The Guardian: Mandelas, not Mobutus (Op-Ed, Mo Ibrahim)
In an editorial for the Guardian, African entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim discusses his belief that “visionary leadership is key to Africa’s progress,” highlighting his foundation’s publishing of an annual index on the quality of governance in Africa as a way to stimulate more effective governance. Ibrahim emphasized that leadership is key to changing the world’s perception of the continent, reiterating that his foundation “wants to help restore proper balance to perceptions of Africa, showing the world that our continent is as much about Mandela as it is Mobutu.”

The Guardian: Copenhagen climate change talks are last chance, says Gordon Brown
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned that the world is on the brink of a “catastrophic” future of killer heat waves, floods and droughts, unless governments speed up negotiations on climate change before vital talks in Copenhagen in December. This applies to the US as much as anyone, he said, adding that “there is no plan B,” and that agreement cannot be deferred beyond the UN-sponsored Copenhagen conference. Speaking to environment ministers from 17 countries, Brown said that “There are now fewer than 50 days to set course of next 50 years and more.”

The East African: Malaria now a danger to children older than 5yrs
According to a new study of 18 sub-Saharan African countries, children age 5-19 in regions like East Africa are now the most vulnerable group to malaria following the successful distribution of the free bed nets to protect children under five and pregnant women against the killer fever. The study, funded by the Wellcome Trust, says that the shift in vulnerability is due to the fact that “younger children are more likely to have access to the few bed nets already distributed than their older siblings, who also are exposed to bites by mosquito vectors when they are outdoors.”

The Guardian: Fight poverty through empowerment (Op-Ed)
In light of this weekend’s “International Day for the Eradication of Poverty,” the Guardian editorializes that the solution to poverty lies not so much in enrichment as in the empowerment of people. Poverty, according to the Guardian, is actually a human rights crisis which cannot be solved by simply raising income levels. Rather, they conclude that if “the poor are empowered to control their own lives then we will see the beginning of the end of poverty.”

New York Times: Have Faith in an AIDS Vaccine (Op-Ed)
In an effort to clear up any controversy surrounding last month’s AIDS vaccine study in Thailand, Seth Berkley, president and chief executive of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, emphasized the crucial steps scientists have made in the fight against AIDS, despite differing opinions of the importance of the study. Remarked Berkley, “Clearly we need better methods of preventing the spread of H.I.V., and no public health intervention is more powerful or cost-effective against infectious disease than a vaccine.”