Tuesday 9 June 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

French PM under fire over trip to Champions League final

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PARIS (AFP) - French Prime Minister Manuel Valls came under fire Tuesday for taking a government jet to watch the Champions League final over the weekend in Berlin accompanied by his two sons.Opposition politicians demanded Valls apologise and reimburse the cost of the trip to Berlin.Born in Barcelona in 1962, the Socialist French prime minister is a huge fan of Barca which won Europes most prestigious club competition against Italys Juventus 3-1 on Saturday.He defended himself Tuesday from accusations of profligacy for taking a Falcon jet to the game, saying sport played a very important role, thanks to the big international events that we are going to host in France -- referring to the Euro 2016 championship which France will host.The role of a prime minister was to to support these big events for France, he added by way of explanation.President Francois Hollande had already taken up the premiers defence on Monday, saying Valls was on an official trip to meet officials of European football body UEFA.Hollande said Valls had matters to discuss with UEFA around the hosting of the European championship as well as the corruption scandal engulfing FIFA.The goal was not to go and support Barca, the goal was to represent France, state secretary for sports Thierry Braillard insisted.An UEFA spokesman confirmed on Tuesday that Valls was invited to Berlin by UEFA President Michel Platini to talk about Euro 2016.As for the presence of his children on the plane, Valls team argued that they in no way added to the bill, saying there were free seats onboard the jet.The childrens presence in the plane adds nothing to the cost of the flight, a source in the prime ministers office said.But the affair was grist to the opposition mill nonetheless, with leftists and conservatives alike using it to paint the Socialist as a big spender, out of touch with the crisis-hit citizenry.So we learn that two of his children were on the trip to Berlin... the least Valls can do is pay it back, wrote opposition lawmaker Thierry Mariani of the Republicans party in a tweet.European lawmaker, Rachida Dati, a former justice minister under ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, also jumped into the fray.The reality is that the Paris-Berlin family flight took off. But employment, still has not, she tweeted.The Socialist Party has been hit by a number of corruption and spending scandals since taking power in 2012.A former budget minister was forced to quit after being found to have stashed millions of euros in a Swiss account and a senior presidential advisor had to step aside after being accused of conflict of interest and overspending, including spending a small fortune to keep his shoes shined.

Myanmar's Suu Kyi to make China debut visit

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YANGON (AFP) - Myanmars opposition leader and democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi is set to land in China on Wednesday for a debut visit, at a time of cooling relations between the once closely-bonded nations.Beijing was a key backer of Myanmars military junta while it was under Western sanctions, providing a much needed international ally for a brutal regime that crushed dissent and kept Suu Kyi under house arrest for years.Now the 69-year-old visits China both as a free woman and a politician ahead of crunch elections slated for November at which her National League for Democracy party (NLD) are expected to make significant gains, if the vote is free and fair.Nicholas Farrelly, a Myanmar specialist at the Australian National University, said the former political prisoner will not allow Chinas historical support for a junta that imprisoned her cloud her judgement.Aung San Suu Kyi is getting on with the business of trying to win an election. She will be utterly pragmatic about what is at stake and cannot afford to indulge undue sentiment, he told AFP.She knows that China will play a mighty role in Myanmars future.Suu Kyi is visiting Myanmars giant northern neighbour alongside a delegation of NLD members following an invitation from Chinas Communist Party.The NLD has said she is expected to meet President Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang, but no detailed itinerary has yet been released by the Chinese authorities.The delegations arrival comes as Chinas once near monopolistic relationship with Myanmar faces competition from a raft of new suitors.Since launching reforms in 2011, Myanmar President Thein Sein has embraced the international community following the lifting of sanctions and reached out to the United States, which is hankering after friends in Southeast Asia as part of its Asia pivot.Good friendSuu Kyi became one of the worlds most famous political prisoners during her house arrest for much of the 1990s and 2000s because of her outspoken opposition to military rule.She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.But her global image as an upholder of human rights has lost some of its lustre as she has been criticised by rights groups for her reluctance to speak out on the plight of Myanmars unwanted Rohingya Muslims who are at the centre of a migrant crisis engulfing the region.While in Beijing, she will likely face calls to raise the case of jailed fellow Nobel laureate Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo, sentenced to 11 years in prison in 2009 for circulating a petition calling for democratic reforms.In recent months relations between Beijing and Myanmar have cooled as an ethnic insurgency in the Kokang region in the southeast Asian country spilled over its border with China.Economic issues have also strained the hitherto tight bonds between the two countries, more so as reforms expose the once junta-run nation to protests and public opinion.Ahead of Suu Kyis visit, an editorial in Chinas Global Times took a swipe at Myanmars democratic transition, saying reforms had complicated its politics.The government is rapidly losing control over society, said the state-run newspaper.But it also held out high hopes for the democracy leaders stance toward Beijing.Suu Kyi will become a good friend of China, it said. She has made some positive remarks about China over the years, and also showed a pragmatic attitude in disputes concerning Chinese projects.

Football: Jack Warner blasts US, FIFA suspect turns self in

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PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) - Fallen FIFA executive Jack Warner said Tuesday that US authorities would be unable to give him a fair trial, while an Argentinian businessman indicted in the soccer bodys sprawling corruption scandal handed himself over to Italian police.Warner, a former schoolteacher and Trinidadian justice minister at the heart of the criminal case engulfing footballs world body, is the subject of a US request to have him extradited from Trinidad.The 72-year-old said the United States is not the appropriate jurisdiction to handle the matter fairly and claimed America is trying to exact revenge because it tried but failed to lobby FIFA to host the 2022 World Cup.One must be extremely careful to question whether the United States can be fair in taking action against officials of an international body whom it feels has done it wrong, Warner wrote in an editorial in the weekly Sunshine newspaper, which he owns.Currently, US prosecutors accuse 14 people of taking part in a sweeping kickbacks scheme going back 20 years involving a total of $150 million in bribes.The revelations have thrown the soccer world into turmoil and led to the resignation of long-serving FIFA president Sepp Blatter last week, just four days after his re-election to a fifth consecutive term.Warner called the United States two-faced, since he and Blatter had once been welcomed to the White House by President Barack Obama.Was the president of the United States seeking a strong lobby from a FIFA vice president or was he bribing a FIFA official with a visit and a meal to the White House? I think not, Warner said.In each case, the answer is no, but it just goes to show how selective this bribe issue can be, he added.Former exec hands himself inAmong those indicted is Argentine sports marketing executive Alejandro Burzaco. He turned himself in to police in Italyy after initially fleeing authorities.Burzaco, 50, was held in Bolzano, near Italys northern border with Switzerland after turning up spontaneously at a police station with his two lawyers, police said in a statement.Burzacos whereabouts had been a mystery since seven FIFA executives were arrested in the Swiss city of Zurich on May 27, the eve of a FIFA Congress.According to reports, Burzaco was in the hotel where the executives were cuffed and promptly disappeared in the knowledge he was likely to be on the indicted list.It is believed he was not in his hotel room at the time because he was having breakfast.After he turned himself in, Burzaco was briefly detained in a cell and was then allowed to leave the police station but placed under house arrest, Italian news agency AGI reported.The Argentinian, who also has Italian citizenship, had already rented a house near Bolzano in expectation of being placed under house arrest, reports said.Burzaco is wanted by US authorities in connection with his role as president of sports marketing company Torneos y Competencias.The US suspects him of paying tens of millions of dollars in bribes to win and retain the media rights contracts for football tournaments in Latin America.The Torneos y Competencias company held the television rights for the Argentinian league between 1992-2009 and in association with Aaron Davidson, president of Traffic Sports USA who was arrested in Zurich, and another company, Full Play, hold the rights for the Copa America tournament which kicks off in Chile next month.The whereabouts of Full Play owners, Argentinian father and son Hugo and Mariano Jinkis, are unknown.USA head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, a World Cup-winning striker for West Germany in 1990, said Tuesday he expects there to be more revelations in the scandal.If there is one thing I know for sure, when the American authorities have evidence, then they see things through and more things will come out, Klinsmann said in Cologne ahead of a friendly match against Germany.The whole world is wishing that FIFA will be cleaned up and those who comply will do things differently in the long term.

Syria rebels overrun key army base in new regime setback

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BEIRUT (AFP) - An alliance of Syrian rebel forces seized a key army base in the south of the country on Tuesday in a new setback for the regimes embattled troops.The Southern Front alliance took full control of the 52nd Brigade base in Daraa province after 24 hours of fierce clashes, a spokesman told AFP.The 52nd Brigade base was fully liberated from the regime army, Major Essam al-Rayes said, adding at least 2,000 rebel fighters had taken part in the short and quick assault.The base lies near a major highway running from Damascus to Syrias southern border with Jordan and is also near the frontier with neighbouring Sweida province, which is largely regime-controlled.This base was one of the main lines of defence for the regime forces. It was a nightmare, because they used it to shell all the areas to the east of the province, Rayes said.The Southern Front was combing through the site for material left by regime troops, he said, adding the alliance would likely launch additional attacks from there in the near future. Diaa al-Hariri, spokesman for Faylaq al-Awwal, one of the groups in the alliance, said the base was being used as a launching pad for the armys infantry. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed opposition groups had taken the base after clashes and intense shelling that killed 15 rebel fighters and 20 government forces.Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said rebel forces also seized two villages, including the Christian town of Al-Rakham, as regime troops withdrew to the nearby village of Al-Dara.Rebels control a majority of Daraa province and its capital, Abdel Rahman said.Syrias official news agency SANA did not report the capture of the base.But earlier, citing a military source, it said the air force had struck the area, killing at least 40 terrorists, who it accused neighbouring Jordan of backing.The fall of the base is the latest in a string of defeats for the regime, which has lost territory to both rebel alliances in Syrias northwest and the Islamic State group in the countrys centre.It also follows defeats in Daraa, including in April the Nasib border post, its last crossing with Jordan.Nonetheless, efforts towards a political solution to the crisis have faltered. In Cairo, figures from the countrys exiled opposition, as well as tolerated anti-regime figures from within Syria, agreed on a roadmap that ruled out any future role for President Bashar al-Assad.The roadmap, distributed to journalists after a two-day meeting, also stressed the need for a negotiated solution under UN auspices starting with a ceasefire, prisoner release and the return of opposition figures from abroad.Syrias conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. After a regime crackdown, it spiralled into a civil war that has now killed more than 230,000 people, the Observatory said as it issued a new toll Tuesday.The Britain-based group said nearly 70,000 civilians have died in the war, nearly 11,500 of them children.More than 85,500 government forces -- soldiers and militiamen -- have been killed, along with over 41,000 rebels, Syrian jihadists and Kurdish fighters.The monitor also documented the deaths of 31,247 foreign jihadists, and said another 3,191 people killed in the conflict have yet to be identified.Many of the civilian deaths have come in government aerial attacks, particularly involving the use of barrel bombs.The weapon, criticised by rights groups as indiscriminate, has been used to devastating effect in Aleppo, where the Observatory said four members of one family were killed in such an attack Tuesday.Syrias conflict has evolved into a complex, multi-front war that has drawn in jihadists including IS, which now rules a self-proclaimed caliphate in territory across Syria and Iraq.The group on Tuesday claimed an attack against a government headquarters in Amriyat al-Fallujah, west of the capital Baghdad.At least two people were killed in the assault by militants.The attack came a year to the day since IS launched a sweeping offensive that overran much of Iraqs Sunni Arab heartland and seized Iraqs second city Mosul. A US-led coalition striking the jihadists in both Syria and Iraq said it destroyed IS buildings, tactical units, and fighting positions near Mosul on Monday.Meanwhile, the Pentagon said it was drawing up plans to expand the training of Iraqi forces and Sunni tribesmen in a step that could mean deploying more US troops in the country.

Turkey cabinet resigns after polls blow

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ANKARA (AFP) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, reeling from shock election results, on Tuesday accepted the resignation of the cabinet but asked the prime minister and his team to stay on until a new government is formed.The ruling Justice and Development Partys (AKP) failure in Sundays polls to keep its parliamentary majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002 has left the country facing either a coalition government or snap elections.Erdogan hosted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu for an hour of closed-door talks inside the vast new presidential palace in Ankara.Mr President accepted today the resignation of the cabinet that was presented by Mr Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, Erdogans office said in a brief statement.Mr President, who thanked the cabinet for its services so far, asked the cabinet to remain in charge until a new government is formed, it added.A government source told AFP that the expected move was purely procedural and Erdogan would host Davutoglu again at a later date to discuss starting coalition talks with other parties.There are however no straightforward coalition options, making snap elections a real possibility.Erdogan can call snap elections within 45 days if efforts to form a coalition are unsuccessful.The AKP won 41 percent of the vote, followed by the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) on 25 percent, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on 16.5 percent and the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) in fourth place with 13 percent.The AKP will have 258 seats in the 550-seat parliament, the CHP 132, and the MHP and HDP 80 apiece.The result was a huge blow for the AKP which has been largely unchallenged in its political dominance of Turkey over the last 13 years.The MHP, which shares the AKPs conservative and religious outlook would be the most natural partner, but is opposed to many aspects of the peace process with Kurdish rebels.The CHP has bitterly denounced Erdogan as a dictator but its leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has left open the door to a coalition, saying it would be disrespectful to voters to leave the country without a government.As perplexing as it may seem, I would bet on the grand coalition for Turkey, said Sinan Ulgen, visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe, in a report. The HDP, whose charismatic leader Selahattin Demirtas was the star of the campaign, has clearly ruled out taking part in any coalition.We are clear on this situation. We will not have a coalition with the AKP, said Demirtas, adding that the AKP and CHP should try and form a coalition as the two biggest parties. The result was an immense breakthrough for the HDP, which managed to easily surmount the 10 percent threshold needed to win seats and resoundingly defeat the AKP in the Kurdish-dominated southeast.The elections were also a bruising blow for Erdogan, the co-founder of the AKP who served as premier from 2003-2014 and as president since August last year.Erdogan wanted the AKP to win a super majority to push through a new constitution that would give him reinforced powers as president. But instead Turkey has a hung parliament.To the amusement of pro-opposition bloggers, Erdogan -- usually ubiquitous on television and making several appearances a day -- has almost vanished from sight since the election and made no spoken comment.As president, Erdogan should have in theory remained neutral in the campaign but instead waded in on the side of the AKP, blasting opponents at every opportunity.Turkish media reports have indicated many AKP officials privately admit their campaign badly misfired, with many voters put off by Erdogan and Davutoglus incendiary but divisive rhetoric. The Hurriyet daily reported that if Davutoglu fails to form a government the AKP could call an extraordinary congress in August and find a new party leader and premier, possibly Erdogans predecessor as president Abdullah Gul. With post-election tensions still high in Turkeys main Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, four people were killed including the leader of an Islamist charity in clashes between rival Kurdish groups in the city.Markets have also been rattled by the political uncertainty and on Monday shown heavy losses. But they were calmer Tuesday with the BIST 100 stock index up 0.44 percent and the Turkish lira flat against the dollar.

First Germanwings crash victims' bodies repatriated

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MARIGNANE (AFP) - The first bodies from the Germanwings plane that was deliberately crashed in the French Alps were repatriated to Germany on Tuesday.A special flight operated by Lufthansa carried the remains of 44 Germans, among the 150 onboard when the jet crashed on March 24, from the southern French city of Marseille to Duesseldorf in western Germany.The coffins were loaded into the Lufthansa MD-11 cargo plane as rain fell at Marseilles Marignane airport and the flight landed in Germany shortly after 2030 GMT, a spokesman for the airline said.Lufthansa is the parent company of budget airline Germanwings.A total of 72 Germans had been onboard the doomed Airbus A320, which was heading from Barcelona to Duesseldorf when it crashed in the French Alps.Brice Robin, the French prosecutor who is leading the investigation into the crash, is due to meet Thursday with relatives of some of the other victims to discuss the identification and repatriation of remains.Last week the families of some of the 16 teenage victims from the same German high school angrily complained to Lufthansa after they were told the repatriation would be delayed due to problems with the issuing of death certificates. Lufthansa later said the flight would go ahead as initially planned.The teenagers, from the northwest German town of Haltern, had been flying back from an exchange trip to Spain.After this first special flight to Duesseldorf, the other victims will be gradually transferred to their home countries in the coming weeks, Lufthansa said.The French authorities are working hard in order to create the formal conditions for the transfer of the victims as soon as possible.Lufthansa is in close contact with the relatives to ensure that the transfer of the victims is carried out according to the relatives wishes.Investigators last month finished identifying the remains of all 150 people aboard Germanwings Flight 4U 9525.They say that 27-year-old German co-pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had a history of severe depression, intentionally downed the plane.

Four killed in Turkey clashes between rival Kurds: hospital

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DIYARBAKIR (AFP) - Four people were killed Tuesday, including the leader of an Islamist charity, in clashes between rival Kurdish groups in Diyarbakir, adding to tensions in Turkeys largest Kurdish-populated city days after legislative elections. Aytac Baran, the leader of the Ihya-Der charity group, was shot dead by unknown gunmen outside his home in Diyarbakir, prompting a gunfight that left three others dead and four injured, including three journalists, hospital sources told AFP. Sympathisers of the group fired shots into the air and clashed with supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) who they claimed were behind the attack, an AFP reporter said. But the HDP however strongly condemned the attack in a statement, calling for a thorough investigation to arrest the suspects and bring them to justice. Baran had been threatened by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) just before his assassination, his lawyer said in a statement quoted by the Turkish media. Turkish media reports said two of the injured journalists were working for the DHA news agency and one for the IHA news agency.Ihya-Der is linked to Islamist group Huda-Par, known to be the political extension of Turkish Hezbollah, a Kurdish Sunni Islamist militant organisation.Turkish Hezbollah has no link with the better known Lebanese Shiite group of the same name.Violence frequently breaks out between Huda-Par and HDP members, who are seen by critics as close to the PKK.The violence came after three people were killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on an HDP rally in Diyarbakir on Friday, just ahead of the elections. It also follows a stunning election performance by the HDP, which passed the 10-percent threshold for parliamentary representation to win 80 seats in the 550-member chamber.

MERS death toll rises to nine in S. Korea

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SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea on Wednesday reported two more deaths from Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), bringing to nine the total number of deaths in the current outbreak.Thirteen new cases were also confirmed, expanding the list of known cases to 108 following the diagnosis of the first infected patient on May 20, the health ministry said.The two latest fatalities include a 75-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man, both victims of the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia.The pair contracted the virus at Samsung Medical Centre, a major hospital in southern Seoul which has seen the greatest number of total infections and where 10 of the 13 new patients were also infected.The three other new victims had their diagnoses confirmed at three different hospitals, including two in the central city of Daejeon and one near a southern suburb of Seoul.All the infections were limited to hospitals and health authorities stressed that the outbreak had not spread to communities outside hospital settings.The nine dead people had pre-existing health conditions, the ministry said.The virus is considered a deadlier but less infectious cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed hundreds of people when it appeared in Asia in 2003.There is no vaccine or cure for MERS which, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, has a fatality rate of around 35 percent.

IS claims capture of Libya's Sirte: SITE

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DUBAI (AFP) - The Islamic State group claimed to have seized full control Tuesday of the Libyan city of Sirte from the Fajr Libya militia, including a power plant, according to a US monitor.SITE Intelligence Group said the jihadist group had published photographs of IS fighters engaged in clashes, sitting atop heavy guns, exploring the power plant and town, as well as bodies of dead Fajr Libya fighters.The claim comes nearly two weeks after IS overran the airport in Sirte -- the home town of slain dictator Moamer Kadhafi -- in the groups first such military gain in Libya.SITE quoted a report in which an IS division that calls itself Tripoli Province said soldiers of the caliphate seized control of the last locations of Fajr Libya gunmen in Sirte.The report said Sirte would now be the coastal city linking the east and west of Libya under full control of the Islamic State (group) fighters.It said the capture of Sirte came after clashes that erupted at dawn saw the Fajr Libya fighters lose all entrances to the city and the power plant, as well as the Al-Jallit military camp and Al-Qardhabiyah base.

US will not meet with visiting Muslim Brotherhood delegation

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - American diplomats will not meet with a visiting delegation from the Muslim Brotherhood, designated as a terrorist organization by the regime of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, US officials said Tuesday.But State Department spokesman Jeffrey Rathke said America would still engage with the Brotherhood, whose members are visiting Washington on a private trip.The State Department is not planning a meeting with the visiting delegation, he said.We engage with representatives from across the political spectrum, and this is a group weve also met with in the recent past. But you know, we dont have any further reasoning than we simply arent meeting with them this time.A State Department official told AFP it is the prerogative of the (State) Department to prioritize its engagements and a meeting wont be helpful at this time.Still, Rathke said the United States had no change in policy regarding the Muslim Brotherhood and would remain in contact.Rathke would not comment on media reports that Egypt had summoned US Ambassador Robert Beecroft to express displeasure over the Muslim Brotherhood visit to Washington for a private conference.The Egyptian foreign ministry and the countrys ambassador in Washington have also kept quiet about the visit.Sisi, the former army chief who toppled Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi and then won an election, has pledged to eradicate the Brotherhood and his government has blacklisted the movement as a terrorist organization.The United States and Egypt have had a difficult relationship since the fall of ex-president Hosni Mubarak at the start of 2011 and the ensuing political shifts.Washington at the end of March unfroze its military assistance to Egypt -- worth about $1.3 billion annually -- though continued to denounce Cairos rights violations and the brutal repression of Muslim Brotherhood members.The military overthrew Morsi in July 2013 and he was sentenced to death last month.

Single dose of vaccine may prevent cervical cancer

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PARIS (AFP) - A single vaccine shot, rather than the recommended triple dose, may be enough to protect women against cervical cancer, a study said on Wednesday.If further work validates the findings, there could be major gains for campaigns to vaccinate young women in poor countries, the authors said.The research looked at Cervarix, which with another vaccine, Gardasil, is being rolled out to shield young girls from the human papillomavirus (HPV) which causes cervical cancer.Cervarix is a so-called bivalent vaccine, targeting two types of virus -- HPV 16 and 18 -- that together are to blame for about 70 percent of cases.The vaccine was initially approved to be given in three doses over six months, although some countries have cautiously switched to a two-dose schedule.The new research, published in the journal The Lancet Oncology, suggests that this easier regimen could be taken even further.The authors reported on an aspect of two big trials to test Cervarix among 7,500 women in Costa Rica aged 18-25 and more than 18,500 women aged 15-25 in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and the Americas.Women in these trials were randomly assigned to receiving either Cervarix in three doses, or a hepatitis A vaccine.However, 543 of the women in the Cervarix group only received one dose, mainly because their vaccination was discontinued due to pregnancy.Four years after the trial took place, the researchers checked the health of the volunteers.They found there was no difference in cancer rates among those who had received Cervarix, regardless of the number of doses they had received.The authors, led by Cosette Wheeler of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, call for a new randomised study to see if these findings hold true on a larger scale and beyond just four years.If the good news is confirmed, the big beneficiaries would be poor countries.Cervical cancer is notoriously called a silent killer of women. It is the fourth commonest cause of cancer among women, and tragically is often diagnosed too late.If one dose is sufficient, it could reduce vaccination and administration costs as well as improve uptake, said co-author Aimee Kreimer of the US National Cancer Institute.This is especially important in less developed regions of the world, where more than 80 percent of cervical cancer cases occur.HPV is easily spread by sexual intercourse.In addition to cervical cancer, it can also cause genital warts and cancer of the anus and penis. For that reason, doctors in the United States and other countries recommend pre-teens of both sexes be vaccinated.

Policeman who pulled gun at Texas pool party resigns

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CHICAGO (AFP) - The police officer who pulled out a gun at a Texas pool party of unarmed black teenagers has resigned over the latest videotaped case raising questions about use of force in law enforcement.McKinney Police Chief Greg Conley deplored Eric Casebolts indefensible actions, in announcing his resignation.Officials in the city some 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Dallas had earlier said they put the officer on leave.Our policies, our training, our practice do not support his actions, Conley told reporters.He came into the call out of control and as the video shows, was out of control during the incident.Video filmed by one of the teens and later posted on YouTube shows Casebolt shouting obscenities at the youths as he orders them to lie on the ground.Conley said officers responded to a disturbance on Friday.In a chaotic scene in which youths can be seen running around the pool area to evade the police, Casebolt can be seen throwing a girl to the ground in her bathing suit and pinning her down, then pulling out his gun as two black male teens approach, apparently to try to help her.Authorities launched a probe after becoming aware of the existence of the video, which went viral and was replayed repeatedly on US news broadcasts.The actions of any one individual do not define our community as a whole, Mayor Brian Loughmiller stressed.The past year has seen numerous cases that have raised concerns about excessive and sometimes lethal police force in black communities across the United States.

Dozens of US airport workers linked to terror: official

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - The agency in charge of US transportation security came under renewed fire Tuesday as a report revealed that American airports had hired dozens of people with terror links.The Transportation Security Agency is already reeling after a recent Department of Homeland Security report found that investigators could sneak fake bombs and weaponry through security with a 95 percent success rate.Homeland Security Inspector General John Roth discussed before lawmakers his new report that found the TSA failed to detect at least 73 people with links to terrorism who were hired by US airports.By law, the TSA had limited oversight over the hiring process and thus lacked assurance that it properly vetted all credential applicants, the report report said.Roth said the law needed to be changed to give the agency access to all relevant information, including FBI terrorist watchlists.Becky Roering, an assistant security director at the Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport, told the hearing that former badged employees had even gone to Syria to join the Islamic State group.During the same hearing, a TSA official criticized a program to pre-check passengers either randomly or because they have been given known or trusted traveler status and are deemed to pose a low risk.TSA is handing out PreCheck status like Halloween candy in an effort to expedite passengers as quickly as possible, Roering said.More than a million people have signed up for the TSAs PreCheck program, and another seven million have been randomly chosen for expedited boarding checks.In one case, a former member of an extremist organization found himself randomly given access to the PreCheck line but a TSA worker recognized him and alerted his superior.Roering also said TSA staff have low morale and work in a climate of fear and distrust.Last week, Homeland Security head Jeh Johnson announced new measures to improve security screenings at American airports after investigators were able to smuggle mock explosives and weapons through checkpoints dozens of times.Johnson reassigned Melvin Carraway, the TSAs acting head, and replaced him with another interim director, Mark Hatfield.

Football: Uruguay confident despite Suarez absence

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MONTEVIDEO (AFP) - The absence of Luis Suarez is casting a shadow over Uruguays Copa America preparations but the reigning champions are in defiant mood as they attempt to defend their crown without the suspended Barcelona star.Suarez remains sidelined from international football as he serves the final few games of his ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder at the World Cup last year.The 28-year-olds suspension deprives Uruguay of one of the most potent attackers in world football, a talismanic presence who has repeatedly ridden to the rescue of La Celeste, whether it be by fair means or foul.Uruguay captain Diego Godin acknowledged that Suarez was a fundamental part of the national team, but has urged the squad to forget the striker as they prepare to face Group B rivals Argentina, Paraguay and Jamaica.Im not going to lie, the absence of Luis is important, Godin said. Hes a leader both on and off the field and he has been in spectacular form.Nevertheless Godin believes Uruguays habit of punching above their weight -- they have won more Copa America titles than any other side -- gives them grounds for confidence in Chile.Were in good form, weve got a great team and a great squad. Were confident, Godin said.Wind of changeMuch has changed since Uruguay showed that their run to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup was no fluke by going on to win the 2011 Copa America in Argentina.One of the heroes of 2011, veteran striker Diego Forlan, retired in March. Former captain Diego Lugano is also gone, having not been selected since the World Cup last year.Coach Oscar Tabarez has also been given another headache with the injury to Juventus defender Martin Caceres.Tabarez believes that Group B rivals Argentina will represent the strongest opposition in Chile.Argentina are potentially in the best shape, said Tabarez, who masterminded Uruguays quarter-final upset of their neighbours four years ago.Uruguays other first round opponents are Paraguay and Jamaica, who along with Mexico are one of two teams from the CONCACAF region invited to participate in this years tournament.With Suarez banned and Forlan retired, Uruguay will look to Paris Saint-Germain star Edinson Cavani to provide the goalscoring threat in attack.Cavani heads to Chile after a treble-winning season in France, relaxed about the prospect of shouldering the attacking burden of his team.The wiry 28-year-old striker said he had discussed the Copa America with Suarez when the two teammates paths crossed in the Champions League earlier this year.We talked about it after the match, Cavani said. I told him - Great, now Edi will have to do it all. And we laughed -- thats the only thing you can do.These things happen in football and its just turned out that Im going to have to take responsibility.

Messenger app tops a billion downloads at Google Play

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SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Facebook crowed Tuesday that an Android version of its Messenger app has been downloaded more than a billion times from the Google Play store.Happy to make it to the very exclusive Android 1 billion downloads club, the head of the Messenger team David Marcus said in an online post.Other than Facebook, only Google boasts apps with more than a billion Google Play downloads onto Android-powered mobile devices, according to technology news website TechCrunch.A chat forum on Messengers page at Google Play was rich with accolades but peppered with comment that the high download count was driven by Facebook spinning the widely used service out of the social network, compelling people to get the app.Facebook last year broke off Messenger from the main Facebook application for mobile users, creating a separate platform that claims more than 600 million users.Facebook in April began rolling out video calling on its Messenger mobile application, enabling face-to-face conversations among users of the app around the world.With the new feature, users can add video to calls to another person with the same application.Similar services are offered by Microsofts Skype, Google Hangouts and Apples FaceTime.Free calling has been available for two years to users of Messenger, although people may be required to pay for data used during the connections.The worlds biggest social network also opened up Messenger to outside developers as part of its strategy to create a family of apps that also includes Instagram and WhatsApp.Facebook has offered few hints on how it will monetize Messenger, but recently unveiled a system of peer-to-peer payments which could be adapted as an e-commerce platform.Messenger also lets users communicate with online merchants, essentially turning formerly impersonal Internet shopping into ongoing text message conversations.
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