As France's security forces keep an eye on "radical" gay groups, like ACT-UP, Junior Human Rights Minister Rama Yade, seen here looking quite lovely, today pushed the EU and the United Nations to take more progressive stances on women's and gay rights, respectively:

France is to call for a European Union drive to tackle violence against women worldwide and for the United Nations to step up action against homophobia, the French human rights minister said on Wednesday.
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France, as holder of the six-month EU presidency, hopes to "set the criteria for EU intervention" in the fight against violence towards women, including by mobilising Europe's diplomatic networks.

Paris also plans to submit a draft declaration to the UN General Assembly in December aimed at combating homophobia and decriminalising homosexuality, which is punishable by prison in 90 countries and in theory by death in six of them, Yade said.

The European Union, too, could use a bit more gay progress - countries like Turkey and Poland continue to repress the lavender set.

The 80s are back in Asia - and not in a good way.

United Nations health officials warned this week that gay men in Asia are contracting HIV at about the same rate as American gay men did during the virus' initial outbreak:

Launching his agency's 2008 report on the global AIDS epidemic, Peter Piot, UNAIDS executive director, urged more action to prevent the spread of the disease among gay men who have unsafe sex and stressed the importance of working with affected communities.

"All over Asia there are now epidemics of HIV in men who have sex with men of the same magnitude that we saw in this country 25 years ago," Piot said.

"That is something that has been detected fairly recently. There is not enough action yet but we are now starting programs," he added.

Lack of funding and education, as well as unsafe sex, were cited as possible reasons for the frightening numbers.

Asia-Pacific nations must do more to fight HIV or face certain doom, a UN-backed group says.

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Talk about a mixed bag! The United Nations says AIDS-infections have dropped the world over, but primarily because of new numbers:

The number of AIDS cases worldwide fell by more than 6 million cases this year to 33.2 million, global health officials said Tuesday. But the decline is mostly on paper.

Previous estimates were largely inflated, and the new numbers are the result of a new methodology. They show AIDS cases in 2007 were down from almost 39.5 million last year, according to the World Health Organization and the United Nations AIDS agency.

Many of the fallen numbers come out of India, which cut its HIV/AIDS estimates in half.

While this is certainly great news, the HIV/AIDS distribution still rumbles our tummies:

Sub-Sarahan Africa remains the epicenter of the epidemic. AIDS is still the leading cause of death in there, where it affects men, women and children. Elsewhere in the world, AIDS outbreaks are mostly concentrated in gay men, intravenous drug users, and sex workers.

Meanwhile, MSNBC's Robert Bazell takes this time to reflect on HIV vaccine's failures and how we can move ahead into an AIDS-free era.

• The NY Times' Ward Sutton had some fun with presidential campaign posters past and present.

• Britain's Anglican and Roman churches come together to protest lesbian in vitro legislation.

• United Nations takes on Amy Winehouse's cocaine "glamorization".

• Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency experiencing gayest season ever!

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South Africa may have one of the world's most progressive constitutions, including comprehensive anti-discrimination laws and gay marriage, but gay activist Marianne Thamm thinks their hate crime legislation stinks.

In light of a spate of bloody crimes against lesbians, including the murder of two activists earlier this month, Thamm penned an op-ed blasting the Rainbow Nation's lackluster investigative tactics…

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United Nations' Secretary General Ban Ki-moon got an earful when Michael Petrelis and Hank Wilson zapped yesterday's World Affairs Council in San Francisco.

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Ever multicultural, the United Nations just got a little more lavender. The international body's Economic and Social Council voted this weekend to accredit two gay organizations.

The Coalition gaie et lesbienne du Québec and the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights (RFSL) have both been granted consultative status, which means they can put forth official proposals, attend meetings, offer oral arguments and take advantage of the United Nations' righteous open bar.

Oh, and fight for international gay rights, too…

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Nepal's Blue Diamond Society has called for the United Nations to admonish Iran for last week's anti-gay raid. Malaysia Sun elaborates:

[BDS] sent an appeal to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, asking for his intervention to secure the freedom of 80 men arrested by Iranian security forces in Isfahan eight days ago.

Expressing deep concern at the crackdown in the conservative Islamic country, BDS said it had received information that the detainees had been severely tortured in Isfahan jail and were in a bad state. "Their lives are in danger…We ask your timely intervention to secure their early release."

Blue Diamond Sociey's a natural ally for gay Iranians, who face very public, increasingly brutal state-sponsored attacks. BDS remains Nepal's singular gay rights organization and has repeatedly come up against the country's Maoist government, which has a less than sparkling gay rights record.

It's not all doom and gloom over in Nepal, however. The country celebrated its first gay beauty contest last night. Zee News reports that 18 cruised the catwalk last night to take win for the Pink Pageants' top slot. We wonder if the contestants dropped into Nepal's first and only openly gay-owned business, The Cutey Beauty Salon.