Editor's note

In a first of its kind, a team of doctors in South Africa performed a liver transplant from an HIV-positive donor to an HIV negative recipient. The ground-breaking procedure at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg has set a new precedent. But not without first having to overcome major challenges. Harriet Etheredge, Jean Botha and June Fabian set out the major obstacles they had to clear - including answering big ethical questions - before the operation could take place.

Kenya has been marking the fifth anniversary of the Al-Shabaab terrorist attack at Westgate Mall. Security in the country appears to have improved in the intervening years. But, warns, Stig Jarle Hansen, Al-Shabaab remains powerful and stable in Somalia. It could again turn its sights on Kenya if policing and security slacken.

In Ethiopia, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pressed ahead at breathtaking speed with reforms in the country as well as making peace with Eritrea after two decades of hostilities. But a spike in ethnic tensions is threatening to derail the good work that’s been done. Yohannes Gedamu explains.

The growth in online media platforms has caught a number of African countries off guard. Some, including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, have taken steps to control online activity. The approaches have ranged from introducing new taxes to passing new restrictive laws and internet taxes. George Ogola warns this shows that social media has become the new frontier for free speech.

And finally, South Africa has announced that it will introduce Swahili as an optional language in schools in 2020. This is a good thing, argues Peter Mose.

Ina Skosana

Health + Medicine Editor

Top story

Fundamental questions of ethics are involved in donor transplant decisions. Shutterstock

Liver transplant from HIV+ living donor to negative recipient: key ethical issues

Harriet Etheredge, University of the Witwatersrand; Jean Botha, University of the Witwatersrand; June Fabian, University of the Witwatersrand

Doctors in South Africa performed a liver transplant from an HIV-positive donor to a HIV-negative recipient. Major ethical questions came into play.

In other news...

Five years after Westgate, Al-Shabaab is weakened but not yet defeated

Stig Jarle Hansen, Norwegian University of Life Sciences

Containing Al-Shabaab in Kenya doesn't directly reduce the group's standing inside Somalia.

How ethnic violence is destabilising Ethiopia’s reform gains

Yohannes Gedamu, Georgia Gwinnett College

Can Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed overcome the country's contemporary history of tribal politics?

Threats to media freedom in Africa: some old methods and some new

George Ogola, University of Central Lancashire

Internet taxes could stifle Africa's free and vibrant social media.

Why it’s good news that Swahili is coming to South African schools

Dr Peter Mose, Rhodes University

Kiswahili will be easy for South Africans to learn compared to foreign languages from outside Africa.