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London (CNN) — Prince William’s wife, Catherine, plans to give birth to their first baby in the same hospital wing where her husband was born to Diana, Princess of Wales, almost 31 years ago, sources familiar with the plans said Wednesday.

The first details of the protocol surrounding the announcement of the birth were revealed as the Duchess of Cambridge enters the final weeks of her pregnancy.

The baby — which, regardless of gender, will be heir to the British throne — is expected to arrive in mid-July.

According to sources familiar with the plans, the birth will take place in the private Lindo Wing of St. Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, west London.

The first indication that the baby is on its way will be the announcement to the media that the Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted to the hospital in the early stages of labor, royal sources told CNN.

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The next public announcement is expected to be that of the birth.

It will be made in the form of a formal bulletin, signed by medical staff and rushed in a car with a police escort to Buckingham Palace.

There, the notice will be placed on an easel on the palace forecourt, the royal sources said. This will be the first chance for the nation and those watching around the world to find out whether the new baby is a boy or a girl.

William and Catherine don’t know the sex of their baby and want to keep the surprise until it’s born, the royal sources said. William’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth II and other members of both families will be told of the birth before the public knows.

The next announcement will be that the Duchess of Cambridge and her baby are to be discharged from the hospital.

People are already laying bets on what the newest member of the royal family will be named.

Alexandra appears to be the favorite for a girl, with George the favored name for a boy, according to UK betting websites. Diana, Elizabeth and Victoria are also popular choices with punters.

The baby will be third in line to the throne after Prince Charles and Prince William.

Paternity leave

The royal couple will probably present their baby to the world on the same doorstep where a proud Diana and Prince Charles showed off William in 1982.

It’s not yet been disclosed where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge plan to spend the days and weeks following the birth, the royal sources said.

William, who will turn 31 on Friday, is expected to be given the usual paternity leave of two weeks by the Ministry of Defence, the royal sources said. He will then return to his job as a helicopter search and rescue pilot.

The revelation of the birth details may be cause for some anxiety, given the tragedy that followed Catherine’s hospitalization late last year for acute morning sickness.

In that instance, a prank call by an Australian radio station to nursing staff at King Edward VII’s Hospital, which sparked a media frenzy after details of Catherine’s care were revealed, resulted in a nurse’s suicide.

“We would appeal to all members of the media for an appropriate degree of sensitivity, dignity and privacy in their reporting,” a royal source said.

“With the events of the King Edward Hospital still strong in our memories, we would expect any media covering the Duchess of Cambridge’s hospitalization to ensure that the normal functions of the hospital are not impeded by any media presence.”

Champagne on ice?

According to the Lindo Wing website, it has been offering private obstetric and neonatal care for mothers and babies since 1937.

The private wing operates alongside the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, which is part of the National Health Service.

“Over the years, we have gained an international reputation for clinical excellence in both obstetric and neonatal medicine which has made us the choice for thousands of mothers. But what really sets us apart is the discreet, traditional, individualised service we provide,” the Lindo Wing’s online brochure says.

According to the prices listed, a stay in the Lindo Wing doesn’t come cheap by comparison with National Health Service care, which is free at the point of delivery.

However, the mother can stay in a room with its own bath or private suite, with a range of facilities and services offered. Among them is “a comprehensive wine list should you wish to enjoy a glass of champagne and toast your baby’s arrival.”

The care package for the first 24 hours with a normal delivery starts at £4,965 ($7,777), with the price increasing for a larger room or suite, or if a forceps delivery or caesarean section is needed. An additional night’s stay costs £900 ($1,400) or more on top of that price.

Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) — Zarni Aung’s not sure how he contracted HIV — it may have been from a tainted needle or a sex worker.

Either way, the virus saw his weight plunge below 40 kilograms before he left his home in Aunglan Township to seek help in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Now 34, Zarni Aung is working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) — or Doctors without Borders — as a counselor for HIV patients too scared to expose their illness for fear of being ostracized or ignored.

“I’m no longer afraid to speak out,” he says in halted English at MSF headquarters, occasionally stopping to sip tea and get the words straight in his head.

He’s a singer who, at the height of his illness, was too sick to peform, but after his treatment clinched third place in Myanmar Music Idol, the country’s version of American Idol.

Just over one year ago, MSF issued an urgent plea for help to treat an estimated 85,000 Burmese people with HIV. At the time only a fraction were getting vital antiretroviral therapy (ART), creating heartbreaking decisions for doctors who had to choose who was treated and who was turned away.

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Fast-forward to 2013 and the numbers tell the story of a dire situation brought back from the brink.

Around 125,000 people are now estimated to need ART in Myanmar but money has been pledged to retreat 85% of them, around 106,000 people, said Dr. Khin Nyein Chan, MSF’s medical coordinator in Yangon.

It’s due to the return of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which pulled its funding in 2011 due to a lack of donations. Just over $160 million has been pledged until the end of 2016 to pay for HIV treatment and prevention programs for people most at risk of falling ill.

The return of funding follows the transition of power from the military junta that ruled Myanmar for 50 years to democratically elected President Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011. Since then, international sanctions have been lifted and the country’s been working with foreign governments and delegations to repair decades of neglect.

(CNN) — There’s now one more Kardashian to keep up with.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West celebrated the birth of their daughter today, but the baby’s name is still under wraps. Maybe Kanye West and Kim Kardashian will go for the unexpected like they did here at this year’s MET gala or maybe….

The couple could link up their names and make “Kimye” a real thing? No? OK, we will try again.

The couple love European cities and their baby was reportedly conceived near the Vatican in Rome. Here they leave the Valentino Haute-Couture Show as part of Paris Fashion Week in 2012. Paris or Rome West maybe?

The rapper was very close to his mother, teacher and author Donda West, who died after surgery in 2007. He may want to pay tribute to her as she was extremely influential in his life and inspired his song “Hey Mama.” Here the pair appear at a signing for her book, “Raising Kanye: Life Lessons from the Mother of a Hip-Hop Superstar” in Los Angeles in 2007.

The pair have completely bonded over fashion and both have done some designing. So why not a designer name like Hermes or Gianni? It’s not as far-fetched as you might think.

Kardashian shot down rumors in March during a chat with Jay Leno that the baby would be named “North.” But it appears the happy couple may be considering a unique name like “Easton.” That’s right, a little girl named “Easton West” could happen.

Just ’cause we like it and this pic of West and Kardashian attending the Angel Ball 2012 in October 2012 in New York, we are going to throw the name “Angel West” out there.

No self-respecting speculative list would be complete without a mention of a possible “K” name. Here sisters Khloe, Kourtney and Kim promote the “Kardashian Kollection” clothing line at Sears in Cerritos, California, on September 18, 2011. Kourtney already weighed in with a “kontender.” If it ain’t broke, why fix it?

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The news came out in early June that Kate Winslet and hubby Ned Rocknroll were expecting a baby together. The actress has two children, daughter Mia, 12, and son Joe, 9 from her two earlier marriages. Here are some other celebrities who are expecting:

Jennifer Love Hewitt announced in early June that she’s expecting her first child with “Client List” co-star Brian Hallisay.

Halle Berry will soon be a mom of two! A rep for the actress confirmed to CNN in April that Berry is expecting a baby with her fiance, Olivier Martinez. She’s also mom to daughter Nahla from a prior relationship.

Maya Rudolph kept her fourth pregnancy quiet for months, but she finally admitted on “Ellen” in mid-April that she and her partner, Paul Thomas Anderson, are expecting a new baby this summer.

Ivanka Trump tweeted in April that she and her husband, Jared Kushner, are expecting their second child. “Jared and I and are so excited that Arabella will become a big sister this fall,” she posted. “Thanks for all your good wishes!”

Colin Hanks, son of actor Tom Hanks, revealed in April that he and his wife, Samantha Bryant, are expecting their second child.

The “Veep” and “My Girl” actress revealed in March 2013 that she and her husband, Shaun So, are expecting their first child.

Mario Lopez and his wife Courtney are awaiting baby No. 2, the couple revealed on “Extra” in February. But they’re not the only ones expecting a new arrival — check out which other stars are awaiting babies this year:

Fergie and Josh Duhamel are getting ready to be parents for the first time. “Josh Me BABY makes three!!!” the singer tweeted in mid-February.

Prince William and Duchess Catherine are expecting a royal arrival in July.

After plenty of rumors, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin confirmed in February that they’re expecting their first child together this summer. “It’s honestly the most amazing moment,” Alec Baldwin told “Extra.” “We are really sharing something special.”

Jessica Simpson and her fiance, Eric Johnson, are now awaiting their second baby. The couple welcomed daughter Maxwell in May 2012. Simpson, who revealed that she was pregnant again over the Christmas holiday, joked on “The Tonight Show” in January that she didn’t have time to get married because she keeps getting pregnant. The couple’s second baby is due this summer.

Michael Buble and his wife of close to two years, Luisana, revealed in January that they’re expecting their first child. “We’re having a baby Bublé!” the couple excitedly announced in a video message, which included a picture from an ultrasound.

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are said to be “tremendously happy and very excited” to welcome their second child. The couple are also parents to 2-year-old Leo, whom they welcomed in January 2011.

Evan Rachel Wood at first dismissed rumors that she was pregnant after marrying actor Jamie Bell in November 2012, but by January she announced on Twitter that she’s “gonna be a mama!” Wood even picked out a song that could be featured on a new mommy-to-be playlist: “Song of the day ‘Sweet Child of Mine,’ ” she tweeted January 11.

Busy Philipps was all baby bump when she worked the red carpet at the SAG Awards in January. The actress and her husband, Marc Silverstein, are expecting their second child. They’re also parents to a 4-year-old girl named Birdie Leigh.

Within two weeks of announcing her engagement to minor baseball league player Cutter Dykstra, Jamie-Lynn Sigler had more joyful news to share: The couple are also expecting their first child. “We are so excited to be able to share the news of this incredible blessing,” she tweeted February 12.

Here’s hoping for a dual baby shower for CaCee Cobb and Jessica Simpson, as the BFFs are both expecting this year. Cobb married actor Donald Faison in December 2012, and tweeted the following month, “Looks like [Donald] and I are going to have a little stormtrooper of our own!”

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Stars who are expecting in 2013

Yangon, Myanmar (CNN) — Zarni Aung’s not sure how he contracted HIV — it may have been from a tainted needle or a sex worker.

Either way, the virus saw his weight plunge below 40 kilograms before he left his home in Aunglan Township to seek help in Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon.

Now 34, Zarni Aung is working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) — or Doctors without Borders — as a counselor for HIV patients too scared to expose their illness for fear of being ostracized or ignored.

“I’m no longer afraid to speak out,” he says in halted English at MSF headquarters, occasionally stopping to sip tea and get the words straight in his head.

He’s a singer who, at the height of his illness, was too sick to peform, but after his treatment clinched third place in Myanmar Music Idol, the country’s version of American Idol.

Just over one year ago, MSF issued an urgent plea for help to treat an estimated 85,000 Burmese people with HIV. At the time only a fraction were getting vital antiretroviral therapy (ART), creating heartbreaking decisions for doctors who had to choose who was treated and who was turned away.

Myanmar: Foreign investment challenges

Can Myanmar shed credit-free society?

Coke investing in transformed Myanmar

Myanmar: A revolution in progress

Fast-forward to 2013 and the numbers tell the story of a dire situation brought back from the brink.

Around 125,000 people are now estimated to need ART in Myanmar but money has been pledged to retreat 85% of them, around 106,000 people, said Dr. Khin Nyein Chan, MSF’s medical coordinator in Yangon.

It’s due to the return of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which pulled its funding in 2011 due to a lack of donations. Just over $160 million has been pledged until the end of 2016 to pay for HIV treatment and prevention programs for people most at risk of falling ill.

The return of funding follows the transition of power from the military junta that ruled Myanmar for 50 years to democratically elected President Thein Sein, who took office in March 2011. Since then, international sanctions have been lifted and the country’s been working with foreign governments and delegations to repair decades of neglect.

(CNN) — The future of transport is self-driving cars, says GPS inventor Bradford Parkinson.

The famed inventor, military hero and former boy scout, told CNN that advances in the use of GPS mean that the technology could not only emerge in the next few years, but is already being road tested by companies such as Google.

“I think (the future) leads to robotic cars. I think there will come a time when you go down the highway and you don’t have to have your hand on the steering wheel at all. It’ll be a combination of GPS, radar and other sensors.”

If there is anyone who should know about the future of GPS, it is Brad Parkinson. The former air force colonel was an integral member of the team that invented GPS technology. While he is now a professor emeritus at Stanford University in California, in the 1980s Parkinson headed up the GPS program run by the U.S. military.

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“When I invented the system I was a United States colonel,” says Parkinson. “I was in the air force and had a PhD in aeronautics from Stanford, and a master’s degree from MIT. I’d been testing inertial navigation systems for three years in my past and I had taken digital controls at MIT.”

The development of GPS was the product of a military program called 621B. Parkinson had the idea that satellites could be used to help find and track targets to make weapon deployment more accurate.

“I had flown combat, I understood the value of precision weapon delivery, I understood that it would be a humane use of a bomb if you could hit what you want to hit and not hit a mosque, hospital or school.”

Initially, the military was resistant to the idea, says Parkinson. “The air force didn’t want it because first of all they thought we couldn’t necessarily do it and secondly they are used to their old ways. And their old ways were, in essence, carpet bombing, it was very sad.”

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Fortunately Parkinson found some powerful allies who helped drive the program forward. At a critical moment in the fledgling technology’s development, Malcolm Currie, a physicist and U.S. Navy officer, introduced Parkinson to General Kenneth Shultz, whose personal interest in the program kept the research of GPS alive.

Today, as well as being used by the military, geolocation is an indispensable civilian technology — it can be found in car navigation systems and almost all smart phones. According to Parkinson, there are myriad possible uses for GPS that are yet to be explored, but one of the most immediate applications will be the integration of GPS technology into self-driving cars, which he believes will help bring down the incidence of road accidents.

“The most dangerous thing in an automobile is the driver. Usually because of distractions or because he doesn’t understand how slippery the road is. I’m saying GPS can absolutely be the key and cornerstone … This is really exciting.

“In the United States we kill 40,000 people a year on the roads … What can we do to help them? I contend that automatically guided cars are going to help. It will include cooperation between cars; I will know where the next car is going and will be able to sense how good the friction is on the road, I can sense whether my tires are slipping. I can do all that in an integrated single package, so I think where this is going is robotic automobiles.”

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Self-driving cars are currently being trialled by companies such as Google, whose driverless car is reputed to have already competed 400,000 miles of testing — further than most motorists will travel in a lifetime.

“As Google has already demonstrated, robotic cars are already here,” says Parkinson, “but the version that they are using is far too expensive and cumbersome to be a practical product for general use.”

As with most new technologies, Parkinson anticipates a ‘trickle down’ effect whereby cutting-edge experiments being done at the top level will gradually be incorporated into everyday vehicles.

“Many of the elements of robotic driving are already being installed by leading manufacturers. For example, radar systems that measure the distance to the car that is ahead and begin slowing if the condition is hazardous. There is already a product that truck drivers can install in order to sense adjacent vehicles.”

In September 2012, California legalized self-driving vehicles. The new law obliges the California Department of Motor Vehicles to draft regulations for autonomous vehicles by the beginning 2015, meaning robot cars are unlikely to become available before that point.

Experts predict that the first self-driving cars may be on the roads by 2016.

(CNN) — Sarin gas has been used several times in the Syrian civil war, including at least once by the Assad regime, France’s foreign minister said Tuesday, citing results from test samples in France’s possession.

Laurent Fabius announced that conclusion after meeting with the head of a United Nations mission set up to establish the facts about the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“I gave him the results of tests carried out by our lab appointed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to identify chemical warfare,” Fabius said in a statement, referring to the Swedish scientist Professor Ake Sellstrom.

“These results show the presence of sarin in the samples that are in our possession,” Fabius said. “In view of these elements, France now has the certainty that the sarin gas was used in Syria several times and in a localized manner.”

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In an interview later Tuesday with CNN affiliate France 2, Fabius blamed the Syrian government in at least one of the cases.

“There is no doubt that it is the regime and its accomplices,” Fabius said. He added the French government examined the chain of events from the moment of the attack through the lab results to determine that government was responsible.

Fabius’ announcement did not say when or where the weapons may have been used or who may have used the gas in the other cases.

Syrian rebels have been fighting the government for more than two years. Atrocities have been blamed on both sides.

The announcement coincided with the release of a draft report posted on the website of the U.N. Human Rights Council that concludes: “There are reasonable grounds to believe that chemical agents have been used as weapons. The precise agents, delivery systems or perpetrators could not be identified.”

In Washington, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the United States was working with the French and other allies as well as the Syrian opposition to determine those answers.

“We need to expand the evidence we have,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We need to make it reviewable; we need to have it corroborated before we make any decisions based on the clear violation that use of chemical weapons would represent by the Syrian regime. So, we will continue in that effort.”

Asked how long that might take, he said, “I don’t have a timetable for you.”

He noted that Damascus has consistently turned down U.S. requests for a U.N. investigative team to be sent to Syria.

“But we are not relying on the United Nations alone,” he said. “We are aggressively pursuing other avenues to gather the evidence that is required.”

Earlier this year, the United States said its intelligence analysts had concluded “with varying degrees of confidence” that chemical weapons had been used in Syria. But President Barack Obama said “intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient.”

In early May, the head of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that evidence points to the use of sarin by Syrian rebel forces. But the commission later issued a news release saying it “has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict.”

In April, the head of the Israeli military’s intelligence research said the Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces.

(CNN) — Sarin gas has been used several times in the Syrian civil war, including at least once by the Assad regime, France’s foreign minister said Tuesday, citing results from test samples in France’s possession.

Laurent Fabius announced that conclusion after meeting with the head of a United Nations mission set up to establish the facts about the alleged use of chemical weapons in Syria.

“I gave him the results of tests carried out by our lab appointed by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to identify chemical warfare,” Fabius said in a statement, referring to the Swedish scientist Professor Ake Sellstrom.

“These results show the presence of sarin in the samples that are in our possession,” Fabius said. “In view of these elements, France now has the certainty that the sarin gas was used in Syria several times and in a localized manner.”

U.N.: War crimes happen daily in Syria

Growing concern for besieged Syrian city

Who are the Syrian rebels?

What is sarin gas?

In an interview later Tuesday with CNN affiliate France 2, Fabius blamed the Syrian government in at least one of the cases.

“There is no doubt that it is the regime and its accomplices,” Fabius said. He added the French government examined the chain of events from the moment of the attack through the lab results to determine that government was responsible.

Fabius’ announcement did not say when or where the weapons may have been used or who may have used the gas in the other cases.

Syrian rebels have been fighting the government for more than two years. Atrocities have been blamed on both sides.

The announcement coincided with the release of a draft report posted on the website of the U.N. Human Rights Council that concludes: “There are reasonable grounds to believe that chemical agents have been used as weapons. The precise agents, delivery systems or perpetrators could not be identified.”

In Washington, White House press secretary Jay Carney said the United States was working with the French and other allies as well as the Syrian opposition to determine those answers.

“We need to expand the evidence we have,” he told reporters Tuesday. “We need to make it reviewable; we need to have it corroborated before we make any decisions based on the clear violation that use of chemical weapons would represent by the Syrian regime. So, we will continue in that effort.”

Asked how long that might take, he said, “I don’t have a timetable for you.”

He noted that Damascus has consistently turned down U.S. requests for a U.N. investigative team to be sent to Syria.

“But we are not relying on the United Nations alone,” he said. “We are aggressively pursuing other avenues to gather the evidence that is required.”

Earlier this year, the United States said its intelligence analysts had concluded “with varying degrees of confidence” that chemical weapons had been used in Syria. But President Barack Obama said “intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient.”

In early May, the head of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria said that evidence points to the use of sarin by Syrian rebel forces. But the commission later issued a news release saying it “has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict.”

In April, the head of the Israeli military’s intelligence research said the Syrian government is using chemical weapons against rebel forces.