Poor sex education putting Oz women at health risks

September 29th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Women who feel "positive" about their genitals feel more relaxed in their own skin and find it easier to orgasm. They are also more likely to engage in sexual health promoting behaviours, says a new study.

September 11th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The World Bank Friday approved two projects totaling $300 million to help Pakistan strengthen its social safety nets and improve higher education. Of the total, $200 million has been allocated for the Pakistan social safety nets development policy credit that is designed to establish an institutional and operational framework for an efficient national safety net system, Online news agency reported.

September 7th, 2009 MELBOURNE - Bianca Brijnath, an Indian student pursuing her doctorate at Monash University here, has won a spot in the prestigious Lancet medical journal for an essay that highlights the link between education and health. Brijnath, a medical anthropology student, was one of eight students worldwide to be recognised in the Young Voices in Research essay competition.

September 1st, 2009 US fares poorly in child welfare surveyPARIS — America has some of the industrial world's worst rates of infant mortality, teenage pregnancy and child poverty, even though it spends more per child than better-performing countries such as Switzerland, Japan and the Netherlands, a new survey indicates. The OECD, a Paris-based watchdog of industrialized nations, urged the United States to shift more of its public spending to its youngest children, under the age of six, to improve their health and educational performance.

August 31st, 2009 MELBOURNE - A new poll conducted has shown that up to a third of Australians believe that mothers should not breastfeed their babies in public. The Newspoll survey also showed that another third think a baby should stop breastfeeding within six months, despite 65 per cent of people saying that breastfed babies had a better chance of surviving beyond a year old.

August 22nd, 2009 LON - An 88-year-old monk has been accused of sexually assaulting two women. Father Luke McNally from Cistercian Sancta Maria Abbey at Nunraw East Lothian allegedly attacked both since 2004.

August 20th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced a new cabinet that includes eleven new faces, including three women. None of the 11 new faces have had any ministerial experience.

August 12th, 2009 ABU DHABI - The United Arab Emirates' General Women's Union (GWU) has announced a new initiative to educate women about the legislations addressing and dealing with the issues concerning them, WAM news agency reported Wednesday. The awareness drive titled "Know Your Rights" is part of the women's union's efforts to implement the National Strategy for the Advancement of Women, a joint initiative with the UNDP launched in 2006.

August 12th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - Some women leaders in the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) don't have much of an education, but they have got the drive, commitment and passion. According to WANITA chief Paduka Komala Krishnamoorthy, these women believe in what they do and added that women must be willing to express themselves.

August 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Nearly 50 percent of mothers of young children in Bangladesh suffer violence at the hands of their husbands, which, in turn, increases the risk of respiratory infections and diarrhoea in their kids, according to a study. The study underlined that despite substantial improvements in childhood survival in the previous decade, 77 per 1,000 children born in Bangladesh die before age 5, mainly due to diarrhoea and acute respiratory infections.

July 9th, 2009 Amnesty: Peru's pregnant Indian get unequal careLIMA, Peru — Peru's government doesn't provide adequate care for pregnant women in the impoverished highlands and jungle, a failure reflected in one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the hemisphere, a human rights group said Thursday. "Health services for pregnant women in Peru are like a lottery.

June 19th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Top cleric and rector of the Darul Uloom Waqf (Deoband), Maulana Salim Qasimi, has denounced the Taliban for its unIslamic viewpoints and actions, saying that the banned outfit does not qualify for any affiliation with Jama'at Deoband. "It is totally against Islam to blow up the barber shops, education organizations and tombs," said Qasimi.

May 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Australian High Commission hosted a discussion on "Development Imperatives in India" to commemorate the achievements of Australia's Direct Aid Program (DAP) in India. Leading experts from the fields of education, environment, and health addressed an audience comprising members of non-government organisations, think-tanks, academics and the media.

April 30th, 2009 LONDON - Silvio Berlusconi's wife seems to have won the battle against Italian prime minister's eye for attractive young women. His party has decided not to promote the four starlets Berlusconi recommended as candidates for the European Parliament.

April 22nd, 2009 Africa's first ladies urge education, health careLOS ANGELES — They have seen each other socially, with their husbands in Washington or at the United Nations, but the 15 African first ladies met this time to speak candidly about problems facing women and children on their home continent. Some called for improved nutrition for children and pregnant mothers, clean water, sanitation infrastructure and inexpensive tools such as insecticide-treated bed nets to help combat malaria.