AIDS

A top UN official fears Asia could outpace disease-ravaged Africa in HIV/AIDS infections in the coming decade. "There are clear warning sings that the epidemic could escalate in many countries if urgent action is not taken," said Kathleen Cravero, deputy executive director of UNAIDS. In 2000, HIV/AIDS infected more than 900,000 people and killed 490,000 in the Asia-Pacific region, compared to Africa's 3.9 million infections and 2.4 million deaths. Around the world, 36.1 million people live with HIV/AIDS, about 70% of them in sub-Saharan Africa and about 18% in Asia and the Pacific. Cravero warns that this decade could see the epidemic increasing faster in Asia, home to more than half the world's population, than in Africa.

Europe

The president of the European Central Bank, Wim Duisenberg, expects continued European economic growth through 2003 despite the U.S. slowdown. He believes that the 12 European Union nations sharing the euro as their common currency will see their economies expand at nearly 3% annually over the next three years. He remains adamant that economic travails in the United States, Britain and Japan are not infecting Europe. The Central Bank will try to slow the economy with an interest rate cut because inflation remains a concern, but Duisenberg forecasts that inflation will fall below its 2% target ceiling in the next three to four months, from its current level of 2.4%. Economists, upbeat about the European economy, expect it to outpace U.S. growth in 2001.

Iran

The United States is quietly expressing concern over the buildup of the Iranian military. U.S. military officials report that Iran's plans to purchase advanced weapons from Russia could change the balance of power in the region. Teheran has deployed fast attack naval craft, anti-ship missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. In addition, Iran has completed hardened facilities to protect their surface-to-surface missiles and launchers and improved their command-and-control systems. "Teheran's ability to interdict the Strait of Hormuz with air, surface and sub-surface naval units, as well as mines and missiles remains a concern," General Tommy Franks says. Iran is also more than halfway toward completing a nuclear reactor at Bushehr in an $800 million joint-effort with Russia. The 1,000-megawatt facility will receive the first delivery of nuclear reactor components later this year, and is contracted to be functional by March 2004. Observers expect Iran to sign an accord for a second nuclear plant after Bushehr is operational.

Iraq

President Saddam Hussein, with his call to form an army to liberate Jerusalem from Israeli control, has cast himself as the defender of the historic city. Saddam made his call for volunteers for the "Jerusalem Army" late last year, responding to previous Israeli-Palestinian clashes. The official Iraqi News Agency says that more than 7 million men and women—nearly a third of its 22 million citizens—have volunteered for the force. It is not known how many were among the first to be trained, but the figure appears to be in the thousands. Recently, other groups have left their homes for military training. In one televised event, Iraqi volunteers chant, "With our blood and souls . . . we sacrifice for Saddam," as their wives and children kiss them goodbye.

Vatican

In 1995 the Pope issued an encyclical titled Ut Unum Sint, inviting other "Christian communities" to join him in a search for "a new way of exercising the primacy" in the cause of greater universal Christian unity. This is slowly becoming a reality. At the conclusion of a historic, three-day meeting, a 15-member delegation from the Presbyterian Church (USA) and five staff members from the Catholic Church's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity issued a joint statement, pledging to continue working toward theological agreement on three major issues: the doctrine of justification, mutual recognition of each other's baptisms, and a joint study of Reformation-era documents in which the churches condemned each other. Both sides agree that "the primacy of the Bishop of Rome is the main obstacle to ecumenical relationships."