UR TV CAST

That child will be an ambassador and their classmates will see them for the capable human beings that they are.”Turning words into action, however, is a frustratingly slow process. So far, just 54 out of 1,149 teachers in Bobo province have received any training, although ADD says it expects that number to increase significantly after the first full year of the scheme in 2002.Even then, out of 130 schools, just 30 have disabled pupils – representing a paltry total of 2,309 handicapped children in education, most of whom do not require special teaching skills.The annual fee for a primary school of 6,000CFA (about £6) can be met by most but the 45,000CFA (equivalent to about two months’ average salary) required per pupil per year for a secondary school is beyond the means of almost all families.. Firefighters evacuated about 1,000 people from a mountain town near Sydney today as fires continued to rage across Australia’s most populous state. An estimated one million revellers thronged Sydney harbour for a New Year fireworks celebration – billed as one of the world’s largest pyrotechnic displays. The haze from the fires cleared in time to leave the display unhindered, although domestic firework displays were banned amid fears of further fires.The storms, the first to reach Sydney since the crisis started on Christmas Eve, brought only light rainfall to some areas. They also brought strong winds that fanned flames and there were fears that lightning had started new blazes.

A new outbreak threatened homes in the small town of Hilltop, 50 miles southwest of Sydney, forcing many residents from their homes that overlook tinder-dry bush land. “There are some thunderstorms around,” said Kevin O’Loughlin, director of the New South Wales bureau of meteorology. “But there’s no widespread rain, unfortunately.” About 150 homes have been destroyed and thousands of acres of forest and farmland blackened by the fires, which have come within 12 miles of the centre of Sydney. Officials said more than half of the 100 blazes across New South Wales state have been started by arsonists Fires also raged near Australia’s capital, Canberra. The latest flared today at Mount Painter, just north of the city..

While mobile phone sales are expected to have nearly halved this Christmas, Carphone Warehouse is thought to have extended its lead in selling handsets on the high street. New customers are forecast at just 1.5 million over Christmas.But despite collapsing sales of handsets as the market becomes saturated, analysts predict that this festive season Carphone Warehouse will have claimed 20 per cent of the market – up from the 12 per cent reported in March. The company will report sales figures for December and January, traditionally another bumper month, towards the end of January.The four main network providers – Vodafone, Orange, mmO2 and One2One – will have seen shrinking sales in the fourth quarter of 2001. However, Virgin Mobile, a new entrant, is expecting to grow sales by up to 25 per cent over the fourth quarter of last year, and acquire 300,000 new customers this Christmas – beating mmO2, the demerged mobile arm of British Telecommunications.