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Today's featured article Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa is a 2005 non-fiction book written by Stephen Lewis (pictured) for the Massey Lectures. Lewis was the United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. His criticism of the United Nations, international organizations, and other diplomats, including naming specific people, was called undiplomatic and led to speculations that he would be removed from his UN position. In the book and the lectures, Lewis argues that significant changes are required to meet the Millennium Development Goals in Africa by their 2015 deadline. He explains the historical context of Africa since the 1980s, citing a succession of disastrous economic policies by international financial institutions that contributed to, rather than reduced, poverty. He connects the structural adjustment loans, with conditions of limited public spending on health and education infrastructure, to the uncontrolled spread of AIDS and subsequent food shortages. To help alleviate problems, he ends with potential solutions which mainly require increased funding by G8 countries to levels beyond what they promise. Book reviewers found the criticisms constructive and the writing sincere. His style focuses less on numbers and statistics, and more on connecting decisions by UN officials and western diplomats to consequences on the ground in Africa. (more...) Recently featured: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – Tom Crean – Ruffed lemur Archive – By email – More featured articles... Did you know... From Wikipedia's newest articles: ... that the unnamed woman with seven sons (pictured) portrayed in 2 Maccabees is known variously in other sources as Hannah, Miriam and Solomonia? ... that Avondale Park, a Park Ship sunk on 7 May 1945, was one of two Allied ships destroyed by enemy action in the last hour of the Second World War in Europe? ... that minister Edward Woolsey Bacon served in the American Civil War and in 1865 led the black 29th Connecticut Volunteer Infantry into Richmond, Virginia? ... that bus company London Country North East lost over £5 million in less than two years of existence before it was split up in 1989? ... that the physicist Stefan Meyer led the Institute for Radium Research in Vienna before and after the Nazi regime? ... that a description of the Battle of Aspern-Essling written by Patrick Rambaud as The Battle was originally a project of Honoré de Balzac? ... that The Kinks' "Sitting in the Midday Sun" is thought to be the first track recorded at their newly-built Konk Studios? ... that after Egypt was defeated by Israel during the Six-Day War the Egyptian government issued copies of the Hope paintings to its troops? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news A fire destroys the Kasubi Tombs (main building pictured), a World Heritage Site in Uganda where the Bugandan kings are buried. As much as ninety percent of Chile's population loses power in a massive blackout. A series of bomb attacks kills at least 72 people in Lahore, Pakistan. The Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Paralympics is held in Vancouver, Canada. In Kazakhstan, at least 40 people are killed and more than 1,000 evacuated after the Kyzyl-Agash dam bursts. Mykola Azarov is appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine, following the resignation of Yulia Tymoshenko. Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy, Grand Imam of al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, dies at the age of 81 during a visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Carlos Slim becomes the first non-U.S. citizen to top Forbes' list of billionaires since 1994. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events... On this day... March 19: Saint Joseph's Day in Western Christianity; Father's Day in various countries 1279 – The Song Dynasty in Imperial China ended with a victory by the Yuan Dynasty at the Battle of Yamen off the coast of Xinhui, Guangdong Province. 1687 – The search for the mouth of the Mississippi River led by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle ended with a mutiny and his murder in present-day Texas. 1915 – Pluto was photographed for the first time, 15 years before it was officially discovered by Clyde Tombaugh at the Lowell Observatory. 1945 – World War II: A single Japanese aircraft bombed the American aircraft carrier USS Franklin (pictured), killing over 700 of her crew and crippling the ship. 1978 – In response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, the United Nations called on Israel to immediately withdraw its forces from Lebanon, and established the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. More anniversaries: March 18 – March 19 – March 20 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now March 19, 2010 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture A group of African American fighter pilots, popularly known as the Tuskegee Airmen, belonging to the 332d Fighter Group at Ramitelli Airfield, Italy, in May 1945. The Tuskegee Airmen were the first African American military aviators in the United States armed forces. On March 19, 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron was activated with over 250 men. This became the core of other black squadrons forming at Tuskegee and Maxwell Fields, all of which combined to form the 332d in 1944. Photo: Toni Frissell; Restoration: Jake Wartenberg Recently featured: Dune stinkhorn – Patrick Street, Cork, Ireland – Pistachio Archive – More featured pictures...

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