Miami – Using a piece of Gore-Tex fabric to make their repairs, doctors performed corrective surgery on a baby born with his heart outside his chest, and said Wednesday he should be able to lead a close-to-normal life.
Naseem Hasni, who was born Oct. 31, remained in critical but stable condition. During the six-hour operation, surgeons wrapped Naseem’s heart in Gore-Tex, then a layer of his own skin, to substitute for his missing pericardium, the sac that encloses the heart. The heart was then slowly eased inside his chest.
When he is about 6 months old, surgeons will graft pieces of his own ribs across his chest to create a sternum, or breastbone, which he was born without.
Additional nation/world news briefs:
BEIJING
China’s HIV/AIDS cases up 28% in 2006
Almost 28 percent more cases of HIV and AIDS were reported in China through October than in all of 2005, the Health Ministry said Wednesday.
The increasing numbers reflect the continued spread of the epidemic and the impact of better reporting, said Joel Rehn strom, coordinator of the China office of UNAIDS, the United Nations’ AIDS arm.
Chinese officials said 183,733 cases of HIV or AIDS had been reported through Oct. 31, up from 144,089 in all of 2005.
Drug use accounted for 38 percent of the reported infections and unsafe sex for 28 percent, statistics showed.
There were 4,060 AIDS deaths, bringing the total reported deaths in China attributed to the disease since the mid-1990s to 12,464.
The data arrived a day after the U.N.’s annual AIDS report, which showed the disease surging worldwide and called China’s burgeoning problem “alarming.”
VIENNA
U.N. nuke agency OKs denying Iran tech help
The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency effectively agreed Wed nes day to deny Iran technical help in building a plutonium-producing reactor, diplomats said.
The full board of the International Atomic Energy Agency, scheduled to meet today, is expected to waive a decision on Teh ran’s request for aid for its Arak reactor. That, in effect, would deny IAEA money for Arak – at least for the next two years, after which new requests will be considered.
Suspicions that Iran might be seeking to make nuclear weapons led to diplomatic tussling. Rebuffing Iran’s request would not affect Arak’s construction and would also have no effect on the country’s other potential avenue to weapons production – uranium enrichment.
Still, the denial would maintain at least symbolic pressure while the U.N. Security Council is deadlocked over how to sanction Iran for ignoring demands to stop enriching uranium.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina
Bush daughter’s purse stolen during visit
The Argentine government confirmed Wednesday that a daughter of President Bush had her purse stolen during a visit to the Argentine capital, despite the presence of Secret Service agents and local police.
Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez confirmed U.S. and Argentine media reports but did not say which twin was robbed.
ABC News, citing unidentified law-enforcement reports, reported Tuesday that Barbara Bush’s purse and cellphone were taken.
La Nacion newspaper, citing government sources, said the incident occurred Sunday in the tourist district of San Telmo. It said a pair of thieves removed the purse from under a table while Secret Service agents stood guard at a distance.
