News and information from the world of Interserve

Friday, February 27, 2004

Afghanistan: 'Afghanistan impressions 2: a second set of photographs illustrating life in Afghanistan.' (BBC)

India: 'India rebels blow up rail track: Suspected communist rebels have blown up a railway track and damaged railway stations in eastern India, officials said.' (BBC)

Pakistan: '25 held in Pakistan al Qaeda raid: Pakistani military forces, using helicopters and heavy artillery, have detained at least 25 people during raids in a remote border region where al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar are believed to have sought refuge.' (CNN)

Thursday, February 26, 2004

Afghanistan: 'On Wednesday evening, five Afghans working for a non-governmental organisation were killed, the third such attack in two weeks. More than 100 people have died in such attacks this year, many of which are believed to have been carried out by Taleban militants.' (BBC)

China: 'China's big income divide: Wealth gap [between urban and rural areas] could be the biggest in the world and spells trouble for social stability, study warns.' (Straits Times)

Morocco: An eyewitness report from the earthquake zone. (Independent)

Wednesday, February 25, 2004

UK: The Guardian has a special report section on the issue of race in the UK.

Uzbekistan: 'Just hours before US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld was due to arrive in the Uzbek capital Tashkent, Forum 18 News Service has learnt that an appeals court today (24 February) commuted a six-year sentence of hard labour imposed on a 62-year-old Muslim grandmother, Fatima Mukhadirova, to a fine roughly equivalent to 2/3rds the average annual salary. She is the mother of Muzafar Avazov, a religious prisoner tortured to death in August 2002. It has been suggested by Human Rights Watch that the authorities prosecuted Mukhadirova to take revenge, primarily because she tried to get a genuine investigation into the murder of her son and because she is an "independent Muslim woman". Her lawyer, Alisher Ergashev, told Forum 18 that "She is free now, but the court has not declared her innocent, so I am not satisfied with the ruling." ' (Forum 18)

Pakistan: 'Pakistan detains 25 in al Qaeda offensive: Pakistani troops backed by helicopters and artillery detained 25 people, including Arabs, in raids on hideouts of al Qaeda and Taliban militants on Tuesday in a remote tribal area near the Afghan border, officials said.' (Reuters)

India: 'Firefighters controlled raging flames Monday at India's main space center after a powerful explosion ripped through a research facility, killing up to six people and seriously wounding three others.' (CNN)

India: 'India bets on election boom' (an analysis of the Indian economy). (BBC)

Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Morocco: 'At least 229 people have been killed in a powerful earthquake in Morocco, and the number of dead is expected to rise.' (BBC)

Iraq: 'Iraq would need at least eight months to be ready to hold elections once a legal framework for them is established, according to a report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.' (CNN)

India: 'India's $10bn share bazaar starts: Indian companies are rushing to the stock markets to cash in on the country's biggest-ever equity stampede.' (BBC)

Mauritania: 'Mauritania's "wife-fattening" farm: Obesity is so revered among Mauritania's white Moor Arab population that the young girls are sometimes force-fed to obtain a weight the government has described as "life-threatening".' (BBC)

Afghanistan: 'Nato is turning a blind eye to the flourishing opium trade in Afghanistan to ensure the support of warlords in the struggle to maintain security in the country, Russia's defence minister has claimed. Sergei Ivanov said Afghanistan was now producing nine times the quantity of drugs it did under the Taliban.' (Guardian)

China: 'China Arrests Dozens of Prominent Christians: At least 50 detained in fresh crackdown on house churches, reportedly promoted by new video and book releases.' (Christianity Today)

Monday, February 23, 2004

Pakistan: 'Police in Pakistan's remote Northern Areas said on Friday that a ninth school in five days had been attacked and destroyed. Local officials have blamed hardline Islamists opposed to female education. ... However, others believe the latest incident shows a more general targeting of international aid agencies by people who regard the construction of community schools with their funding as un-Islamic. ' (BBC)

China: 'A gas explosion in a northeastern China coal mine killed at least eight miners and trapped 29 others Monday, authorities said. ' (Guardian)

China: 'China, which last year became the third nation to blast a man into space, plans to send two astronauts up on a five-to-seven-day mission in 2005 and later build a space station, state television reported on Saturday.' (CNN)

Iran: 'Eight people have died in clashes with police in two towns in southern Iran over disputed results for a parliamentary election in which Islamic conservatives have won a big victory over reformists.' (Independent)

China: 'Nothing Left To Lose: Tens of thousands of Chinese flock to Beijing seeking redress for myriad injustices—from unpaid wages to unpunished crimes to official corruption. Most of these pilgrimages end in frustration or despair' (Time)

Friday, February 20, 2004

Uzbekistan: 'Although believers are frequently tried and fined for conducting unregistered religious activity, which Uzbekistan has criminalised, Forum 18 News Service has discovered that, unseen by outsiders, the National Security Service (NSS, the former KGB) also often engages in "preventative work" with members of religious minorities.' (Forum 18)

Lebanon: 'Terry Waite, held hostage for five years in Beirut, this week made his first return trip there since his 1992 release.' (BBC)

Iran: 'Iranians will today elect their parliament amid one of the most serious political crises in the Islamic republic's history. The poll is likely to mean the end for President Mohammad Khatami's reformist movement and his chances of effecting real change.' (Independent)

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Afghanistan: 'A top Taliban commander has warned that Afghans who take part in elections this year will face attack, the first direct threat the guerrillas have issued to the U.N.-backed polls. ' (CNN)

Cyprus: 'The Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have started fresh talks on reuniting the divided island. The meeting followed a small bomb explosion that damaged the Nicosia home of the Turkish Cypriot prime minister.' (BBC)

Iran: 'About 300 people, most of them firefighters, were killed in an explosion yesterday after a train laden with petrol and industrial chemicals caught fire near the town of Neyshabur in Khorasan province of northeastern Iran.' (Independent)

Wednesday, February 18, 2004

Iran: 'Reformist lawmakers have broken a taboo and publicly challenged Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the country's political crisis.' (BBC)

India and Pakistan: 'Indian and Pakistani diplomats have reached a "broad understanding" on a framework for peace talks, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said. The historic discussions between the nuclear rivals will address the longstanding Kashmir controversy, terrorism and a wide range of economic and trade issues, the ministry said in a statement.' (CNN)

India: 'Subcontinental Divide: India's surging economy has changed the political debate, but not the lives of the majority of its citizens.' (TIME)

Arab World: 'Raising Their Voices: Savy, optimistic and ambitious, a new generation of Arab women is speaking out, forging its own brand of feminism — and slowly reshaping Arab society.' (TIME)

India (text reproduced here; link to changing page): Christian women from Orissa state, India, were attacked and humiliated for refusing to give up their faith. On February 6, Hindu extremists dragged eight women, including two 15-year-old girls, out of their homes while their husbands were at work and tried to persuade them to renounce Christianity. When the women refused, the extremists beat them, stripped them naked and forced them to walk through their villages before shaving their heads. When the attackers made further threats against them, the women and their families fled the two villages of Kilipala and Kanimul in Jagatsinghpur district. An Indian television network later interviewed the victims, who said their faith remained firm and they would not re-convert to Hinduism. Christian workers say members of several Hindu extremist groups have been actively working in the area to promote awareness of the “evils of Christianity” and that this may have led to the attacks. District officials promised to take action against the attackers, but had made no arrests at press time. (Compass Direct)

Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Sudan: Peace talks between the Sudanese Government and southern rebels are to resume in the Kenyan town of Naivasha. (BBC)

Saudi Arabia: British nationals should forgo all but "essential" travel to Saudi Arabia because of possible terrorist attacks that "may be in the final stages of preparation," according to the British Foreign Office. (CNN)

Monday, February 16, 2004

Turkey (text reproduced here, link to changing page): Four months after a Turkish convert to Christianity was beaten into a coma for distributing New Testaments, the crippled victim appeared in court. Yakup Cindilli managed to walk into the Orhangazi Courthouse, shuffling slowly and clinging to a family member for support. Speaking in short sentences in a slightly mumbled voice, he pointed out to the judge of the Orhangazi Criminal Court the three men he said had beaten him at the local office of the ultra-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on October 19. Metin Yildiran, president of the local MHP chapter, Ibrahim Sekman and Huseyin Bektas were jailed initially on charges of battery and assault a few days after the attack and later released. The state prosecutor told the court that he found the victim’s explanation of the incident flawed and concluded that there were insufficient legal grounds to prosecute the suspects because of their accuser’s questionable mental state. The presiding judge ordered thorough medical examinations of Cindilli to determine both his physical and mental/psychological condition before the next hearing, set for March 25. (Compass Direct)

Pakistan: two earthquakes in the Hindu Kush leave over twenty dead and thirty injured. (Guardian)

Cyprus: The drive for a deal to reunite Cyprus in time for its May 1 entry into the European Union shifts to Nicosia next week after a breakthrough deal reached at the United Nations on the ground rules for talks. (Reuters)

France: Thousands of marchers, many of them women wearing headscarves, protested against a law to ban Islamic head coverings and other religious apparel in public schools in France. (Scotsman)

India & Pakistan: Three days of landmark talks between bitter foes India and Pakistan have opened in Islamabad, with the long-standing dispute over Kashmir expected to be the main focus. (CNN)

Nepal: The head of an anti-Maoist organisation in Nepal has been shot dead two days after leading an anti-rebel march. (BBC)

Nepal: A key Maoist leader in Nepal says his party will not compromise on its main demand of creating a republic. (BBC)

China: A fire swept through a shopping centre in north-east China yesterday, killing 51 people and injuring dozens. Hours later, a fire in a temple in the south-east of the country killed 39. (Independent)

Friday, February 13, 2004

Kazakhstan: In its survey analysis of religious freedom in Kazakhstan, Forum 18 News Service notes that after restrictive amendments to the religion law were thrown out by the Constitutional Council in April 2002, the religious freedom situation has improved. Muslim, Baptist and Jehovah's Witness communities that did not wish to or failed to get registration had been routinely pressured or fined, but this has now stopped. However, an article of the Administrative Offences Code still prescribes punishment for leaders of unregistered religious communities and allows registered religious communities that hold youth meetings to be banned. Some officials – though not all - still maintain to Forum 18 that registration of religious organisations is compulsory. (Forum 18)

Afghanistan: An Afghan couple and their six children have left Pakistan for a new life in the United States after more than 15 years of refugee misery compounded by the attacks in the US on 11 September, 2001. 'Mr Mir converted to Christianity back in 1982 after a Malaysian missionary doctor treated him for serious car crash injuries. ' (BBC)

Cyprus: A marathon third day of UN-hosted Cyprus peace talks has adjourned in New York, with no word on agreement. (BBC)

Iraq: discussions continue regarding the best way of handing over political power in Iraq. (CNN)

Thursday, February 12, 2004

Nepal: Maoist rebels have abducted about 700 people in the western hill district of Achham, reports from Nepal say. (BBC)

Uzbekistan: A court in Uzbekistan has jailed for six years an elderly woman at the centre of what is being seen as a key human rights case. She was arrested after she drew attention to her son's death in prison and charged with trying to undermine the constitution of Uzbekistan. (BBC)

Saudi Arabia is building a barrier along its border with Yemen, to stop smugglers and suchlike; Yemen is not happy. (Independent)

Pakistan: President Musharraf said it took three years before he got convincing proof from the US that a top nuclear scientist was selling weapons technology. (CNN)

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Afghanistan: Afghans warned they face bleak future unless illegal heroin trade is curbed. (Independent)

Iran: Prince Charles became the first member of a British royal family to visit Iran in 33 years, traveling to the site of a December earthquake a day after he met with troops in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. (CNN)

Libya: The first visit to the UK by a Libyan Foreign Minister for over 20 years. (UK government)

Monday, February 09, 2004

Pakistan: Pakistan's foreign minister said his country would cooperate fully with the U.N.'s atomic agency after the nation's top nuclear scientist admitted he gave weapons secrets to other countries. (CNN)

India: Thirteen dead in Kashmir violence. (CNN)

Afghanistan: NATO to expand role. (BBC)

Saturday, February 07, 2004

China: At least 37 people were killed and 15 injured at a Lantern Festival gathering on Thursday night in a northern suburb of Beijing. (CNN)

Iran: Iranian reformist MPs have called off a mass parliamentary protest but vowed to continue fighting an election ban. (BBC)

Friday, February 06, 2004

Pakistan: analysis of 'Pakistan's nuclear shame'. (BBC)

Thursday, February 05, 2004

Bangladesh: deaths in crash of two ferries. (CNN)

Libya officially bans chemical weapons. (UK government)

Wednesday, February 04, 2004

Syria: Intellectuals, writers and lawyers called on the Syrian authorities to introduce political reforms and lift the state of emergency which has been imposed on the country since 40 years and to abrogate laws related to this state of emergency. (Arabic News)

Iran: Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has insisted parliamentary elections due later this month should go ahead as planned. (BBC)

Tuesday, February 03, 2004

Turkey: A block of flats has collapsed in the Turkish city of Konya, killing at least 15 and injuring dozens, officials say. (BBC)

India: The ruling Hindu nationalists are courting crucial rural and middle-class voters with a cautiously reformist interim budget in the countdown to early elections. (CNN)

Monday, February 02, 2004

Iran: election crisis deepens as over a third of the parliament resigns in protest at the barring of reformist candidates. (Reuters)

Pakistan: the founder of Pakistan's nuclear programme is reported to have admitted to sharing nuclear technology with Iran, Libya and North Korea. (Guardian)

Jordan: Uneasy times for Jordan's Christians. (A BBC 'From Our Own Correspondent' report.)

Saudi Arabia: between two and three hundred pilgrims die in stampede in Mecca at the climax of the annual haj pilgrimage. (Independent)

Bird flu in Asia: spreads across China; more deaths, including first suspected human-to-human transmission. (CNN)