A band is to release a song celebrating Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday after being encouraged to do so by Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Singer Boy George is due to appear in a US court today to hear what community service he must perform after admitting wasting police time.

President Mary McAleese today headed off on an 11-day tour of southern Africa visiting Lesotho, Mozambique and Tanzania to check on Irish-funded aid projects.

The number of people living with HIV around the world has reached its highest level, with more than 40 million now infected, a report revealed today.

THE sisters and partner of murdered Belfast man Robert McCartney collectively won the overall award at the 31st annual ESB/Rehab People of the Year awards ceremony in Dublin on Saturday.

The global HIV epidemic has reached its highest level yet with almost 40 million people now infected, a report revealed today.

SCIENTISTS, activists and policymakers yesterday touted condoms as a trusted weapon in the fight against Aids, dismissing President George Bush’s policy of abstinence as a “serious setback” in global efforts to control the pandemic.

THE UN, former US President Bill Clinton, World Bank and the global fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria have set up a joint plan to buy and distribute cheap, generic AIDS drugs in poor countries.

HIV/Aids is threatening the international Red Cross, with thousands of aid workers hit by the disease, the organisation said in Geneva today.