discusses the background to the PPP call for a general strike, the subsequent arrests and President Tolbert s statement ■ Tribute to a leader of the Tiv: Martin Dent describes the qualities and recalls the career of Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka, who died in London last week. ■ Conservation means development by John Madeley: The world conservation strategy which has just been launched by the United Nations environment programme and other organisations is likely to have a considerable influence on the way that people and governments think about development ■ Books and publications: The importance of African music: African Rhythms and African Sensibility by John Miller Chernoff ■ A dictionary of modern idioms: Longmans dictionary of English idioms: This is a remarkable compilation covering more than 4,500 idioms and possible variations on them ■ Economic and business news: Approach to science: As Africa went into the third United Nations development decade last month's meeting in Addis Ababa ■ Dateline Africa:Chad: No lull in N'Djamena fighting continues in spite of the appeals from African heads of states