Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for October 23rd

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are updates on the contested Sudanese region of Abyei, the potential extension of AGOA, peace-building dialogue in West Africa, Ugandan scandal in Somalia, violence against Boko Haram in Nigeria, and patents on TB medicine in South Africa.

Kiir-Bashir summit ends without an immediate solution on Abyei deadlock
The highly-anticipated summit between South Sudan's president Salva Kiir and his Sudanese counterpart, Omer Hassan Al-Bashir ended without immediate solution on the final status of the contested Abyei region. The African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) had, prior to the meeting, urged the two leaders to use the summit as an opportunity for concrete steps to resolve the final status of the disputed oil-producing region. However, a joint communiqué obtained by Sudan Tribune said both leaders only reached a consensus on general terms for administration and policing of Abyei during their meeting held in the South Sudan capital, Juba on Tuesday. – Sudan Tribune
To read more, please visit the Sudan Tribune site here

Why Congress Should Extend the African Growth and Opportunity Act Now
Over two years ago at the AGOA forum in Zambia, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton committed the Obama administration to a "seamless renewal" of Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the cornerstone of the U.S.-African commercial relationship. However, AGOA's extension has become needlessly protracted and increasingly uncertain, notwithstanding the current political dysfunction in Washington. To ensure that AGOA does not expire on September 31, 2015, as currently scheduled, the administration and Congress should work together to extend the legislation as soon as possible, in its current form, for another five years, until 2020. – Brookings
To read more, please visit the Brookings Institute site here

West Africa: Ivory Coast, Liberia seek cross-border dialogue
Ivory Coast and Liberia are starting a dialogue aimed at promoting reconciliation and increasing security. Cross-border violence has calmed in the past six months, though tensions remain between locals in southeastern Liberia and thousands of Ivorian refugees who remain there after fleeing Ivory Coast's post-election conflict in 2011. More than 200,000 Ivorians fled into Liberia during the 2010-2011 post-election conflict. Close to 60,000 are still there. Liberians living around the southeastern town of Zwedru say it is time for the refugees to go home. – allAfrica
To read more, please visit the allAfrica site here

Ugandan peacekeepers' bosses 'sold' guns in Somalia
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni was shocked to learn from soldiers returning from Somalia peace operations that their commanders may have sold guns and bullets in Mogadishu. Uganda has troops serving in the African Union peace mission in Somalia (Amisom). The revelations were made during a meeting at an army training school in central Uganda last week.  – Africa Review
To read more, please visit the Africa Review site here

Nigeria military says killed 37 Boko Haram Islamists
Nigeria's military said Tuesday it killed 37 suspected Boko Haram fighters in a ground and air assault on an insurgent camp in the northeast, the epicentre of the Islamist group's four-year uprising. The military attacked a suspected Boko Haram camp in Borno state, said military spokesman Aliyu Danja.  – AP News
To read more, please visit the AP News site here

South Africa: How a patent is blocking access to a life-saving TB medicine
Linezolid, made by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, is one of the only drugs with some proven efficacy in treating drug resistant TB. It is currently sold in South Africa at an unaffordable R676 per pill in the private sector. The state pays R288 per pill. It must be taken daily for up to two years. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) would like to treat 300 drug resistant TB patients in Khayelitsha with linezolid, but can only afford to buy the drug for little more than 20 patients. Right now, MSF doctors are in the horrible position of having to decide who gets the drug and who does not. – allAfrica
To read more, please visit the allAfrica site here