Newsline 4 January 2010: The West focuses on Yemen as the new den of terror. The US lifts a 22 year-old travel ban on HIV/AIDS patients. And with two new EU presidents, who is running the show in Brussels?

Listen to today's edition of Newsline

 
Terror's new home
Yemen has become the latest front in the West's war against terror. France today became the fourth country, after the UK, the US and Spain, to close its embassy in the capital Sanaa, following threats from a local branch of al-Qaeda. The Yemen-based group known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempted Christmas day bombing of a US-bound plane by a Nigerian man. Listen to an interview with Middle East expert Bertus Hendriks.
 

HIV patients can travel to US
Foreigners infected with the HIV virus can now enter the United States legally for the first time since a ban was introduced 22 years ago. The US was one of the few countries in the world - including Saudi Arabia and Libya - to have such a measure, but scrapped the rule following heavy campaigning from equal rights groups. The decision will make it easier for HIV positive people and Aids sufferers to travel to the 2012 World Aids Conference in the US, which had been threatened by the restriction. Catherine Hanssens, Director of the US Centre for HIV Law and Policy, welcomes the move but says it is long overdue.
 

Who's in charge in Brussel?
It's a big moment for the European Union's newly-appointed President as he starts his first day on the job. Herman van Rompuy traded in his position as Belgian Prime Minister to head up the EU at the end of last year. But confusingly, he won't be the only president in Brussels - as Spain also takes up the six-month rotating presidency of the EU today. Our Brussels correspondent Vanessa Mock explains the situation.