Corruption is not a solitary activity, and the networks that promote corruption are rarely confined to one country or one continent. For corruption in Africa, countries outside the continent enter the picture not only when foreign companies pay bribes for access. They are also a preferred location for stolen wealth.

The cause of a measles outbreak sweeping South Africa has not as yet been determined, but initial suspicions point to religious objections and unfounded fears that immunizations against the disease increase the risk of autism in children.

Major routes in Sudan have been cleared of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs) but there are still areas where the devices threaten civilians, as well as affecting aid and development efforts, say officials.

The lack of routine eye care was the likely cause of the unrecognised but significant and preventable vision loss and eye disease among 11% of HIV-infected adults attending an HIV treatment site in Kampala, Uganda, report Juliet Otiti-Sengeri and colleagues in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the aim of enhancing private sector development in the two regions.

Women's movements have played a critical role in creating political space for female participation in politics around the world. In fact, there are more women in government today than ever before. According to UNIFEM's Progress of the World's Women 2008/2009 report "Who Answers to Women? Gender & Accountability", women now hold an average of 18.4 percent of seats in national assemblies, though the rate of increase is still very slow.

While South Africa remains one of the countries with highest HIV prevalence rates, gay rights organizations are doing their bit to curb the spread of the syndrome and to ensure that people know their statuses.

Tensions following clashes in N’zérékoré, southeastern Guinea, are hampering the movement of some humanitarian workers and supplies, according to the UN.

Britain and Ethiopia will head a new United Nations panel that aims to secure $100 billion every year by 2020 to help developing nations cut emissions and adapt to climate change, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

Corruption scandals are piling up in Algeria, with allegations of nepotism and kickbacks connected to lucrative contracts reaching high-ranking officials. Mammoth state-run energy company Sonatrach still has more secrets to reveal. The courts confirmed on January 28th that two senior managers are being held along with two sons of the CEO, Mohamed Meziane, who himself is being probed for alleged corruption, bribery and criminal conspiracy

On 12 February 2010, the world celebrates the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers in commemoration of the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.

Ethiopia is building a 240-metre high dam on the Omo River that is intended to end the country's electricity shortage and supply power to neighbouring countries. Not everyone's happy.

Reporters Without Borders is outraged by the harsh, two-year jail sentence which a court passed yesterday on Hanevy Ould Dehah, the editor of the website Taqadoumy, at the end of an incomprehensible and arbitrary trial.

Kenya's failure to put in place a comprehensive disaster preparedness policy means its response to high-risk events such as droughts, floods, epidemics and major accidents tends to be slow, poorly coordinated and unnecessarily expensive, say specialists.

The deadline for submitting your nomination for the 2010 Red Ribbon Award is February 28, 2010. The award honours and celebrates outstanding community leadership and action that has helped curtail the spread and impact of HIV and AIDS. Twenty-five community-based organisations will be selected through a community-led process and invited to attend the XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) to be held in Vienna, Austria, July 18 – 23, 2010 where they will have an opportunity to showcase their work.

This guide on positive prevention1 was developed to assist people living with HIV, service providers and policy makers to understand, promote and implement appropriate rights-based strategies for addressing the prevention needs of people living with HIV. The guide includes sections which focus on action points and provides useful information on key issues to consider when developing prevention programmes for people living with HIV.

Reporters Without Borders calls on National Security Chief Emmanuel Edou to immediately explain what has happened to two journalists, Simon Hervé Nko'o and Serge Sabouang, who were arrested by members of the General Directorate for External Investigation (DGRE), an intelligence agency, on 5 February 2010. There has been no news of them since then.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) adds its voice to the many in wishing its Honorary President and former President of the Republic Nelson Mandela well on the 20th anniversary of his release. Nelson Mandela whom the NUM conferred an Honorary life Presidency long before his release in 1990 is a symbol of hope to many hopeless and impoverished people across the globe and continues to inspire hope amongst mineworkers.

Some 15,400 people who fled violence in the central Nigerian city of Jos remain displaced three weeks later and despite dire living conditions, many do not plan to return and rebuild their destroyed homes.

Nigeria will be struck off the list of 'countries of int erest' by the United States if the African nation can meet four conditions, the local media have reported. The conditions, issued by the US - according to Foreign Affairs Minister Ojo Maduekwe - include that the Nigerian government must make a public condemnation of acts of terrorism wherever they occur in the world and for Nigeria to take urgent steps to address security lapses at its airports.