Since the launch of the IAP website in June 2001, IAP members have been submitting news from their academies for diffusion to other members and the wider public. News in December 2001 As from 16 November 2001, Dr. Howard Alper is the newly elected President of The Royal Society of Canada. Jubilee of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova In October 2001, the Academy of Sciences of Moldova (ASM) held its jubilee session dedicated to the foundation of Moldova's first academic scientific research institution and the founding of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Representatives from scientific and cultural organizations in Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, and the Ukraine were in attendance. Congratulatory messages were received from the president and parliament. Vice prime minister Valerian Cristea awarded the state prize in science and technology 2001 to a group of scientists that included members of ASM. In conjunction with the IAP science academy capacity building programme, several officers of the Senegalese Academy of Sciences recently visited the French Academy of Science for a few weeks. Representatives included O. Dia, head of the Senegalese Academy library and publications department, and O. Fall, director of the secretary's office. Further follow up on above programme includes the networking meeting being hosted by the African Academy of Sciences in Nairobi, Kenya, on 13 December 2001 with the nine Presidents of science academies in Africa in attendance. News in November 2001 New members... Nine academies have joined IAP in October 2001, following a decision by the IAP Executive Committee: Cameroon Academy of Sciences, Academia Chilena de Ciencias, Pontificia Academia Scientiarvm, National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrghyz Republic, Academie Nationale Malgache, Nigerian Academy of Sciences, Academia Sinica - Chinese Taipei, National Academy of Sciences of Peru, Uganda National Academy of Sciences. IAP's membership now stands at 85. News from the outside: Scidev.net ... SciDev.Net, a new free-access web portal, sponsored by Nature, Science and The Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), with financial support from major funding agencies and foundations in the UK, Sweden, Canada, and United States, will be officially launched in December. SciDev.Net is an internet-based network dedicated to reporting and discussing aspects of science and technology relevant to sustainable development and the needs of developing countries.