Editor's note

It’s a very, very tiny island. But the importance of international legal issues at play in the dispute between Uganda and Kenya over Migingo island is huge. Christopher R. Rossi traces the genesis of a scramble for fish – and possibly oil.

The African Growth and Opportunity Act covers terms of trade between the US and some African countries. But it also promotes democracy. Cameroon’s membership is at risk because it’s not sticking to the act’s strict governance criteria. This follows a crisis that’s pitted the Anglophone part of the country against the central government. Regis Simo explains what’s at stake.

Today we also launch a series of special editions. Each one will feature the most read articles on a particular subject. Our special edition for today is on major disease outbreaks in Africa over the past year. Jacqueline Weyer explains how Marburg disease, Ebola’s ‘sister’ virus, has affected Uganda while Eric Osoro looks at an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo as well as the lessons learned from responses to the virus in Sierra Leone. And Jeanette Dawa explains how African countries are failing to do even the basics in managing bird flu.

Julius Maina

Regional Editor East Africa

Top story

Ugandan fishermen pull in their nets at dawn in Lake Victoria, which is shared between Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania. Reuters/Euan Denholm

What Migingo, the world's tiniest disputed island, tells us about international law

Christopher R. Rossi, University of Iowa

The dispute between Uganda and Kenya over an islet half the size of a football pitch has been fuelled by the perceived imbalance in fish harvests and the prospects of oil reserves beneath.

Business + Economy

Politics + Society

  • The ANC leadership race will go down to the wire: here's why

    Susan Booysen, University of the Witwatersrand

    The race for the presidency of South Africa's governing ANC will go down to the wire. Exact calculations for the frontrunners are impossible and the result is likely to be known by 17 or 18 December.

Science + Technology

Disease outbreaks in Africa

It’s speculated that the natural host of the Marburg virus are Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus). Seregraff/Shutterstock

Marburg cases in Uganda: the lowdown about Ebola's 'sister' virus

Jacqueline Weyer, National Institute for Communicable Diseases

In the 50 years following the discovery of the Marburg virus there have only been 12 known outbreaks.

From our international editions