Baby “Cured” of HIV, Doctors Announce
A group of doctors announced on Sunday that they had cured a baby of HIV following an intensive treatment regimen that began when the child was born.
Now 2 1/2 –years-old, the unidentified toddler from rural Mississippi has been off retroviral drugs for a year and shows no trace of the virus.
Doctors injected the newborn with drugs 30 hours after birth. Within a few more hours, the baby’s viral count had dropped to an unprecedented low. As of a year ago, the child has boasted no trace of HIV, motivating doctors to begin conducting more trials in hopes of confirming a cure for babies born with the deadly virus.
The baby is now the second person to be officially declared “cured” of HIV. In 2007, a middle-aged man named Timothy Brown received a bone marrow transplant from a genetically HIV-resistant donor. Brown remains HIV-free as of today, spurring research to find a cure for the virus.
“Batman” Hands Suspect Over to Bradford Police
Bradford police in northern England were dumbfounded last Sunday when a local “Batman” handed over a burglary and fraud suspect.
Images caught the portly caped crusader as he brought a 27-year-old man to a Bradford police station. The “Batman” then disappeared, leaving locals intrigued and speculating about his identity.
But the “Bradford Batman” unmasked his face a day later. 39-year-old Stan Worby confessed to delivering his friend, Danny Frayne, to the police station after Frayne asked Worby to turn him in.
“It was a joke at the end of the day and Danny wanted to go to the police station,” said Worby . “I had spoken to Danny during the week and tried to knock some sense into him. It was getting on my nerves having police round all the time asking for him or his whereabouts.”
Keep your eyes peeled, though. For all we know, the Dark Knight could make a return.
Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez Dies at Age 58
One month ago, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was flown to Cuba for cancer treatment. A few weeks later, he was said to be battling a severe respiratory infection. On Tuesday, the heavily left-wing president succumbed to his health problems, leaving behind a political legacy that divided Venezuelans and others around the world.
Chavez, 58, was first elected to office in 1998 and had been re-elected in October 2012 while he was in the hospital. He had returned to Venezuela in February, but never made a public appearance.
Thousands flooded the streets of Caracas to pay their final respects to Chavez as his coffin was carried to the Military Academy. Various Latin American leaders have also come to honor one of the world’s most controversial leaders. The official mourning period has been set to last seven days.
It was announced on Friday that Chavez’s body is to be embalmed and displayed in a museum to commemorate his legacy.
North Korea Situation Escalates, Peace Pacts with South Korea Revoked
For the past few weeks, North Korea has been under fire for conducting the country’s third nuclear weapons test. Now, tensions in the Korean Peninsula have risen as North Korea has revoked its peace pacts with South Korea , threatening to attack their neighbor to the south with nuclear missiles.
Pyongyang has reacted angrily to new sanctions imposed on them by the UN Security Council, which has restricted luxury goods imports and the country’s banking activities.
Hours after Pyongyang announced the reversal of its peace agreements with South Korea, China came forward to urge both North and South Korea to engage with one another and prevent “further escalation.” While China has voted in favor of the most recent UN Security Council sanctions against North Korea, its role in helping enforce them still remains unclear.