Uganda says Ebola outbreak is over, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Only one case detected in latest outbreak

* Origin still a mystery

By Barry Malone

KAMPALA, June 17 (Reuters) - Uganda has successfully prevented the rare and deadly Ebola virus from spreading, nearly two months after a 12 year-old girl bled to death after contracting the disease, officials said on Friday.

"Uganda is free of Ebola," Doctor Anthony Mbonya, chairman of a national task force set up after the girl's death, told Reuters. "The situation is perfect."

Key political risks to watch in Congo, Posted by Meosha Eaton

By Jonny Hogg

KINSHASA, April 1 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo is seeking political stability, battling economic woes and rebel insurgencies as it gears up for elections this year.

The polls for the presidency and parliament, due to start in November 2011, will be the second since the official end to the 1998-2003 war, which drew in six foreign armies and resulted in the deaths of 5 million people.

Here are some factors to watch:

POLITICS

President Joseph Kabila came to power when his father was assassinated in 2001, winning presidential elections in 2006. But he still relies other parties such as PALU, a longstanding opposition party, for a parliamentary majority.

Rather than pushing through steps towards decentralisation set out in the constitution, analysts say Kabila's rule has seen a concentration of power and rising political oppression.

On Jan. 15, parliament backed constitutional changes reducing the presidential vote to a single round -- scrapping the possibility of a run-off between the two leading candidates if neither has an absolute majority. The change means the winner can claim the presidency with less than 50 percent popular support and is seen boosting Kabila's chances.

What to watch:

-- Can Congo's fractured opposition unite around a single candidate for the first round? There is talk of a possible triumvirate, with veteran opposition figure Etienne Tshisekedi linking up with Vital Kamerhe, a former campaign manager of Kabila's, and Jean-Pierre Bemba's MLC party.

-- Bemba's trial. The former vice president and leader of opposition MLC party is being tried before the International Criminal Court in The Hague accused of war crimes in the Central African Republic. Many in Congo say he would be a strong presidential contender were he acquitted in time, and any verdict could be incendiary on the streets of Kinshasa.

-- Electoral planning. With voter registration completed in only 2 of 11 provinces and questions remaining over financing, there are fears about the country's readiness to hold credible polls in November.

-- Political crackdown. There are already allegations from opposition politicians that their supporters are facing intimidation at the hands of the authorities.

THE ECONOMY

Despite concerns over governance, Congo secured debt relief from most lenders last year, including $7.53 billion from the Paris Club in November, leaving a total stock of $2.9 billion. It has taken measures to stabilise its economy and keep in step with conditions for a three-year $550 million IMF loan.

Interest rates have come down to 22 percent, from 42 percent in mid-2011. Congo's inflation is running at an annualised rate of 8.35 percent, down from 69 percent last January and beating a 15 percent target. The Congolese franc has stabilised, hovering at 920 to the dollar.

Sustained economic growth is vital to a country where 80 percent of a population of 67 million live on less than $2 a day and the country struggles with a budget of $5.69 billion. Congo is aiming for growth of 5.4 percent in 2010 and 6.83 percent in 2011, while the IMF forecasts 5.4 percent and 7 percent.

What to watch:

-- Impact of debt relief. Congo says from 2011, $520 million a year intended for debt service will be freed up as a result, but the IMF warns against taking on more expensive debt.

-- Macroeconomic policy. A looming election year may prompt a hike in spending over the next 12 months, although the 2011 budget was praised by the IMF for maintaining fiscal discipline.

INVESTMENT CLIMATE

Congo moved up four places in the World Bank's 2011 doing business rankings to 175 of 183 countries, short of a 20-place hike targeted by the president. Investors still complain of high risks and several are pursuing international arbitration.

Model contracts in accordance with the new mining and oil codes have been drafted, but not yet decreed by government.

What to watch:

-- First Quantum case. The Canadian firm is seeking international arbitration after its $750 million KMT project was closed and rights handed to mining group ENRC, after the Kazakh company said it would pay $175 million for five Congo projects acquired through listed and offshore entities.

-- US traceability laws. New industry standards to tackle `conflict minerals' come into force in April. The government says traceability programmes are being launched but some fear a virtual embargo on Congolese minerals, particularly in the troubled east of the country.

-- Congo's nascent oil sector. Following a tussle with the government over two oil blocks, London-listed Tullow Oil has said it's pulling out of Congo. There is also growing friction between British oil company Soco International and conservationists over plans to prospect for oil within Virunga National Park.

French Oil giant Total has taken a percent in another eastern oil block near Virunga. After buying into a block in the west, Italian major Eni would also like oil blocks in the east.

SIMMERING CONFLICTS

Intervention by Rwanda in 2009 helped end fighting by Rwandan Tutsi-led CNDP rebels, whose leader Laurent Nkunda was arrested and is awaiting trial in Kigali.

CNDP have since officially been integrated into the army, but rights groups and the United Nations say they maintain control of swathes of land, extract taxes and mine cassiterite and coltan.

Congo's army continues to try to oust Rwandan Hutu FDLR rebels, whose numbers are down to 2,500 according to the U.N., and several other rebel groups, including the former pro-government Mai Mai militia, LRA and Islamic ADF-NALU fighters.

The UN's head of mission in Congo has struck a positive note about the situation in the east, saying security is getting better, although localised violence remains a serious problem.

Mass rapes of civilians are continuing, underlining Congo's precarious security and raising questions over the effectiveness of Congolese and U.N. forces. The jailing in February of nine soldiers found guilty of a New Year's Day mass rape was seen as an important step towards ending impunity but attacks continue.

What to watch:

-- The fall-out from an attack on one of the residences of Kabila by dozens of armed men on Feb. 27. DRC has recalled its ambassador from neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville over alleged involvement in the plot.

-- U.N. peacekeepers. The United Nations acquiesced to Congolese demands and withdrew 1,494 troops last June, leaving 17,625 in country. It says further withdrawals will depend on the security threat, but Kabila's calls for a full withdrawal could become stronger if he is re-elected.

-- Crackdown on the army. Pressure on the army is rising as more human rights abuses and illegal mining come to light, and Congo may seek to launch investigations into criminal networks.

-- CNDP ex-rebels. Current leader General Bosco Ntaganda is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes, but says he is second-in-command of U.N.-backed army operations, and the fragile alliance with the army is under strain.

-- Land and ethnicity. These two issues remain at the heart of Congo 's simmering conflicts, especially in the east.

-- LRA threat. Attacks by the Ugandan rebel LRA in north-eastern Congo have risen sharply this year, with Ugandan and Congolese officials sayingits leader, Joesph Kony, is back in the country.

-- Intervention from neighbours. Relations with neighbouring Uganda and Rwanda have warmed but remain fragile. Meanwhile analysts say latent tensions with Angola over offshore oil in the west could destabilise the country if they worsen. (Editing by David Lewis)

AFRICA MONEY-Wobbly currencies take shine off the carry trade, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* African bond yields rising as inflation takes hold

* Weakening currencies deter foreign t-bill interest


By Ed Cropley, African Investment Correspondent

JOHANNESBURG, March 25 (Reuters) - African central banks have started to train their sights on inflation bubbling up across the region, although wobbly currencies are making foreigners think twice about chasing lofty domestic debt yields.

From Ghana to South Africa to Kenya, concerns about rising prices have pushed yields higher across the curve, even though most central banks have dithered over dropping a semi-official focus on promoting growth above ensuring monetary stability.

Short-term debt yields in many frontier economies are now more attractive than they were in 2009, when they were sucking in buckets of foreign cash seeking something juicier than the dismal returns on offer in developed markets.

However, an imminent repeat of the influx by outsiders that pushed short-term borrowing costs in countries such as Nigeria and Uganda to below 4 percent a year ago looks unlikely given the jitters that have beset many African currencies.

So far this year, the Kenyan and Ugandan shillings and Ghana's cedi have all hit record lows against the dollar, and Nigeria's naira has sorely tested the weaker limits of a 145-155 trading band it has maintained since a devaluation in late 2008.

A mixture of politics and economics were behind the initial drops, but sluggish responses by authorities in meeting unforeseen dollar demand, and a basic misreading of inflation in the case of Kenya, has caused investors to question the ability or desire of policymakers to keep matters on an even keel.

Uganda's shilling hit a string of record lows in January as fears of violence -- that did not materialise -- in a February presidential election caused companies and rich Ugandans to stock up on dollars.

But the Bank of Uganda, either through choice or because of a lack of reserves, failed to inject dollar liquidity at levels it had previously intervened, resulting in a market that still can't see the bottom despite an 8-month slide.


DOLLAR DEMAND

Unusually high dollar demand from foreign exchange bureaux in Lagos suggest wealthy Nigerians are doing the same as their Ugandan counterparts before an April 9 election in Africa's most populous nation.

The central bank in Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, has considerably more fire-power to defend the currency than in Uganda, but outside investors are still too worried to pile into a bond market offering a tempting 10 percent on 3-year paper.

"In Nigeria the election prospects are weighing into sentiment even though the yields are quite attractive at the moment," said Yvette Babb, an African debt strategist at Standard Bank in Johannesburg.

"People are not willing to take the risk because the currency might rise as it did in Uganda in the run-up to the election."

Crunching the numbers makes it clear how a small currency drop trashes the logic of putting dollars or euros into African debt -- typically 3-12-month paper where liquidity is easier to find.

An investor who stuck $10,000 into Uganda shillings at the beginning of the year would now have just $9,669, while the same amount deposited in naira would be worth only $9,967, according to the Reuters FX Carry Trade Calculator -- and that is before brokerage fees and commissions are taken into account.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ For Graphic on African carry trade yields, click on http://r.reuters.com/dad78r ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>

"The yields definitely make treasury bills attractive from a foreign investor point of view, but you've got to make sure you're comfortable with the currency risk," said Africa analyst Leon Myburgh at Citi in Johannesburg. "You've got to pick you entry level."

Against this backdrop, Zambia, whose 3-month bills yielded 6.5 percent at auction this week, stands out as an exception -- its currency, the kwacha , has managed to post a gain of more than one percent against the dollar this year.

(Editing by Ron Askew)

Reuters Health News Summary, Posted by Meosha Eaton

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Aid groups say struggling to get to Libya's needy

LONDON (Reuters) - Wounded people in Libya cannot access vital medicines and care because armed men are blocking roads and civilians are too scared to seek help, international health aid groups said on Thursday. The charity Medecins Sans Frontieres, which has an eight-person team in Libya's second city of Benghazi, said it was desperate to answer a plea for help from a doctor in Misrata, around 200 kilometers (km) east of Tripoli, where it said clashes have reportedly left many people wounded.

Measles cases on rise in Boston

BOSTON (Reuters) - Health officials tracking a measles outbreak said on Wednesday there are now a total of five confirmed and suspected cases in Boston. The tally includes a second confirmed case of measles in a woman living in the same building as a woman diagnosed last month, city health officials said. Three more suspected cases are being monitored, with final lab results expected sometime next week.
Expanding Medicaid will cost states billions: study

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The costs to U.S. states of the Medicaid insurance program for the poor will grow by hundreds of billions of dollars under the healthcare law passed last year, according to a report released by Republicans in the Senate and House of Representatives on Tuesday. "This law, because of Medicaid expansions, has put a strain on state budgets," Senator Orrin Hatch, one of the report's sponsors, told a meeting of hospital administrators on Tuesday. "Medicaid expansions threaten to bankrupt the states."

Latest J&J recall involves sterility-risk sutures

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson, <JNJ.N> which has been plagued by repeated recalls of its consumer medicines and medical devices over the past year, on Wednesday said it recalled 107 batches of surgical sutures in December due to potential sterility problems. The recall came to light on Wednesday after the United Kingdom Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) described the action on the agency's website.

Designer drug abuse out of control: U.N. drugs board

LONDON (Reuters) - The problem of so-called "designer drugs" is running out of control in many regions of the world, the U.N. global drugs watchdog said Wednesday. The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) said detailed instructions for how to make designer drugs, which are slightly altered to bypass existing control systems, are often shared via the Internet.

Rising status of women linked to more smoking

LONDON (Reuters) - Millions of women in developing countries risk disease and early death in the coming decades as their rising economic and political status leads them to smoke more, researchers said on Tuesday. An analysis in 74 countries found that men are five times more likely to smoke than women in countries with lower rates of female empowerment, such as China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Uganda.

EPA says big budget cut would hurt public health

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ability to protect citizens from premature death and other health problems would be gutted if Congress slashes funding as threatened by Republican lawmakers, its chief said on Wednesday. Republicans in the House of Representatives have been trying to cut the EPA's budget for this year, saying its regulations on clean air and water hurt businesses.
Diabetics have higher risk of death from cancer

LONDON (Reuters) - Doctors know that diabetics have a higher than normal risk of dying of heart attacks or strokes, but new research on Wednesday showed that having diabetes also ups the risk of dying from many cancers and other diseases. The findings shed light on the potential burden of disease that will build in the future as the number of cases of diabetes is predicted to rise dramatically in coming decades.
Report stresses options for colon cancer screening

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women should be aware that they have several options for colon cancer screening, and not only the often-dreaded colonoscopy, according to a new report from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). The statement does not veer from guidelines from major medical groups like the American Cancer Society and the American College of Gastroenterology -- which consider colonoscopy the "preferred" screening test.
Extreme flexibility comes with triple migraine risk

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with severe forms of double jointedness have a greater risk of suffering from migraine headaches, a new study finds. They also tend to have more severe and more frequent migraines. Researchers say that the two conditions -- "joint hypermobility syndrome" and migraines -- may have causes rooted in the same problem.

10 Longest serving leaders of Africa, Posted by Meosha Eaton

Feb 17 (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is expected to win a fourth term in a tight election on Feb. 18, which could extend his time in office to 30 years.
Here are details on the top 10 longest-serving leaders in the Africa:



* LIBYA - Muammar Gaddafi (68**) 41 YEARS 5 MONTHS
-- Gaddafi seized power in a bloodless military coup in Sept. 1969.
-- Gaddafi has been able to maintain power for over 40 years by putting himself at the centre of the overlapping networks of interest groups -- tribes, influential families, the military and the revolutionary committees -- which hold power in Libya.
-- Analysts have said he uses patronage, handing out shares in the country's oil wealth to ensure loyalty, and uses his political guile to play one group off against another.
-- On Thursday Gaddafi supporters gathered in Tripoli to counteract online calls for an anti-government "day of rage" inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.



* EQUATORIAL GUINEA - President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (68) 31 YEARS 6 MONTHS
-- Obiang toppled his uncle Macias in a palace coup in Aug. 1979. A new constitution was adopted to usher in multi-party politics, nominally at least, in 1991. Human Rights Watch in Jan. 2011 reported flaws in the latest presidential polls in 2009, in which Obiang won 95.4 percent of the ballot. The authorities thwarted a coup bid in 2004 by a former British special forces officer, Simon Mann.



* ANGOLA - President Jose Eduardo Dos Santos (68)
31 YEARS 5 MONTHS
-- Dos Santos assumed the presidency of the mineral-rich country in Sept. 1979, four years into a civil war with UNITA rebels that ended in 2002.
-- The MPLA's landslide 2008 victory left rivals in tatters, letting dos Santos change the constitution and boost his powers.
-- A new charter has enabled the veteran ruler, who is widely expected to win 2012 elections, to remain in power until 2022 although there is speculation he will retire before then.



* ZIMBABWE - President Robert Mugabe (86) 30 YEARS 9 MONTHS
-- Mugabe became Zimbabwe's prime minister in April 1980 after independence elections. The former Marxist guerrilla became president in 1987 and has held fast to power.
-- Mugabe, 87 on Feb. 24, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change were forced into a coalition government two years ago after a disputed poll in 2008 which led to mass violence, a flood of refugees into South Africa and a deeper economic crisis in the resource-rich state.



* CAMEROON - President Paul Biya (78) 28 YEARS 3 MONTHS
-- Biya took over in Nov. 1982 from President Ahmadou Ahidjo and won re-election for another seven-year term in October 2004. The central African oil producer is due to schedule a new poll later this year and Biya is expected to seek another term.



* CONGO REPUBLIC - President Denis Sassou Nguesso (67)
26 YEARS 11 MONTHS
-- Sassou Nguesso has been in power all bar five of the last 32 years. He seized power in a Feb. 1979 coup but then lost the country's first multi-party elections in 1992 to scientist Pascal Lissouba. He regained the presidency in 1997 after a civil war and was re-elected in 2004 for a further seven-year term.



* UGANDA - President Yoweri Museveni (67**) 25 YEARS
-- Museveni declared himself president in Jan. 1986 when he seized Kampala after a five-year guerrilla struggle. Museveni banned multi-party politics shortly afterwards but re-introduced it in 1996. Museveni is expected to win a fourth term in 2011 despite a strong challenge from third-time opponent Kizza Besigye.



* SWAZILAND - King Mswati III (42) 24 YEARS 9 MONTHS
-- King Mswati is sub-Saharan Africa's last absolute monarch and was crowned in April 1987. Political parties have been banned in landlocked Swaziland since 1973. The king introduced a new constitution in 2006, but the ban on political parties remained. Mswati is frequently criticised by human rights groups as a dictator who runs the country as his own personal fiefdom.



* BURKINA FASO - Blaise Campaore (60) 23 YEARS 4 MONTHS
-- Blaise Campaore became head of state after deposing his predecessor, Thomas Sankara, in a coup in Oct. 1987.
-- Campaore has widespread popular support and won a landslide victory in presidential polls in Nov. 2005, taking 80 percent of the vote. A new law from 2005 prohibited presidents from standing for more than two terms but the Constitutional Court ruled the law could not be applied retroactively, clearing the way for Compaore's re-election in Nov. 2010 when he again won with 80 percent of the vote.



* SUDAN - Omar Hassan al-Bashir (67) 21 YEARS 7 MONTHS
-- In June 1989, Bashir overthrew the democratically elected civilian government of former Prime Minister Sadeq al-Mahdi and he appointed himself civilian president in 1993. He won his last elections in 2010.
-- In March 2009, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bashir -- the first for a sitting head of state -- for masterminding a campaign of genocide in Darfur, where the United Nations said that 300,000 people have been killed in the long-running conflict. Bashir put the death toll at 10,000 people.
-- Bashir has refused to recognise the ICC and continued to travel, despite the arrest warrants. His defiance gained him support in Sudan, especially in the Muslim north where many are suspicious of the West.
-- Last month, around 99 percent of southerners voted to separate from the north of Sudan in a referendum held under a 2005 peace deal which ended decades of north-south civil war.
NOTE: **Age not precisely known.

Elections in Africa, Posted by Meosha Eaton

Feb 16 (Reuters) - Ugandans vote on Feb. 18 in presidential and parliamentary elections for control of east Africa's third largest economy that sits on the cusp of an oil boom.

Here are details of past and upcoming elections in Africa this year. The dates are based on current planning by authorities but may change.


JANUARY: Jan. 23 - CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC (CAR) - Presidential elections.
-- Francois Bozize, in power since a 2003 coup, took 66 percent of the ballots cast in the Jan. 23 election, the electoral commission announced, eliminating the need for a second round run-off and paving the way for a new 5-year term.

Jan. 31 - NIGER - Presidential and legislative elections.
-- Niger's veteran opposition leader Mahamadou Issoufou took 36 percent of the first-round vote against second-place finisher Seyni Oumarou's 23 percent. They will face each other in a March 12 run-off, with Issoufou seen favourite after securing the backing of four other parties accounting for another 30 percent of the first-round vote.
-- Oumarou represents the party of former president Mamadou Tandja, ousted in a February 2010 coup.
-- The election is meant to cement the restoration of civilian rule nearly a year after soldiers toppled Tandja after he orchestrated a constitutional rejig to extend his rule of the uranium producing country.


FEBRUARY:
Feb. 6 - CAPE VERDE: Legislative elections.
Cape Verde's main opposition party conceded defeat in the parliamentary elections after the ruling PAICV gained 51 percent of the vote, giving it 37 seats in the 72-seat National Assembly. Feb. 13 - CHAD - Parliamentary elections.
-- Chad's first parliamentary election in eight years went ahead smoothly despite some delays in voting, observers said of a poll that will test President Idriss Deby's grip on the oil-producing African state.
Feb. 18 - UGANDA - Presidential and parliamentary elections.
-- Incumbent President Yoweri Museveni is tipped to win a closely fought contest against his arch rival Kizza Besigye.


MARCH:
Early March - BENIN - Presidential elections.
March 12 - NIGER - Second round of presidential elections.


APRIL:
April - DJIBOUTI - Presidential elections.
April 2 - NIGERIA - National Assembly elections.
April 3 - CHAD - Presidential elections.
April 9 - NIGERIA - Presidential elections.
April 13 - MADAGASCAR - National Assembly elections.

MAY - MADAGASCAR - Presidential election scheduled. However a new road map put forward by Southern African mediators recommends a poll between May and November.


JUNE/JULY - SAO TOME & PRINCIPE - Presidential elections.



SEPTEMBER:
September - EGYPT - Presidential elections.


OCTOBER:
October - CAMEROON - Presidential elections.
October - ZAMBIA - Presidential and Parliamentary elections.
Oct. 11 - LIBERIA - Presidential elections and elections for the House of Representatives and junior Senators.


NOVEMBER:
Nov. 27 - DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO - Presidential and National Assembly elections.


DECEMBER:
December - GABON - Legislative elections.

Sources: Reuters/www.eisa.org

(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit)