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Record 42m have AIDS or HIV
HIV/AIDS 2002: Five million people will have become infected with HIV this year, bringing to a record 42 million the number living with AIDS or the virus that causes it, the United Nations said yesterday. p
French strikes bite as public sector walks out
FRANCE: France slowed dramatically yesterday as most of the public sector - nearly a third of salaried employees - observed a one-day strike to warn Prime Minister Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin that they will wreak havoc if their job security or retirement plans are threatened. p
Saddam's palace no longer off limits, say inspectors
IRAQ: UN arms inspectors showed off state-of-the-art equipment yesterday and reminded President Saddam Hussein that his own palace complexes would no longer be off limits when they resumed their hunt for banned Iraqi weapons. p
Other World Stories
Not just a moral responsibility, but a threat to world stability
HIV/AIDS 2002: The AIDS epidemic is becoming one of the greatest threats to world stability, Mr Peter Piot, the head of the United Nations agency devoted to the ailment said yesterday, calling on the West to increase aid to the developing world. pStatistics show huge regional disparities
HIV/AIDS 2002: The following facts on the global AIDS epidemic were released by the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) ahead of World AIDS Day on Sunday. p'Oil for food' scheme faces closure over list of banned items
IRAQ: On the eve of the resumption of weapons inspections in Iraq, another team of inspectors may be on its way out. pChinese give OK to huge pumping project
CHINA: The Chinese government authorised one of the world's biggest engineering projects yesterday to pump water from the flood-prone south of the country to the drought-stricken north. pFiremen told extra pay would lead to job losses
BRITAIN: The Blair government has taken the gloves off in its battle with the Fire Brigade Union (FBU), warning striking firemen that extra pay will mean "modernisation" and possibly thousands of job losses. pCondemned academic in stubborn stand-off as Iranian crisis deepens
IRAN: A crisis over the sentencing to death of a pro-reform academic took a turn for the worse yesterday, with both Iran's hardline judiciary and the condemned dissident refusing to lose face over the affair and dashing hopes of a quick resolution. pNazi satire aims to please but misses the mark
GERMANY: Don't mention the war, or indeed the satirical film about Nazi Germany that went down like a lead zeppelin on German television this week. pPrison terms in 'nowhereland' see accused linger years without trial
MOLDOVA: With overcrowding and lack of funds, prison conditions are appalling, writes Ann McElhinney in Chisinau, Moldova pFrench fury at US 'security hysteria' as steward held over sick bag notes
PARIS LETTER/Lara Marlowe For the French public, the treatment of Michaël Philippe, a 26-year-old French airline steward, epitomises what is referred to here as "American security hysteria" since September 11th. p
