World faces jump in diabetes, WHO says
GENEVA -- The world faces a devastating diabetes epidemic, with the annual death toll already exceeding the three million killed by AIDS and set to rise, the World Health Organization warned yesterday. Issuing an alarm, the WHO and the International Diabetes Foundation said the number of sufferers worldwide would more than double to 366 million by 2030, from some 171 million. Although often thought a rich country risk, it is in poorer countries that diabetes is growing fastest, with cases expected to rise 150 percent over the next 25 years. "The number is increasing dramatically and has the potential to overwhelm countries' health systems," said Dr. Robert Beaglehole, the WHO director for chronic disease. (Reuters)
IRELAND
Order of nuns offers apology on abuse An order of Irish nuns apologized yesterday for the abuse some of their members committed against children in orphanages and industrial schools. Victim advocates praised the nuns, saying the "unreserved" apology by the Sisters of Mercy was the first unconditional acceptance of responsibility by any of the 18 Roman Catholic orders of priests and nuns who cared for Ireland's abandoned and troubled children for much of the 20th century. Sister Breege O'Neill, head of the Irish Sisters of Mercy, said her order wanted to clarify an apology they had offered in 1996 "because survivors had heard it as conditional and less than complete," she told RTE, the Irish broadcast service. More than 150,000 children passed through Ireland's institutional schools between the 1920s and 1980s, about 10,000 of whom resettled in New England, victim's groups estimate. The Irish government says it will compensate anyone who says they were abused in those institutions. (Globe Staff)
NORWAY
US Navy searching for lost miniature subOSLO -- The US Navy has been searching for nearly a week for a high-tech miniature unmanned submarine that vanished during a military exercise off Norway, the Norwegian military said yesterday. The 11-foot submarine was being tested off Norway when it failed to surface last Thursday, said a Norwegian military spokesman, Commander Thom Knustad. The minisub, or Battlespace Preparation Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, is programmed before being launched to search for mines and, if necessary, destroy them. This one didn't return as planned to its mother ship, the USS Swift, a minesweeper. (AP)
PAKISTAN
Plot to hijack plane said to be uncoveredISLAMABAD -- Pakistani intelligence has uncovered a plot by a small band of terrorists to hijack and possibly blow up a plane bound for the United Arab Emirates, the prime minister said yesterday, prompting the nation to put its airports on "red alert." Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali said that authorities believe there was a group of about four to six people who wanted to hijack a plane. Intelligence indicated they wanted to blow it up, he said. There was no indication when the plot was to be carried out or if it involved Al Qaeda. Jamali would not speculate on whether the hijackers were Pakistanis or foreigners. (AP)
COLOMBIA
Attorney general office targeted in drug probe BOGOTA -- Justice officials opened criminal investigations yesterday against eight current and former members of the attorney general's office and ordered some arrested for allegedly aiding drug traffickers, paramilitary forces, and rebels. The accusations against the officials, including some top prosecutors, indicated drug traffickers had penetrated the offices of those responsible for bringing the kingpins to justice. Five of the suspected officials were ordered arrested and three of them have already been detained, according to Attorney General Luis Camilo Osorio's office. (AP)
