South Africa finally acknowledges AIDS epidemic. After years where key South African leaders downplayed the AIDS crisis, new leadership in the country finally acknowledged it and vowed to do more to fight the epidemic at a rally commemorating World AIDS Day Monday. South African political leaders, AIDS activists and a United Nations official were among those in attendance at the rally in Durban, reports The Associated Press. Former President Thabo Mbeki has been widely criticized for not doing much to help those living with the illness, and he even publicly expressed doubt about whether HIV caused AIDS. Mbeki’s health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was also really unpopular with activists because of her rejection of conventional AIDS drugs. Msimang, instead, favored the use of lemons, garlic, beetroot and the African potato to treat the disease. But now that both are gone, the nation’s new leaders hope to take on the challenge. “We are the first to admit that a lot still needs to be done,” said the South Africa Deputy President Baleka Mbete. The country’s HIV pool, an estimated 5.5 million people, ranks No. 1 in the world, and about 1,000 people die of the disease every day in that country, reports the AP. “With the young and working age dying in droves, South Africa’s death statistics resemble those of a country in a terrible war,” said the Confederation of South African Trade Unions. Harvard researchers discovered that the previous government’s failure to provide AIDS medication to the population between 2000 and 2005 caused more than 330,000 South Africans to die. “We have to mourn the lives of those we have not saved,” said Barbara Hogan, the nation’s new health minister. Improving HIV treatment and prevention programs and providing medicine to infected pregnant women so they won’t pass the virus on to their babies, are also on her list of priorities. The government aims to reduce the number of new infections by half by 2011 while making sure that 80 percent of people living with the disease get treatment.

Ethiopian singer found guilty in deadly hit-and-run. Popular Ethiopian singer Teddy Afro was found guilty of manslaughter for a 2006 hit-and-run incident that left a homeless man dead, reports the BBC. The star, whose real name is Tewodros Kassahun, will be sentenced on Friday and faces between five and 15 years in prison. The court found that Afro ran over the man with his car and drove away without stopping. But his fans think the charges are politically motivated. Afro’s music was an anthem for protests by the opposition three years ago, reports the BBC. There had been a mix-up as to what date the accident actually occurred. On the first date, Afro had an alibi. On the second probable date, he said he was with friends, but the judge didn’t believe him and found him guilty on all counts. When the ruling came down, Afro was vocally upset, but was able to give a thumbs-up sign to his supporters while he was leaving the court room, telling reporters, “I never killed anyone, I didn’t get justice from this court.”

TAGS: AIDS epidemic, Ethiopian, guilty, hit-and-run, South Africa, star

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