percent catholic
reverend daniel marcal works on the hiv aids support programme of church world
service charity formed by the national council of churches he says loosened
attitudes towards relationships or free sex are commonplace
when speak in the church say free sex is sin but can guarantee
all my members will have the same view as me he said
in east timor the government doesn prioritise hiv they prioritise dengue
fever tuberculosis and malaria
now we are not taking the situation seriously enough to prevent it so maybe
more of the population of east timor will soon be living with aids
indian women drive equality in india
mumbai jan afp
in her canary yellow sari and gold earrings with pair of thin framed
spectacles perched on her nose surekha yadav could be any woman stepping down
from the train at mumbai main railway station
but the year old mother of two stands out from the crowds on the platforms at
the chhatrapati shivaji terminus cst as she doesn just travel on the trains
she drives them
yadav was the first female passenger train driver on mumbai central railways
and has become standard bearer for women in traditionally male dominated
industry
since she first jumped into the cab of mumbai packed commuter trains years
ago attracting curious looks from commuters one other motorwoman now
plies the same suburban route two are assistant drivers
there are also women train drivers on the western railway network ferrying many
of the six million people who use the city overstretched network every day
yadav who admitted having no interest in trains before applying for job as an
assistant goods train driver in said she has had nothing but support from
her male colleagues
they encouraged helped and took care of me she said adding she had taken
special training to become the first woman driver of ghat loco the two
engined passenger trains that climb the hills of western maharashtra state
because was the only woman they were curious whether could do it or not
she told afp
women like yadav can be found throughout indian history from warrior queens
like rani lakshmibai and members of the independence movement to the first
and so far only female prime minister indira gandhi
prathiba patil the current president is the first woman to hold the post the
lower house of parliament has its first female speaker in mira kumar while
women are well represented at many of india largest companies
but although india constitution guarantees to all indian women equality
differences between the sexes still exist particularly in rural areas in terms
of access to education health care and even food
just over third of indian women aged to said they had experienced
domestic violence according to national family health survey
overall violence against women increased by nearly percent between and
the latest available government statistics show the highest rises over
percent were recorded for kidnap abduction and torture
madhu purnima kishwar of new delhi centre for the study of developing
societies and founder of leading rights group manushi sangathan said that in
the workplace gender was no bar to success provided women were strong
in india women who demonstrate that they are stronger than men usually find
men falling at their feet she told afp linking it to the worship of hindu
goddesses and the importance of mothers in indian society
apart from being india first motorwoman yadav has also been part of the
attempt to curb another problem complaints about sexual harassment or eve
teasing as it is known in india
rail minister mamata banerjee introduced ladies specials trains in india
four largest cities this year to improve safety for female commuters whose
numbers are increasing as more urban women forge careers outside the home
yadav drove the first service into cst
she is positive about her job and the opportunities it has given her
attributing her determination to succeed to her family who sent her to convent
school before she took diploma in electrical engineering
everybody was given the chance to chase their own dream whatever they wanted
to do we had freedom for education we took advantage of that we were very
lucky to get that she explained
my mother never said being girl child you should do cooking you should
study first then we will see you need to be bold
nevertheless yadav who cites as influences indira gandhi and lakshmibai the
th century heroine of indian resistance against the british admits it has
still been tough
the job is physically demanding and time consuming giving her less time to
spend with her two teenaged sons and police officer husband
working in an all male environment since college has also taken its toll on her
social life she said
miss the friendship with women for the last years feel shy talking with
girls now she said
nfl dolphins white hospitalized after head injury
miami florida jan afp
miami rookie quarterback pat white was stretchered off the field and
hospitalized after suffering head injury in helmet to helmet collision with
pittsburgh defender ike taylor in the teams nfl season finale sunday
after the hit white hit the ground on his stomach and pittsburgh players
immediately began signalling for help
he moved his legs and rolled onto his side before being lifted onto cart on
his back he also moved his arms and spoke to medical personnel who called off
plan to airlift him to hospital and sent him by ambulance
the information that we have is that he doing ok dolphins coach tony
sparano said after the game
many dolphins players walked across the field to gather around white as he was
treated on the field
when got over there he was moving around ok sparano said
it scary scary thing said pittsburgh quarterback ben roethlisberger who
has had at least four concussions since started to get emotional
thinking about it went to him and told him to keep his head up and everything
will be ok
taylor who was unhurt offered his support to his fallen opponent
told him hope you feel better man taylor said you never want to see
guy down like that he kept repeating thanks and just kept telling him
to get better
white came into the game after starter chad henne suffered an eye injury late in
the first half tyler thigpen made his first appearance with the dolphins as
replacement for white
the steelers won and the dolphins were officially eliminated from playoff
contention
in fact the dolphins slim playoff chances were doused shortly before the game
ended when houston defeated new england
the defending super bowl champion steelers still had hopes of making the
playoffs but they were eliminated later sunday when the baltimore ravens won to
claim wild card berth
afp features
paris jan afp
we will shortly move the following stories
highlights
indian women drive equality in india
east timor ticking aids timebomb
lifestyle india jobs women equality feature
mumbai
in her canary yellow sari and gold earrings with pair of thin framed
spectacles perched on her nose surekha yadav could be any woman stepping down
from the train at mumbai main railway station
words by phil hazlewood graphic picture
timor health aids feature
dili
the tiny nation of east timor could face deadly aids epidemic with
promiscuity among youths low condom use and general ignorance leading to
sharp increase in reported cases doctors said
words by matt crook picture
for questions email nancy shields afp com or call
football grayson vows leeds cup star beckford won go cheap
manchester england jan afp
leeds united manager simon grayson insisted jermaine beckford wouldn be let go
on the cheap after the striker goal sealed stunning fa cup win at
manchester united
beckford scored his th goal of the season early in the first half here at old
trafford on sunday the speedy striker finishing in cool fashion after outpacing
wes brown following jonathan howson excellent through ball
but the january transfer window is now open and leeds the leaders of third tier
league one places behind english champions and record times fa cup
winners manchester united are having to deal with offers for beckford who is
out of contract at the end of the season
second tier championship leaders newcaste have already failed with one bid of
million pounds for the year old and grayson said we have stressed
there will be three scenarios with jermaine
he signs new contract he leaves at the end of the season or we sell him and
get some money which we think is too good an opportunity to turn down
he has shown today sunday what he is all about added grayson
he has worked ever so hard for the team he has taken his opportunity he has
five goals in the last three games strikers are precious commodity and we
won be letting him go on the cheap
grayson childhood leeds fan and former player for the yorkshire club was
rightly elated with his greatest day in management
we are immensely proud of our team and what they have done today he said we
told the players to do themselves justice and be proud of themselves whether
they came back to the dressing room with win loss or draw
they certainly did that today he added before leeds were handed another away
assignment against premier league opposition after being drawn with tottenham
hotspur in the fourth round
leeds who left the premier league in can dream of returning to that level
and grayson believes number of his players showed at old trafford that they
could play in the top flight
it fantastic achievement our club has had lot of negativity over the
last five or six years with administration and relegation he said
said when came to the club that it had reached rock bottom and could not go
lower knew somebody could take the club forward to the premier league and
beyond
there were some big hitters in that manchester united team it was fantastic
achievement it is stages like these that make you want to perform and want to
be back here as premier league manager
football angry ferguson to wield axe after leeds loss
manchester england jan afp
furious manchester united manager sir alex ferguson threatened to wield the axe
after his star studded side slumped to shock fa cup defeat against fallen
giants leeds
united were beaten by third tier leeds in the third round at old trafford on
sunday and ferguson has pledged to shake things up when his team face manchester
city at eastlands on wednesday in the league cup semi finals
we have semi final on wednesday and lot of these players today won be
playing you have to view that performance in the right light but we have to
get ready for wednesday now said the united manager
had the team in mind but there may be one or two changes now
ferguson mood was not helped by the mystery surrounding his defender nemanja
vidic who pulled out of the leeds game after claiming he felt an injury during
the warm up
the united manager reacted angrily when asked about his experienced centre half
couldn tell you what the situation is with nemanja he said
but ferguson was far more forthcoming when asked about the performance of his
side after he had overseen his first fa cup defeat against team from lower
division with leeds the third division leaders winning thanks to striker
jermaine beckford th minute goal
didn expect that ferguson said the preparation was very good was
shocked at the performance we didn start right and leeds did start right
it disappointment human beings can always surprise you but we didn
expect that
don think any of them united players can say they had good day only
antonio valencia when we got the ball to him but it took us about minutes to
do that
beckford scored his th goal of the season after running on to yard ball
from jonathan howson outpacing united defender wes brown and sliding shot
past tomasz kuszczak
yes we spoke about it before beckford has got lot of pace said ferguson
they were caught napping it was bad goal for us to lose but the whole
performance from us was bad in the first half
we never got going and the quality of passing the whole performance was bad
he added you always expect us to get goal at old trafford the intensity of
the game improved little bit
we had lot of chances in the box but we didn take them
ferguson also risks fresh disciplinary action by the football association with
bizarre blast at referee chris foy after his side shock loss
ferguson is already under two game suspended sentence until the end of next
season for his remarks concerning referee alan wiley supposed lack of fitness
made earlier this term
and the fa could well take dim view of ferguson amazing complaint that foy
only played five minutes injury time at the end of his team stunning loss
the referee gave five minutes of injury time that is an insult to the game and
to the players out there ferguson insisted
nfl titans johnson reaches rare rushing milestone
seattle washington jan afp
tennessee running back chris johnson on sunday became just the sixth player in
nfl history to rush for yards in season
johnson reached the milestone on four yard run early in the fourth quarter of
tennessee victory at seattle cutting back inside and hurdling
teammate
the second year player joined eric dickerson jamal lewis barry sanders
terrell davis and simpson in the exclusive yard club
game officials tossed the ball to the titans sideline but there was little
other acknowledgement of the accomplishment
in fact it was johnson second milestone of the day in the second quarter he
set the nfl record for yards from scrimmage in season on nine yard pass from
vince young
that broke marshall faulk record and gave johnson yards from
scrimmage
later in the opening half he passed earl campbell club record of yards
rushing set in he finished the season with yards
british pm brown named worst dressed man
london jan afp
prime minister gordon brown has received pre election kick in the pants being
named the worst dressed man of the year by the british edition of gq magazine
brown who faces gruelling battle at this year general election beat off
competition from french president nicolas sarkozy british comedian russell
brand and reclusive north korean leader kim jong il for the title
brown moves from three in last year rankings to top the list for being
anything but prime example of british style the men magazine said
perhaps the french president should spend less time worrying about his stature
and more time worrying about his style it added of sarkozy who reportedly at
five foot five inches metres often wears stacked heels
london mayor boris johnson also made the top
british actor robert pattinson star of the twilight vampire romance
franchise meanwhile topped the best dressed list which comes out thursday
the members of pop band take that came in second followed by arctic monkeys
singer alex turner with us style guru tom ford bond star daniel craig and
elton john partner david furnish also winning top spots
david cameron leader of britain main opposition conservatives party and
widely tipped to win this year election was named at number eight
footballer david beckham and rapper dizzee rascal rounded out the top
singer grace jones known for her unique fashion style made the top at
despite not being man with the magazine stating name one man who can make
the tuxedo look this cool
afp sports schedule for monday january
paris jan afp
afp sports schedule for monday january
tennis
roger federer and rafael nadal are top seeds at the qatar open while kim
clijsters is top seed at the brisbane international as the build up to the
australian open continues
atp also at brisbane and chennai wta at auckland
hopman cup continues in perth
slugs tennis atp qat tennis atp wta aus tennis atp ind tennis wta nzl
tennis hopman aus
cricket
second day of the third test between south africa and england in cape town with
the home side resuming on
coverage by colin bryden
bangladesh face sri lanka at dhaka in the first odi of three nation tournament
which also includes india
slugs cricket rsa eng cricket ban sri
rallying
third stage of the dakar rally is km special from la rioja to fiambala
slug auto moto rally dakar
cycling
official launch of the sky team in london
slug cycling gbr sky
nordic skiing
tour de ski third stage in prague
slug ski nordic
canada gas project pipeline gets green light
montreal jan afp
project to develop gas fields in canada northwest territories and build
kilometer miles pipeline won green light after review found it
poses no major environmental concerns
after four year review the joint review panel concluded in its report that
the adverse impacts of the mackenzie gas project mgp would not likely be
significant and that the project would likely make positive contribution
towards sustainable northern future as long as its recommendations are
followed
put together by imperial oil exxonmobil conocophilips and shell the project
targets three natural gas fields in the mackenzie river delta in the northwest
territories and plans kilometer pipeline to pump the gas southward to
alberta province
projected to cost several billion dollars the mgp has been opposed by
environmentalists who fear the natural gas will be used to boost the oil sands
project in alberta contributing to the highly polluting extraction of petroleum
from bitumen
the panel is not persuaded that gas from the mgp would in fact be used in
exploitation of the oil sands the panel said in its final report
it admitted however that it sees no viable way by which specific end uses
could be assigned to or excluded from project gas
the joint committee recommended that canada climate change policies include
provisions for optimizing the benefits of using natural gas as transition fuel
to developing sustainable low carbon economy
the panel further advised that the mgp pay special attention in its development
to the protection of endangered species in the region including the beluga
whale polar bear and caribou
nfl ravens reach playoffs steelers out
los angeles jan afp
the baltimore ravens seized playoff berth sunday with victory at
oakland on the final day of the nfl regular season as super bowl champions
pittsburgh bowed out of the postseason chase
willis mcgahee ran for career high yards and three touchdowns and the
ravens clinched one of two afc wild card spots up for grabs on sunday
the ravens came into the contest knowing win would see them advance the new
york jets who hosted cincinnati on sunday night were in the same situation
although loss for the jets would open the door for houston who stayed alive
with victory over new england
the steelers however knew they needed to win and have other results fall their
way
they avoided fourth quarter collapse to beat miami but were eliminated
hours later when the ravens won
rather we go out with win than loss said steelers signal caller ben
roethlisberger who threw three touchdown passes
the dolphins who won the afc east division last season saw their slim chances
of advancing end minutes before the end of their game when houston beat new
england
pittsburgh post championship season ran aground with five game losing streak
late in the season that included defeats by the lowly chiefs raiders and
browns
we didn do what we were supposed to do and take care of our business
receiver santonio holmes said therefore we have to suffer with what happens
in the nfc the dallas cowboys won the nfc east title with rout of
division rivals philadelphia
the victory set up rematch at cowboys stadium next weekend in the first round
of the playoffs
both teams finished with records but dallas won both meetings between the
two to claim the division
defending nfc champions arizona who fell to the steelers in last season super
bowl lost to green bay and will face the packers again next weekend in the
other nfc first round contest
the minnesota vikings secured first round bye with victory over the new
york giants
think it proof of what we re capable of doing said vikings quarterback
brett favre who completed of passes for yards and four touchdowns in
less than three quarters without turnover
where it takes us from here have no idea but it was definitely momentum
boost and confidence
football man united mulls bond issue on million pound debt reports
london jan afp
manchester united is considering bond issue as part of the english premier
league champion efforts to control its million pound debts report said
monday
investment bank jpmorgan and germany deutsche bank are advising the football
club champions for the last three years on options to improve the club
financial situation the financial times said quoting unnamed sources
one option under consideration would be the issue of high yield bonds according
to the newspaper
the sunday times reported that the cash raised would be used to pay back some of
manchester united existing debts
the club owes about million pounds million euros billion dollars
to banks financial institutions and hedge funds according to debt specialists
quoted by the sunday times
most of this stems from the american glazer family takeover in which was
criticised by fans because so much debt was loaded on to the club
the club knocked out of the fa cup on sunday by leeds united says the debt is
not problem because the annual interest on its various loans is covered by its
operating profit the sunday times said
powerful quake strikes near solomon islands
honiara solomon islands jan afp
powerful magnitude earthquake struck near the solomon islands in the
western pacific on monday with the potential to cause local tsunami
seismologists said
the us geological survey said the quake struck about kilometres from the
island town of gizo at about am gmt sunday and was measured at
depth of about kilometres miles
no tsunami alert was issued but the pacific tsunami warning centre said quakes
of this size could create local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts
located within few hundred kilometres of the earthquake epicentre
it came less than an hour after magnitude earthquake struck near the
archipelago at am usgs said the epicentre of the first quake was
kilometres south southeast of gizo which is the second largest town in the
solomon islands with population of around
it big earthquake but it probably not going to cause large regional
tsunami geoscience australia seismologist clive collins said
it has potential there for local tsunami but we haven heard of anything
as yet don think there any problem but we don any information as yet
he told afp
collins said the quake which was estimated at magnitude by australian
seismologists was probably about kilometres from the nearest land but not
the solomons main island where the capital honiara is located
like much of the pacific the solomons regularly experiences earthquakes
in april magnitude earthquake in the western solomons triggered
tsunami that killed more than people and displaced thousands gizo harbour
lost most of it wharves and jetties in the quake and subsequent tsunami
on september last year devastating tsunami swept along coasts in the
pacific islands of samoa and tonga killing people and wiping out entire
villages
villages and resorts in samoa american samoa and northern tonga were flattened
by the giant waves generated by the massive earthquake the strongest in
nearly century
us militants suspects due in pakistan court
sargodha pakistan jan afp
five us militant suspects are due to appear in court in pakistan on monday after
police said they would seek life jail terms on charges of plotting attacks in
the muslim country
the men were arrested in december on suspicion of trying to contact al qaeda
linked groups and engage in militant activities possibly in the northwest
where islamist militants have power bases
our investigation is complete and we will request the court during the next
hearing to put the five men on trial under the anti terrorism act and hand them
down life imprisonment senior police official tahir gujjar said on saturday
it has now been established that the five men had contacts with militants some
of them foreigners in south waziristan and they had come to pakistan to carry
out acts of terror gujjar said
pakistan has been fighting against the taliban in south waziristan part of the
northwest tribal belt on the afghan border that us officials call al qaeda
chief sanctuary and the most dangerous place on the planet
the men who are all us citizens with dual nationality including two pakistani
americans have also been questioned by the fbi
there has been concern in the united states that extremists within pakistan
might try to take control of nuclear assets or attack atomic facilities despite
insistence from western officials that the facilities are safe
pakistani court last month ordered that the five suspects cannot be deported
without its permission
tokyo stocks open higher
tokyo jan afp
japanese share prices opened higher monday with the benchmark nikkei index
gaining points or percent to in the first minute of
trading
it was the first session of the new year for the japanese market
ex ubs whistleblower may leave jail rich man
washington jan afp
an ex employee of swiss banking giant ubs may leave prison rich man thanks
after he blew the whistle on huge us tax fraud cbs television said sunday
bradley birkenfeld turned in thousands of people for trying to evade paying
taxes in the united states but he was sentenced in august to three years and
four months in jail for inciting ubs clients to commit tax fraud
birkenfeld told cbs sunday he felt he had been badly treated after he denounced
ubs clients who were said to have invested some billion swiss francs
billion dollars in secret swiss accounts
the only one going to prison out of accounts and no swiss bankers
he said gave them the biggest tax fraud case in the world exposed
international criminals and going to jail for that
but one of his lawyers stephen kohn told the us television channel that
birkenfeld could have the last laugh as under federal laws he may be entitled
to up to percent of any taxes recovered by the us tax service
according to prosecutors the internal revenue service could recoup several
billion dollars in lost taxes
birkenfeld from massachusetts was sentenced just two days after ubs and the us
and swiss governments reached landmark out of court settlement of the us civil
tax fraud complaint
despite strict swiss secrecy laws ubs agreed to hand over some names to
us authorities suspected of tax evasion
birkenfeld was however sentenced for aiding the californian property developer
igor olinicoff to hide some million dollars of shares in switzerland and
lichtenstein
his lawyer kohn said the us authorities should however be thanking him
mr birkenfeld has saved the taxpayers billions of dollars brought thousands of
people to justice they should blow up his check kohn told cbs
afp
afp world news service no unauthorized reproduction
obama senate ally to retire
washington jan afp
democratic senator byron dorgan an ally of president barack obama announced
late tuesday he would not seek reelection in november boosting republican
chances of seizing his seat
democrats when joined by two independents currently hold exactly the senate
seats needed to overrun republican procedural roadblocks and several other
obama allies face tough campaigns as well
dorgan decision announced in statement released by his office came after
public opinion poll found him trailing possible republican rival by points
will not be seeking another term in the us senate in it is hard
decision to make after thirty years in the congress but believe it is the
right time for me to pursue these other interests he said
five republican senators have already announced plans not to seek reelection
democratic senators appointed to fill vacancies in illinois and delaware
seats held by obama and vice president joe biden respectively have said they
will leave office when their terms expire in january
but dorgan is the first elected democratic senator to do so
among the other white house allies in trouble democratic senate majority leader
harry reid senate banking committee chairman christopher dodd and arkansas
senator blanche lincoln
more than dozen republican house members have announced they plan to retire
while democrats hope to hold on to about seats held by members not seeking
reelection
mid term us elections typically see the party that holds the white house lose
congressional seats and republicans hope rising anti incumbent tide fed by
double digit unemployment will further boost their fortunes
obama critics lay out own security measures
washington jan afp
some of president barack obama fiercest republican foes in congress called
tuesday for tighter restrictions on air travel to the united states and halt
