the subject optional at gcse in
rights groups laud end of us hiv aids travel ban
washington jan afp
human rights groups on monday praised the official lifting of decades old ban
that prevented people with hiv aids from traveling to the united states
president barack obama announced in october that his administration would end
the ban and the legislation lifting the travel restrictions came into effect on
monday
we re very excited to finally see the end of this discriminatory and harmful
policy said victoria neilson legal director at the advocacy group immigration
equality
getting rid of the hiv ban has been part of our core mission since we were
founded in she told afp
the ban on hiv positive foreigners entering the united states had been in place
since
while people living with the virus could receive day waivers to visit the
united states the ban made it nearly impossible for hiv positive individuals to
study or work at us institutions
the human rights campaign which advocates for gay lesbian bisexual and
transgender rights also hailed the end of the ban
today sad chapter in our nation response to people with hiv and aids has
finally come to close and we are better nation for it said hrc president
joe solmonese
this policy in place for more than two decades was unnecessary ineffective
and lacked any public health justification he added in statement
ending the travel ban had been an uphill struggle for rights groups who saw
former president bill clinton attempts to repeal the restrictions shot down by
conservatives
but ultimately it was former president george bush staunch republican who
set in motion the end of the ban by removing hiv from list of diseases of
public health significance
it then fell to the obama administration to issue rule ending the travel
restrictions which was announced in october as the president signed bill
extending funding for hiv aids treatment
neilson said lifting the ban proved much less controversial this time around
think it sign of changing attitudes across the board she said it just
seemed like more of non issue at this point
fifteen years later there just so much more information about how hiv is and
is not transmitted at this point it seen much more as virus as it should
be than as plague
among the first travelers taking advantage of ban lifting are clemens ruland
and hugo bausch who are to arrive at new york jfk airport from the
netherlands later monday according to immigration equality
the end of the ban was also heralded by the international aids society which
announced in november it would hold its conference in the us capital
washington where three percent of all residents over the age of have hiv or
aids
the united nations hiv aids agency and the us centers for disease control and
prevention cdc have said hiv is generalized and severe when one percent of
given population is infected
some million people in the united states are believed to have hiv according
to the cdc
sri lanka main tamil party backs ex general for presidency
colombo jan afp
sri lanka main minority tamil party on monday backed the main opposition
presidential candidate sarath fonseka who as army chief led the offensive that
crushed tamil rebels last year officials said
fonseka former four star general who quit in november following differences
with his political boss president mahinda rajapakse pledged in letter to end
state of emergency if he was elected in the january vote
the moderate tamil national alliance tna agreed to back fonseka campaign
after he signed three page programme that he hopes to implement in the
island former war zone party official said
we have decided to support general fonseka but formal announcement will be
made on tuesday said the tna official who declined to be named the tna has
seats in sri lanka member parliament
in his letter copy of which was seen by afp on monday fonseka promised to
free tamil detainees within month if no charges had been brought against them
the former military chief who is credited with leading the military drive
against the separatist tamil tigers also promised to establish completely
civilian administration
full restoration of all institutions of civil administration from the office of
village headman upwards will be free from military police and political
interference the letter to the tna said
the tna was at one time seen as proxy of the tamil tigers who were crushed in
may with the elimination of the rebels military leadership after years of
fighting
fonseka pledged to end the state of emergency which had been in force since
march largely to deal with tamil rebels as well as militants among the
majority sinhalese
the emergency gives sweeping powers to security forces to arrest and detain
suspects for long periods without trial france has led international calls on
sri lanka to end the emergency after the ethnic conflict ended in may
rajapakse called the january poll in bid to capitalise on the victory over the
separatist liberation tigers of tamil eelam ltte who launched their campaign
for tamil homeland in
fonseka and rajapakse have been at loggerheads since the end of the conflict
fonseka quit after accusing the government of sidelining him and falsely
suspecting him of trying to stage coup
urgent new world tallest tower is metres high dubai
dubai jan afp
dubai burj khalifa tower the new tallest building in the world is metres
tall it was revealed on monday at the skyscraper official opening in the gulf
emirate
spain protests cuba rejection of spanish eurodeputy
madrid jan afp
spain said it summoned the cuban ambassador monday to protest havana
unjustified refusal to allow spanish member of the european parliament to
enter the communist island
socialist eurodeputy luis yanez was denied entry to cuba late sunday when he
arrived in havana from spain the foreign ministry said in statement
faced with the unjustified refusal to allow the eurodeputy luis yanez into
cuban territory secetary of state for latin america juan pablo de la iglesia
has called the cuban ambassador in spain in order to seek the appropriate
explanation it said
spanish diplomatic source said cuba offered no explanation for its decision
yanez is head of the european parliament committee on relations with the
south american trade bloc mercosur
source at spain ruling socialist party said he had traveled to cuba in
small plane accompanied by his wife spanish legislator carmen hermosin who was
given permission to enter the country both returned to spain on monday
spain has long been in the forefront of efforts to boost relations with cuba
former spanish colony
madrid on friday launched its six month stint at the helm of the european union
seeking new bilateral agreement on eu cuba ties despite objections from its
two immediate predecessors sweden and the czech republic and cuban human
rights groups
alert
new world tallest tower is metres high dubai tv
tennis cilic makes impressive start in india
chennai india jan afp
marin cilic of croatia began the defence of his atp chennai open title with
fluent first round win over russian igor kunitsyn here on monday
the world number disposed of the th ranked kunitsyn and then
warned rivals he will not be easily beaten in his first tournament of the new
season
it is good to start the year well after coming off long break said cilic
who won the dollar event last year by beating indian wildcard somdev
devvarman in the final
think played pretty good today served well and was consistent from the
baseline igor had no break points in the match which showed was on top of
him
the second seeded cilic said he was confident of doing well in the tournament
despite the presence of giant killing world number eight robin soderling of
sweden
look it does not matter who else there is in the draw said the big serving
croat who sent down eight aces against kunitsyn
everyone has to win five matches to win the tournament am thinking of only
my game know will do well if continue to play well
soderling who beat world number one roger federer last week on his way to the
final of an exhibition tournament in abu dhabi opens his campaign on tuesday
against american robby ginepri
meanwhile unfancied czech jan hajek created the first upset of the tournament
by beating sixth seed simon greul of germany in three sets
hajek who ended the previous season just outside the top came from behind
to oust the th ranked greul
hajek second round opponent will be santiago giraldo of colombia who overcame
fighting bjorn phau of germany
spanish veteran carlos moya playing for the first time on the circuit since
february last year following string of injuries stumbled at the first hurdle
moya two time champion in chennai in and lost to fourth seed
janko tipsarevic of serbia in an hour and minutes
johan ferrier first president of suriname dies at
paramaribo jan afp
johan ferrier the first post independence president of suriname died on monday
at the age of in the netherlands officials said
career teacher turned politician he served as lawmaker prime minister and
governor over the years before becoming president of the small south american
country on november
ferrier resigned following coup by ex dictator desi bouterse and took
his family to the netherlands
suriname president ronald venetiaan told local radio that the news was
shocking and that ferrier had been in excellent condition despite his
advanced years
ferrier was well known for his strength and clear headedness despite his age of
years said venetiaan calling on the country of inhabitants to
place flags at half mast
he was an important figure for us in suriname as person he gave meaning to
his career and was always busy developing himself he added
funeral plans were not immediately announced
cricket bangladesh sri lanka one day scoreboard
dhaka jan afp
complete scoreboard of the triangular one day series match between bangladesh
and sri lanka here on monday
bangladesh
tamim iqbal lakmal dilshan
imrul kayes samaraweera kulasekara
mohammad ashraful run out
raqibul hasan samaraweera lakmal
shakib al hasan welegedara lakmal
mushfiqur rahim lbw randiv
mohammad mahmudullah lbw randiv
naeem islam not out
abdur razzak not out
extras lb
total for seven wickets overs
fall of wickets kayes iqbal raqibul shakib
rahim mahmudullah ashraful
bowling kulasekara welegedara dilshan
lakmal randiv kandamby
pushpakumara
sri lanka
tharanga rahim hossain
dilshan naeem mahmudullah
sangakkara rahim shafiul
samaraweera not out
silva not out
extras lb nb
total for three wickets overs
fall of wickets tharanga sangakkara dilshan
bowling shafiul nb hossain nb shakib
razzak mahmudullah naeem
ashraful
result sri lanka win by seven wickets
toss sri lanka
umpires enamul haque ban and ian gould eng
tv umpire nadir shah ban
match referee andy pycroft zim
next match india sri lanka tuesday
kenya floods kill police
nairobi jan afp
flooding has killed at least people since christmas in several parts of
kenya notably in regions that had been badly hit by drought in recent months
police said monday
twenty two people have died as result of floods in various parts of the
country senior police official told afp on condition of anonymity because he
is not authorised to speak to the press
the victims include several children
the worst hit area was the northern region of turkana where drought and cholera
had already claimed several lives in recent months
at least people were displaced there due to the recent floods the police
officials said
kenya red cross spokesman titus mung ou also reported that dozens of homes in
nairobi kibera slum home to almost million people and one of the largest
in africa were destroyed by heavy rainfall and flooding
cricket south africa england scoreboard
cape town jan afp
scores at close of play on the second day of the third test between south africa
and england at newlands on monday
south africa first innings
overnight
smith prior anderson
prince prior anderson
amla lbw onions
kallis prior onions
de villiers strauss swann
duminy prior swann
boucher lbw broad
steyn trott anderson
morkel swann anderson
harris not out
de wet lbw anderson
extras lb nb
total overs mins
fall of wickets prince amla smith de villiers
duminy boucher kallis steyn morkel
bowling anderson nb onions broad
swann pietersen
england first innings
strauss boucher morkel
cook prince morkel
trott steyn
pietersen and steyn
collingwood lbw morkel
bell duminy kallis
prior not out
broad steyn
swann not out
extras lb nb
total wkts overs
fall of wickets strauss trott pietersen
collingwood cook bell broad
to bat anderson onions
bowling morkel de wet nb steyn kallis
harris duminy
match position england trail by runs with three wickets remaining in the
first innings
toss england
umpires daryl harper aus tony hill nzl
tv umpire aleem dar pak
match referee roshan mahanama sri
cricket morkel steyn keep england in check
cape town jan afp
south african fast bowlers morne morkel and dale steyn took three wickets each
as england were made to work hard for runs on the second day of the third test
at newlands on monday
england were for seven at the close behind south africa first innings
total of
thanks mainly to morkel who took three for and steyn three for
england were unable to take control despite ripping through the south african
lower batting order early in the day
seven wickets fell during dramatic morning play with south africa losing
their last four wickets for runs in balls at the start of the day and
england slumping to for three at lunch
another wicket fell soon after the interval when paul collingwood was leg before
wicket to morne morkel for
alastair cook and ian bell put on for the fifth wicket and there
were further useful partnerships of between bell and matt prior not out
and between prior and stuart broad
but every time it seemed england were getting on top one of the south african
bowlers would strike to make the game even again
cook followed up his century when england won the second test in durban by an
innings and runs with another careful innings leaving many deliveries and
waiting for the right ball to hit
he took balls to post his fifty hitting five fours and faced balls
before scooping catch to midwicket off morkel
bell another century maker in durban never got on top of the bowling and faced
balls before slapping short ball from jacques kallis to backward point
prior overcame shaky start playing and missing several times but went on to
reach his half century in the final over of the day
england fast bowler james anderson took three wickets for one run at the start
of play as south africa remaining batsmen succumbed rapidly
anderson finished with five for his eighth five wicket haul in tests but
the key breakthrough came from fellow paceman graham onions who dismissed south
african centurion kallis with the second ball of the day without adding to his
overnight score of
with the second new ball still virtually new the tail was swept aside by
anderson
but south africa struck back almost immediately when morkel had england captain
andrew strauss caught behind for two driving at the last ball of the first over
of the england innings
cook and jonathan trott took the total to before steyn who came on as first
change took two wickets in three balls
trott was bowled off an inside edge for kevin pietersen was greeted by
bouncer which he ducked under but then pushed full swinging delivery back
to delighted bowler
cricket morkel steyn keep england in check
cape town jan afp
south african fast bowlers morne morkel and dale steyn took three wickets each
as england were made to work hard for runs on the second day of the third test
at newlands on monday
england were for seven at the close behind south africa first innings
total of
thanks mainly to morkel who took three for and steyn three for
england were unable to take control despite ripping through the south african
lower batting order early in the day
seven wickets fell during dramatic morning play with south africa losing
their last four wickets for runs in balls at the start of the day and
england slumping to for three at lunch
another wicket fell soon after the interval when paul collingwood was leg before
wicket to morne morkel for
alastair cook and ian bell put on for the fifth wicket and there
were further useful partnerships of between bell and matt prior not out
and between prior and stuart broad
but every time it seemed england were getting on top one of the south african
bowlers would strike to make the game even again
cook followed up his century when england won the second test in durban by an
innings and runs with another careful innings leaving many deliveries and
waiting for the right ball to hit
he took balls to post his fifty hitting five fours and faced balls
before scooping catch to midwicket off morkel
bell another century maker in durban never got on top of the bowling and faced
balls before slapping short ball from jacques kallis to backward point
prior overcame shaky start playing and missing several times but went on to
reach his half century in the final over of the day
england fast bowler james anderson took three wickets for one run at the start
of play as south africa remaining batsmen succumbed rapidly
anderson finished with five for his eighth five wicket haul in tests but
the key breakthrough came from fellow paceman graham onions who dismissed south
african centurion kallis with the second ball of the day without adding to his
overnight score of
with the second new ball still virtually new the tail was swept aside by
anderson
but south africa struck back almost immediately when morkel had england captain
andrew strauss caught behind for two driving at the last ball of the first over
of the england innings
cook and jonathan trott took the total to before steyn who came on as first
change took two wickets in three balls
trott was bowled off an inside edge for kevin pietersen was greeted by
bouncer which he ducked under but then pushed full swinging delivery back
to delighted bowler
volcanic lava threatens drcongo national park
goma dr congo jan afp
lava flows from an erupting volcano in the dr congo picked up speed monday
vulcanologist said threatening wildlife in national park that is home some of
the world last mountain gorillas
the amount of lava being spewed from mount nyamulagira was roughly double that
of the start of the eruption in the early hours of saturday goma vulcanological
observatory director karume katcho told afp
the lava was also increasing speed as it hit steeper ground in the virunga
national park he said
the situation is not very good he said
the lava trail had grown to become kilometres miles long compared
with kilometres on sunday and was metres wide he said
katcho estimated at the weekend the it had burnt about hectares acres of
the forest he said monday the extent of the damage would need to be evaluated
by satellite imagery
officials have said the eruption was concentrated in sparsely populated area
but wildlife habitats were under threat
we are not envisaging evacuations because the lava is not flowing towards
homes katcho said
the park unesco world heritage site is home to around of the world
last mountain gorillas but they are east from the volcano near the border
with rwanda
the destruction of the forest by volcanic activity is part of natural
process we can complain too much according to emmanuel de merode the
director of the virunga national park
the worst threat to the park in recent years has come from human beings in the
shape of rebel bands and government troops who kill wildlife including
endangered species
the park lies in the eastern part of the democratic republic of congo that is
still most ridden by conflict between the congolese army fardc renegade
soldiers and rebels from neighbouring rwanda and uganda
the virunga park contains large numbers of species including elephants
hippopotamus and buffalo along with range of reptiles and birds
the eruption is not considered threat to people as they can protect themselves
from its hot ash and volcanic fibres however these substances are considered
harmful to animals as they can pierce their stomachs and intestines
officials said non governmental organisations would provide cisterns of water to
local people given the risk of contamination to mountain water
the volcano is kilometres from the provincial capital goma which it last
threatened in
nyamulagira is twin to mount nyaragongo which lies about kilometres
southeast the two are the only active volcanos among the eight forming the
virunga chain on the borders of the dr congo uganda and rwanda
in january nyaragongo erupted spectacularly with lava flow that reached
goma destroyed about percent of the town and killed people
the last two eruptions of nyamulagira considered the most active volcano in
africa were in may and november no human settlements were affected
eruptions can last from several days to several months like that of september
which ended at the beginning of
france on the defensive over flu vaccine surplus
paris jan afp
the french government on monday fought off criticism it had poorly planned its
swine flu vaccine programme after it bought far more doses than needed and
announced plans to sell surplus stock
france bought million doses of vaccine for the virus expecting to
provide most of its population of million with two doses each but only five
million have been vaccinated and one dose has been found to be sufficient
what would people be saying if the pandemic had been serious said foreign
minister bernard kouchner medical doctor after several opposition
politicians took swipe at the government
we are very happy this virus turned out to be less virulent than we thought
he said
the minister cautioned that winter was not yet over and that there could still
be spike in illnesses that would prompt more people to turn up for their shot
qatar has bought doses and egypt is negotiating to buy two million
according to the health ministry france is also in discussions with mexico and
ukraine to sell some of its stock
socialist opposition spokesman benoit hamon said the government had provided
pharmaceutical companies with boon and that it was waging campaign of fear
mongering to try to liquidate the vaccine stock
president nicolas sarkozy government is trying to justify the fact that it
paid one billion euros to pharmaceutical companies who are the big winners in
this entire affair said hamon
glaxosmithkline the british pharmaceutical giant from whom france has ordered
million doses said monday it was willing to rediscuss the deal if the
government made such request
the company spokesman in paris said glaxo had by the end of last month
delivered just over million doses to france
another company france bought its vaccinations from sanofi pasteur unit of
french drug maker sanofi aventis said sunday it too was willing to examine its
contract with the french government if requested
half of the million doses of sanofi vaccines have been delivered to france
in contract worth million euros million dollars with the rest to be
delivered during the first quarter of
swine flu has killed at least people worldwide with the biggest share of
victims in the united states and canada though it is now declining in north
america according to the world health organisation
total of people including children under the age of have died
from the virus in france and its overseas departments according to health
authorities
football chelsea cole convicted of speeding
london jan afp
england footballer ashley cole was found guilty of speeding monday despite
telling police he was trying to escape press photographers in his lamborghini
car
chelsea defender cole could be banned from driving after being caught driving at
miles kilometres per hour in mph zone in southwest london in
november kingston magistrates court heard
cole pointed out man with camera further down the road to the police officer
who stopped him
prosecutor richard lomax said the defendant was stopped and spoken to and the
words he said at the time when it became plain that somebody was pointing
speed camera at him were can you do anything about those idiots who keep
chasing me
cole who was not in court for the hearing also told police he thought he was
travelling at mph and lomax said this amounted to an admission of guilt
the chairwoman of magistrates judith jewell said the court had found him guilty
our reasons are that we feel that the evidence of the police officer was
credible and we feel entitled to believe that the equipment was operating
properly she said
cole is due to be sentenced on january and could be banned from driving
the year old former arsenal left back who is married to british singer
cheryl cole has england caps
copper hits month peak on chile strike
london jan afp
copper soared past dollars per tonne here on monday hitting its highest
level for months on the back of industrial action in key producer chile
in trading on the london metal exchange copper for delivery in three months
time soared to dollars tonne reaching the highest point since august
at the close of trade last week copper for delivery in three months had jumped
to dollars tonne from dollars the previous week
workers at two mines owned by chile codelco company the world biggest
copper mining company went on strike on monday demanding higher pay and better
benefits
miners at the chuquicamata and mina sur mines which together account for four
percent of the world copper production are calling for percent pay hike
as copper prices soar
both mines belong to the state owned chilean group codelco the national copper
corporation of chile which produces around million tonnes of copper per
year and employs around workers
about third of the unionised miners failed to show up when their shifts began
at am gmt monday
copper prices were helped by the likelihood of strike at the chuquicamata
mine after wage negotiations with the union have broken off said
commersbank analyst eugen weinberg
this increases fears that market supply will become tighter weinberg added
the miners demands for more concessions come as the price of copper which fell
significantly during the global economic crisis has jumped in recent months
