Nuri al-Maliki, Iraq’s prime minister, has ordered thousands of troops to the border with Syria, to stop what Iraq says are fighters crossing over and carrying out attacks on its soil.
Fares Braizat, a Middle East analyst at Qatar University in Doha, discusses the issue with Al Jazeera’s Shulie Ghosh.
After years of war and economic decline, the picture of education is bleak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): 4.6 million children are out of school, of which 2.5 million are girls. The country is one of the 25 countries where UNICEF has intensified efforts to accelerate girls’ education.
One of the main reasons why children, especially girls, do not go to or stay at school, is that the family has to pay for educational supplies such as pens, slates, notebooks, crayons, etc. Since 2005, UNICEF has taken on a huge challenge: to provide 2.5 million children – 50% of them girls – and 55,000 teachers with educational supplies. This involves the procurement, production and distribution of 36,000 educational kits. Each student kit contains crayons, exercise books, pens, a ruler, a pencil sharpener and an eraser, as well as a bag to carry the items. Teachers’ kits contain exercise books, pens, white and coloured chalk and a bag.
Primary school education in the Democratic Republic of Congo is neither compulsory, free nor universal, and many children are not able to go to school because parents were unable to pay the enrollment fees. Only half of all children in the DR Congo ever attend school. Half of these won’t finish the fifth grade.
Japan’s next prime minister might be nicknamed “The Alien” for his prominent eyes, but it is his wife who claims to have had a close encounter with another world.
“While my body was asleep, I think my soul rode on a triangular-shaped UFO and went to Venus,” Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of premier-in-waiting Yukio Hatoyama, wrote in a book published last year.
“It was a very beautiful place and it was really green.”
Yukio Hatoyama is due to take office on September 16 following his Democratic Party of Japan’s historic election win last week.
Miyuki, 66, described the extraterrestrial experience, which she said took place some 20 years ago, in a book entitled Very Strange Things I’ve Encountered.
Yukio Hatoyama, 62, is the grandson of a former prime minister.
Miyuki, also known for her culinary skills, spent six years acting in the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female musical theatre group. She met the US-educated Yukio while living in America.
With the nation apparently hungry for change, Japanese people are getting set to welcome a quirky first lady.
Al Jazeera Laura Kyle reports on Japan’s flamboyant future first lady.
NATO troops are coming under fire for their actions in Afghanistan. European ministers meeting in Stockholm have condemned an air strike ordered in Kunduz province, that killed dozens of people. And in an unprecedented move, the top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal has spoken on local television in an attempt to reassure the local population. Kunduz is in a strategically important location, and as Al Jazeeras James Bays reports, Afghan and foreign troops are facing difficulties in keeping the province out of Taliban control.
A conference of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa came to a close on Friday in Kigali, Rwanda with participants appealing to the governments of the 46 African countries that took part in the conference to allocate more funds for research on HIV/AIDS. NTVs Rita Tinina who covered the conference interviewed former Botswana President Festus Mogae, who since stepping down from power last year has taken on the role of an anti-AIDS crusader.
More from UN AIDS:
On 20 October 2008 Festus Mogae the former President of Botswana was named the winner of the Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership.
Announcing the 2008 Ibrahim Laureate, Kofi Annan, the Chair of the Prize Committee, said: “President Mogae’s outstanding leadership has ensured Botswana’s continued stability and prosperity in the face of an AIDS pandemic which threatened the future of his country and people.”
“The former President of Botswana has demonstrated what leadership – and perseverance – can achieve in the face of extreme challenges – the Ibrahim Prize represents a pinnacle in Mr Mogae’s efforts to stop the spread of HIV, not only in Botswana but throughout Africa. He is a true visionary and an exemplar to other leaders around the world,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Dr Peter Piot.
In what ways has Mogae’s leadership made a difference in Botswana’s AIDS response?
Festus Mogae was President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008 and made the AIDS response one of the top priorities of his administration. Botswana is a small prosperous country yet with 24% of adults aged 15-49 estimated to be living with HIV; the country has one of the world’s highest HIV prevalence rates. More than one third of all deaths in children under 5 are due to AIDS.
Although HIV is such a heavy toll on the population, thanks to government leadership and the dedication of considerable domestic resources to HIV, the country has made significant progress in its response to the disease.
Botswana was the first African country to embark on a programme of rolling out free antiretrovirals to all its citizens living with HIV in need and in 2007 delivered HIV treatment to more than 90% of those who need them. In addition to treatment, it has made impressive strides in preventing mother-to-child HIV transmission and caring for children orphaned by AIDS.
The country has also been a leader in expanding voluntary HIV testing and counselling – the offer of HIV testing has been routine in all health care settings since 2004.