AIDS summit sees promise in microbicides for women
Toronto – The excitement at the world’s largest AIDS conference was over microbicides that could help women in poor countries protect themselves from HIV in several years.
Yet AIDS experts warned Tuesday that the world is woefully unprepared to ensure widespread access to such treatments.
Promising tests for new HIV-prevention approaches are nearly complete, yet many financial and ethical obstacles could delay or even derail completion of critical trials.
More than 40 million people worldwide are living with the virus that can lead to AIDS; 25 million of them have already died since the first cases of HIV were reported 25 years ago.
Testing of microbicides that could protect impoverished women who have little say over their health and bodies in sub-Saharan Africa, for example, will be complete by the end of next year. A topical microbicide to block HIV transmission could be available by 2010.
Recent studies in Africa suggest men can cut the risk of getting HIV from an infected partner by about 60 percent if he is circumcised; men with HIV also appear about one-third less likely to spread the virus if they’ve been circumcised.
Other hopeful approaches include cervical diaphragms, AIDS drugs used as preventives, the suppression of herpes – which boosts HIV risk up to three times – and the relentless search for an HIV vaccine.
MEXICO CITY
Activists won’t move camps for celebration
Leftist activists on Tuesday defiantly refused to move sprawling protest camps to make way for Mexico’s upcoming Independence Day celebrations, the day after a drawn-out presidential-election dispute erupted in violence.
About eight protesters, including at least two federal lawmakers, were injured Monday during scuffles in front of the Congress – the first violent confrontation between police and protesters in the two weeks since the demonstrators began blocking city streets and government offices to demand a full vote recount in last month’s presidential election.
Supporters of leftist presidential hopeful Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador have set up camps throughout the cultural and financial heart of Mexico City, where the nation’s Independence Day celebrations are held on Sept. 15-16.
BEIJING
Typhoon’s death toll increases to 295
The death toll from China’s strongest typhoon in five decades jumped to 295 on Tuesday and was expected to climb higher as scores of bodies of fishermen and sailors were found at sea, a state news agency reported.
Some 59 bodies were found Monday in waters off Fuding, a port on the southeastern coast, raising the city’s death toll in Typhoon Saomai to at least 178, with 94 people missing.
PALM SPRINGS, Calif.
Montana teenager new Miss Teen USA
An 18-year-old from Montana has been crowned Miss Teen USA 2006.
Katie Blair beat the competition in swimsuit, evening gown and interview categories to claim the crown Tuesday night.
First runner-up was Melissa Lingafelt of North Carolina and second runner-up was Katie Marie Cooper of North Dakota. Samantha Casey of Virginia was the third runner-up, while Brittany Sharp of Georgia placed fourth.
Blair succeeds Miss Teen USA 2005, Allie LaForce of Ohio.
Winnings include a scholarship to New York School of Film and Television, a year of living in Trump Tower, a wardrobe and a Mikimoto tiara.
The competition was telecast on NBC from the Palm Springs Convention Center.
LINCOLN, Neb.
Well-known suspect arrested 226th time
Kevin Holder’s rap sheet is 43 pages long, dating back to 1980, and he just got another entry – his 226th arrest.
Police say they caught him Sunday morning after a brief chase and found burglary tools in his possession.
“He’s very well-known to Lincoln police officers,” Police Chief Tom Casady said.
Holder’s convictions include criminal mischief, marijuana possession, violation of protection order, assault, resisting arrest, assault on an officer and possession of cocaine.
Many were misdemeanors, but he also has been sentenced to at least three prison terms for felonies, including a four-year stretch starting in 1996.
MINNEAPOLIS
Ex-President Ford, 93, to undergo testing
Former President Ford was admitted to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota on Tuesday for “testing and evaluation,” his office said.
The statement gave no details on why the 93-year-old former chief executive went to the clinic in Rochester, about 75 miles southeast of Minneapolis.
“No further releases or updates are anticipated prior to early next week,” said the statement issued from his office in Beaver Creek.
