AIDS confce opens tomorrow:
The ninth international conference on AIDS opens here Monday in subdued mood, the optimism of the early fight against the deadly disease long dissipated, reports AFT from Berlin.
In the 12 years since Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was first Identified, researchers have had to learn patience and humility, realizing the more they learn about the human Immuno-Deficiency Virus (HIV) which causes AIDS, the more they have to discover.
As the scientific work piles up, leads that once looked promising and which were sometimes prematurely publicized with unwarranted fanfare, have dried up, while experimental new drugs have had to be shelved after rising false hopes.
Those directly concerned — people Infected with the virus — are venting their frustration through Increasingly militant support organizations or associations.
29 Palestinians killed in May: Twenty-nine Palestinian nationals were shot dead and 1,198 others were Injured by Israeli forces during May, Palestinian news agency (Wafa) quoted human rights centres in the Gaza Strip as saying Saturday, Xinhua reports from Ttinis.
The dead included five children under 15 years of age and one 50-year-old woman. Among the Injured, 523 were shot with live bullets, 24 with rubber bullets, 603 by beating, 40 with tear-gas bombs, and eight hit by military vehicles, according to the figures released by Gaza hospitals.
The figures also showed two Israelis were killed, 12 Israeli soldiers were injured in May. Seven hand granades and eight explosives and 28 incendiary bottles were hurled at Israeli military targets, and 13 Palestinian bullet attacks were committed against Israelis.
Wafa reported that the month of May has witnessed marked increase in the number of Palestinian martyrs and In violations of human rights to which Palestinian nationals were exposed.
13 die in Pak car mishap: a cat* car fell hundreds of feet (metres) onto a road bridge in northern Pakistan after the cable-snapped, killing 13 members of the same family, government officials said on Saturday. Reuter reports from Islamabad.
They said 10 women were among those killed in the accident on Thursday tn the remote Batkhela area of the North West Frontier Province.
A three-year-old boy was the only survivor from the party, which had come to the area to enjoy a ride in the cable car on the Eid-ul-Azha festival, one official said.
He said overloading of the cable car could have caused the accident.
Peruvian bus mishap claims 16:
Sixteen people were killed and 17 injured when packed bus plunged into an abyss near Cusco, Peru, police said Friday, reports AFT from Cusco.
The bus was carrying delegates from the peasants federation on their way to a convention when it drove off the precipice.
Fire makes 1000 homeless : More than 1,000 residents In Nairobi were left homeless on Thursday after a sudden blaze ruined their houses, the local newspaper The Standard' reported Saturday, says Xinhua from Nairobi.
The fire, believed to be caused by a cooking stove, started at about 2:30 pm of local time. It spread rapidly and the Fire Bridge failed to get easy access to the burning site because of narrow paths.
Velasquez replaces Carlos: vene-, zuela's Congress elected former cabinet Minister Ramon Jose ^Velasquez Mujica as the country's interim President Saturday to replace President Carlos Andres Perez while he stands trial for corruption, reports Reuter from Caracas.
Velasquez, a 76-year-old journalist and historian, was elected after the ruling Democratic Action Party and leading opposition party Copic had agreed he was the best choice to lead the oil-exporting nation out of crisis.
He was scheduled to be sworn in later Saturday and will rule until the government's term ends next February, unless Perez is acquitted on the charges of embezzlement and misuse of public funds.
250 Mozambicans return June 12 : A programme to repatriate Mozambican war refugees will begin June 12, the United Nations said Saturday, reports AP from Harare.
A first batch of 250 people will leave Nyangombe refugee camp In northeastern Zimbabwe, bound for their home district of Barwe in Mozambique, said Samuel Mhlrtbldt, an offi rial of the UN High Commission for Refugees in Harare
The timing of the further repatriation of 140.000 Mozambicans in Zimbabwe will depend on logistical arrangements. Mhlrtbldi said In a statement.
More than 1 million Mozambicans fled to neighbouring countries during the 16-year civil war in their homeland that ended with a cease fire signed October 4 by the government and Mozambique National Resistance rebels.