Women Affairs

Jewish women in Canada to be offered the chance to alter their genetic destiny by taking a test – at no cost to them – that will determine whether they are at high risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers. By screening for three inherited breast cancer gene mutations common to those of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, Women’s College Research Institute scientists have an ambitious goal: to prevent the dreaded disease before it strikes. They plan to do that by offering adult Jewish women in Ontario, with no known family history of breast or ovarian cancer, the blood test to screen for three specific mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, beginning this Thursday. Jewish women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer who have never been tested are also eligible. If expanding genetic testing to this group proves worthwhile, it could alter the way the testing is offered across Canada by recognizing one’s inherent risk of cancer, simply due to ancestry. The goal of the test is “to p...

Nigeria's porous border with its northern neighbor Niger is being exploited by traffickers smuggling teenage girls to Europe where they will work as prostitutes, immigration officials told IRIN. "Our 910 kilometer boundary with Niger is too much for us to police which provides human traffickers an advantage to conduct their trade of smuggling young girls to Europe for prostitution," Oemi Bio Ockiya, head of the Nigerian immigration department in Kano told IRIN. Ockiya said girls are transported from the southern part of Nigeria to Kano from where they are driven to Libya through Niger and then shipped to Europe, their final destination, for prostitution. The traffickers convince the girls and their parents that lucrative jobs await their victims, but force them into prostitution once in Europe by holding on to their passports. The trafficking of young women to Europe through Kano has been a common occurrence. Hitherto the traffickers would smuggle their victims through Ka...

Brenda Yufeh Have you ever attended an "internet marriage"? By that, I mean a wedding which came as a result of using the World Wide Web to meet a suitable marriage partner. Statistics indicate that internet marriages are en-vogue nowadays. Although many people have not had the chance of attending such weddings, others have witnessed how many people met on different dating sites. Start dating, fall in love and get married. Why some people have ordeal stories to tell about internet marriages, others say it is not only a bed of roses but a gateway to find oneself in Europe or America. Some might say an internet marriage is risky. It could be, but many choices in life are risky. And it remains true: nothing ventured, nothing gained. A pastor recently said he knows of three couples that met on the internet and are now married. He also knows a fourth couple who plan to get married. There is another woman in her forties who is corresponding with two men who have shown some interest...

Paris Hilton has recorded a gushing interview with the talk-show host claiming she and relatively new boyfriend Benji Madden are planning to marry. Urgh. The blonde bombshell dropped the clanger, with Madden - who only recently was set to wed Monk - giving the idea the thumbs up. Hilton waxed lyrical about what a great couple they were, while flashing his initials in bling on her ring finger. Meanwhile, Paris Hilton has swapped partying for Monopoly. The Simple Life star, who is currently dating Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden, prefers quiet nights at home preparing homemade food and playing the property board game with her friends. She said: "When I was younger I loved to go out, but now that I'm in a really great relationship it's so much more fun to stay at home. We don't really like to go out. We have game night where friends come over and play Monopoly. "I love to cook for Benji, I cook great lasagne. I've grown up a lot and I'm at peace. He has ch...

Deborah Jeane Palfrey while awaiting sentencing for running a prostitution ring catering to Washington's elite has been found dead in a storage shed at her mother's home in Florida. Police in the Gulf Coast town of Tarpon Springs said the 76-year-old mother of Deborah Jeane Palfrey woke from a short nap and began to search for her daughter. She found Palfrey's body in the shed next to her mobile home, police said. "Hand-written notes were found on scene that describe the victim's intention to take her life, and foul play does not appear to be involved," Captain Jeffrey Young said. Palfrey, 52, was found guilty last month of running an escort service that earned her at least $US2 million ($2.12 million). She had not yet been sentenced but media reports said she could have faced up to 50 years in prison. The scandal over the woman dubbed "the DC madam" ensnared Republican Senator David Vitter of Louisiana, whose number was discovered in her telephone r...