THE number of children dying under the age of five each year globally has plummeted to a record low, marking “an historic moment”, a charity said yesterday.

A global situation where physical, sexual and psychological violence is being perpetrated against children on a daily basis has been revealed in a UN report.

More than two million children under the age of 15 are living with HIV, almost all in sub-Saharan Africa where there is no access to treatment and death is virtually guaranteed, seven leading child advocacy organisations said in a report yesterday.

POOR nutrition contributes to the deaths of 5.6 million children each year – the equivalent of 10 children a minute — according to a report published yesterday.

Forecasts of rain showers and light snow on earthquake-hit regions of northern Pakistan today threatened to compound the misery of hundreds of thousands of people living in the open with little or no shelter.

More tents were being flown today to people left homeless by the South Asian earthquake as survivors joined relief workers in hailing an agreement between India and Pakistan to open their disputed frontier to ease the delivery of assistance.

NEW casualty figures from the South Asian earthquake have pushed the death toll to more than 79,000.

Rains compounded the misery of millions of homeless victims a week after Pakistan’s worst earthquake and briefly grounded relief flights, while a fresh consignment of aid arrived from archrival India with much-needed medicine and tents.

Thousands of children in regions devastated by South Asia’s earthquake are at risk of death from cold, malnutrition and disease, UNICEF said.

RESCUE teams and aid pledges poured into Pakistan from around the world yesterday.

THE EU has banned imports of breeding chicks and eggs from the US after the outbreak of a highly contagious form of Avian bird flu was confirmed in Texas.

The US Agriculture Department has stepped up the country’s defences against mad cow disease, banning meat from cows that cannot walk or stand on their own and promising to create a nationwide animal tracking system as soon as possible.

THE discovery of the first case of mad cow disease in the US has led to over 30 countries banning US beef imports, dealing a massive blow to the multi-billion dollar industry that directly employs one million people.

Japan and South Korea banned US beef imports today following an announcement that a recently slaughtered cow had tested for positive for BSE.

The Bush administration has requested formation of a World Trade Organisation dispute panel as the US pressed ahead with a case against the European Union over genetically modified food.