Gideon Rose, managing editor of Foreign Affairs Magazine, and Rana Foroohar, senior editor of Newsweek’s international editions, join Daljit Dhaliwal to discuss the weeks top stories.
They discuss the debate over next steps in the war in Afghanistan, as top U.S. military commanders call for yet more American troops. They also examine the global economic summit in Pittsburgh — what the leaders accomplished as their ranks increased from a group of eight to a group of 20.
An experimental vaccine being tested in Thailand has shown signs of protecting people from infection by the virus that causes AIDS.
US military and Thai health officials announced in Bangkok that for the first time ever, an experimental vaccine prevented infection from the HIV virus. Thai authorities say the treatment given to healthy volunteers cut the number of expected HIV infections by almost a third.
“It is found that the vaccine has 31.2 per cent efficacy in reducing the risk of HIV infection,” Withaya Kaewparadai, the Thai health minister, said.
The world’s largest AIDS vaccine trial included more than 16,000 volunteers in Thailand.
It is the first time any HIV vaccine has even partially succeeded in a clinical trial.
Every day, 7,500 people worldwide are newly infected with HIV. Scientists say the study used strains of HIV common in Thailand. Whether such a vaccine would work against strains in the US or Africa is unknown.
The largest country in Europe, Germany, is going to the polls this weekend. The election campaign has been dominated by concerns about the economy. Signs of recovery have been seen but the country has been badly affected by the global recession.
Many workers have had to accept reduced hours and reduced pay as an alternative to being laid off.
Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Phillips reports from Hamburg, a port city hit hard by the global economic downturn as the world ran out of money to buy German goods.