Boring but important

Terror advisor resigns

Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House’s chief terrorism

advisor since 2004, resigned this week, saying she would seek work in the private sector. Townsend was the public face of the administration’s anti-terror efforts, issuing public updates on threat levels while also giving confidential briefings to President Bush. Before joining the Bush White House, she served as the Coast Guard’s chief intelligence officer.

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AIDS numbers revised

A U.N. agency this week acknowledged that it had overestimated AIDS cases worldwide by more than 6 million, saying the actual number was 33.2 million. The agency also said that contrary to its earlier reports, the number of new infections had actually declined every year since the late 1990s. UNAIDS, the U.N.’s AIDS-fighting arm, attributed the drop in estimated cases to improved survey techniques. Officials said that previous surveys, especially in India, had over­sampled prostitutes, drug users, and others at high risk of infection.