The 56-year-old King of Eswatini, erstwhile Swaziland, is marrying for the 16th time. King Mswati III's bride is all of 20, she is the daughter of South Africa's former President Jacob Zuma. King Mswati's father had 125 wives. #Gravitas brings you the whole story.

Gravitas: The King of Swaziland is marrying for the 16th time, his father had 125 wives

Swaziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch, said on Thursday he was officially renaming the country as the Kingdom of eSwatini.

He announced the change to eSwatini, meaning "land of the Swazis", in the local Swati language at Golden Jubilee celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence and of his 50th birthday.

The king has referred to the "Kingdom of eSwatini" several times in recent years - in an address to the UN&nbspGeneral Assembly in 2017 and at African Union and other international conferences.

Addressing a large gathering in a stadium in the second city of Manzini, 40 km (25 miles) east of the capital Mbabane, the king said Swaziland was reverting to the original name it had before being colonised by the British.

The impoverished southern African nation - a member of the Commonwealth - gained independence from Britain in 1968.

"I would like to announce that from today onwards, our country will be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini," the king said.

He said the name "Swaziland" had caused confusion. "Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland," the king said.

The king, who wore a red and black military uniform and rode in an open car into the stadium, said he wanted his country to have a name people could identify with.

Most of the king's subjects eke out a living in agriculture, often cultivating sugar. There is widespread poverty in a country with the world's highest HIV/AIDS rate.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen attended the event while on a visit to a country which is one of the few to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan rather than Beijing.

It is Tsai's first trip to Africa since assuming the presidency in 2016.

Swaziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch, said on Thursday he was officially renaming the country as the Kingdom of eSwatini

Swaziland's King Mswati III, Africa's last absolute monarch, said on Thursday he was officially renaming the country as the Kingdom of eSwatini. He announced the change to eSwatini, meaning "land of the Swazis", in the local Swati language at Golden Jubilee celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence and of his 50th birthday. The king has referred to the "Kingdom of eSwatini" several times in recent years - in an address to the UN&nbspGeneral Assembly in 2017 and at African Union and other international conferences. Addressing a large gathering in a stadium in the second city of Manzini, 40 km (25 miles) east of the capital Mbabane, the king said Swaziland was reverting to the original name it had before being colonised by the British. The impoverished southern African nation - a member of the Commonwealth - gained independence from Britain in 1968. "I would like to announce that from today onwards, our country will be known as the Kingdom of eSwatini," the king said. He said the name "Swaziland" had caused confusion. "Whenever we go abroad, people refer to us as Switzerland," the king said. The king, who wore a red and black military uniform and rode in an open car into the stadium, said he wanted his country to have a name people could identify with. Most of the king's subjects eke out a living in agriculture, often cultivating sugar. There is widespread poverty in a country with the world's highest HIV/AIDS rate. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen attended the event while on a visit to a country which is one of the few to maintain diplomatic ties with Taiwan rather than Beijing. It is Tsai's first trip to Africa since assuming the presidency in 2016.

Africa's last absolute monarch renames Swaziland as 'eSwatini'

Arrived on Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind addressed Swaziland's parliament on Wednesday becoming first visiting the head of the state to do so.

President also met King Mswati III and agreed on expanding the India-Swaziland partnership to accelerate growth and development.

During his address, President&nbspannounced to donate $1 million to support Swaziland's national disaster mmanagement agency and assured a commitement to the development &nbsppartnership to create local capacities in the country and across Africa.

President also announced to establish a Centre of Agricultural Excellence in Swaziland due to &nbspthe experience it shares in the sector.

Indian is also going to concessional finance a new parliament building&nbspconstruction in Swaziland.

He also addressed the Indian community earlier in the day at Lusala where he said that India will become a superpower if the economy continues to grow at the current pace.

He further said that India is ready to help Swaziland on issues of Public health as they signed to agreements in the health and medicine and visa department field.

During the President's visit, he has also conferred an order of the Lion on Kovind which a highest civilian honour Swaziland bestows on non-citizen.

President Kovind is right now is on second leg os his Three Africa nation visit.

The countries Ram Nath Kovind is visiting are Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Zambia from April 7 to 12, accompnied by his wife Savita Kovind.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kovind said that "India is the fastest growing economy in the world. If Indian economy continues to grow in the same way we will certainly become a superpower," while addressing Indian community in Lusaka.&nbsp

Arrived on Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind addressed Swaziland's parliament on Wednesday; becoming first visiting the head of the state to do so

Arrived on Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind addressed Swaziland's parliament on Wednesday becoming first visiting the head of the state to do so. President also met King Mswati III and agreed on expanding the India-Swaziland partnership to accelerate growth and development. During his address, President&nbspannounced to donate $1 million to support Swaziland's national disaster mmanagement agency and assured a commitement to the development &nbsppartnership to create local capacities in the country and across Africa. President also announced to establish a Centre of Agricultural Excellence in Swaziland due to &nbspthe experience it shares in the sector. Indian is also going to concessional finance a new parliament building&nbspconstruction in Swaziland. He also addressed the Indian community earlier in the day at Lusala where he said that India will become a superpower if the economy continues to grow at the current pace. He further said that India is ready to help Swaziland on issues of Public health as they signed to agreements in the health and medicine and visa department field. During the President's visit, he has also conferred an order of the Lion on Kovind which a highest civilian honour Swaziland bestows on non-citizen. President Kovind is right now is on second leg os his Three Africa nation visit. The countries Ram Nath Kovind is visiting are Equatorial Guinea, Swaziland and Zambia from April 7 to 12, accompnied by his wife Savita Kovind. Earlier on Tuesday, Kovind said that "India is the fastest growing economy in the world. If Indian economy continues to grow in the same way we will certainly become a superpower," while addressing Indian community in Lusaka.

President Ram Nath Kovind announces aid of $1 million to Swaziland

Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and virus-carriers live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said today. 
 
New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said the authors of a comprehensive analysis in The Lancet HIV journal. 
 
It was published to coincide with the International AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa to assess progress in stemming an outbreak that has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s. 
 
The report paints &quot;a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections,&quot; according to lead author Haidong Wang from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle. 
 
This could be worsened by &quot;stagnating&quot; funding for HIV/AIDS programmes and medicines. 
 
&quot;Therefore, a massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the estimated $36 billion (33 billion euros) needed every year to realise the goal of ending AIDS by 2030,&quot; IHME director Christopher Murray said in a statement. 
 
Over the past 15 years, countries have contributed $110 billion in &quot;development assistance&quot; for HIV/AIDS programmes. 
 
Today, there are some 38.8 million people living with the AIDS-causing virus, a steady increase from 28 million in 2000 thanks to the advent in 1996 of life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). 
 
Annual AIDS deaths have declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2015. 
 
There is no AIDS cure or vaccine. 
 
ART cocktails suppress the virus, enabling people to live long lives, though the drugs are expensive and can have side effects. 
 
 
Dramatic change required 
 
Use of antiretrovirals, for long the preserve of the rich, grew from 6.4 percent of infected men in 2005 to 38.6 percent ten years later, and from 3.3 percent to 42.4 percent for women over the same period, the study found. 
 
Another factor that has helped cut the death rate was education and medicines to prevent infected women passing the virus onto their unborn children, said the report. 
 
The study saw researchers collate HIV data recorded from 1980 to 2015 for 195 countries. 
 
In spite of advances, most countries are still far from achieving the UNAIDS goal of ensuring that by 2020, 90 percent of infected people will know their status, and 90 percent of those will receive ART. 
 
In 2015, 41 percent of HIV-infected people received ART, said the report. 
 
The picture varied vastly between countries and regions. 
 
In 2015, 1.8 million new HIV infections, some 75 percent, were in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 212,500 (8.5 percent) in south Asia. 
 
&quot;The highest rates of infection were in southern Africa, with more than one percent of the population per year becoming infected in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland,&quot; said the report. 
 
In Europe, the highest rate of new infections was in Russia (57,340) and Ukraine (13,490). 
 
&quot;Global efforts have had less impact on the incidence of new infections than on HIV mortality,&quot; concluded the report. 
 
&quot;Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require a dramatic change in how HIV prevention is pursued.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997

Some 2.5 million people are still becoming infected with HIV every year even as drugs have slashed the death rate and virus-carriers live longer than ever, a global AIDS study said today. New infections have plateaued for the past 10 years after a steep dip from the peak rate of 3.3 million in 1997, said the authors of a comprehensive analysis in The Lancet HIV journal. It was published to coincide with the International AIDS conference underway in Durban, South Africa to assess progress in stemming an outbreak that has killed more than 30 million people since the 1980s. The report paints "a worrying picture of slow progress in reducing new HIV infections," according to lead author Haidong Wang from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, Seattle. This could be worsened by "stagnating" funding for HIV/AIDS programmes and medicines. "Therefore, a massive scale-up of efforts from governments and international agencies will be required to meet the estimated $36 billion (33 billion euros) needed every year to realise the goal of ending AIDS by 2030," IHME director Christopher Murray said in a statement. Over the past 15 years, countries have contributed $110 billion in "development assistance" for HIV/AIDS programmes. Today, there are some 38.8 million people living with the AIDS-causing virus, a steady increase from 28 million in 2000 thanks to the advent in 1996 of life-prolonging antiretroviral therapy (ART). Annual AIDS deaths have declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 2005 to 1.2 million in 2015. There is no AIDS cure or vaccine. ART cocktails suppress the virus, enabling people to live long lives, though the drugs are expensive and can have side effects. Dramatic change required Use of antiretrovirals, for long the preserve of the rich, grew from 6.4 percent of infected men in 2005 to 38.6 percent ten years later, and from 3.3 percent to 42.4 percent for women over the same period, the study found. Another factor that has helped cut the death rate was education and medicines to prevent infected women passing the virus onto their unborn children, said the report. The study saw researchers collate HIV data recorded from 1980 to 2015 for 195 countries. In spite of advances, most countries are still far from achieving the UNAIDS goal of ensuring that by 2020, 90 percent of infected people will know their status, and 90 percent of those will receive ART. In 2015, 41 percent of HIV-infected people received ART, said the report. The picture varied vastly between countries and regions. In 2015, 1.8 million new HIV infections, some 75 percent, were in sub-Saharan Africa, followed by 212,500 (8.5 percent) in south Asia. "The highest rates of infection were in southern Africa, with more than one percent of the population per year becoming infected in Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland," said the report. In Europe, the highest rate of new infections was in Russia (57,340) and Ukraine (13,490). "Global efforts have had less impact on the incidence of new infections than on HIV mortality," concluded the report. "Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 will require a dramatic change in how HIV prevention is pursued." (AFP)

2.5 million people suffer from HIV every year

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