The warning comes amid fears that terror groups might try to stage attacks to coincide with the Independence Day holiday on 4 July. 

Such actions may be imminent and include suicide operations

State Department warning

It said terrorists could turn to soft targets - such as churches, restaurants and clubs - as security is intensified at higher-profile places. 

But despite the increased security, it has emerged that federal undercover operators managed to smuggle fake bombs and other weapons past checkpoints at 32 major US airports in June. 

'Avoid crowds'

The State Department said it did not have specific information about planned attacks, but added that American citizens should remain vigilant. 

Authorities fear terrorists might try to attack landmarks

It urged US nationals to be aware of their security in places where there were large numbers of Americans, and to look for alternative venues. 

It said the warning superseded an earlier alert issued in March. 

The previous caution was released after the wife and stepdaughter of a US diplomat were killed in a grenade attack on a church in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. 

As preparations step up for Independence Day celebrations, officials said the FBI would guard 4 July festivities and parades. 

By Peter Greste  BBC correspondent in Buenos Aires

Tens of thousands of angry Argentines have staged another demonstration outside the presidential palace in Buenos Aires. 

We need to change the entire system

Protester

The latest demonstration came a day after the President, Eduardo Duhalde, called early elections and on the eve of a summit of regional leaders. 

The elections will now take place in March 2003, six months earlier than planned. 

Weekly ritual

It has been almost eight months since violent protests overthrew the last Argentine Government but still the demonstrators are on the streets and rather than fading away, they seem to be getting bigger. 

Duhalde announced early elections

The latest brought together a broad coalition of groups, from the unemployed to unions, professional associations and academics - a vast and diverse crowd that filled the huge Plaza de Mayo outside the presidential palace, despite the bitter cold and heavy rain. 

This time they were protesting against what they described as state repression - the murder of two unemployed men gunned down last week. 

Two police officers are now in custody under investigation for the killings. 

But that was only the latest excuse to gather in what has almost become a weekly ritual, directing their anger at the government for its handling of the economic crisis which has left millions of Argentines destitute. 

Regional concern

The protests also had a lot to do with President Duhalde's decision to bring the poll forward six months but according to most of those on the streets, the elections will not help a thing. 

"It will only replace one bunch of politicians with another," complained one of the protesters. "We need to change the entire system." 

But Argentina also needs help to solve the immediate crisis and that is likely to be at the top of the agenda in a meeting of regional leaders due to begin on Friday. 

They all know that unless stability comes to this country soon, the consequences for all of Latin America could be devastating. 

By Janet Williams  In Seattle

As part of its enhanced role within US homeland defence following the attacks of the 11 September, known here as 9/11, the US Coast Guard has brought into service the first of four marine safety and security teams. 

The team, based in Seattle in the Pacific north-west, is equipped with small, fast patrol vessels which can be transported by road or by air wherever needed throughout the region. 

It's a lot more important to do it now and do it right rather than after a terrorist activity

Senator Patty Murray

This includes boarding and inspecting incoming commercial vessels to allay fears of a weapon of mass destruction arriving in one of the six-million containers unloaded at US ports each year. 

Unit 9/11 - 01, an appropriate number for a team highlighting the Coast Guard's place at the heart of homeland defence, was commissioned with due ceremony. 

Suspicious cargoes

The unit will protect military vessels. The Seattle area has one of the highest concentrations of US naval might, including the port of Bremerton, home of USS Carl Vinson. 

New unit will board and inspect commercial vessels

The other priority is commercial shipping, with the new, highly mobile unit assigned to check suspicious cargoes. 

Local Senator Patty Murray said that with half of all US imports arriving by sea, an attack on a port would have a catastrophic effect on the economy. 

For her, prevention is the key: 

"It's a lot more important to do it now and do it right rather than after a terrorist activity, as we saw with our airports, where everything immediately shut down," she said. 

"It affected the commerce, it affected travel, it affected even Boeing, where we lost jobs. We don't want that to happen at our ports," the senator added. 

Foreign ports checked

The new security team will board suspect vessels well out to sea as part of the government's policy of pushing back the nation's maritime borders. 

US Customs are pushing them back even further, negotiating for permission to inspect containers in foreign ports. 

Despite all this, analyst John Pike of Global Security says the chances of finding any hidden weapons remain extremely slim because of the sheer size of the operation, but he says the new coastal security may well act as an effective deterrent. 

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Security is tight at home and at US facilities abroad 

US President George W Bush has issued a rallying call to Americans and a warning to the country's enemies at the first Independence Day celebrations since the 11 September terror attacks. 

Thousands of troops, police and FBI agents have been deployed

It came as people across the United States enjoyed the Fourth of July holiday amid an unprecedented security operation. 

Mr Bush said the United States had a proud tradition of fighting for freedom dating back 226 years to the declaration of independence. 

"From that day in 1776, freedom has had a home and freedom has had a defender," he told an audience at Ripley, West Virginia. 

After praising America's diversity of races and religions, the president turned to the attacks on New York and Washington last September. 

"In a moment we discovered again that we are a single people - when you strike one American, you strike us all," he said to cheers and applause. 

'Precautionary' 

The White House Office of Homeland Security is monitoring more than 2,000 Independence Day events throughout the country. 

In what the Bush administration described as precautionary measures, military jets are patrolling the skies above key cities while thousands of extra police, troops and FBI agents have been deployed across the country. 

National landmarks are being heavily guarded

A particular focus of the Fourth of July celebrations is the national mall around the Washington monument, where hundreds of thousands of people are expected to gather at nightfall for a fireworks display. 

This year, there will be extra surveillance cameras and security fencing and more screening and searches of visitors, in an operation supervised by 2,000 police. 

In New York, everyone taking part in the celebrations has to pass through a special security checkpoint. 

About 4,000 police officers - some of them in civilian clothes - have been deployed across the city. 

Afghan celebrations 

But despite the security concerns, millions of Americans appeared determined to enjoy their Fourth of July diet of barbecues, partying, travel and fireworks. 

"I don't think I will ever feel completely safe again," said Sonny Palazzo, a Connecticut resident. "But I can't let it ruin my life, either." 

Security was also stepped up at US facilities overseas, particularly in the Middle East. 

In Afghanistan, US forces held low-key celebrations with barbecues, sports games, and music, but no fireworks. 

Security around the perimeter of Bagram air base, their Afghan headquarters, was tightened, as troops inside the compound played basketball on a helicopter pad. 

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A fire line is expected to be drawn around the Rodeo-Chediski blaze by Sunday 7 July, when it will be considered fully under control. 

Evacuees were emotional as they made their way home

Residents at an evacuation centre in the nearby town of Payson cheered as fire information officers announced that the evacuation order had been lifted for residents of Heber-Overgaard and Forest Lakes. 

As the evacuees made their way home along a highway lined with blackened trees, they passed spray-painted signs saying "Welcome home neighbors" and "Thank you firefighters". 

But the homes they returned to were often little more than piles of wreckage. Charred pine trees stood around burnt-out cars and remains of buildings. 

Residents of the town of Forest Lakes were luckier. Fire crews had managed to rebuff the fire before it could do major damage to homes in the settlement. 

"So relieved," said Forest Lakes resident Barbara Purtyman, as she looked around her front yard. "Very, very lucky." 

Accused

Meanwhile two firefighters appeared in separate courts on Wednesday, accused of starting two of the largest fires to hit the US this year. 

In Flagstaff, Arizona, contract firefighter Leonard Gregg pleaded innocent to starting the Rodeo fire. 

The Rodeo-Chediski fire affected an area twice the size of New York

The Rodeo fire wiped out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of timber that the tribe relies on for its income. 

In neighbouring Colorado, Forestry Service firefighter Terry Lynn Barton, who was charged on 16 June with starting the Hayman fire near Denver, had her trial put back from its original August date to give the defence more time to prepare. 

She has also pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. 

By Fergal Parkinson  BBC correspondent in Miami

The Cuban Government has reacted angrily to rumours circulating in the United States and in Cuba that thousands of people are planning to leave the island, bound for Florida. 

The rumoured plan is similar to that in 1994, when 30,000 Cubans took to the sea in flimsy rafts and other makeshift boats heading for the southern tip of Florida. 

The exodus is said to be planned to coincide with US Independence Day. 

Although nobody is sure how the rumour started, or indeed if it is true, both countries are taking no chances. 

Thousands attempt the illegal journey each year

Despite the fact that 20,000 Cubans are allowed to enter the US legally every year, thousands more attempt the journey illegally aboard smugglers' boats. 

Since 1995, Cubans picked up at sea by the US Coastguard have been sent back to their home country, while those that make it to US soil are allowed to stay. 

"Migrants rescued at sea will be expeditiously repatriated back to Cuba according to current procedures," the US Coastguard said in a statement. 

The Castro government in Havana blames this law for encouraging its inhabitants to make the dangerous crossing that takes the lives of dozens of Cubans every year. 

Investigators seized $1.5m of narcotics including Ecstasy, cocaine, LSD and methamphetamine at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. 

Respect for the US military has never been higher in the US

Another 99 civilians have also been charged in connection with similar offences following the operation, codenamed Xterminator. 

No details on the type of convictions have been revealed, but the US military imposes a maximum sentence of 15 years for dealing drugs and five years for drug use. 

It's not an epidemic by any means

Major Steve Cox

Base spokesman Major Steve Cox said those involved were only a tiny fraction of the 60,000 personnel at the coastal base. 

"That's 0.001% of the forces at Camp Lejeune. It's not an epidemic by any means," he said. 

"From a Marine Corps perspective, we view drug use as a societal issue. We would be naive to think our Marines are not using drugs." 

Although drugs in the military are not rare, they usually involve a smaller number of people. 

The US Air Force Academy in Colorado was rocked by a rash of incidents last year with one cadet sentenced to three and a half years in a military prison for using and dealing drugs such as Ecstasy and LSD. 

Sniffer dogs

Five cadets at the US Naval Academy in Maryland were court-martialled and jailed on drugs charges in 1986 and 15 others were expelled. 

The Marines joined other branches of the US military last December in introducing random drugs testing. 

Tests are becoming more sensitive and more are being done at weekends and on Mondays because by Tuesday, Ecstasy taken on a Saturday may be undetectable. 

Dogs are also being trained to detect Ecstasy in lockers. 

The case at Camp Lejeune comes at a time when respect for the military has never been higher, with Americans ranking it the country's most trustworthy institution. 

By Steve Kingstone  BBC correspondent in Washington

The only man charged in connection with the 11 September attacks has asked to testify before the US Congress. 

Zacarias Moussaoui claims that he, and the suspected hijackers, were under surveillance by the FBI before September, and that the US intelligence agencies allowed the attacks to happen. 

You're playing games with my life

Zacarias Moussaoui

In it, he says he has "relevant information and proof" relating to the conduct of the FBI before September. 

He has asked for the chance to share his thoughts with US lawmakers, who are holding hearings into intelligence failings leading up to the attacks. 

Afghanistan excuse

Specifically, Mr Moussaoui says the authorities were watching at least one of the suspected hijackers last summer. 

Moussaoui: Faces death penalty if found guilty

The FBI chose not to make any arrests, he said, because they wanted the 11 September attacks to go ahead, giving America an excuse, he argues, to destroy Afghanistan. 

The US Government flatly denies the accusation, and is seeking the death penalty for Mr Moussaoui. 

Arrested last August, he faces six conspiracy charges in connection with the attacks. 

Having dismissed his court-appointed lawyers, Mr Moussaoui is now representing himself. 

His latest motion also accuses the judge of wanting him executed: "You're playing games with my life" Mr Moussaoui said. 

It is extremely unlikely that the defendant will get his moment in the congressional spotlight. 

He faces trial later in the year. 

Mohammad Saffi was arrested on immigration charges for failing to obtain the proper visa clearance, the FBI said. 

Saffi was monitored by federal agents

Mr Saffi, a flight engineer with Air New Zealand, was reportedly due to take a course at Aero Service, an aviation school near Miami International Airport. 

Mr Saffi flew from New Zealand and entered the US in Los Angeles. He was monitored by federal agents as he made his way to Miami. 

"He was coming here for flight engineer training," Ms Orihuela said. 

But he did not have the student visa required for foreign citizens to attend flight schools in the US, she added. 

Visa crackdown

Mr Saffi was taken to a detention centre south of the city to await deportation, Ms Orihuela said. 

We find the circumstance to be somewhat disturbing

Jim Goldman, an assistant director INS

He has lived in New Zealand for the past six years. 

It is not known how the US authorities were tipped off about Mr Saffi's connection to Saddam. 

Jim Goldman, an assistant director with the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), told a Miami television station: "We find the circumstance to be somewhat disturbing". 

The US has tightened visa requirements for foreigners attending flight training schools in the wake of the 11 September terror attacks. 

Some of the alleged hijackers who attacked New York and Washington trained at flight schools in Florida. 

The mission's mandate had been due to expire at 0400 GMT after the US refused to back a full renewal of the mission in a row over immunity for its peacekeepers. 

No-one has slammed the door on our proposals

John Negroponte US ambassador to UN

Earlier UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote to the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, saying the US action is putting the whole system of UN peacekeeping operations at risk. 

The 12 day extension now gives diplomats time to hammer out a compromise deal. 

Negotiations continue

Britain's ambassador to the UN, Jeremy Greenstock, said after the vote that the council would resume work on Washington's concerns about the court next week. 

The US ambassador to the UN John Negroponte insists the US may still have its way. 

"No-one has slammed the door on our proposals. It's been an uphill fight in gaining acceptance of positions we have been putting forward," he said. 

The European Union has offered to bring forward its planned takeover of the Bosnia mission to end the dispute. 

US fears

In his letter to Mr Powell, Mr Annan said he was "seriously concerned at the development in the Security Council" following the US decision to veto a six-month renewal of the mission's mandate. 

	International Criminal Court Launched on 1 July and due to start work early in 2003  Aims to prosecute for atrocities committed anywhere in the world  Shunned by Washington but backed by most UN Security Council members  Q&A: The UN's Bosnia mission

The US fears that its troops serving overseas could be vulnerable to unjustified accusations by America's enemies before the new court. 

Earlier in a bid to break the impasse the US has suggested that some nation's peacekeepers be given ICC immunity for a year. 

It also suggested that permanent members of the Security Council - including itself - should be given the right to veto any prosecution by the ICC. 

But the proposal was rejected by all but two or three of the 15-members of the Security Council. 

Credibility at risk

Mr Annan said that the US proposal "flies in the face of treaty law", risks undermining the Rome Treaty setting up the court and could end up discrediting the council. 

The BBC's UN correspondent Greg Barrow says Mr Annan's letter was blunt and to the point. 

Mr Annan wasn't pulling his punches

The EU has offered to step into the breach to save the Bosnia mission if a deal is not worked out in time. 

The EU was not set to take over until January but the EU's foreign policy co-ordinator, Javier Solana, said the organisation could take over before then. 

He said: "I think we are in a position to accelerate the procedures if necessary. 

"I hope very much an agreement can be found... so that a vacuum is not created." 

EU offer

Under current plans, the EU in January will send a 500-strong police force to take over from the UN mission which has been training a 14,000-strong Bosnian police force. 

But bringing that handover forward presents serious problems. 

Mr Solana said most of the EU's mission was already on the ground, and that the current Danish commander would continue to lead it. 

But financial arrangements would take longer. 

The EU has set aside $12m for next year's mission, but there is very little money left in the current EU budget. 

General elections are also planned for October, when the UN police are set to play a key role in monitoring the new Bosnian force. 

The leaders of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) are asking for $100 million for the London-based Privy Council's replacement. 

The annual summit took place amid violent political unrest in Guyana. 

Caricom's Secretary General, Edwin Carrington, said the addition of Haiti would boost the Community. 

"I have been saying all along that people should understand that Haiti has 8 million people and their buying power would be enormous both now and in the future," he said. 

Caricom is asking the Caribbean Development Bank to raise the money on the international capital market, the Associated Press reports. 

Placed in a trust, the fund would generate about $5m in annual interest payments and this would be used to run the Trinidad-based court. 

Unifying role

Compton Bourne, the bank's president, said the fund would avoid having to depend on regional budgets. 

"The court would not have to worry about where next year's money is coming from," he said. 

Mr Bourne added that Caribbean leaders seemed keen to ensure they had no direct role in funding the bank. 

If the fund is approved, the court is due to start operating next year. 

It is intended as a key part of a European-style single market that Caricom hopes to establish by 2004 and may play a part in settling trade disputes. 

Britain's Privy Council has been the court of last resort for decades for several former British Caribbean islands. 

It has been accused of obstructing the islands' efforts to enforce the death penalty, which is illegal in Britain. 

Unrest

The summit has been overshadowed by violent protests in Georgetown. 

Protesters burnt property after the shootings

One of the protesters' leaders, Phillip Bynoe, accused the government of President Bharrat Jagdeo of "starting a civil war". 

The police were out in force again in the capital on Friday. 

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Hugo Chavez was briefly ousted from power

 

By Nick Miles  BBC Central America correspondent in Caracas

Former US President Jimmy Carter is starting a four-day visit to Venezuela on Saturday to try to mediate in the country's political crisis. 

In April, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was briefly forced to step down by the country's armed forces following a national strike and huge street demonstrations. At least 50 people died in the violence 

There is no civil war here. We are very happy (the Carter mission) is coming

Hugo Chavez

The last two months have seen an uneasy calm returned to the country. 

The president has removed a number of deeply unpopular ministers from his cabinet, but there are still widespread calls for Mr Chavez to leave office. 

Crunch time

Jimmy Carter's visit is coming at a crucial time. 

He was invited to the country by Mr Chavez to try to build bridges between his government and the numerous opposition groups. 

The Carter Center - set up by Jimmy Carter when he left office in 1980 - is an organisation with a long track record in helping to foster political dialogue, from North Korea to Bosnia. 

Jimmy Carter hopes to bring reconciliation

President Chavez has tried to open discussions with opposition groups who say his government's largely populist and left-wing agenda has harmed the country's economy and encouraged a near class war. 

But to a large extent it has been to no avail. 

The sounds of pots and pans being banged in the streets of Caracas have continued to echo out during the large opposition rallies calling for him to step down. 

Mr Carter's mission may prove one of his toughest to date.

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Hundreds of people became trapped in Bandera

Towns along the Medina River west of San Antonio and the Guadalupe River to the north and east were evacuated on Friday as the rivers rose near their record levels. 

"People need to get out of their homes if they live anywhere near the Guadalupe," Guadalupe County Sheriff Arnold Zwicke was quoted by the Reuters news agency as saying. 

There were reports that hundreds of people, many of them children, were trapped in the town of Bandera which had been cut off by the floods. 

'Floating houses'

The area surrounding the Canyon Lake Dam on the Guadalupe River was one of the worst hit, as the water burst over its spillway for the first time. 

Floodwaters poured down a narrow canyon and into the nearby town of New Braunfels, northeast of San Antonio. 

The murky water was filled with debris, and television reports showed stunned onlookers watching a large house floating in the rapidly running river. 

Local officials urged people living within a mile (1.5km) of the Medina River to leave immediately fearing that the river might flow over the top of Medina Dam. 

US President George W Bush has declared a number of the counties disaster areas, amid reports that a small dam burst and another one was straining to hold currents of water.

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Sunday, 7 July, 2002, 02:12 GMT 03:12 UK 

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Hadayet killed two people before being shot himself

The new agency responsible for airline security in the United States is to post armed guards at airport ticket counters. 

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced the move after a gunman killed two people at an El Al ticket desk in Los Angeles on Thursday. 

Hadayet was identified from fingerprints and vehicle records

Both uniformed and plainclothes officers will be employed. 

Meanwhile it has emerged that the LA killer, Egyptian-born Hesham Hadayet, was due to be deported from the US as far back as 1996. 

Washington has moved quickly to plug what many security analysts believe is a big gap in airline security - the threat of attacks on ticket counters and other areas at airports which are easily accessible to the public, the BBC's Nick Bryant reports. 

The very presence of armed officers is hoped to deter potential attackers. 

Hadayet was himself shot dead by an El Al guard after he opened fire at the Israeli state airline's ticket desk. 

'Out to kill'

Police in Los Angeles are still trying to establish a motive for the shooting, which is being regarded in Israel as a terrorist attack. 

They have been searching his apartment, taking a computer and other materials away for examination. 

It appears that he went there with the intention of killing people

Rich Garcia FBI

"It appears that he went there with the intention of killing people," said Special Agent Rich Garcia of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

"Why he did that is still undetermined. We are not ruling out hate crimes, we are not ruling out terrorism completely and we are not ruling out that it may have been a random act of violence." 

The gunman had come to the airport armed with two pistols and a 15-cm (six-inch) knife. 

He shot dead two Israeli-born Americans, a 25-year-old El Al ticketing clerk and a 46-year-old man. 

'Happy American'

Investigators have established that deportation proceedings were started against Hadayet in 1996. 

But he was allowed to stay on after his wife obtained permanent resident status in 1997. 

Hadayet's apartment was searched by the FBI

He was only about a year away from qualifying for US citizenship when he launched his attack on Thursday, his 41st birthday and America's Independence Day. 

An uncle, Hassan Mostaffa Mahfouz, said that Hadayet was happy to be living in the US and he could not understand what had motivated him. 

He was reportedly a pious Muslim who encouraged people to read the Koran but was largely unknown to Muslim communities in Orange County. 

But The Associated Press quotes a man claiming to be a former employee of Hadayet as saying he had once confessed to hating Israelis. 

"He kept all his anger inside him," said Abdul Zahav, who was sacked by Hadayet two years before the killings. 

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Aids/HIV: A growing problem in Latin America

 

By Adam Easton  BBC correspondent in Caracas

Carlos Ferrer's parents were told their son had Aids as he lay in a coma in a hospital bed on Venezuela's Caribbean island of Margarita on Christmas Eve 2000. 

Days before Carlos had become ill with encephalitis and collapsed in his bathroom. 

Luckily, a friend discovered him and rushed him to hospital. 

The most important thing about this epidemic is that very few people are educated about it. If you don't educate people cases like mine will be repeated everyday

Carlos Ferrer

The doctor's initial assumption was that he was a drug addict, then that he was gay. 

A simple blood test indicated he was HIV positive. 

"It wasn't even the doctor or the specialist who told my parents my diagnosis. It was a psychiatrist who met with them and told them I had Aids and that our lives were going to change. 

"He said they should burn all my clothes because I could infect my family and that after I used the bathroom they had to clean it with chlorine to disinfect it. He told them I was going to die." 

Free medicine

Carlos was then transferred to the capital Caracas for further tests. He was told that he would need regular treatment with anti-retrovirals in order to combat the virus. 

	:	Aids in South America
Click to see South America's growing problem

Just months later, in April 2001, the Supreme Court ruled the $1,000 a month treatment was to be made available for free to all Venezuelans, the first ruling of its kind in Latin America. 

Feliciano Reyna, of the HIV/Aids community centre Solidarity Action, says the court ruling transformed sufferer's lives in a country where 80% of the people live in poverty. 

"It opened up so many doors and it definitely changed people's outlook in terms of their living with HIV and our work as NGOs. 

"All we could give before was hope, but it wasn't really tangible, you know, keep on fighting, go on, there's a lot of research. Just being able to get their hands on these medicines that were life-saving was unbelievable." 

Economic straitjacket

Since the court decision, the number of Venezuelans receiving free medication has jumped from around 2,000 to more than 11,000. 

We know there are a lot of people who don't know they are infected who could be going to clinics

Government official

But the number of people affected by HIV/Aids in Venezuela is thought to be much higher. 

The United Nations estimates it at around 65,000 and NGOs say it could be as high as 400,000. 

The Venezuelan government, which has increased its HIV/Aids budget more than five-fold in the last three years, is facing an economic crisis and severe cash flow problem this year. 

"We know there are a lot of people who don't know they are infected who could be going to clinics," Dr Miriam Morales, the population director of the health department told the BBC. 

"We're trying to strengthen our investigations to allow us to know a lot more about the daily nature of the disease in our country. There is a crisis of financing in Venezuela at the moment, but we do have the budget for the drugs this year." 

Ignorance

At the Aids unit of the Algodonal hospital in the west of Caracas, the beds are old and don't work properly. The conditions are unhygienic and many of the patients are painfully thin. 

We don't have simple supplies such as moisturisers and surgical gloves

Doctor on Aids ward

Because of the stigma that surrounds Aids in Venezuela, the patients are kept separate in a ward at the end of the corridor. 

Many here come from the slums like the ones on the hillsides that surround the hospital. 

There, most people know nothing about the virus. By the time they come here they are so ill, it is simply to die. 

Dr Yajaira Roldan is the only doctor here in charge of 12 patients. She says the unit lacks staff and resources. 

Education essential

"We have so many needs, basic medications and supplies as well as personal needs. We don't have simple supplies such as moisturisers and surgical gloves. 

"Perhaps the government knows the magnitude of the epidemic but they only use anti-retrovirals for treatment. There are other shortages that need to be taken care of." 

Carlos Ferrer, who now works as a counsellor at Solidarity Action, says education is vital to reduce the spread of the disease. 

"Obviously I'm how I am today thanks to the medication. It's very important that the government gives free medicine, but that's not everything. 

"The most important thing about this epidemic is that very few people are educated about it. If you don't educate people cases like mine will be repeated everyday." 

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06-Jul: Caribbean seeks funds for new court-06-Jul: Carter set for Venezuela mission-06-Jul: Deadly floods hit Texas-06-Jul: Security boosted after LA shooting-06-Jul: Venezuela struggles to cope with Aids

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The protesters were from many different groups

Tens of thousands of protesters filled the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday to demonstrate against the government's handling of the country's economic crisis. 

Braving freezing temperatures, a disparate group of unemployed people, unionists, students and human rights activists gathered for the peaceful demonstration to mark Argentina's Independence Day. 

A coalition of protesters had called for massive rallies across the country to turn the holiday into what they described as a Day of Rage. 

Entire families joined the peaceful protest

With Argentina in the fourth year of the worst recession in its history, street protests have become an almost daily event. But the BBC's correspondent in Argentina, Peter Greste, said this was clearly the largest demonstration this year. 

Some of the protesters were demanding more jobs and the continuation of subsidies for the unemployed, while others called for the resignation of politicians, fresh elections and an end to talks with the International Monetary Fund. 

Huge crowds

Our correspondent says it would be impossible to estimate how many people were at the demonstration. 

But the vast crowd stretched as far as the eye could see, along at least a dozen blocks, and in a street five lanes wide. 

The crowd was made up of local community councils, unions, professional associations, families, the unemployed and the elderly. 

Marchers chanted "All of you - Go!", referring to the country's politicians, and demanded that legislative elections be pushed forward to March 2003 in line with the presidential election, which President Eduardo Duhalde has already brought forward. 

Street protests have become an almost daily event in Argentina

Many people also want an end to what they see as IMF interference. 

An IMF negotiating team is currently in Argentina trying to convince the government to toughen restrictions and shore up the financial sector before it releases more aid. 

The IMF shut off billions of dollars last December as Argentina plunged into a crisis that saw the presidency change hands five times in two weeks. 

It has since refused to resume aid, saying Argentina must first enact sweeping economic reforms and devise a sustainable financial and monetary programme. 

But successive governments have been unable to implement the necessary but politically unpopular austerity measures. 

Half of all Argentines have now slipped below the poverty line, and public anger has been fuelled further by a freeze on bank deposits and a collapse in value of the currency. 

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By Stephen Evans  BBC North America business correspondent

By any account, George W Bush remains a hugely popular president - the polls show his ratings at historically high levels. 

Three-quarters of Americans say he is still doing a good job as president, a level of support that even former President Ronald Reagan would have envied. 

The danger for Mr Bush is that he comes to seem in the minds of voters like a businessman sticking by his friends when his friends have behaved badly