of dead livestock that could contaminate not only the immediate environment, but also water resources. The likelihood of the outbreak of different diseases is quite high"The zud, as Mongolians term the natural disaster, began last summer with severe drought followed by heavy snowfalls and temperatures as low as minus 46C. This year's rains have been insufficient, delaying the growth of new grass and leaving livestock little choice but to eat their own dung."It has been the worst natural disaster since the 1960s," said Baika Puntsag, a journalist at the Mongolian Daily News in Ulan Bator yesterday. "Meat prices have been rising because of the lack of livestock."A United Nations appeal for $3m in food aid has thus far raised less than $500,000, mainly from Britain, Norway, Denmark and Australia.As Mongolia prepares for parliamentary elections on Sunday, the crisis is becoming a hot political issue. The democratic coalition that has led Mongolia for the past four years faces losing power to the former communists, the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party."The MPRP say that the democratic coalition has handled the disaster badly," explained Baika. "They say that the coalition is not as experienced as the communists at taking care of the herdsmen."As they head to polling stations scattered across a vast land that is half the size of India, most Mongolians are anxious for the return of simpler, more stable times, when the state offered greater security.

Up to 60 per cent of the population lives in poverty, and unemployment is running high in the cities.. As many as a half of the 15-year-olds in countries across southern Africa will die of Aids, according to a report released by the United Nations ahead of the International Aids conference in Durban next week. As many as a half of the 15-year-olds in countries across southern Africa will die of Aids, according to a report released by the United Nations ahead of the International Aids conference in Durban next week. The report predicts that half the teenage boys living in Zimbabwe and South Africa today will die of Aids and up to two thirds of those living in Botswana - the world's worst affected country - will perish from the virus. But the cost is not just in wasted young lives - it is wrecking the social and economic fabric as well.Aids is cutting a swath through the educated middle classes who represent the economic mainstay of the worst affected 16 sub-Saharan sates. Zambia lost 1,300 teachers in one 10-month period - equivalent to two-thirds of the teachers trained each year. In the Ivory Coast, seven out of a0 deaths among teachers are from Aids.

In some countries up to 70 per cent of all hospital beds are occupied by Aids patients. The health budgets of theseheavily indebted countries are being steadily wiped out by the march of the disease."The world has never before experienced death rates of this magnitude among young adults of both sexes across all social strata," the UN said, in one of its grimmest reports to date.Up to 24 million people are expected to die from the disease in the 16 worst affected countries, according to the UN. The United States recently warned that Aids is threatening to wipe out the ruling élites in many African countries causing political instability and economic collapse. Peter Piot, the executive director of the UN Aids programme, said: 'Today, it is clear that Aids is a development crisis, and in some parts of the world is rapidly becoming a security crisis too."According to Dr Noerine Kaleeba, a Ugandan UN Aids programme official, most people with the disease do not even know they are infected, because HIV testing is largely unavailable in Africa.The disease is spreading like wildfire because the chances of an uninfected individual encountering an infected partner have become higher. As today's children reach maturity, their risk of contracting HIV depends on the level of virus circulating in the older, sexually active population. When 15 per cent of adults are HIV positive, at least a third of the children will become infected during their adulthood.The latest estimates are that 18.8m people around the world have died of Aids, including 3.8m children born to mothers with HIV. A further 35m people are thought to be infected with the virus.