GUINEA Bissau’s President Kumba Yala has dismissed Prime Minister Caetano N’Tchama by decree, following a row in the government which had led to political paralysis. No official reason was given in the decree for sacking N’Tchama, but he had been contested by most politicians, including members of Yala’s Social Renewal Party (PRS), which had “withdrawn its confidence” in the prime minister. The small, tropical west African country has been in institutional crisis since the formation in January of a minority government. Yala also faces a host of social and economic difficulties. – AFP