job advertisements indicate starting salaries of to dollars but he
said his centre had an edge because it can offer lower rates
if that might sound exploitative staff said they were grateful to have the
chance to work again
trainee sergei bogomolov said he spent year watching television if
you can call it that after he lost his eyesight in fight and couldn
continue his job at computer warehouse
doing nothing makes you stupid he said the call centre helps you earn it
helps you return to life
the centre takes on people with no computer knowledge or perhaps even work
experience
olga shilova who used to teach the accordion at school moved her fingers
rapidly round the keyboard making cold call to sell water coolers
six months ago practically didn know how to use computer
she came to the centre on the recommendation of friend after she lost her
sight two years ago through illness and injuries when she was hit by car
she couldn continue at the school because the commuting became too hard
shilova said explaining that she still has trouble using white stick and
negotiating the metro
this centre has saved me she added it very interesting because it
knowledge you re improving yourself but it not easy
afp features
paris jan afp
we will shortly move the following stories
highlights
blind operators taught to sell at moscow call centre
palestinians fight settlements with new planned suburb
russia social disabled jobs feature
moscow
once encouraged to take dreary factory line jobs making electric plugs and
curlers blind people in moscow now have new option working at hi tech call
centre
words by anna malpas picture
mideast conflict wbank palestinian construction feature
ramallah west bank
bulldozers are carving out new suburb on hilltop in the occupied west bank
for once it isn jewish settlement but the first ever planned palestinian
suburb
words by hossam ezzedine picture
entertainment india bollywood women feature
mumbai
for years they performed as backstage dancers or had minor roles but foreign
actresses are moving centre stage in india hindi language film industry and
becoming big names in their own right
words by shail kumar singh file picture
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
china investigates toxic jewellery claims state media
beijing jan afp
china is investigating claims that children jewellery exported to the united
states contained highly toxic metal used to make batteries and plastics state
media reported thursday
we ve heard about it and are looking for more information an official
surnamed song who heads toy safety at the general administration of quality
supervision inspection and quarantine was quoted by the china daily as saying
we need to find out whether the accused products came out of china through
legal means
song said children jewellery was not on the government mandatory inspection
list
quarantine officials did not immediately respond to queries by afp
us department stores walmart and claire stores said this week they had removed
chinese made children jewellery from their shelves after reports that some
bracelets and pendants had been found to contain the heavy metal cadmium
we will immediately remove from sale those items identified in recent media
reports regarding cadmium while our own investigation is being completed and
until more is known walmart said in statement posted on its website
cadmium is highly toxic metal used in batteries metal coatings and plastics
and has been shown to cause lung cancer according to the us agency for toxic
substances and disease registry
the reputation of china poorly regulated and corruption plagued manufacturing
industry has been deeply tarnished in recent years by safety scandals involving
dangerous foods toys and other products
last month media reported that chinese dairy shut down during the
tainted milk scandal had been closed again after tests found some of its
products contained melamine the same toxic chemical found months ago
nba jefferson jumper lifts spurs to overtime win over thunder
oklahoma city oklahoma jan afp
richard jefferson overtime jump shot lifted san antonio to triumph
over oklahoma city wednesday in national basketball association thriller
jefferson ended up with the ball after spurs play went wrong with manu
ginobili diving out of bounds to save an wayward pass that bounced off antonio
mcdyess
george hill passed to jefferson who drained shot with sec remaining
russell westbrook missed potential game winner for the thunder at the final
buzzer
san antonio rookie dejuan blair set new career highs with points and
rebounds while standing in for tim duncan who rested on the second game of
back to back series
tony parker who is playing through painful plantar fasciitis swelling of the
thick tissue on the bottom of the foot had points hill scored and
jefferson and mcdyess had apiece
kevin durant scored points and westbrook had points and assists for the
thunder jeff green added points and rebounds
oklahoma city trailed by points in the first half and rallied from an eight
point deficit in the final four minutes of regulation
thabo sefolosha capped an scoring run with dunk with seconds left
and westbrook was able to answer parker jumper
mcdyess missed three pointer at the end of regulation
durant put the thunder ahead with remaining in overtime and
mcdyess made free throw to narrow the gap to one
jefferson then blocked shot by sefolosha giving the spurs chance to seize
the win
stampede kills seven at indian festival
kolkata jan afp
seven hindu pilgrims were killed thursday in stampede at religious festival
on the river ganges in the eastern indian state of west bengal senior police
official said
the stampede happened as hundreds of devotees rushed for places on ferry to
take them to the pilgrimage site on gangasagar island where the ganges flows
into the bay of bengal
the rush became stampede and seven people were killed surojit kar
purokayastha inspector general of the west bengal police told afp
ritual bathing festivals were held along the length of the ganges on thursday
with several million devotees expected at the main gathering in haridwar in the
northern state of uttarakhand
hong kong shares up percent by break
hong kong jan afp
hong kong shares gained percent by the break thursday as banking stocks
rebounded on bargain buying following broad sell off in the previous session
after china moved to tighten liquidity
the benchmark hang seng index was points higher at turnover
was billion hong kong dollars billion us
urgent stampede kills seven at indian festival
kolkata jan afp
seven hindu pilgrims were killed thursday in stampede at religious festival
on the river ganges in the eastern indian state of west bengal senior police
official said
us launches major aid operation for haiti
washington jan afp
washington launched sweeping military and civilian operation to aid quake hit
haiti wednesday as president barack obama two top deputies canceled foreign
trips to focus on saving lives
forward teams of civilian and military experts began landing in haiti as us
aircraft searched for survivors and tried to assess the damage from the massive
magnitude quake with some troops on stand by to move in
as wealthy neighbor with the world most powerful military the united states
appeared well placed to lead aid efforts for the impoverished caribbean nation
mobilizing an array of specialists ships planes and helicopters
have directed my administration to respond with swift coordinated and
aggressive effort to save lives obama said
search and rescue teams from florida virginia and california will arrive
throughout today and tomorrow
us secretary of state hillary clinton abruptly cut short her planned trip to
asia flying back from hawaii as she warned that tuesday quake appeared to
have caused very high loss of life
defense secretary robert gates also canceled plans for weekend trip to
australia and decided to remain in washington to continue to manage the
department response to the humanitarian crisis in haiti pentagon spokesman
geoff morrell said in statement
at daylight us navy maritime patrol aircraft usually used to track drug
trafficking in the region flew over the stricken city of port au prince while
coast guard cutter with helicopter flight deck arrived off the coast
the uss carl vinson aircraft carrier was en route and set to arrive thursday
while destroyers and more coast guard ships were on the way general douglas
fraser head of the us southern command told reporters
more than people were feared dead after the earthquake razed homes
hotels and hospitals leaving the capital in ruins and bodies strewn in the
streets
this is going to be one of the highest in terms of loss of life in recent
years as far as we can tell clinton said comparing the devastation to the
asian tsunami
the indian ocean tsunami was such terrible tragedy and with such high loss of
life this will be very high loss of life as well she said
looking at all options us officials did not rule out the possibility of using
the us military facility in guantanamo bay cuba as base for operations
the us military said it would possibly send in large amphibious ship with
marine expeditionary unit of about personnel to help with medical and
other aid operations and commanders had put us army brigade of about
soldiers at fort bragg north carolina on alert for possible deployment
team of us air force experts was also set to arrive to help restore air
traffic control and communications at the airport badly needed as hub for
relief efforts
us officials will also be acutely aware of the need to try to stem any mass
panic or attempts to flee haiti by sea to reach the united states
over the years hundreds have made the perilous kilometer mile
journey in leaky boats and many have perished on the way
us immigration authorities meanwhile announced they had temporarily halted
deportations to haiti
about us military personnel were on the ground and some military
engineers medical specialists and other experts were flying in aboard
hercules plane to assist organize emergency aid fraser said
while the full extent of the devastation remained unclear obama said the us
defense and state departments along with the us agency for international
development would lead relief efforts after the heart wrenching tragedy
the people of haiti will have the full support of the united states in the
urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble and to deliver the
humanitarian relief food water and medicine that haitians will need he said
obama also worked the phones talking to un chief ban ki moon after the global
body lost staff and buildings in the quake
the president also discussed the quake with canadian prime minister stephen
harper mexican president felipe calderon as well as his brazilian and chile
counterparts
an initial survey of the earthquake aftermath from the air indicated the
damage was mainly concentrated around the capital but the number of casualties
and the scale of the disaster was still unknown general fraser said
we don have clear assessment right now of what the situation on the ground
is he said
alert
seven killed in stampede at indian religious festival police
nba nowitzki reaches milestone but lakers top mavs
dallas texas jan afp
dallas dirk nowitzki became the th player in nba history to score
points on wednesday but his effort wasn enough to help mavericks hold off
kobe bryant los angeles lakers
germany nowitzki reached the milestone with foot jumper from the left
baseline with remaining the basket gave him points and it pulled
dallas to
the year old nowitzki was playing in his th nba game
drafted for his potential as seven footer with the ability to score from
outside he has won the league most valuable player award and taken the
mavericks to the nba finals
on wednesday however bryant and the lakers had just little too much for
dallas
bryant who struggled with sore back in his previous game drained the go
ahead jump shot with seconds left as the lakers defeated the mavericks
bryant played only nine minutes in the first half and wasn factor he scored
eight points in the third quarter but made only one of his four shots in the
final period it was however one that mattered as he fired over josh howard to
give the lakers lead
erick dampier missed pair of free throws for dallas that could have tied the
game
andrew bynum made one of two free throws for the lakers who then double teamed
nowitzki and forced him to pass leaving josh howard to take wild shot
bynum finished with points and rebounds lamar odom had points and
rebounds and ron artest had points and rebounds as the lakers ended
three game road losing streak
the mavericks lost their second straight despite howard contribution of
points in his first start since november
largest religious festival on earth under way in india
haridwar india jan afp
hundreds of thousands of hindu devotees took ritual bath in india holy
ganges river before daybreak thursday as the world largest religious gathering
got under way
braving chilly weather hordes of pilgrims rose before sunrise in and around the
northern town of haridwar and made their way in darkness to the banks of the
river to immerse themselves in the sacred waters
they have come from all over india families and couples wealthy and poor
businessmen and farmhands and itinerant sadhus or holy men draped in saffron
coloured robes
for hindu devotees the three month kumbh mela festival offers them the chance
to wash away their sins and break the karmic cycle of life and rebirth
even in country where mass events are commonplace the sheer size of the kumbh
mela sets it apart
several million people were set to take part thursday on the first of four
particularly auspicious bathing dates with millions more expected to pass
through the sprawling festival encampment over the next weeks
your soul will be cleansed and you will be free from disease if you take such
bath during this period sushant rajsaid professional astrologist said as
he emerged from his own dip
the water is cleaner and has more natural power in the early morning he
added
groups of women clustered on the final step of the ghats leading down to the
river unravelling their saris in the cold weather and using copper bowls to
collect the water and pour it over their naked torsos
as the sun rose many stepped further into the river immersing their entire
bodies
one women in bright red sari followed her ablutions by throwing necklaces of
bright marigolds into the river where they were taken downstream by the current
the water was really cold said bhawna agri who travelled with her family
from the neighbouring state of uttar pradesh to attend her first kumbh mela
only washed my hair and face and still freezing she said shivering on
the ghat steps
the festival commemorates mythical battle between gods and demons over
pitcher of the nectar of immortality
during the struggle few drops of nectar fell in four different places
allahabad in the state of uttar pradesh haridwar in uttarakhand ujjain in
madhya pradesh and nasik in maharashtra
the kumbh mela alternates between these four places and takes place every three
years once every years an even larger maha kumbh mela is held the next
will be in allahabad in
the triennial festival also marks the only public gathering of hundreds of naga
sadhus who otherwise live in relative isolation in mountains caves and
communes in the himalayas and other regions of india
naked and generally covered in layer of grey ash they are regarded by
devotees as earthly representatives of the gods because of their self sacrifice
and denial of the material world
the nagas carrying ritual swords and tridents will lead ceremonies on the most
auspicious bathing day of all on april when the mela draws to close
soham baba considered the leader of the nagas told reporters recently in
kolkata that they planned to use the kumbh mela to highlight the issue of
global warming
sadhus like us who go up to the higher reaches of the himalayas to meditate
have clear picture of how bad the situation is he said
pristine lakes and waterfalls that existed till few years ago have dried up
over the years the festival has also become something of tourist attraction
drawing foreigners who sometimes come to participate or simply witness the
spectacle of so many people gathering for common purpose
it amazing and it crazy you can really feel the energy said marco
necher retiree and amateur photographer from liechtenstein
australia pledges million us dollars for haiti quake
sydney jan afp
australia pledged million dollars million us in aid for the haiti
earthquake disaster on thursday and promised further funding if needed
foreign minister stephen smith five million dollars would be available
immediately to buy medicine food and shelter while the rest of the money would
help rebuild the reeling caribbean country
we re making significant contribution but given the scale of the disaster
and our strength of relations with the caribbean region we believe it
entirely appropriate he told sky news
smith said additional funds would be given later if appropriate the emergency
aid would be handed out in coordination with united nations agencies he said
initial assessments report large number of casualties and widespread damage
with up to five million people adversely affected he said in separate
statement
the earthquake has brought down buildings including the main hospital
electricity water and communications have been cut
this is tragedy for haiti country which has experienced great deal of
suffering in recent years
smith added that australians have been located in haiti including seven un
workers but small number remained unaccounted for
he also said he had spoken to us secretary of state hillary clinton who was
very apologetic and very regretful about cancelling visit to papua new
guinea new zealand and australia to help deal with the disaster
in the circumstances given the proximity of haiti to the united states the
presence of large number of united states citizens in haiti and their role in
the region we obviously understand her need to return he said
thai couple shot dead burned in troubled south police
yala thailand jan afp
suspected islamic militants shot dead buddhist couple and set their bodies on
fire thursday in the latest gruesome attack to hit thailand troubled south
police said
bloody six year separatist insurgency in the kingdom southernmost provinces
along the malaysian border has killed more than people and wounded
thousands more
police said year old man and his wife were on motorcycle on their
way to work at telephone company when attackers gunned them down in provincial
capital of pattani
the militants then doused their bodies with gasoline and torched them in the
middle of the road police said
the insurgency erupted in january but tensions had bubbled under the
surface in the south since predominantly buddhist thailand annexed the former
malay muslim sultanate in
the shadowy militants never publicly state their goals and use range of
methods in their attacks ranging from bombs and shootings to burnings
beheadings and even crucifixions
str ask dk hg
tennis kooyong classic results collated
melbourne jan afp
results from the second day of the kooyong classic here thursday
relegation round
fernando gonzalez chi bt tommy haas ger
ivan ljubicic cro bt robin soderling swe retired
semi finals
fernando verdasco esp bt novak djokovic srb
afp
taiwan population to fall earlier than expected report
taipei jan afp
taiwan population could start falling by decade earlier than
previously estimated after the island birth rate dropped to the world
lowest level report said thursday
statistics show that on average less than one child is born per woman in
taiwan
last year only babies were born on the island and on current trends the
population which currently stands at million is projected to reach
plateau seven years from now the united daily news reported
an earlier forecast from the council for economic planning and development said
this would not happen until according to the paper
the normal replacement rate for population is births per woman
officials at the council were not immediately available for comment
taiwan health officials have warned that the low birth rate and rapidly ageing
society could lead to spate of social problems
meanwhile education officials have expressed concerns that more than one in
three taiwanese colleges could be forced to close by because of shortage
of students
taiwan government has been offering various incentives in an unsuccessful bid
to boost fertility rates amid growing concerns that severe manpower shortage
will trigger more social and economic woes
seven leftist rebels killed in philippines clash army
manila jan afp
seven communist guerrillas three of them minors were killed in clash with
government forces on thursday in the hills outside the philippine capital the
army said
an army infantry unit fought strong group from the new people army npa
near the town of dona remedios trinidad kilometres miles north of
manila before dawn lieutenant colonel arnulfo burgos told reporters
the bodies of the seven dead rebels were recovered by the troops who sustained
no casualties during the hour long firefight one of the dead was girl who
appeared to be under years old he added
the retreating rebels left behind eight assault rifles along with the dead
burgos said
the philippine military said last month it had shrunk the territory of long
running maoist insurgent operations leaving four central islands free of
guerrillas for the first time in decades
chief of staff victor ibrado said the government hoped by the time of upcoming
presidential elections in may to have destroyed the npa which had seen its
fighting force depleted to below personnel
china will lose out if google quits state paper
beijing jan afp
china will lose out if google makes good on threat to quit the country over
cyberattacks and censorship state newspaper warned thursday saying people
had the right to free flow of information
should the world most populous nation fail to provide foothold to the
world top search engine it would imply setback to china and serious loss to
china net culture said the english language global times run by the
communist party mouthpiece the people daily
it said if the us internet giant pulled out of the country with the world
largest online population at million it would be an incalculable loss to
its long term commitment to innovation as well as loss of future business
google vowed tuesday to stop bowing to chinese internet censors and risk
banishment from the lucrative market to protest highly sophisticated
cyberattacks aimed at chinese human rights activists
the information highway demands not only safe driving but also free flow of
traffic and in the interests of the majority right to know free flow of
information should take precedence in civil society the global times said
google and china going their separate ways would hurt both sides
china has said it was seeking more information about the announcement requests
for comment from the foreign commerce and information technology ministries
were not immediately answered
the global times which splashed the story on its front page as did the
state run china daily said while censorship was justified in transitional
society like china to maintain social stability some limits were needed
the government must face up to the challenge of where and how to put the
checkpoints on the information highway it said
cyberattack on lawyers in china software piracy case
san francisco jan afp
lawyers suing china for billion dollars in an internet censoring software
piracy case said wednesday they came under cyberattack this week
attorneys at the california law firm of gipson hoffman amp pancione said that
on monday they began receiving trojan emails crafted to trick them into
opening files booby trapped with malicious software code
trojan emails are specially constructed to retrieve data from the target
computer and often allow the sender to gain access to the target computer or
to the company servers the firm said in release
it has not yet been determined whether any of the attempts were successful
the law firm last week filed lawsuit on behalf of cybersitter accusing china
of using the california company copyrighted software censorship programs being
mandated for computers sold in that country
the suit contends that markers of the program known as green dam pirated
more than lines of computer code from cybersitter internet filtering
program marketed to parents interested in limiting where children roam online
lenovo and acer are among the computer makers named as defendants in legal
paperwork that claims more than million copies of green dam software with
pirated code have been distributed
cyberattacks were initiated from within china against cybersitter itself last
june when the green dam piracy was first reported in the press the law firm
said
while the source of the email spearphishing attack aimed at lawyers this week
had yet to be pinned down it appeared to originate in china according to the
company
the news came day after google vowed to stop bowing to chinese internet
censors and risk banishment from the lucrative market to protest highly
sophisticated cyberattacks aimed at chinese human rights activists
the recent online assaults at google adobe and dozens of other firms appear to
have been part of an ongoing campaign to steal precious source codes and track
human rights activists experts said wednesday
china based cyber spies struck the internet giant and reportedly more than
other unidentified firms in an apparent bid for computer source codes
intellectual property and information about activists around the world
tactics included tricking computer users with ruses and ploys referred to as
social engineering
cyber spies apparently selectively targeted workers with emails crafted to
appear as though they came from bosses or colleagues messages included attached
files rigged with malicious software
when bogus messages were opened computers were infected with hidden programs
which could swipe information seize control of machines or create back doors
for unauthorized access to files
the internet giant did not specifically accuse the chinese government of being
behind the cyberattacks
but china is being eyed as the probable culprit due to the sophistication of the
attacks the targets and the fact the assaults originated in that region
russia dispatches rescuers to haiti pledges more
moscow jan afp
an airplane carrying search and rescue teams left moscow thursday for quake
devastated haiti as russia pledged to send more aid including field hospital
and medical supplies the ria novosti news agency reported
the first il airplane which lifted off from moscow at gmt will
deliver specially equipped car rescuers and trained seeker dogs the
emergency situations ministry said
more airplanes will bring in field hospital for people with surgical and
diagnostic equipment as well as blood lab the ministry said
planeloads of rescuers and relief supplies headed to haiti on wednesday as the
world launched massive relief operation day after massive earthquake
struck near the capital port au prince which is feared to have killed more than
people
korean firm launches fightback against iphone
seoul jan afp
south korea top mobile carrier sk telecom thursday announced an aggressive
plan to reinforce its smartphone line up after its market share was eroded by
apple top selling iphone
sk telecom said it would try to win more than two million new smartphone users
this year by offering models based on google android operating system
it plans to introduce new devices this year with as many as models
running on android
based on the android operating system we will adopt various mobile platforms
to increase our smartphone lineup ha sung min president of sk telecom
mobile network operator division told reporters
in sk telecom will have smartphone models or percent of its total
handset offerings he said
local rival kt corp has sold some iphones since the device made its
south korean debut on november before sk telecom had percent share
of the local mobile market compared with kt percent
the introduction of the iphone in south korea sparked price competition and
forced local firms to present new phones with more content and better services
south korean firms grew under the protection of high trade barriers which
helped samsung and lg become the world second and third largest handset
makers
but local customers pay some of the world highest prices for mobile phones and
wireless service
sk telecom also announced plans to build its own wireless fidelity network
called wi fi in major cities kt has its own wireless service known as nespot
us computer market ended with bang idc
