● SUN NEWS Make men use condoms...

Women were told to insist sexual partners use condoms to cut a risk of cancer. The peril of unprotected sex is greatest among those who have the disease in their womb or cervix but have not been diagnosed. British researchers have discovered that a chemical in seminal fluid speeds the growth and spread of those cancers. Womb cancer affects 6,000 women a year, killing 1,500. Cervical cancer ? notoriously difficult to detect ? hits 2,800 women annually and kills nearly 1,000. The latest study was conducted by a team at the Medical Research Council?s human reproductive sciences unit. It found that semen had a dramatic effect on cancers, accelerating tumour growth in women. Doctors traced the cause of the problem to a chemical called prostaglandin. This behaves like a hormone and is found in concentrated levels in semen. It is also present in the female reproductive organs ? but at levels 1,000 times lower. A study leader said that: «Sexually active women should encourage their partners to wear a condom to prevent increased exposure to the prostaglandins that may make their condition worse.» Sex is already linked to the spread of cervical cancer from person to person. Almost all cases are caused by the human papilloma virus, which is spread by making love.

● LIBÉRATION Une bactérie fait 14 morts dans des établissements de santé

Quatorze personnes sont décédées depuis le début de l?année d?une infection nosocomiale «à clostridium difficile» (ICD), contractée dans des établissements de santé du Nord-Pas-de-Calais. En tout, 227 personnes ont été atteintes par le germe. C?est une épidémie, dont l?existence a été révélée mercredi par l?Institut national de veille sanitaire (INVS). L?INVS avait fait état mercredi de 12 décès, avant de réévaluer ce bilan à la hausse, jeudi. Ces victimes ont succombé à la souche dite «027», particulièrement redoutable, de l?ICD. Il s?agit en majorité de patients âgés, qui ont reçu des antibiotiques et sont en général fragilisés par une pathologie sous-jacente, une insuffisance d?un organe ou qui ont un cancer. En tout, 227 personnes ont été affectées par cette bactérie dans quinze établissements de santé de la région Nord-Pas-de-Calais entre janvier et août.

● PALESTINIAN DREAM Israel «abused Palestinians under shadow of war»

Occupied Jerusalem: An Israeli human rights group has accused the country's military of a surge in abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank over the past two months, when media attention was turned to conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon. Israeli forces killed three Palestinians. B'Tselem, an independent body that monitors Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories, said it had gathered evidence of a «substantial increase» in the beating, abuse and humiliation of Palestinians by Israeli soldiers and border police. It said the increase occurred since the end of June, when Israeli forces launched an operation against militants in Gaza following the abduction of an Israeli soldier, and continued during the war. The Israeli army did not address the charges specifically, but said it always investigated complaints of violence.

● SRI LANKA POST Bombings: dangers for Sri Lanka's children

Rights groups are calling for an investigation into a Sri Lankan air force bombing of what the government says was a training center for the Tamil Tiger separatist group and the rebels say was a children's center. The incident has reignited debate about the children who are unwillingly forced to take part in Sri Lanka's bitter conflict. Early reports of the bombing in the eastern district of Mullaitivhu on August 14 appeared on the pro-rebel Web page, Tamilnet. The Web site said four Sri Lankan air force jets dropped 16 bombs on a children's center, where students, most of them girls, were taking a first-aid course. Tamilnet ran four photos, one apparently showing the bodies of 12 girls. The Web page said 61 people were killed and dozens were injured. The Unicef says at least 19 people died in the bombing. The agency believes all those killed were aged between 16 and 18. Unicef and human rights groups say they want the government to investigate the attack.