Saturday 30 October 2010

BBC News - Pagans celebrate Halloween as part of the country’s newest religion

30 October 2010 Last updated at 14:12

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Pagans celebrate Halloween as part of the country’s newest religion

By Robert Pigott BBC News religious affairs correspondent
Inside a witches' coven

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Inside a witches' coven, where the coming of the god of darkness is marked on the day also known as Halloween

In a riverside meadow in the Dorset town of Weymouth, a witch is using a broom to sweep a sacred circle in the grass.

The rest of the coven stand, some in hooded gowns, in a circle around an iron cauldron where a fire is burning.

They've met to celebrate Samhain, pronounced "sah-wen": the turning of the year from light into dark.

Many think of Halloween as a time of ghouls and ghosts, and for some retailers it has become the third most lucrative event of the year.

It is the time of year when some churches remember the souls of the departed.

For the witches of Weymouth it is one of their most important religious festivals, a time when they believe the barriers between the physical and spiritual worlds are at their thinnest.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

It's feminist. Women have an automatic place... and in some areas of Paganism they are actually in charge”

End Quote Ronald Hutton Professor of History, Bristol Uni

They invite the spirits of north, south, east and west into the circle, and cut apples to share with the spirits of people who have died.

The leader of the coven, Diane Narraway, bids farewell to the goddess of light, and kneels before the head of a horned ram, holding her hands out as if to a flame.

"I kneel before... the horned god, Lord of Witchdom, as we welcome him back to reign over the dark months," she says.

The coven meets regularly to make spells, using a variety of potions and differently coloured candles in order to achieve particular ends.

Green is for money, pink is for love

They say the spells are exclusively positive, and should be seen more as prayers.

Anouska Ireland, a 35-year-old teaching assistant, is wearing a hooded cloak in pale blue - the colour of good health.

A pagan procession Beth Irving and Teach Carter drummed to the site of the hand-fasting.

She says: "We sometimes use the cauldron to mix spells... it could be for the purpose of healing, and in harnessing positive intentions for someone who is unwell."

Sarah Sanford, a mother-of-three, uses spells to protect them.

"When my children are going to school I'll do a protection spell for them, so they get through the day all right," she says.

Among the youngest witches is Holly Syme, who says spells serve several purposes.

"You do a money spell, or you do a happiness spell, and it's giving you the motivation to go out there and get it as well. And it makes you feel better in a way," she says.

The coven is composed entirely of women, and as in other branches of Paganism, a particular regard for the female is driving its widening appeal in contemporary society.

Ronald Hutton, Professor of History at Bristol University, says Paganism is partly a reaction to a perceived discrimination against women, practised by mainstream religions.

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

We've come to a time, after thousands of years of dogmatic religion... for human beings to take hold of their spirit and become free”

End Quote Tony Jameson Druid Bard

He says: "It's feminist. Women have an automatic place... and in some areas of Paganism they are actually in charge. And they're working with a goddess or goddesses who are just as powerful as gods, if not more so."

The increasing popularity of Paganism is visible in the Dolmen Grove, a group of Dorset druids.

It claims a total membership of around 1,000, double what it was a year ago.

Its leader, or bard, Tony Jameson, says Druidry is functioning more and more as a mainstream religion.

Spectacular headdress and horns

Wearing a spectacular headdress and horns, he presides over a wedding, or "hand-fasting".

Beth Irving and Teach Carter have their hands bound in coloured ribbons representing the elements of earth, wind, fire and water.

They drink mead and bread representing the blood and body of the earth.

It is symbolism strikingly similar to Christian practice.

Indeed modern Paganism is a reinvented religion, whose members seek the divine in nature.

Death and danger

It originated among ancient Celts for whom the natural world was a wilderness that brought them death and danger as well as sustaining life.

In contemporary Britain its members are more worried about the destruction of the natural world.

Although Paganism is largely a recent invention, and imposes very few constraints on its members, one important branch of it has been designated "officially" a religion.

Earlier this month the Charities Commission gave the Druid Network the status of a religion.

It said its worship of a supreme entity, its set of coherent practices, and its beneficial moral code, met the definition of a religion.

The Dolmen Grove does not belong to the Network, but Mr Jameson says the decision is hugely significant, a sign of official acceptance that religion need not be all about rules and a prescribed form of spirituality.

"We've come to a time, after thousands of years of dogmatic religion... for human beings to take hold of their spirit and become free. Free themselves of all the dogma, of all the rules and regulations, and let the conscience grow on its own," he says.

Cat Treadwell represents another sign of official acknowledgement of Paganism as a mainstream religion.

In her everyday life she wears the green uniform of an NHS ambulance worker.

But she is also listed by Derby NHS Trust as their Pagan Hospital Visitor - a kind of Pagan Chaplain.

At home, in the long hooded cloak she wears as a Druid priest, Cat stands at a small altar on which is the sculpted form of a woman, green leaves and an apple.

She lights a candle at a small altar for the patients she has tended to during the day.

"Druidry has changed a lot in the last 20 years in terms of public perception. It's now certainly more legitimate to actually go out now and call yourself a Druid. I generally get a little bit of fun (made of me) but people understand that it's a specific and serious faith," she says.

In the ruins of a church on Portland Bill in Dorset, the hand-fasting ceremony is reaching a climax.

The beat of drums reaches a crescendo as Beth and Teach run down what was once the church's nave and jump over a broomstick.

It is a leap into married life, and a religion whose members say its time has come.

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BBC News - Nato troops repel insurgent attack in Afghanistan

30 October 2010 Last updated at 16:41

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Nato troops repel insurgent attack in Afghanistan

Aerial view of Paktika province, Afghanistan Paktika province is a remote region close to the border with Pakistan

Nato says its forces in Afghanistan have killed at least 19 Taliban fighters who tried to storm a combat outpost under cover of darkness.

The attack happened at a base in Paktika province, bordering Pakistan.

The militants are reported to have attacked from all directions, using rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai has criticised the first joint operation by Russian and US agents to destroy drug laboratories in Afghanistan.

Mr Karzai said Thursday's raid had taken place without his government's permission and was a clear violation of Afghan sovereignty.

A Russian official said about 70 military personnel and counter-narcotics agents were involved, and that they had destroyed a "major hub" about 5km (three miles) from the Pakistani border, near Jalalabad.

They seized more than a tonne of heroin and opium destined for Central Asia, which had a street value of $250m (£157m), he added.

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul says Afghanistan's elite counter narcotics force, which relies heavily on foreign training, did participate in the operation but it appears the president's office was not informed of who would accompany them.

Nato wants to expand Russian involvement in Afghanistan, but given the history between Russia and Afghanistan that is a sensitive issue, our correspondent says.

The president said he wanted friendly ties with Moscow, but that the relationship had to be based on mutual consent. Any repetition of the operation would be met with a reaction from Afghanistan, he added.

Porous border

In Saturday's fighting, five soldiers from the Nato-led coalition were wounded.

The assault was said to have been so fierce that troops inside the outpost had to call in air support to repel the militants.

Map of Afghanistan

Initial reports indicated that as many as 30 militants had been killed.

A statement from the International Security and Assistance Force (Isaf) said that none of its troops was killed. Most of the soldiers in the area are from the US.

Our correspondent says that combat outposts are often small, remote bases and are frequent targets for well-planned attacks using rockets and mortars.

Local commanders say many of the insurgents in the area come mainly from across the border in Pakistan, our correspondent adds.

The border region has long been a hiding place for Islamist extremists and has been targeted in drone attacks against the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

BBC News - China reassures US on key 'rare earth' minerals

30 October 2010 Last updated at 11:42

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China reassures US on key 'rare earth' minerals

Oxides of rare earth metals Rare earth metals come from China - they are vital for production of a range of electronic items

China has reassured the US it has no intention of withholding "rare earth" minerals from the market, the US Secretary of State has said.

China suspended export of the metals, key to some high-tech industries, to Japan after a diplomatic spat.

The US has pressed China, which has pledged not to use the minerals as a diplomatic weapon, to defuse the row.

Representatives from China and Japan also held informal talks on the fringes of an Asean conference in Vietnam.

US officials said Hillary Clinton's Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, told the US secretary of state that his country would not use rare earths as a diplomatic, political or economic tool in dealing with other countries.

Cooling the row

After the meeting, Hillary Clinton said: "Foreign Minister Yang clarified that China has no intention of withholding these minerals" from the world market, according to AFP.

China also said it did not want their export to become an issue in its foreign relations.

The US has encouraged China to cool the row with Japan and, according to Reuters, has offered to host a trilateral meeting with China and Japan to resolve the dispute between the two.

China produces some 97% of these valuable commodities, which are used to produce electronic items such as mobile phones and equipment for the car industry.

During the 1990s and for much of the past decade, China was able to produce rare earths more cheaply than other countries, leading to the closure of mines elsewhere, notably in Australia and the US.

But Mrs Clinton has said the recent Chinese export restrictions are a "wake-up call" for the world to seek additional sources of rare earths.

The stoppage followed a spat between China and Japan last month over islands whose ownership is disputed.

The islands - known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu - are controlled by Japan, but claimed by China. They are close to key shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and are thought to contain oil deposits.

BBC News - Harriet Harman says 'ginger rodent' comment was wrong

30 October 2010 Last updated at 14:59

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Harriet Harman says 'ginger rodent' comment was wrong

Deputy Labour Party leader Harriet Harman

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Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman was speaking at her party's Scottish conference.

Deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman has apologised for branding Chief Treasury Secretary Danny Alexander a "ginger rodent".

Ms Harman - a former equalities minister - made the comments at the Scottish Labour conference in Oban.

A spokeswoman for Ms Harman said later: "Harriet Harman has today apologised for her comment about Danny Alexander and says it was wrong."

Mr Alexander wrote on Twitter that he was "proud to be ginger".

The Lib Dem MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey added that "rodents do valuable work cleaning up mess others leave behind".

In her speech, Ms Harman said many people who voted Lib Dem in May "believed that they were a progressive anti-Tory party".

She said they "woke up" after the coalition deal to see Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg with Tory prime minister David Cameron in the rose garden of Number 10 Downing Street.

The deputy Labour leader said there was "incredulity" at seeing Mr Alexander, a Scottish MP, becoming "the front-man for the Tory cuts".

Danny Alexander Danny Alexander is a Lib Dem MP in the north of Scotland

"Now, many of us in the Labour Party are conservationists - and we all love the red squirrel," Ms Harman said.

"But there is one ginger rodent which we never want to see again - Danny Alexander."

Ms Harman went on to attack Mr Alexander's other party colleagues north of the border, telling delegates: "There's something deeply unnatural that's happened in Scotland.

"Without asking anyone in Scotland, the government has been carrying out a programme of genetic modification - political genetic modification.

"This mutation has contaminated every Lib Dem councillor, it's affected every Lib Dem MP and Lib Dem MSP.

"They've all mutated into something alien to Scotland - Tories."

Ms Harman said: "There's only one thing left to do - these political mutants must be got rid of next May at the ballot box."

She insisted Labour had learned the lessons of its general election defeat.

Ms Harman said the Scottish Parliament election will send a signal to the UK government - "it is the beginning of the end".

Mr Alexander later wrote on Twitter: "Red squirrel deserves to survive, unlike Labour."

Scottish Liberal Democrat election chairman, George Lyon, said: "There are no depths to which the Labour Party will not stoop.

"They aren't fit to be in opposition, let alone in government."

BBC News - Protesters blockade Vodafone shops in tax protest

30 October 2010 Last updated at 17:07

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Protesters blockade Vodafone shops in tax protest

Protest outside Vodafone in Oxford St Vodafone say the protest is misguided and insist they do pay their taxes

Campaigners claiming Vodafone has been let off an unpaid tax bill of £6bn have blockaded several shops.

Campaigner Ed Brompton said: "This money - £6bn - could be spent on schools, housing and hospitals."

But a Vodafone spokesman denied the tax bill reports, adding: "We pay our taxes in the UK and all of the other countries in which we operate."

A spokesman for HM Revenue and Customs said of the £6bn: "That number is an urban myth."

Four shops in central London were forced to close because of the demonstrations, sparked by a campaign on Twitter and Facebook.

Other shops were closed by demos in Brighton, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hastings, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and York.

One of the protesters, Deborah Lee, said: "The cuts are not fair; we're not all in this together, and there are alternatives. Why not start by collecting the tens of billions owed in taxes by wealthy corporations? The government is writing off the taxes from big business while treating normal people on benefits like criminals."

Another protester, Ben Olabayi, said: "We will not pay for their crisis! The public need to join together and hit the streets to take concerted action to fight these cuts."

Continue reading the main story

Start Quote

There is no question of Vodafone having a tax liability of £6bn. That number is an urban myth”

End Quote HMRC spokesman

A Vodafone spokesman said there had been protests outside a small number of UK stores and added: "We temporarily closed some of them and diverted customers to other locations so they were not inconvenienced."

He said: "We pay our taxes in the UK and all of the other countries in which we operate.

"Reports suggesting that we have an outstanding tax bill for £6bn are incorrect, as this was never the case."

The HMRC spokesman said: "We can't comment on the details of the settlement but we can confirm that it was reached by HMRC following a rigorous examination of the facts. It was agreed that Vodafone's liability was £1.25bn and at no point was the liability greater than that.

"There is no question of Vodafone having a tax liability of £6bn. That number is an urban myth."

The campaigners cite an investigation by Private Eye magazine which they said showed the taxman had dropped an attempt to reclaim £6bn in taxes.

The sum purportedly stems from Vodafone's purchase of the German telecoms firm Mannesmann, which was supposedly bought through a Luxembourg subsidiary to avoid paying tax in Britain.

The campaigners have also set up an online petition calling on the government to insist Vodafone pay the money.

The world's largest mobile operator measured by revenue saw "organic service revenue" rise 1.1% to £10.6bn in the April to June quarter.

Last week Vodafone was told to pay a 112bn rupee (£1.6bn) tax bill in India.

Vodafone has been given 30 days to cough up the £1.6bn the Delhi government claims it owes following the 2007 purchase of the Indian telephone assets of Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa.

Vodafone claimed the $11bn transaction was exempt from tax because it took place between two offshore entities.

U.S. slips to historic low in global corruption index | Reuters

U.S. slips to historic low in global corruption index

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    A couple pushes a stroller at the base of the Washington Monument, December 29, 2009. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

    By Dave Graham

    BERLIN | Tue Oct 26, 2010 11:53am EDT

    BERLIN

    (Reuters) - The United States has dropped out of the "top 20" in a global league table of least corrupt nations, tarnished by financial scandals and the influence of money in politics, Transparency International said on Tuesday.

    Somalia was judged the most corrupt country, followed by Myanmar and Afghanistan at joint second-worst and then by Iraq, in the Berlin-based watchdog TI's annual corruption perceptions index (CPI).

    The United States fell to 22nd from 19th last year, with its CPI score dropping to 7.1 from 7.5 in the 178-nation index, which is based on independent surveys on corruption.

    This was the lowest score awarded to the United States in the index's 15-year history and also the first time it had fallen out of the top 20.

    In the Americas, this put the United States behind Canada in sixth place, Barbados at 17th and Chile in 21st place.

    Jointly heading the index -- in which a score of 10 indicates a country with the highest standards, and 0 as highly corrupt -- were Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore with 9.3. They were also at the top of the table last year.

    Somalia scored 1.1. The watchdog group said its table was based on "different assessments and business opinion surveys carried out by independent and reputable institutions."

    U.S. "INTEGRITY DEFICIT"

    Nancy Boswell, president of TI in the United States, said lending practices in the subprime crisis, the disclosure of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme and rows over political funding had all rattled public faith about prevailing ethics in America.

    "We're not talking about corruption in the sense of breaking the law," she said. "We're talking about a sense that the system is corrupted by these practices. There's an integrity deficit."

    Various financial scandals at state and city level had encouraged the impression that the regulatory oversight was weak and that influence could be bought, she added.

    The index showed a number of countries -- including Iran -- climbing up the chart significantly from 2009, though TI said this could often be ascribed to the fact that different surveys were being used that offered no direct comparison to last year.

    The fact that nearly three quarters of the countries scored 5.0 or less showed corruption was still a major global problem, said Robin Hodess, director of policy and research at TI.

    However, the watchdog identified Bhutan, Chile, Ecuador, Macedonia, Gambia, Haiti, Jamaica, Kuwait, and Qatar as states where improvement had been made over the past year.

    By contrast, it highlighted the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Madagascar, Niger and the United States as nations where perceptions had deteriorated.

    (Editing by Andrew Roche)

    Comments

    Oct 26, 2010 5:27am EDT

    The US is more corrupt than ever; are we supposed to be surprised by this? What did you expect to happen when Roberts’ Activist Supreme Court gave the green light to corporations to spend as much as they wished on political smear ads, and not have to reveal that they had done so.

    McBob08 Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 5:56am EDT

    “Transparency International?”

    Who watches the Watchdog Group?

    Howling_Drunky Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 6:08am EDT

    Why am I not surprised. Gordon Gecko is alive and well in the US

    GretaG Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 6:22am EDT

    “We’re not talking about corruption in the sense of breaking the law.” “We’re talking about a sense that the system is corrupted”.

    Judging governments by this groups personal beliefs or, “a sense”, instead of quantitative factual data lessens their credibility.

    xm75 Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 6:45am EDT

    How about the whole list being published? I’d like to see where Ireland figures in all of this given the ‘economic downturn’ being the euphemism applied?

    bogger Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 6:48am EDT

    What should anyone have expected? A promise to “drain the swamp” has actually resulted in the swamp being filthier than ever.

    toby3061 Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 7:02am EDT

    The USA is losing its ability to have moral persuasion on the world stage. Very sad indeed!!

    kaceltd Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 7:16am EDT

    Sounds right. Sooner or later we will recognize that our orgy of spending for “fairness” (and votes) is based on the lack of morality by indebting our grandkids and lowering our international standing on every measure. Except those that play well on “Oprah”. (I feel so good about making myself feel good.)

    Do we ever want to feel proud about our country again in our lifetime?

    TomMariner Report As Abusive

    Oct 26, 2010 7:54am EDT

    The downfall of the Ameroman Empire is on course. After WWII everything went downhill for America. Behold the new world power: China and UAE

    thedownfall Report As Abusive



     

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    Clinton urges calm after China-Japan row at summit | Reuters

    Clinton urges calm after China-Japan row at summit

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    Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (2nd R) is followed by her staff as she arrives for meetings with other leaders at the venue of the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi October 30, 2010.

    Credit: Reuters/Damir Sagolj

    By Yoko Kubota and Arshad Mohammed

    HANOI | Sat Oct 30, 2010 7:48am EDT

    HANOI

    (Reuters) - The premiers of China and Japan met at an Asian regional summit in a bid to defuse a territorial dispute on Saturday, while the United States urged Asia's two big economies to cool the standoff and proposed three-way talks.

    Expectations of a bilateral talk between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan were dashed on Friday when China canceled it, blaming Japan for "damaging the atmosphere" at the Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi by raising the issue of the disputed Diaoyu islands, called Senkaku in Japanese.

    A Japanese official, however, said the two leaders subsequently held an "informal" 10-minute meeting on the summit sidelines on Saturday in a seemingly positive step.

    "I am confident that we can maintain a relationship in which we can cooperate in a meaningful manner," Kan told a news conference.

    U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who met her Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, in Hanoi, urged calm on both sides, and offered to host trilateral talks to bring relations back on an even keel.

    "We have certainly encouraged both Japan and China to seek peaceful resolution of any disagreements," Clinton told a news conference. "It is in all of our interest for China and Japan to have stable, peaceful relations."

    China and Japan have long-locked horns over sovereignty claims in the oil-and-gas rich East China Sea but such disputes have rarely damaged commercial ties between the economic giants.

    Clinton, in Vietnam for the first U.S. participation in an East Asia Summit (EAS), also got assurances from China over its policy on exporting rare earth minerals that it wished to be a "reliable supplier."

    "Minister Yang clarified China has no intention of withholding these minerals from the market," she said.

    She said the United States, Japan, Europe and other allies would search for more sources of supply of he mineral, vital in the manufacture of various high-tech products.

    "So, although we are pleased by the clarification we have received from the Chinese government, we still think that the world as a whole needs to find alternatives."

    CURRENCIES, MYANMAR

    With a G20 leader's summit coming up in November in which currency tension is likely to loom large, some ASEAN countries addressed the sinking value of the U.S. dollar, which has led to a sharp appreciation in the value of most of the region's currencies and eroded the competitiveness of its exports.

    "The United States is looking for ways to resolve internal economic problems but the way they are doing it is affecting currencies in our region," said top Thai trade official Kiat Sitheearmorn. Export-reliant Thailand's currency, the baht, has appreciated about 11 percent over the past year.

    The China-Japan row deflected attention from regional issues like upcoming polls in military-ruled Myanmar, though leaders such as Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard demanded the vote be free and called for the release of political prisoners.

    Comments

    Oct 30, 2010 12:41am EDT

    Can one provide analysis for:

    1. Rare earth reserves of each country. US has too if not mistaken;

    2. Quantity mined and exported by each such countries?

    The world is so huge it can’t be just China having rare earths. There are reports claiming China accounts for 97% of the world’s production when she only has 30% of the world’s reserves. Is this true? If there are rare earths outside China, maybe can ask China, which ought to have the expertise and economies of scale by now, to help those countries to extract those rare earths so that more countries can export rare earths and eliminate reliance on one country.

    Also there is a need to probe whether there are traders/middlemen who hoard such earth secretly or not as well as the black market involved. General sense may indicate that there is a high possibility of these especially when one knows the value. Its like hoarding gold. Sometimes by control over an industry is to curb the black market.

    biztru Report As Abusive

    Oct 30, 2010 1:31am EDT

    “The issue could come up again Saturday.”
    What kind of reporting is that?
    If you were doing an advertisement for an upcoming television drama, maybe.

    nieldevi Report As Abusive



     

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    Nepal firm takes high speed Internet to Mt Everest | Reuters

    Nepal firm takes high speed Internet to Mt Everest

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    Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen speaks to mountaineer Namgel Sherpa, who is located at Kalapathar 5,164 m (16,942 feet) near Mt. Everest, from his location in Shyangboche in the north of Nepal October 28, 2010. At rear is Mt. Everest. REUTERS/Sonam Sherpa

    Ncell CEO Pasi Koistinen speaks to mountaineer Namgel Sherpa, who is located at Kalapathar 5,164 m (16,942 feet) near Mt. Everest, from his location in Shyangboche in the north of Nepal October 28, 2010. At rear is Mt. Everest.

    Credit: Reuters/Sonam Sherpa

    By Gopal Sharma

    KATHMANDU | Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:15am EDT

    KATHMANDU

    (Reuters) - A private telecom firm took high speed Internet facilities to the top of the world on Thursday when it launched Nepal's first 3G services at the base camp of Mount Everest.

    The installation could help the tens of thousands of mountain climbers and trekkers who visit the Mount Everest region in the Solukhumbu district every year.

    They have to depend on expensive satellite phones to remain in touch with their families as the remote region lacks proper communication facilities.

    Nepali telecom company Ncell said its new facility is the first 3G setup at the base camp of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain at 8,850 meters (29,035 feet).

    "This achievement is as mighty as the altitude as 3G high speed internet will bring faster, more affordable telecommunication services to the people living in the Khumbu Valley, trekkers, and climbers alike," said Lars Nyberg, chief of Nordic telecoms firm TeliaSonera, which owns 80 percent of the firm.

    Ncell is a joint venture between local investors and TeliaSonera.

    "Today we made the (world's) highest video call from Mount Everest," Ncell chief Pasi Koistinen told reporters in Kathmandu, referring to the call made from 5,300 meters (17,388 feet), the area from where climbers begin the actual climb to Mount Everest.

    The facility provides fast surfing on the web, sending video clips and e-mails, as well as calls to friends and family back home at far cheaper rates than the average satellite phone, the company said in a statement.

    Telecommunication services cover only a third of the 28 million people of Nepal, South Asia's poorest country.

    Ncell said TeliaSonera would spend over $100 million to expand its facilities in Nepal next year and ensure mobile coverage to more than 90 percent of the Himalayan nation's population.

    (Editing by Matthias Williams and Sugita Katyal)

     

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    Stop the Execution of Rizana Nafeek in Saudi Arabia

    Targeting: President Mahinda Rajapakse (Socialist Democratic Republic of Sri Lanka C/- Office of the President )

    26th October 2010, the Asian Human Rights Commission issued a press release containing the following alarming information:

    The death sentence has been confirmed in the case of a young Sri Lankan Muslim girl, Rizana Nafeek. She was charged with strangling the 4-month-old child of the family for whom she worked as a housemaid. She was legally allowed only 30 days from the date of the court order to make her appeal. An appeal was made on her behalf by the intervention of human rights groups who paid for the lawyers and her death sentence was set aside pending appeal.

    Rizana Nafeek was born on February 4, 1988 and comes from a war-torn, impoverished village. Here, many families try to send their under aged children for employment outside the country, as their breadwinners. Some employment agencies exploit the situation of the impoverished families to recruit under aged girls for employment. For that purpose they engage in obtaining passports by altering the dates of birth of these children to make it appear that they are older than they really are. In the case of Rizana Nafeek, the altered date, which is to be found in her passport now, is February 2, 1982. It was on the basis of this altered date that the employment agency fixed her employment in Saudi Arabia and she went there in May 2005.

    She went to work at the house of Mr. Naif Jiziyan Khalaf Al Otaibi whose wife had a new-born baby boy. A short time after she started working for this family she was assigned to bottle feed the infant who was by then four months old. Rizana Nafeek had no experience of any sort in caring for such a young infant. She was left alone when bottle feeding the child. While she was feeding the child the boy started choking, as so often happens to babies and Rizana Nafeek panicked and while shouting for help tried to sooth the child by feeling the chest, neck and face, doing whatever she could to help him. At her shouting the mother arrived but by that time the baby was either unconscious or dead. Unfortunately, misunderstanding the situation the family members treated the teenager very harshly and handed her over to the police, accusing her of strangling the baby. At the police station also, she was very harshly handled and did not have the help of a translator or anyone else to whom she could explain what had happened. She was made to sign a confession and later charges were filed in court of murder by strangulation.

    On her first appearance in court she was sternly warned by the police to repeat her confession, which she did. However, later she was able to talk to an interpreter who was sent by the Sri Lankan embassy and she explained in her own language the circumstances of what had happened as stated above. This version was also stated in court thereafter.

    According to reports, the judges who heard the case requested the father of the child to use his prerogative to pardon the young girl. However, the father refused to grant such pardon. On that basis the court sentenced her to death by beheading. This sentence was made on June 16, 2007.

    The said murder allegedly took place in February 2005 when Rizana Nafeek was only 17 years old. Sources said she had modified her age on her passport so that she could enter Saudi Arabia to work. Accordingly, she was still considered a minor by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child.

    Rizana Nafeek's case is now before an advisor to his Royal Highness the King who has the power to pardon her.

    There is good reason to grant her a pardon as no real crime is involved when a 17 year-old girl with no experience has to bottle feed an infant and as a result there is an accident by way of the infant choking. At the initial stages of the case the accused young girl did not have legal representation or any assistance from her Embassy and did not even have a proper translation of what was going on. This tragedy which has been taken up as a crime should not lead to another tragedy of a young girl being beheaded for no crime at all.

    Source: Asian Human Rights Commission

    See the Safe World Website for more info about Children's Rights

    Please sign the petition to Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapakse to request that he urgently appeals to His Royal Highness, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, to save Rizana Nafeek.

     

    Petition Text

    Request for intervention to stop the death sentence of Rizana Nafeek

    Your Excellency,

    I am writing this to request your intervention to save the life of a young Sri Lankan Muslim girl, Rizana Nafeek, a migrant worker who is facing the death sentence in Saudi Arabia. I understand that the case is well known to you and that, in fact, you have in the past discussed this case with Sri Lankan Embassy personnel in Saudi Arabia and one of your ministers was also sent to that country to intervene in her case. The matter has been brought to you notice since 2007.

    As you are aware, an appeal was made on Rizana Nafeek's behalf for which the lawyer's fee was paid by human rights organisations and the Embassy personnel arranged the lawyers. After the appeal the Embassy personnel informed that they were following up the case before the courts. The appeal was pending for a long time as the sole witness who allegedly took the confession from the then 17-year-old Rizana Nafeek was missing. To our knowledge the court was unable to locate him. However, the Arab News Agency recently reported that the court had confirmed her death sentence.

    As you are well aware, a death sentence by beheading can be carried out in Saudi Arabia quite quickly. Now the saving of the life of this young girl depends on the speedy pardon by His Royal Highness The King. There cannot be any quicker way of doing this than your own direct intervention as the head of state of Sri Lanka with His Royal Highness.

    I sincerely hope you will personally intervene and do your utmost to save the life of this young Muslim girl who went to work in a foreign country because of dire poverty.

    Thank you.

    [Your name]

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