Child prostitution up after Kenya's election bloodshed

This time last year, Janet Kimani spent her days at school and her nights fighting with her little brother.

Now, she sleeps all day and sells her skinny, 14-year-old body at night for $3 an hour."There are so many of us girls on the streets these days," Janet, dressed in a black miniskirt and white blouse, told The Associated Press in Eldoret, a western Kenya town that was a flashpoint of this year's deadly postelection crisis.Prostitution and sexual exploitation are on the rise in the wake of the violence, which killed more than 1,000 people, eviscerated the economy and forced tens of thousands of children to leave school, doctors and human rights groups say.A girl lies in a brothel next to a baby born to a prostitute in Mombasa, Kenya, a center of trade in underage girls.

Sex without condoms raises alarm about AIDS
Although no firm figures are yet available, medical experts say they fear the increase in young prostitutes -- known here as "twilight girls"

Guards quizzed over Antigua honeymoon murder

Antigua (AP) -- Three security guards have been questioned about the fatal attack on a honeymooning British doctor in Antigua, but officials said Wednesday they have not yet arrested any suspects.
Police Commissioner Gary Nelson told Observer Radio that the guards, who are not suspects, agreed with one another about what happened early Sunday at the Cocos Hotel, when Catherine and Benjamin Mullany were shot in the head.He gave no further details about their testimony, but said witnesses have reported that the couple screamed for help.The wife died and the husband is brain dead and on life support with a fractured skull and broken leg, Doctor Fidel Fernandez told reporters.
The Antigua and Barbuda Hotel Association is offering a US$95,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.The couple, both 31, came to Antigua for a two-week honeymoon following their July 12 marriage, police said. The wife was a doctor from the Pontardawe area of south Wales. The couple's parents arrived from England and have visited the hospital and a funeral home.Police Inspector Cornelius Charles said the motive appeared to be robbery, but authorities have not ruled out other possibilities. Investigators have not determined whether there was more than one intruder.

'Terror' school turns out to be moderate madrassa

KARACHI, Pakistan -- It's an alarming message: Two American boys are held captive in a madrassa, a Pakistani religious school, once visited by Osama bin Laden and with ties to the Taliban.
The film, "Karachi Kids," describes threats to artistic freedom of expression from the teaching of conservative Islam. Early copies of the film prompted outrage after the story of the American boys appeared on Fox News, CBS and other news outlets. It also led to demands from Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, for the boys to be returned home.But the independent filmmaker may have confused the madrassa with one with a similar name tied to Islamic extremists.The madrassa the boys attended isn't linked to bin Laden or Muslim radicals; instead, it's one the U.S. State Department says is preferred by Pakistani-Americans for its moderate Islamic teachings and one recently visited by a top U.S. diplomat in Pakistan.

Iran: No deadline agreed on nuke deal

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has already responded to an international offer of incentives for suspending its nuclear enrichment activity, Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told in an interviewMottaki said Iran responded with its own proposal, which involves another set of talks.
And contrary to what others -- including the United States and the European Union -- have said, no deadline was agreed upon during talks between Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana during talks in Geneva earlier this month, Mottaki said.U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday warned Iran not to delay its response. A two-week deadline for the response to the offer made to Iran by envoys from the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China ends this week, officials have said.But Mottaki told in interview no deadline was discussed at the meeting -- one was mentioned only afterward on Wednesday.

Kenneth Cole Holiday: Black and White, and Red All Over

New York - Kenneth Cole had the right idea with their Holiday 2008 collection, which they presented in New York on Wednesday, July 23. Here's the prescription: Keep the regular fall wardrobe of cozy shawl knits, simple smocked jersey tops and little black dresses and when holiday party season rolls around, just add a jolt of jewel toned color in the form of a smart round toe patent leather pump or flat, or a chic envelope clutch bag.Starting with dark grays and inky blacks as their base - something that Kenneth Cole knows will never go out of style - for Holiday 2008, the collection added fuchsia, teal and cherry red sweaters, tops and dresses for a more festive look, if accessories alone won't get you in the spirit of things.For men, it's all about toned down tailoring - wearing that button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up and keeping it slightly wrinkled, but adding a crisp touch like a wool vest. And no need to don the full tuxedo - a tuxedo-detailed shirt can work just as well.

Australia to give aid to Myanmar

SINGAPORE - Australia announced Wednesday an extra $29 million in aid for survivors of Myanmar's May cyclone, but pressed its recalcitrant military junta to democratize quickly and respect human rights.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said he informed his Myanmar counterpart, Nyan Win, of the aid during a meeting Tuesday on the sidelines of an annual security meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Asian and Western dialogue partners in Singapore.Smith also called on the junta to ensure that general elections in 2010 will be free and fair and will allow the political opposition, including long detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, to participate."We want to see Myanmar return to respect for human rights, respect for the rule of law and we want to see democracy return to Myanmar," Smith said he told Win. People walk past flooded houses in Schineni, northern Romania, Monday, July 28, 2008. Severe weather caused heavy flooding in Germany, Ukraine and Romania on Saturday and Sunday, forcing thousands to evacuate their flooded homes. In northern Romania, five people died in flooding and heavy rain in areas bordering Ukraine, and power outages affected around 20,000 people.

Deadly floods hit Romania, Ukraine

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, centre, speaks to inhabitants of flooded village Serebriya, western Ukraine, Monday, July 28, 2008. Ukraine's Emergency Ministry says storms and floods have killed 22 people, including six children, after four days of storms have flooded more than 20,000 houses and cut electricity in four western regions. More than 8,000 people have been evacuated, and thousands are in serious danger as the water keeps rising Sunday.A woman walks through a flooded street in the village of Siretu, about 300 km (200 miles) north of Bucharest, July 28, 2008. Floods in northeastern Romania have killed four people, and two others are missing.

Giant chunks break off Canadian ice shelf

Giant sheets of ice totaling almost eight square miles broke off an ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic last week and more could follow later this year, scientists said on Tuesday.

Temperatures in large parts of the Arctic have risen far faster than the global average in recent decades, a development that experts say is linked to global warming.The ice broke away from the shelf on Ward Hunt Island, an small island just off giant Ellesmere Island in one of the northernmost parts of Canada.It was the largest fracture of its kind since the nearby Ayles ice shelf -- which measured 25 square miles -- broke away in 2005.Scientists had already identified deep cracks in the Ward Hunt shelf, which measures around 155 square miles. The shelf is one of five along Ellesmere Island in the northern Arctic."Because the break-off occurred between two large parallel cracks they're thinking more could go this summer before the freeze sets in".said the scientist

"It underscores the fact that each year we're now crossing new thresholds in environmental change in the High Arctic, and of course our concern in the longer term is that these may signal the onset of serious change at all latitudes, much further to the south, for example," he told Reuters.

World's Skin Cancer Hot Spots

You probably know by now that making bad decisions when it comes to sun protection can be life threatening. While some people smartly skip the mid-day sun altogether, others work outdoors in tank tops every day or hit the beach with a bottle of baby oil, increasing their chances of developing skin cancer. But it isn't all about daily habits--a portion of the risk has to do with culture and family history. Where we live (a result of latitude and long-term migration patterns), prevailing cultural beliefs (and the associated garb), and common vacationing habits all play a role in our chances of developing ailments related to sun-exposure.

Ambassador: Al-Qaida leaving Iraq for Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) - Al-Qaida's foreign fighters who have for years bedeviled Iraq are increasingly going to Afghanistan to fight instead, the Iraqi ambassador to the United States said Wednesday.

``We have heard reports recently that many of the foreign fighters that were in Iraq have left, either back to their homeland or going to fight in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is now seeming to be more suitable for al-Qaida fighters,'' said Ambassador Samir Sumaida'ie. Al-Qaida had training camps and a headquarters in Afghanistan, under the protection of the then-ruling Taliban, until the U.S. invaded after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With al-Qaida forced out of Afghanistan, the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 quickly drew outside fighters there. Sumaida'ie said al-Qaida is finding it now increasingly difficult to operate in Iraq, beginning with the rebellion of the largely Sunni tribes in Anbar Province in 2006 and 2007. Until then, al-Qaida had ruled by intimidation and violence, establishing physical control and setting up a shadow government in large swaths of Iraqi territory.``There were large tracts that were run by al-Qaida, administered by al-Qaida - they had ministers, administrators, paid salaries and so on. This no longer exists, so they do not have any territory to control (where it) is safe for them to move in and around Iraq,'' he said. ``In whole areas they ceased to operate as effective terrorist networks.'' Sumaida'ie's comments echoed those of the top U.S. military commander in Iraq. Gen. David Petraeus told The Associated Press last week that al-Qaida appears to be reassessing its chances of success in Iraq. ``They're not going to abandon Iraq. They're not going to write it off. None of that,'' Petraeus said. ``But what they certainly may do is start to provide some of those resources that would have come to Iraq to Pakistan, possibly Afghanistan.
``We do think they are considering what should be the main effort,'' he said. A U.S. counterterrorism official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence reporting said foreign fighters are generally not leaving Iraq for Afghanistan, but new recruits to al-Qaida are being sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan instead of Iraq. The numbers in all countries are small, however. The vast majority of al-Qaida in Iraq are native born, and extremists in Afghanistan and Pakistan are overwhelmingly Pashtun fighters from the region. Sumaida'ie's remarks come as Democratic presumptive nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois is conducting an overseas trip which included stops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Obama toured two war zones with Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. Last week they issued a written statement saying that Afghanistan and Pakistan's border area, where the Taliban is resurgent and Osama Bin Laden is believed to be hiding, should be the central front in the war against terrorism.
Monthly death tolls of U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan surpassed U.S. military deaths in Iraq in May and June, even though there are far fewer coalition troops in Afghanistan.