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.”

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Hezbollah has taken over the western portion of Beirut the capital of Lebanon. This recent violence stems from the Western-backed (read: US-funded) government’s attempt on Monday to shut down Hezbollah’s telecoms network calling it a threat to state security.

According to eyewitnesses, the takeover occurred on Thursday at 8am with widespread Hezbollah roadblocks. Witnesses report street fighting involving machine guns, RPGs and tanks throughout the city. Civilians, apparently, have been forbidden from exiting their homes or even standing out on their balconies. Foreign nationals are desperately seeking a way out of the city.

It is feared that such violence will spiral the country back into civil war. The first Lebanese civil war occurred from 1975-90.

Meanwhile, the situation in Myanmar (Burma) continues to deteriorate. As many as 100,000 dead or missing and thousands facing homelessness and disease, yet the government remains incredibly reluctant to allow foreign aid into the country.

On Friday, the UN World Food Program suspended operations when its’ first plane was impounded by the government. Aid flights will hopefully be resumed on Saturday.

According to the US government, Myanmar will allow one aid plane to land on Monday. Read More »