Poor infection control at dental, maternity and paediatric facilities is possibly contributing to the spread of HIV/Aids, statistics showed on Tuesday. The findings were in a study commissioned by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council and released at an international Aids conference in Cape Town.
Videos posted on the Internet on Tuesday showed militants purported to belong to al-Qaeda’s ally in Iraq beheading a man said to be an Iraqi security force member and another group carrying out the execution-style killing of a reported informer. The video also showed the black banner of the group, which is headed by wanted Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Syrian soldiers hauling missiles and radar equipment headed home on Tuesday ahead of their country’s planned military withdrawal from Lebanon by the end of the month. A United Nations envoy met Lebanese officials to monitor the progress of the pullout.
Five Belfast sisters campaigning against the Irish Republican Army’s killing of their brother traveled on Tuesday to Brussels to lobby European Union leaders for help. The McCartney sisters say the IRA and its allied Sinn Fein party are covering up their members’ involvement in the January 30 attack on their brother, Robert.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, ending weeks of speculation, announced on Tuesday a general election for May 5 that he hopes will give his Labour Party a third straight term in power. ”I’ve just been to Buckingham Palace to ask the queen to dissolve Parliament,” Blair told reporters and TV crews outside his Downing Street residence.
South Africa is one of three countries lagging behind as the World Health Organisation tries to get anti-retroviral drugs to three million people with HIV/Aids by the end of 2005. Of the 20 countries that have the highest ARV need, only Botswana and Brazil have met the interim goals of ”3 by 5”, with South Africa faring the worst.
In the latest corruption scandal to rock Nigeria, President Olusegun Obasanjo has cancelled the sale of 207 government houses at knockdown prices after discovering that close relatives of his wife and several cabinet ministers were to have been among the beneficiaries of this controversial deal.
Daniela saw him as a statue, Giulia like her dead grandfather, and Chiara could not believe how such a great man could look so small. At least 100Â 000 mourners continued on Tuesday to queue for hours on end in and around St Peter’s Square, waiting for a fleeting moment to say goodbye to Pope John Paul II.
An animal rights group on Tuesday called for an investigation into the deaths of four sea lions, 10 dogs and seven cats belonging to Russia’s state circus that burned to death in a fire in India. ”We are going to court to ensure that there is an inquiry,” said Anuradha Sawhney of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Schoolchildren may soon be allowed to wear beards if the proposed national guidelines on school uniforms are introduced later this year, Parliament was told on Tuesday. ”A uniform may not impede or infringe upon any constitutional right,” said the deputy director for education and training in the Department of Education.