South Sudan has set its first election as an independent nation for December 22. But the country has delayed several elections in the past due to civil war and political tensions. So can it hold a credible poll in six months? As Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo surge to their highest total in a single month, the only hospital in the eastern town of Mongbwalu is overwhelmed with patients. And as a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Botswana hurts beef exports and farmers, it is also forcing more people to change their diets.

