http://uk.oneworld.net/article/country/969/ en_GB_uk South West Asia http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/151645/1/ KARACHI, Jul 25 (IPS) - As Superintendent Nusrat Hussain Mangan of Central Prison in the southern port city of Karachi spends sleepless nights trying to figure out how to raise money to save the life of one inmate, just one of 107 on his death row, there are moments of near despair. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/142505/1/ DUSHANBE, Nov 15 (IPS) - Women have played important roles in rebuilding Tajikistan after the country's civil war of the 1990s. But women in this central Asian country still have many obstacles to overcome to reach equality with men, according to some local activists and international observers. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/140435/1/ KARACHI, Oct 5 (IPS) - She is in the news again. This time appearing in a documentary film ‘Shame', that tells her tale of being ordered gang-raped as retributive punishment by a village council. http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/74407 Five years after U.S. President George W. Bush launched his "global war on terrorism," the world has become more unsafe, more divided, more strife-prone, more paranoid, and ironically, more vulnerable to terrorism, says New Delhi-based journalist Praful Bidwai. http://www.oneworld.net/article/view/117458/1/ PLACHIMADA, India, Aug 21 (IPS) - In the end it was the ''generosity'' of Coca-Cola in distributing cadmium-laden waste sludge as ''free fertilizer'' to the tribal aborigines who live near the beverage giant's bottling plant in this remote Kerala village that proved to be its undoing. http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/61962 The Bush Administration's force-based strategy for containing Islamic radicalism and its tolerance of authoritarian regimes in Southwest and Central Asia has convinced many Muslims across the region that U.S.-style democracy is wrong for their societies. If the White House doesn't change course over the next four years, it can expect little progress towards increasing the security situation and democratic prospects in the region, says Pakistan-based journalist Ahmed Rashid. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotolink/addhit/55867 The Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) held a meeting of decision makers, business executives and experts to create a framework for deploying ICTs for development in the region. The outcome of this dialogue will be put for the upcoming WSIS meetings. http://uk.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/53797 Shareholders from Azerbaijan and Georgia expressed outrage yesterday as oil giant BP refused them access to its AGM in London. They had come to raise concerns about the controversial Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. The Baku-Ceyhan coalition includes PLATFORM, Corner House and Friends of the Earth. http://www.digitalopportunity.org/link/gotolink/addhit/53184 The International Water Management Institute has launched a web site that it hopes will lead to the first large-scale regional assessment of how countries in southwest Asia deal with drought. http://us.oneworld.net/link/gotolink/addhit/52150 Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld's trip through Central Asia, including stops in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, brought nothing in the way of support for such ideals as democracy and human rights in Uzbekistan, writes Esmer Islamov. Nor did Rumsfeld have anything to offer beleagured Afghan President Hamid Karzai--not even a pledge to find Osama bin Laden. http://www.learningchannel.org/link/gotolink/addhit/47653 Education is the key to bring about a change on the human rights front in Iran, says Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi. "It is necessary that the majority should want that change, so it's necessary to teach people from an early age - starting from primary school right up to high school and beyond," Shirin told IRIN News. http://www.learningchannel.org/link/gotolink/addhit/47424 Nadya, one of a tiny minority of female teachers in Afghanistan says her country needs more female professionals in general as a means of promoting greater women's participation in the male-dominated society. http://www.learningchannel.org/link/gotolink/addhit/47268 An after school programme for Arab youth in the West Bank city of Ramallah is providing students a safe place to interact and be creative while learning technology skills. Youth, ages 10 to 18, have access to high-tech equipment, professional software and adult mentors to help them develop the self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning they need to be successful in the future. http://www.learningchannel.org/link/gotolink/addhit/46953 Afghanistan is celebrating the entry of the millionth girl in school after the fall of the Taliban regime. The Taliban government had banned education for girls and women were secluded from all walks of life. http://www.learningchannel.org/link/gotolink/addhit/46753 A World Bank report says that west Asia and north Africa will have to create nearly 100 million additional jobs by 2020, to stave off an unprecedented unemployment crisis.