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Afghanistan— an KARACHI, Aug 28: The detention of aid workers by Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on charges of spreading Christianity has thrown the spotlight on the ......more 2
US tanker planes SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 28: Two US tanker planes fighting a forest fire collided and crashed to the ground in northern California late last night....more Ahmedis
attacked in ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: An angry mob ransacked a place of worship of Ahmedis and set it on fire in Sheikhpura area of Punjab province yesterday, the daily Dawn said......more |
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US scientists finds WASHINGTON, Aug 28: A team of US scientists claims to have isolated a small group of human genes responsible for ensuring people enjoy a long life........more Heart
devices pose WASHINGTON, Aug 28: Patients who receive pacemakers and other devices to correct heart irregularities could be at risk for serious illness or death if harmful bacteria spread to their implant, researchers said.........more Clinton
goes Bikini RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL), Aug 28: Former US President Bill Clinton gave tourists visiting Rio De Janeiro’s picturesque beaches....more |
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Afghanistan— an evangelical no-go area KARACHI, Aug 28: The detention of aid workers by Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban on charges of spreading Christianity has thrown the spotlight on the risks run by anyone even thinking of trying to convert Muslims in the purist Islamic nation. Since sweeping to power in Kabul in 1996, the Taliban have stamped their hardline Islamic rule on most of the country and warned Christian evangelists to stay away. By accusing eight foreign aid workers of trying to convert Afghan Muslims — an offence punishable by death — they have raised the stakes in what has always been a dangerous game in the impoverished and war-ravaged nation. "No right-minded Christian missionary would dare attempt to convert an Afghan Jihad (holy war) would begin right there and then," wrote Terry Dougherty, a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Afghanistan during the period from 1972 to 1975. The Taliban, widely condemned abroad for human rights abuses, have now taken an even tougher stance than previous Afghan regimes, which also banned the promotion of Christianity. The detention of 24 aid workers — four Germans, two Australians, two Americans and 16 Afghans from German-based Christian relief agency shelter now international — may reflect taliban hostility to the west. Tensions between the Taliban and aid workers, including those in the united nations, have been rising for months. Although many Non-Governmental Organisations are run by Christian groups, most focus on help as a Christian duty rather than a way to win souls. "I am a Christian, but in Afghanistan, as with everywhere else, I concentrate on helping improve lives," said an aid worker with long experience in Afghanistan. "Anyone who comes in under the aid flag should stick to that and not attempt to exploit people’s misery." Since Afghans began fleeing conflict more than 21 years ago some Christians have targeted refugees in Pakistan and elsewhere. Evangelical groups say they have converted as many as 90,000. It is impossible to gauge the extent of their activities inside Afghanistan, where not only converting from Islam but encouraging conversion can carry a death sentence. One Christian with 25 years in Afghanistan, told a Christian conference after the Taliban came to power that her group had suffered, but she had to remain. "During... 15 years of civil war, two of our team members were murdered. Colleagues were tortured. Team members experienced beatings, robberies, threats and attempted rapes," she said. "Staying (in Afghanistan) may involve injury, even loss of life. We believe Jesus would say that in his kingdom there are things worth dying for." The vast majority of Afghanistan’s 25 million population is Muslim, but among the tiny minorities as many as 1,500 Christians worship in secret, often guided by short-wave broadcasts in Pashto, Dari and Hazaragi languages. In a country with an estimated 48,000 mosques, the only church was built in Kabul during the reign of King Zahir Shah in 1970. It was bulldozed a few years later. In 1998, the Taliban’s voice of Shariat Radio said Christian activities threatened the nation. "We will fight to the death for this cause and we condemn their action and will never forgive them." In early August, the Taliban’s religious police detained the SNI workers, triggering an international outcry by initially refusing to let them see representatives of their Governments. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the eight on August 26. Sni, which says its staff are told not to proselytise, is no stranger to controversy in Afghanistan or neighbouring Pakistan, where it works with Afghan refugees in squalid camps. In 1990, a mob angered by preaching by some members attacked SNI facilities, including a centre for young widows at Nasir Bagh refugee camp near the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar. In 1997, SNI was listed by a Pakistani newspaper among aid agencies accused of proselytising. Mohammad Salim Haqqani, the Taliban’s Deputy Minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice — the ministry of the religious police — in August showed reporters an apology sent in 1999 by SNI after an SNI staffer was expelled for preaching. "This letter proves that under the cover of helping the destitute people, (SNI) were actually involved in converting people," Haqqani said. An SNI employee dismissed the charge. "(The expelled man) was a little bit of a crazy man, he was just standing in the market talking to the mullahs (clerics). He was not proselytising, he was just talking about different things and they took offence." Christian networks abroad identify Afghanistan, its suffering from the war compounded by the worst drought in decades, as a prime target with a large number of "unreached peoples". US-based Livethecall recently delivered 2,200 blankets to Afghan refugees. "We met both the physical and spiritual needs as our brothers and sisters in christ took blankets and the gospel to those who desperately need to know of the hope of life in christ," it said on its website (www.Livethecall.Com). Voice of the martyrs, a US-based evangelical group, says it hopes Taliban rights abuses will drive people to Christianity. "Open profession of faith in christ has often led to death... Pray that abuses by the taliban regime will cause many to seek god’s grace," it said on its website (www.Persecution.Com). John Marion, Director of the Center of Peace and Hope in Christ for Afghanistan (www.Afghanbibles.Com), lived in Afghanistan from 1992-95 with his wife and two children. "Officially, none of our work was missionary work. My personal motivation for going to Afghanistan was to learn... So that I could have an effective gospel ministry outreach to the people of Afghanistan," Marion told Reuters in an e-mail from the United States. Marion, who this year sent Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar a letter explaining how to get bibles in local Dari and Pashto languages, said he was prepared to die for his faith. "As a follower of christ, I must be willing to die for him. Any... Christians who have the same perspective as I... Are justified in taking the risk to evangelise inside Afghanistan." (REUTERS) |
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2 US tanker planes collide over northern California SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 28: Two US tanker planes fighting a forest fire collided and crashed to the ground in northern California late last night killing both pilots on board, local Government officials said. The incident occurred near the town of Ukiah, in Mendocino County, at 6.55 pm (0725 Ist), as the planes positioned themselves to dump fire retardant on a local forest blaze, said Tracy Boudreaux, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Forestry an witnesses the collision, told Kron Television here. "They did hit direct, and it looked like one might have knocked the tail off the other one," he added. Both pilots aboard the planes were killed in the crash, another department spokeswoman later confirmed. There were no other injuries reported either on board the planes or on the ground, she added. The planes fell in a remote area, causing no injuries on the ground, according to emergency officials. Authorities were trying to find out if any of the s-2 "tracker" planes had any passengers, according to Boudreaux. The fairly large twin-propeller aircraft were designed by Grumman Corporation in the early 1950s as the navy’s premier anti-submarine hunter. They were later refurbished as tankers to carry water and retardant to fight forest fires. The crashes have ignited two additional fires, making it difficult for rescue crews to get access to the planes, said the spokeswoman. (AFP) |
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Ahmedis attacked in worship place in Pakistan ISLAMABAD, Aug 28: An angry mob ransacked a place of worship of Ahmedis and set it on fire in Sheikhpura area of Punjab province yesterday, the daily Dawn said Over 500 villagers of Syedwala block of Sheikhpura attacked the place of worship when five Ahmedi families were watching a religious programme of the sect’s spiritual leader Mirza Tahir through satellite transmission from Germany. Mirza Tahir was addressing an annual congregation through the satellite programme when the mob surrounded the place of worship and attacked it. They felt it was a conspiracy against Islam and set it on fire. The families took shelter in the house of Bisharat Ahmed. Later, the mob also surrounded the house of Mr Ahmed and damaged it. They broke the TV set and dish receiver. Police immediately rushed to the spot and dispersed the mob, and took the Ahmedi families into a protective custody. The families were later shifted to Syedwala police station and had not been released so far, the paper said. Mr Ahmed told the police that Hafiz Mushtaq of Sipah-i Sabah of Pakistan instigated the villagers to attack the Ahmedis. (UNI) |
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US scientists finds gene containing secret of longevity WASHINGTON, Aug 28: A team of US scientists claims to have isolated a small group of human genes responsible for ensuring people enjoy a long life span. The findings in the latest edition of the magazine proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicate that the ability to reach an ripe old age is governed by maybe several genes grouped around chromosome four or even just one gene and not hundreds as was previously thought. Experts hope that by shedding more light on how human cells age, medication could be developed to mimic the activities of the gene. The scientists at Harvard University, the beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston’s Whitehead Institute along with those at the Howard Hughes Medical Center and Rutgers University (New Jersey) compared the genetic material of 137 brothers and sisters who had lived to unusually old age. In each case one of the siblings had to have reached 98 or older, with a brother of at least 91 years and a sister aged at least 95. (DPA) |
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Heart devices pose infection risk: Study WASHINGTON, Aug 28: Patients who receive pacemakers and other devices to correct heart irregularities could be at risk for serious illness or death if harmful bacteria spread to their implant, researchers said. Scientists at Duke University found that patients whose bloodstream was infected with bacteria from pneumonia, skin infections, ulcers or other sources had about a 50 percent chance the infection would later spread to their implanted cardiac device. Damage to a pacemaker, a tool that maintains a regular heartbeat, or an Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD), which monitors and sends electric shocks to correct abnormal heart rhythms, can be deadly if not treated soon after they become infected. The bacteria, which continues to multiply after it has latched onto the device, can eventually overwhelm the body, causing it to go into shock and the person to die. "The major finding is that if someone has this type of infection, you should be worried or concerned that the device is infected as well," Dr Anna Lisa Chamis of Duke University told Reuters yesterday. "Once it gets on the device it’s hard to get rid of," she said. Chamis and her colleagues examined 33 individuals with pacemakers or ICDS who had developed an infection. The bacteria had spread to the device in 15 of those individuals. A major finding in the study showed that replacing the pacemaker or ICD is more effective in reducing the chance of death for the patient then antibiotic treatment. The device was removed in 12 of the 33 patients studied, while the remaining 21 received antibiotic therapy. The data showed two people who had the device removed died compared to ten who were administered the therapy. The findings were published in circulation, an American Heart Association Journal. Pacemaker and ICD surgeries are common procedures in the United States. According to the American Heart Association, 170,000 pacemakers and 26,000 ICDS were implanted in 1998, the most recent year for which data are available. "People have long thought you could treat these infections with antibiotics, but it is difficult to do that, and infection necessitates removal" of the cardiac device, Chamis said. Infectious bacteria usually enter the body through an open cut or wound. They can spread to adjacent tissue or to distant internal organs, such as the heart or kidneys, where it can become life-threatening. Previous studies have shown that cardiac device infections can occur in up to 20 percent of pacemakers and 1.3 percent of ICDS. The infection often is difficult to detect, producing abnormal growths, redness or inflammation only 40 percent of the time. Chamis said monitoring for an infection within the body, and helping to determine whether an implanted device should be removed, could be done by administering a blood test. Patients who have received a cardiac device also can watch for symptoms common with bacteria infections such as fever. (REUTERS) |
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Clinton goes Bikini shopping in Rio RIO DE JANEIRO (BRAZIL), Aug 28: Former US President Bill Clinton gave tourists visiting Rio De Janeiro’s picturesque beaches something else to gawk at when he went Bikini shopping with British actor Sir Anthony Hopkins. A gaggle of photographers, beachgoers and security men yesterday followed Clinton and Hopkins along the Trendy Ipanema Beach Promenade. Television showed Clinton, clad in Bermuda shorts, sneakers and a T-shirt, knocking a volley ball around and admiring a sand sculpture as passersby stared. But the high point came when the two silver-haired men entered the blue man Beachwear boutique to check out Brazil’s most famous fashion product — the Bikini. According to TV Globo, Clinton spent 288 Reais ( 113) on two Bikinis and three sarongs. It was not immediately clear who he was shopping for. Clinton, whose two terms in office were highlighted by an economic boom but also marred by a sex scandal, is due to give a speech to professors and students at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation in Sao Paulo on Tuesday. Clinton and Hopkins are then heading to the spectacular Iguassu waterfall on the border with Argentina. (REUTERS) |
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