It’s the news with Kandy Korrespondent!

On Tuesday, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon opened the UN Aids conference in New York with the grim announcement that the world is losing the fight against HIV-AIDS. He noted that drug innovation is not keeping up with the growing numbers of new infected– 2.5 million people became infected with HIV last year while only one million began using antiretroviral drugs. UN figures suggest that at least 33 million people have HIV worldwide.

Bill Clinton, also in attendance, took the opportunity to highlight the impact of the current economic crisis upon the distribution of aid.

“This oil price spike has taken away 100 per cent of the value of foreign aid and debt relief to very many countries […] It has dramatically increased the cost of producing food, and it has increased therefore the number of people who are at risk of these diseases.”

As Air Force One touched down in Berlin on Tuesday, the mood in Germany was strangely calm. Throughout his two terms in office, every visit Bush has made to Germany has been accompanied by massive protests—from his first visit in May 2002 to last year’s G8 summit in Heiligendamm. It’s not any lack of animosity, nor a lessening of the German social activism. Rather, according to Der Taqesspiegel, ““Bush is not even popular in the role of the enemy anymore.” A student elaborated stating, “it just isnt’ worth it anymore […] he isn’t president much longer anyway”. Ouch!

On Tuesday, Zimbabwe’s opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai rejected calls for a so-called national unity government instead of a presidential runoff vote. There is growing belief that the June 27th runoff has little to no chance of being free and fair given the current levels of violence and intimidation within the country. The opposition says that at least 66 of its supporters have been killed since the March 31st elections.

A freak Salmonella strain linked to certain tomato varieties has shut down the Florida tomato industry. Unless the USFDA can find the source and clear the state’s produce for sale, $40 million worth of tomatoes will rot. Even so, however, the damage to tomato demand has already been done: McDonald’s and other restaurant chains have stopped serving tomatoes while Wal-Mart and other grocery stories have stopped stocking certain tomatoes varieties. Since the initial warning on June 3rd, there have been 145 reported cases and 23 hospitalizations.

Saturday’s World Cup qualifying match between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon nearly resulted in a major international incident when the Syrian national anthem was played for the Lebanese team. Last months’ violence between the Western-backed government and the Syrian/Iranian-backed Hezbollah opposition resulted in 65 deaths. Syria’s influence in Lebanon remains an incredibly hot issue.

That’s the news

[Photo courtesy of AlJazeera.net]