Reports show less HIV than estimated

INDIA
NEW DELHI -- International AIDS specialists and Indian health officials revealed new data showing that India has 2.5 million people infected with HIV, about half the previous estimate by world health officials. But the Indian government said it still plans to move aggressively to fight the disease, pledging $1.95 billion for a new round of its AIDS control program . (AP)

MOROCCO

RABAT -- Morocco has raised the national security alert rating to "maximum," the highest level, which indicates a radical Islamist attack is imminent, the Interior Ministry said yesterday. The decision was announced after a meeting of chiefs of police, intelligence officials, and paramilitary forces. The ministry cited "reliable intelligence information" but gave no details of a specific threat. (Reuters)

THAILAND

BANGKOK -- A panel appointed by Thailand's coup leaders to draw up a new constitution agreed on a final draft yesterday and scheduled a referendum for August, making elections a possibility this year. Amid charges he abused his powers, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatrato was ousted by the military in September. (AP)

SWEDEN

STOCKHOLM -- Sweden, which has welcomed far more Iraqi refugees than has the United States or the rest of Europe, said yesterday that it is tightening its asylum rules and will forcibly deport Iraqis denied refuge. The announcement marked an abrupt change in the relatively lax rules. (AP)

ISRAEL

JERUSALEM -- Nine in 10 Israeli settlements sprawl beyond their official boundaries in an attempt to grab more land in the West Bank, which the Palestinians claim for a future state, a group that tracks Israeli construction in the territory said yesterday. Israel's settlements encroach on unallocated land even though most of the area in its own jurisdictions remains empty, according to the report from Peace Now. (AP)

SOUTH KOREA

SEOUL -- North Korea suggested yesterday that it is willing to suspend operations at its plutonium-producing nuclear reactor as soon as it receives an initial shipment of energy aid promised as a reward for closing the facility. South Korea plans to deliver the first oil shipment to the North on July 14, the Yonhap news agency reported. (AP)

COLOMBIA

BOGOTA -- Colombia's former chief of the secret police was arrested yesterday on charges of colluding with paramilitary death squads. Jorge Noguera had been freed from jail three months ago due to procedural errors with this arrest. This time, the arrest was requested by Colombia's chief prosecutor, Mario Iguaran, who ordered Noguera held in a maximum-security jail . (AP)