Tag Archives: AIDS

Articles of Interest

Pope Francis Washing Women’s Feet In Holy Thursday Ritual Raises Questions

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

The ritual washing of feet is a gesture of humility based on the belief that Jesus Christ washed the feet of his apostles on the evening of their final meal together before his arrest, crucifixion and death.

Vatican tradition has it that each year on Good Thursday the pope washes the feet of twelve priests of different ages and nationalities in a solemn ceremony held in Rome‘s St John Lateran’s Basilica or in St Peter’s Basilica.

The priests are seen as representing the apostles.

Though retired pontiff Benedict XVI revised the ritual in 2007 by selecting 12 lay men from Rome for the ceremony, the new Pope Francis shook up Catholic tradition Thursday by choosing to honour not only prisoners, but women as well as men.

Catholic traditionalists believe that all of Jesus’s disciples were male and the historic decision to wash the feet of two girls — one Italian Catholic and one of Serbian Muslim origin — is likely to create friction in some circles.

The gesture appears to open to interpretation the importance of the gender of the apostles.

Calls from groups within the Church for women to be ordained have been rebutted on the basis that Jesus’s apostles were men.

There is no Catholic dogma which explicitly forbids the participation of women, though a circular letter from 1988 which explains the importance of the tradition refers specifically to the “washing of the feet of chosen men.”

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio — as Pope Francis was previously known — had already washed and kissed the feet of women in past ceremonies in Argentinian jails, hospitals and old people’s homes, including pregnant mothers and AIDS patients.

Other Catholic priests and bishops have also included women in the feet washing although this is considered highly unusual.

The role of women in the Church has become an increasingly hot topic, with campaigners and rebel clerics calling for a review of the dogma which bans female priests — particularly as male priest numbers are dropping in the West.

The practice of washing feet appears to stem from ancient hospitality customs, whereby hosts would provide servants to clean the feet of newly arrived guests.

There are some variations to the ritual as performed in churches across the world today.

In some cases whole congregations participate in the washing, or take it in turns to wash each other’s feet.

Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Should AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb Get Married?

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By Keith Speights, The Motley Fool

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It’s been quite a while since we had a big wedding in the pharma world. Sure, there have been plenty of small acquisitions, but no really big merger has happened over the past few years. One potential pharmaceutical friendship often rumored to possibly develop into something more serious involves AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb . Would a marriage between these two companies be a match made in heaven? Let’s take a look.

Going to the chapel
If AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers were people, we could easily spot one good reason for them to get married: They have a lot in common. Just look at the two companies’ portfolios.

Both organizations boast a strong presence in the cardiovascular market. AstraZeneca’s Crestor stands as a leading cholesterol drug with sales over $6.2 billion in 2012. Bristol-Myers’ blood thinner, Plavix, brought in $2.5 billion in sales.

Neuroscience stands out as another strong area for both companies. AstraZeneca made $2.8 billion last year from Seroquel IR and Seroquel XR schizophrenia and bipolar disorder drugs. Bristol-Myers’ Abilify treats the same indications and likewise brought in around $2.8 billion in 2012 sales.

Of course, it’s also important that married couples have differences that complement each other. That’s true for our two potential lovebirds. While sales for AstraZeneca’s Nexium and Losec/Prilosec are slowing down, they’re still contributing significantly. Bristol-Myers doesn’t count any gastrointestinal products among its leading drugs.

However, Bristol-Myers Squibb can claim success in at least one area that isn’t strong for AstraZeneca — treatment of HIV and AIDS. Combined sales for the company’s Reyataz and Sustiva HIV drugs topped $3 billion last year.

Another argument in favor of AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers getting hitched is that they have children together. Well, sort of. Bristol-Myers Squibb bought Amylin Pharmaceuticals last year for around $7 billion. Nearly half of that amount was financed by AstraZeneca. Both companies share in the profits from Amylin’s diabetes drugs, including Bydureon and Byetta.

This wasn’t the first time AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers collaborated in the diabetes arena. The two companies previously developed Onglyza together. However, sales for Onglyza weren’t as strong as hoped for as Merck‘s Januvia won greater market share. They also partnered on Forxiga, which has encountered its own difficulties.

Staying single
Cupid might need to shoot his arrows in another direction, though. There are at least a couple of reasons why a marriage between AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers could be unlikely to happen.

First, both companies like to play the field quite a bit. While AstraZeneca’s relationship with Bristol-Myers has been close, the British drugmaker’s ties with Merck have been even closer in some ways. The company has also forged alliances with smaller companies, including a deal with Isis Pharmaceuticals for developing cancer drugs using Isis’ antisense technology. But the real merger prospect for AstraZeneca most frequently mentioned of late is Forest Labs. Several analysts see the company as an ideal fit for AstraZeneca.

Meanwhile, Bristol-Myers and Pfizer are joined at the hip …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

These Blockbusters Have Different Futures for Merck

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By Maxxwell A.R. Chatsko, The Motley Fool

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The patent cliff has been dealing a slow but painful blow to big pharma over the last several years. It will hit especially hard for Merck this year as it loses major protection for its former mega-blockbuster Singulair in markets across the globe. That raises the stakes for the company’s current product lineup and pending pipeline.

The type 2 diabetes franchise Januvia/Janumet will take over the top spot for Merck in 2013, but growth from those therapies alone won’t be enough to make up for Singulair’s fall. What other top drugs do investors need to watch? Isentress, a first-in-class HIV drug, and Gardasil, the leading HPV vaccine on the market, are two good places to start. However, they may be headed in opposite directions.

Does Isentress have a shot in HIV?
Let’s be honest here. Gilead Sciences is the unquestioned leader in HIV and AIDS therapies, which is backed up by its $8 billion in segment sales last year. The company’s Atripla and Truvada brought in $3.5 billion and $3.2 billion, respectively, in 2012 and are the top two drugs on the market.

The news gets worse for competitors such as Merck. Gilead had Stribild, a four-in-one pill, approved in late August. Sales for the new drug tallied $57.5 million in its first four months on the market, and some analysts think that figure will eventually reach $4.7 billion annually. While sales from Stribild will offset generic competition for its top therapies beginning in 2018, it also offers one huge advantage: convenience. That’s a big, big deal for patients.  

Whereas Merck’s Isentress requires two pills daily, Stribild requires patients to take only one, albeit twice the size. A study evaluating once-daily use of Isentress failed to prove the regimen as effective as the standard twice-daily dosage, effectively dousing hopes for expanded use. Failure aside, the drug is the third best-selling HIV drug behind Gilead’s relentless attack.  

The verdict: Since 2010, Isentress has grown sales nearly 50% to $1.5 billion, which represents the peak sales originally expected when the drug launched. The drug hit the mark earlier than expected, so there may be more room to run, but it will never reach the swagger of Gilead’s top products. Unfortunately for investors, the drug’s best years are likely behind it.

Does anyone know how to gauge this market?
The market for HPV consists of just two therapies: Gardasil from Merck and Cervarix from GlaxoSmithKline . Although it was once hailed as a major competitor to Gardasil, Cervarix netted just $350.54 million in sales in 2012. That is well below Gardasil’s $1.63 billion last year and down markedly from $657 million in 2011. How were early expectations for a neck-and-neck race so off?

Several reasons. First, Gardasil has been shown to protect (primarily) against HPV types 6, 11, 16, and 18 whereas its competitor protects against only the latter two. The difference is in disease progression. For instance, HPV types …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

News, Politics, Government

Severed head found in New Jersey in '89 ID'd, linked to serial killer

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A New Jersey cold case from 1989 — when a woman’s severed head was found on a golf course — has reportedly been closed now that police have identified the homicide victim.

DNA evidence confirmed this month the dead woman is Heidi Balch, a 25-year-old New York City woman whose head was found on a Hopewell golf course and whose legs were found in Jefferson Township in 1989, the Times of Trenton reports.

“It was a long investigation, it was a long, intense investigation,” said former Hopewell Detective Bruce Carnall, who was the lead investigator on the case from 1989 until his retirement in 2005. “This could have been easily put aside and forgotten.”

Investigators now believe Balch was working as a prostitute when she was murdered in New York in March 1989, just days before being dismembered and having her body parts scattered throughout New Jersey. Balch may have a connection to notorious serial killer Joel Rifkin, who claimed in 1993 that he murdered Balch in New York City. No charges have been filed against Rifkin in connection to her death, and Hopewell police said authorities in New Jersey will not press charges against him.

Rifkin, 54, is serving more than 200 years in a New York state prison for nine murders. He claimed he murdered 17 prostitutes during his years as a serial killer, including Balch. He claimed the young woman identified as Balch called herself “Susie.”

Carnall doesn’t just take Rifkin at his word; he sees similarities between Balch’s murder and the other killings Rifkin has admitted to.

“He obviously did it,” Carnall said. “There’s no doubt.”

A golfer on the seventh hole of the Hopewell Valley Golf Club found Balch’s head near the waters of the Stony Brook on March 5, 1989. A blood test a few weeks later revealed the presence of the AIDS virus.

Click for more from the Times of Trenton.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News

Articles of Interest

Elizabeth Taylor Death Anniversary: Legendary Actress Died Two Years Ago

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

It’s been two years since the legendary Elizabeth Taylor died of congestive heart failure at the age of 79. The classic Hollywood actress had been suffering from health issues for a number of years. In addition to osteoporosis and scoliosis, Taylor underwent cardiac surgery in 2009 to replace a leaky heart valve. She spent the last month of her life in the hospital, punctuating years of physical problems that finally turned off the long-standing Hollywood spotlight that shone brightly on her career.

In addition to winning two Oscars, one in 1961 for “Butterfield 8” and the other in 1967 for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” Taylor was perhaps best known for the revolving door of men who came and went from her life. She was married eight times, twice to Richard Burton, whom she met in 1960 on the set of “Cleopatra.” The two began an illicit affair that was condemned by the pope, marking her second marital scandal after previously embarking on a romance with Eddie Fisher while he was still married to Debbie Reynolds.

But while many liken Taylor’s tabloid-friendly legacy to that of Lindsay Lohan, who portrayed the actress in the roundly panned Lifetime movie “Liz & Dick,” not all of Taylor’s off-camera life was enshrouded in scandal. Often considered a devout humanitarian and activist, she spoke out in support of AIDS causes at a time when few celebrities had the chutzpah to do so. She co-founded the American Foundation for AIDS Research and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and in 1992 was honored with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a special Academy Award devoted to humanitarianism.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

News, Politics, Government

Pastor Rick Warren Is Practicing What He Preaches And Getting Ready For Retirement

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By Robert Laura, Contributor

You might wonder how much the Pastor of a mega-church with more than 20,000 attendees pockets from the weekly offering basket.  Do those funds translate into homes, cars, personal aircraft, yachts, or even his brand of wristwatch?  Not that a Pastor shouldn’t enjoy a little of the American dream, especially if he’s the man who founded Saddleback church in 1980 and built up his worldwide following one family at a time.  The same spiritual leader who has written the second most translated book in the world (second only to the Holy Bible) and New York Times best-seller for nearly four straight years.  He also networks with the leaders of the free world, Presidents and presidential hopefuls and assorted dignitaries, while helping combat AIDS through personal relationships with rock music superstars such as Bono. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest

Articles of Interest

Kansas Ban On AIDS Quarantines May Be Repealed In Public Health Reform

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

A Kansas bill would repeal the state’s 1988 ban on quarantining individuals with HIV and AIDS as part of broader changes to its public health practices.

Under the proposal — which has passed the Republican-controlled state House of Representatives and is pending in the Republican-controlled state Senate — the power to issue any public health quarantine, as necessary, would shift to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. In the process, the bill would restore AIDS “or any causative agent” to the category of infectious diseases that might constitute the basis for quarantine or isolation.

Advocates argue the legislation would make it easier to develop rules quickly in the face of a health emergency. Opponents say that although they are confident that no HIV/AIDS quarantine would actually be imposed, there are other concerns.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

News, Politics, Government

'Huge heart': New pope preaches church's core values with compassion, say Argentinians

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The last time Father Jorge Bergoglio was at the Vatican to be anointed with a new title, the man who would become Pope Francis reveled in the anonymity he will never again know.

It was Feb. 21, 2001, and the Argentinian priest and his aide Guillermo Marcó were headed from their quarters to the ceremony at which Bergoglio would be named a Cardinal. When Marcó seemed concerned that Bergoglio’s bright red robe made them conspicuous, the priest known for his lack of pretense shrugged it off.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marcó recalled the future pontiff saying as they ducked into a coffee shop. “In Rome you could walk with a banana on your head and no one would say anything.”

As Pope Francis, the unassuming cleric who rode the subway in Buenos Aires and rejected the Cardinal’s lavish suburban quarters will draw crowds wherever he goes. Where he once washed the feet of AIDS sufferers, shared tea and pastries with destitute war veterans and traveled to the city’s slums to comfort the poor and forgotten, Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, must convey his common touch to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics from afar.

Those who served and worshipped with Bergoglio in Argentina speak lovingly of a warm and humble man whose fierce devotion to the church’s traditional values shines through in deeds more than words. They expect Pope Francis‘ gentle, yet uncompromising nature to be a powerful force in the promotion of the faith’s long-held tenets.

Father Gustavo Irrazábal, who has known Bergoglio since 1992, describes him as modest, austere and deeply spiritual. The new pope embraces the church’s conservative social values, but places great emphasis on compassion, and tolerance and understanding of other faiths, according to him.

“He is a much loved figure,” said Irrazábal. “He is also very open to inter-religious dialogues, and has strong ties with Jewish and Islamic figures here in Argentina.”

Bergoglio has been a fixture in the places in Buenos Aires where he felt the people needed him – hospitals, hospices and ghettos, washing the feet of AIDS victims and drug addicts during Holy Week.

Bergoglio’s sympathy for the poor gained him popularity across every strata of society. Opposite Buenos Aires‘ Municipal Cathedral is the permanent protest camp of a group of Falklands – Malvinas war veterans shunned and marginalized by society. To them, Bergoglio is a hero.

“The first day I met him was four years ago when he brought us a dozen pastries,” said group member Jorge Zamudio. “Since then, he has always come to drink mate (Argentine tea) with us.

“We called him today to congratulate him, and he took the time to talk to us, even though he must have the whole world calling him,” Zamudio said. “He has a huge heart.”

Since Pope Francis‘ election, a feeling of excitement has run through the streets of Buenos Aires. As news spread that the new Pope would be a Latin American, cars honked their horns at each other in celebration – a ritual usually reserved for when Argentina wins a soccer match – …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

New style of papacy: Pope Francis pays hotel bill

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On his first day as shepherd of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis picked up his luggage at a Vatican hotel, personally thanked each member of the staff and even paid his own bill. Then, at his first Mass, he delivered a short, unscripted homily — in Italian, not the Latin of his predecessor — holding the cardinals who elected him responsible for keeping the church strong.

Pope for barely 12 hours, Francis brushed off years of tradition and formality Thursday with a remarkable break in style that sent a clear message that his papacy is poised to reject many of the trappings enjoyed by now-retired Benedict XVI.

That was hardly out of character for Francis. For years, as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Argentine pastor took the bus to work, kissed the feet of AIDS patients and prayed with former prostitutes, eschewing the luxurious residence that would have been his due as archbishop of Buenos Aires.

But now he is pope — the first from the New World and the first Jesuit — and his style both personal and liturgical is in a global spotlight.

On his first day, he couldn’t have signaled a greater contrast to Benedict, the German academic who was meek and generous in person but formal and traditional in public.

The differences played out Thursday in the Sistine Chapel as the 76-year-old Francis celebrated his first public Mass as pope.

Whereas Benedict read a three-page discourse in Latin, Francis had a far simpler message. Speaking off-the-cuff for 10 minutes in easy Italian, he said all Catholics must “build” the church and “walk” with the faith.

He urged priests to build their churches on solid foundations, warning: “What happens when children build sand castles on the beach? It all comes down.”

“If we don’t proclaim Jesus, we become a pitiful NGO, not the bride of the Lord,” he said.

“When we walk without the cross, and when we preach about Christ without the cross, we are not disciples of the Lord. We are mundane. We are bishops, priests, cardinals, popes, but we are not disciples of the Lord.”

The new style was evident even in Francis’ wardrobe. Rather …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Kindergarten teacher fired after letting students taste her blood

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A kindergarten teacher was fired after letting students taste her blood, Reuters reported.

According to the wire service, as many as a dozen students attending kindergarten at a school in Sola, Norway, may have sampled the blood of the unnamed teacher after she brought a vial of it to class for show and tell following a visit to the doctor.

“The children asked if they could touch it and she allowed them,” head teacher Inger Lise Soemme Andersen told Reuters. “Then they asked ‘how do we get it off?’ so she put her finger in her mouth and the children followed suit.

“The parents are mortified, shaken and shocked.”

The teacher was tested for AIDS and Hepatitis B following the incident, according to Reuters.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

Articles of Interest

HIV Baby ‘Cure’ Has Ties To Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation In Los Angeles

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

LOS ANGELES — When doctors announced that a Mississippi toddler born with HIV was functionally cured, the news sent shockwaves around the globe.

But the medical marvel hit close to home for a few residents in Los Angeles — friends and associates of the late AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser. Glaser lost her battle with AIDS 19 years ago, but the work she began to eradicate pediatric AIDS worldwide can still be felt through the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, a nonprofit research organization she founded after her daughter succumbed to AIDS in 1988. In fact, her legacy is imprinted on the so-called Mississippi miracle.

Two doctors involved in the Mississippi toddler’s case are recipients of the Elizabeth Glaser Scientist Awards, generous five-year grants of $700,000 that Glaser’s foundation gave to leaders in the field of pediatric AIDS research from 1996 to 2006.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

Articles of Interest

Baby Born With HIV Apparently Cured, Say Scientists

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By The Huffington Post News Editors

WASHINGTON — A baby born with the virus that causes AIDS appears to have been cured, scientists announced Sunday, describing the case of a child from Mississippi who’s now 2 1/2 and has been off medication for about a year with no signs of infection.

There’s no guarantee the child will remain healthy, although sophisticated testing uncovered just traces of the virus’ genetic material still lingering. If so, it would mark only the world’s second reported cure.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Huffington Post

Video Gaming

Super Meat Boy Developer Details Mew-Genics

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Mew-Genics, the next game from Super Meat Boy-developer Team Meat, is a complex cat management simulator with twisted humor and emergent storytelling.

Edmund McMillen of Team Meat writes, “I think most would describe Mew-Genics as a cross between The Sims and Pokemon with a sprinkling of Animal Crossing and a dash of Tamagotchi , but at its core the game really isn’t like anything we’ve seen before.”

Mew-Genics wants player action to have consequences that matter, as well as complicated variables such as narcolepsy, pregnancy, aggression, death, and, uh, feline AIDS.

Continue reading…

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at IGN Video Games

Styles & Fashion

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles…

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Hollywood can be a male-dominated town, but the actresses, producers, and industry stalwarts of Women in Film set Oscar weekend in motion yesterday. The organization—along with MAC, Max Mara, and Perrier-Jouët—threw its sixth annual pre-Oscars cocktail last night, hosted by last year’s best supporting actress, Octavia Spencer. She was glad to lend some of her own support to fellow actresses, she said. “Men are celebrated every day. It’s easy to get a project green-lighted if you’re a guy,” she explained. “That’s why I’m excited about Bridesmaids and [2012 nominee] Melissa McCarthy”—an actress Spencer thinks is changing the game.

Plenty of Sunday night’s nominees came to toast their chances, including game changer Quvenzhané Wallis (history’s youngest best-actress nominee), Jessica Chastain, and Silver Linings Playbook‘s Jacki Weaver. “When we were making it, we knew it was special,” she said of the film that’s up for eight awards Sunday night. Weaver’s director, David O. Russell, revealed that his star, Jennifer Lawrence, almost missed out on her Oscar-nominated leading role. “Jennifer was a last-minute, ‘I don’t think this will work’ Skype audition, and she ended up stealing the role.”

Not far away, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and LoveGold celebrated a Best Documentary Feature nominee, the AIDS doc How to Survive a Plague, at Chateau Marmont. Sir Elton, Sharon Stone, and Cameron Silver were on hand, as was the film’s director, David France. “It tells an incredible story,” he said of the film, “a true story about how a group of disenfranchised people changed the world.” Hoorsenbuhs’ Robert Keith and Kether Parker were there to show not only support but also a few jewels from their men’s collection. “I like the gold, intensive pieces. They’re masculine,” Parker said. Not a bad consolation prize to keep in mind for anyone who doesn’t take the gold this Sunday night.

—Alexis Brunswick and Azadeh Ensha …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Style Features

This Day in History

Today in History for 19th February 2013

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Historical Events

1512 – French troops under Gaston de Foix occupy Brescia
1923 – Philip Barry’s “You and I,” premieres in NYC
1928 – 2nd Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1942 – Japanese troop land on Timor
1949 – “Inside USA” closes at Century Theater NYC after 339 performances
1987 – Reagan lifts trade boycott against Poland

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1611 – Andries de Graeff, mayor of Amsterdam (1657..71)
1912 – Adolf Rudnicki, Polish writer (Niekochana)
1932 – Joseph P Kerwin, Oak Park Ill, Capt Med Corps USN/astro (Skylab 2)
1934 – David Hugh Jones, Poole Dorset England, director (Betrayal)
1951 – Shaykh-ul-Islam Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri (Db), Pakistani Islamic Sufi Scholar
1963 – Jessica Tuck, NYC, actress (Megan-1 Life to Live)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1620 – Roemer P Visscher, poet, buried in Amsterdam
1663 – Adam Adami, German bishop and diplomat (b. 1603)
1875 – Jean B Vuillaume, French violin maker (octobas), dies at 76
1972 – John Grierson, Scottish documentary filmmaker (b. 1898)
1993 – Gerhard Gesell, judge (Pentagon Papers), dies of liver cancer at 82
1994 – Derek Jarman, actor/director (Tempest), dies of AIDS at 52

More Famous Deaths »

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at HistoryOrb.Com – This Day in History

Health

Brilliant X-Rays Light Up Dangerous Viruses In Detailed 3D

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Diamond Light Source, the UK‘s national synchrotron facility, is launching a new lab to study the detailed atomic and molecular structures of dangerous viruses and bacteria, including those that cause serious diseases such as AIDS, Hepatitis and some types of flu. Studying the detailed structures of pathogens in this way can help the development of new treatments and vaccines… …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Medical News Today

Science & Technology

Diamond sheds light on basic building blocks of life

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The UK’s national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, is now the first and only place in Europe where pathogens requiring Containment Level 3 – including serious viruses such as those responsible for AIDS, Hepatitis and some types of flu – can be analysed at atomic and molecular level using synchrotron light. This special light allows scientists to study virus structures at intense levels of detail and this new facility extends that capability to many viruses that have a major global impact on human and animal health. Studying pathogens in this way has the potential to open up new paths for the development of therapeutic treatments and vaccines. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org

News, Politics, Government

Prince Albert of Monaco visits Haitian school

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Royalty has made a rare visit to impoverished Haiti.

Prince Albert of Monaco came to the Caribbean nation Friday to inaugurate a primary school that he has built. The school will bear his name.

The prince also met with Haitian President Michel Martelly on the grounds of the National Palace. They privately discussed ways to improve the environment, and they talked about the prince’s foundation building a center for researchers to study AIDS.

It was the second time for royalty to visit Haiti since Martelly took office in 2011. That year, Queen Sofia of Spain came.

Albert’s visit was his first to Haiti.

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

South Africans demand action after gang rape of teenager

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In a country where one in four women is raped and where months-old babies and 94-year-old grandmothers are sexually assaulted, citizens are demanding action after a teenager was gang-raped, sliced open from her stomach to her genitals, and left for dead on a construction site last week.

The 17-year-old lived long enough to identify one of her attackers, a 22-year-old. Police arrested him and said Thursday they have arrested a second suspect, aged 21. They promised more arrests soon.

“Kill them!” and “Cut off their penises,” were some of the demands voiced on talk show radio stations Thursday.

Every few months this African nation with the highest rate of rapes of babies and young girls in the world yells its outrage at a particularly brutal attack.

Last year, South Africans were shocked when village boys gang-raped a mentally ill 17-year-old with a mental age of 4. She was attacked by six boys, the youngest who was 10, in a crime that only came to light because the boys made a cellphone video of the rape and posted it on the Internet. It went viral.

Prof. Rachel Jewkes, a doctor heading the Women’s Research Unit of South Africa‘s Medical Research Council, said 37 percent of surveyed men in South Africa‘s most populated province of Gauteng said they had raped a woman or child, according to a study. Seventy-five percent of them first raped a teenager, she said.

“It’s a social disaster,” she said. The number of “men who try to feel better about their past by trying to make out that what they did wasn’t serious or wasn’t rape is obviously huge and must be a huge obstacle to getting anything done — from police making arrests to decisions in the courtroom by magistrates and so forth.”

The outcry over Saturday’s rape in Bredasdorp, a Western Cape town known for its giant protea flowers, led President Jacob Zuma to vow Thursday “that government would never rest until the perpetrators and all those who rape and abuse women and children, are meted with the maximum justice that the law allows.”

The maximum sentence for rape in South Africa is life in prison. The death sentence has been abolished.

Zuma himself was accused of rape by the HIV-positive lesbian daughter of a close friend in 2005. Zuma said the sex was consensual and he was acquitted, but is unlikely to live down his comment in court that he had a shower afterward to cut the risk of acquiring AIDS.

In a study conducted by Jewkes in 2009, 62 percent of surveyed boys over age 11 said they believed that forcing someone to have sex was not an act of violence. One-third said girls enjoy being raped.

That study found one-quarter of South African women are raped but only one in 25 report it to the police. Of those who were not raped by a partner, one in 13 had never reported the rape, and many had been raped more than once, Jewkes said. That casts doubt on police statistics showing sexual crimes decreased from …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News