U2 frontman Bono is wooing French President Nicolas Sarkozy to get backing in the fight against poverty and Aids.

The big buzz at the world’s largest Aids conference is that microbicides to help women protect themselves from HIV might be available in several years. Yet Aids experts warned yesterday the world is woefully unprepared to ensure widespread access to such treatments.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation took its support of AIDS-related research and care to a new level today, announcing a €385.1m grant to a global fund that provides AIDS assistance in poor countries.

THE president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, a great friend of the Irish Government, is attempting to make himself president for a third time.

ACTRESS Sharon Stone raised $1 million in five minutes yesterday for Tanzanian mosquito nets, turning a debate about African poverty at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland into an impromptu fund-raising event.

Sharon Stone raised a million dollars (€766,000) in five minutes today for Tanzanian mosquito nets, turning a debate about African poverty at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland into an impromptu fund-raising event.

The United States today rejected outright a call by the UN chief at the International AIDS Conference for an €824.2m contribution in 2005 to the global fund that has become the centrepiece of United Nations efforts against the disease.