World AIDS Day request: more funding. World AIDS Day and events like the International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, in Senegal, Dec. 3-7, demonstrate that the disease remains “extraordinarily important for those who are trying to fight AIDS in this world,” says Shanta Devarajan, chief economist for the World Bank’s Africa region. That’s because 20 years after the first World AIDS day shone a spotlight on the virus, some 33 million people are living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, reports the World Bank. AIDS is increasingly seen as not only a health problem but society’s problem, says Devarajan. “We need all the resources and all the mechanisms that we have in society to fight AIDS.” While AIDS remains the world’s No. 1 health threat, in the United States it poses a particular grave risk to Black Americans. As Phill Wilson, executive director of the Black AIDS Institute, puts it, “AIDS in America is a Black disease . . . about half of the just over 1 million Americans living with HIV or AIDS are Black.” The institute is asking the Obama administration to set up the same type of domestic funding program for HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and research programs in America as President Bush did through the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) in international communities.

Ruben Studdard owes government $200,000

“American Idol” winner Ruben Studdard must pay back nearly $200,000 in federal and local taxes. The singer’s properties have been hit with liens, according to court records after Studdard reportedly failed to make payments dating to 2003. It was in ‘03 when Studdard won $1 million on the hit reality talent competition. He later sued a former manager for allegedly mishandling funds. Studdard was awarded a settlement.

Filmmaker finds funds in Dubai

Filmmaker Spike Lee says the Middle Eastern territory of Dubai is good for more than providing Michael Jackson refuge outside the region in November to scout financial resources. “There is a ton of money in Dubai, so I’ve gotta get on a plane. I gotta start making connections,” Lee tells Emirates Business. “I don’t want to be in a position where if I want to do a film and the Hollywood studios don’t want to make it, then it doesn’t get made. I gotta know that ‘no’ can’t be a final ‘no.’ I gotta go to other sources of finance.” Lee says credit for bankrolling movies in America is drying up. The director has been a pioneer among contemporary independent Black filmmakers since the late 1980s.