prevalence
in the world and one of the highest rates of tuberculosis.
World News from the BBC
President Obama has described the ratification of a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia as a "national security imperative". He called on the US Senate to vote on the Start II treaty before Congress
breaks up
for the year. His Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had said the US couldn't afford to postpone the issue.
The committee which awards the Nobel Peace Prize says six countries have declined to attend the ceremony in Oslo at which this year's prize will be given to a jailed Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo. China had warned of
consequence
s if governments showed support for Mr Liu. The six not attending are Russia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Morocco, Iraq and China itself.
The Italian government has announced that it's captured
all but
two of the 30 most wanted mafia criminals. It follows the arrest on Wednesday of the man said to be the financial brains behind the Neapolitan Casalesi clan, Antonio Iovine. The Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said he was confident the remaining
fugitive
s would soon be caught.
"The number of mafia members arrested is 6,754, 28 of whom are on the list of the most dangerous criminals. We're only missing two from that list, Matteo Messina Denaro and Michele Zagaria, and the net is tightening around them as it did for Antonio Iovine."