Obama urges Africa youth to claim future
Obama urges Africa youth to claim future
CAPE TOWN, South Africa — Challenging African youth to seize a “moment of great promise,” President Barack Obama declared Sunday that the future of the young and growing continent still rests in ailing South African leader Nelson Mandela’s vision for equality and opportunity. Seeking to carve out his own piece of that legacy, Obama unveiled an ambitious initiative to double electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa, vowing to bring “light where there is darkness.”
The president’s address at the University of Cape Town capped an emotionally charged day in this picturesque coastal city, including a solemn visit to the Robben Island prison where Mandela was confined for 18 of his 27 years in captivity. Obama stood stoically with his family in Mandela’s cramped cell and peered across the lime quarry where Mandela toiled each day, causing the damage to his lungs that led to his latest hospital stint.
“Nelson Mandela showed us that one man’s courage can move the world,” Obama said during his evening speech at the university. He was flanked by a diverse array of students, underscoring Mandela’s vision for a unified “rainbow nation” for the country once led by a white racist government.
In the flagship address of his weeklong trip to Africa, Obama outlined a U.S. policy toward the continent that focuses on increasing the region’s ability to support itself economically, politically and militarily.
WHO: Treat people
with HIV early
LONDON — Young children and certain other people with the AIDS virus should be started on medicines as soon as they are diagnosed, the World Health Organization says in new guidelines that also recommend earlier treatment for adults.
The advice will have the most impact in Africa, where nearly 70 percent of people with HIV live. Many rich countries already advocate early treatment. WHO’s new guidelines were released Sunday at the International AIDS Society meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
About 34 million people worldwide have HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. HIV attacks key infection-fighting cells of the immune system known as T-cells. When that count drops to 200, people are considered to have AIDS. In the past, WHO recommended countries start treating people with HIV when their T-cell count fell to 350; a normal count is between 500 and 1,600.
The new recommendations say to treat earlier, when the T-cell count hits 500.
In addition to children younger than 5, WHO says several other groups should also get AIDS drugs as soon as they’re diagnosed with HIV: pregnant and breast-feeding women, people whose partners are uninfected and those who also have tuberculosis or hepatitis B.
Battle of Gettysburg commemorated
GETTYSBURG, Pa. — Thousands of people have gathered at Gettysburg National Military Park for a service commemorating the 150th anniversary of the fierce battle that proved to be the turning point of the American Civil War.
National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis told attendees Sunday night the weeklong events are intended to honor the dead, and recognize the courage and heroism of the soldiers who fought at Gettysburg from July 1-3, 1863.
He says visitors have also gathered to reaffirm the principles that demanded the terrible sacrifices Union and Confederate soldiers made 150 years ago.
Historian and author Doris Kearns Goodwin delivered the keynote address. Her best-selling novel “Team of Rivals” in part inspired last year’s Oscar-winning film “Lincoln.”
The ceremony was scheduled to conclude with a procession to Soldiers National Cemetery.
By wire sources