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Today's featured article Race Against Time: Searching for Hope in AIDS-Ravaged Africa is a 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 German pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Wörth (pictured) represented the Kaiserliche Marine at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review in 1897? ... that in 1697, Reverend Ichabod Wiswall delivered the first known funeral sermon in British America? ... that the 7th century Maligawila Buddha statue, which was found broken into pieces in 1951, was repaired and re-erected in 1980? ... that singers Anne Sofie von Otter and Christian Gerhaher recorded music written in the concentration camp of Terezín by artists such as Ilse Weber, Hans Krása, Pavel Haas and Viktor Ullmann? ... that the silver stavraton replaced the gold hyperpyron as the Byzantine Empire's chief coinage during the last century of its history? ... that one political faction in Isabelline Spain was known as the polacos because of its leader's Polish ancestry? ... that the Honorary Fellows of Keble College, Oxford, have included Ronald Reagan and John Betjeman, even though neither had academic links to the college? ... that the Birmingham Charity Cup, a Victorian football trophy, featured engravings of a football match and of "the poor and sick succoured by the heavenly spirit"? 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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