KAZAKHSTAN: Focus on potable water shortage in Kyzyl-Orda Province

TOKABAY, 19 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - For 46-year-old Maira Omirbayeva, just getting a pail of water can be a real chore. Standing outside her humble home in the tiny dust-blown village of Tokabay, 50 km north of the former Aral Sea fishing town of Aralsk, she depends for safe drinking water on deliveries by tanker truck. Full report

PAKISTAN: Authorities struggle with grounded oil tanker

ISLAMABAD, 19 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - An oil tanker grounded off the coast of the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi since late July continues to leak as efforts to contain the damage intensify, according to a scientist. Full report

PAKISTAN: Interview with Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao

ISLAMABAD, 18 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao, the Minister for Water, Power, Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas, has recently had his hands full, formulating new strategies for additional water reservoirs and power generation, as well as handling the always prickly issue of repatriating Afghan refugees from Pakistan. Full report

CENTRAL ASIA-PAKISTAN: Illegal trade in pelts causes decline of snow leopards

ISLAMABAD , 18 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - Random killings by poachers, who benefit from a clandestine trade in animal skins in the Central Asian region and Afghanistan, are threatening the already endangered snow leopard, according to a report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network. Full report

KAZAKHSTAN: Four-year-old girl dies of bubonic plague

ANKARA , 18 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - A four-year-old girl died of bubonic plague on Saturday in the south-central Kazakh province of Kzyl-Orda, while another 27 people who had been in contact with her were now under treatment. Full report

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

ANKARA, 15 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - The US State Department said on Monday that Turkmenistan had been granted a waiver under the Jackson-Vanik Amendment after President George W. Bush waived trade curbs pending under a US law. Full report

PAKISTAN: Oil spill threatens marine life, coastal ecosystems

ISLAMABAD, 15 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - Spillage from an oil tanker grounded just off the coast near the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, has already caused catastrophic damage to marine and plant life, the effects of which could linger on for years with devastating results. Full report

AFGHANISTAN: UN says urgent funds needed for elections

KABUL, 15 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - The United Nations announced on Thursday that the voters registration programme for the Afghan general elections scheduled to be held by June next year urgently needed US $76 million from donors. Full report

AFGHANISTAN: Special report on insecurity in the south

KABUL, 14 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - Parts of southern Afghanistan have witnessed a spate of deadly attacks in recent months, including a bomb blast that killed 15 people on Wednesday. Provincial officials warn that the insecurity threatens rehabilitation and humanitarian efforts on the ground, in addition to the lives of civilians. Full report

UZBEKISTAN: Activists react to journalist's conviction

ANKARA, 14 Aug 2003 (IRIN) - Human rights activists in Uzbekistan have expressed varying views on the conviction on Wednesday of Ruslan Sharipov, an openly gay Uzbek journalist. While some of them said that the trial had been politically motivated, others believed that he had been convicted according to the law. Full report