AIDS IS A LEADING KILLER OF WOMEN - HIV/AIDS is the leading killer of women between the ages of 15 and 44, a new report by the World Health Organization shows. The WHO's first-ever global survey of women's health revealed that women in developing countries were most likely to catch HIV through unsafe sex. Poor access to contraception, lack of sex ed, and iron deficiency were found to be contributing factors. The WHO sees a direct link between discrimination against women and ill-health. "We will not see a significant improvement in the health of women until they are no longer recognized as second-class citizens in many parts of the world," WHO chief Dr. Margaret Chan said. Link

HE MIGHT BE ONTO SOMETHING - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggested that humanity might be better off if we spent more on peace and development and less on war. Global military spending now tops $1 trillion a year. “The world is over-armed and peace is under-funded,” Mr. Ban told said at a conference on religion and disarmament in Costa Rica last week. Ban said he sees a new wave of disarmament activism rising to counter out-of-control military spending and rampant violence. Link

CAN YOU SAY "BARGAINING CHIPS"? - Three U.S. journalists have been charged with espionage. The three reporters were arrested by Iranian border guards this summer while hiking in the wilderness of Kurdistan in Northern Iraq. They had been held without charge for months. Now, as international negotiations over Iran's nuclear program enter a critical phase, the three have been charged as spies. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the charges against the three are baseless and called on Iran to set them free. Link

DEBT VS. DEVELOPMENT - Some of the worlds' poorest countries are about to pay much more to service their debt, a UN trade official warned at the UN Conference on Trade and Development. Some countries are looking at a 17% hike in their debt servicing costs. In other words, they're going to be paying 17% more of their total revenue just to pay the interests on their national debts. Link

THE YEMENI CONNECTION - The Army psychiatrist charged with last week's shooting rampage at Ft. Hood was in touch with Anwar al-Awlaki, an anti-American imam in Yemen. U.S. intelligence agencies say they intercepted communications between Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and the imam this year and last. The inquiry was dropped because the messages didn't hint at violence. Link