Twenty-three South Koreans, including 18 women, were kidnapped on Thursday, July 19, while riding a bus through the Ghazni province in Afghanistan.  Korean negotiators accompanied by Afghan elders and clerics met face-to-face with the kidnappers of the hostages on Tuesday in Afghanistan, as a threatened Taliban deadline to execute them passed by once again.  The rebels have pushed back their ultimatum on the Koreans’ fate at least three times.

Ghazni villagers demonstrated, demanding the hostages be released.  The province’s police chief, Mohammad Zaman, said the Taliban should release the hostages as they are guests in the country and they want them to be safe.

Originally, the rebels have threatened to kill the South Koreans unless 23 Taliban prisoners held by Afghan authorities are released and Seoul withdraws its 200 soldiers from Afghanistan.  Now, it is reported that the militants are demanding monetary payment for the South Korean hostages’ release. 

The 200 South Korean troops serving in the US-led coalition in Afghanistan are scheduled to leave by the end of 2007.  The hostages  were said to be involved in medical and volunteer aid. 

For more information, please see:

–http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/25/1987410.htm

–http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2007/07/23/afx3941168.html

–http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/24/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Kidnappings.php

–http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Afghan-Kidnappings.html?ex=1185854400&en=5fb2bf217bf9406f&ei=5070&emc=eta1

The Papua legislature is now debating whether to approve a bill allowing microchips to be implanted in people infected with HIV. The proposal is a way of preventing the spread of HIV in Indonesia.  However, health workers there strongly oppose the bill.

About 2.4% of Papuans are known to be HIV-carriers. Infection rates are estimated at 15 times the national average.

A member of the parliament’s health committee made the proposal. He said that microchips could track people who continued to infect others. The bill also proposes mandatory testing of every Papua resident. Also considered was tattooing HIV-positive people.

The Papua AIDS Commission has rejected the bill. It said the proposals were illogical and a violation of human rights.

To become law, the bill would need to be approved by government, health and legal experts and pass a public consultation.

The province has just over 3,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, and there have been 356 deaths reported. Papua has a population of about 2.5 million.

For more information, please see:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6913869.stm

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/24/1987295.htm

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070724075657.4w2f978g&show_article=1

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/afp/20070724/ttc-health-indonesia-papua-aids-b4393f8.html

India elected its first female president, Pratibha Patil, on Saturday.  Ms. Patil, 72, was widely expected to win and had won almost two-thirds of the votes cast by federal and state legislators.  She had the support of the governing Congress Party and its political allies.  The election of a woman to the historically ceremonial post continues an Indian tradition of using the presidency to give a high-profile voice to disadvantaged groups.  Past presidents include Muslims and a Sikh, minorities among India’s dominant Hindus.

Women still face widespread discrimination in the workplace and at home.  Although one of India’s most powerful leaders  was the female prime minister, Indira Gandhi, many Indian families regard daughters as a liability because of a tradition requiring a bride’s family to pay a large dowry of cash and gifts.  Consequently, their education and overall health is often neglected, and thus women are still underrepresented in politics.

Ms. Patil’s election will make India the largest country to boast a female head of state.  She defeated the current Vice President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party, and will replace A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.  Ms. Patil’s campaign was not easy, however, with opposition politicians and the media scrutinizing her, her past, and her family.  Opponents said she lacked the national stature for the post and complained that her only qualification was her loyalty to the powerful Gandhi family. 

Ms. Patil received 2489 out of the 2706 votes cast on Thursday.  She will be sworn in as India’s 13th president on Wednesday, and will serve for a five-year term.

For more information, please see:

–http://abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/21/1984713.htm?section=justin

–http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118504676893474168.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

–http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/22/world/asia/22india.html?em&ex=1185249600&en=7eb036a14c52eb06&ei=5087%0A

–http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-india22jul22,1,3238015.story?coll=la-news-a_section

Attackers raided a camp of environmental protesters, killing one person and injuring seven people.

More than 20 demonstrators had been camped out by a reservoir near Angarsk, about 2,600 miles east of Moscow, to protest nuclear waste processing at a state-owned Electrolysis Chemical Plant. Local police detained two suspects and identified 13 others.

Angarsk is about 60 miles from the southern end of Lake Baikal, the world’s largest freshwater lake. Russia is setting up a uranium enrichment center at the plant to enrich uranium from Kazakhstan, a major uranium ore producer.

President Vladimir Putin proposed setting up the site as a way to provide uranium fuel to nations intent on building nuclear power plants, while making sure they don’t develop weapons programs.

The enriched uranium supply would be made available only to countries which have made nonproliferation commitments. These would include a pledge of no use for nuclear explosive purposes and acceptance of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

The demonstrators say Russia plans to become a center for processing and storing spent fuel from abroad, and that this plant could be part of the lucrative business.

For more information, please see:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070721/ap_on_re_eu/russia_demonstrator_killed_2

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/21/europe/EU-GEN-Russia-Demonstrator-Killed.php

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/21/world/main3085019.shtml

The Malaysian government detained Nathaniel Tan under the Official Secrets Act for posting information on the Internet (www.jelas.info) the government considered sensitive.

His arrest was part of a government campaign to combat alleged to inaccurate information being spreading by bloggers.

Police arrested Tan and seized his computers. Tan also manages the website of the opposition National People’s Party. Police questioned Tan for four days of police.

Tan potentially faces a large fine and a mandatory one-year jail sentence if charged and found guilty under the OSA. The OSA has “vaguely worded definitions” of what constitutes an official secret.

Tan is well known in blogging community. He is noted for his criticism of government leaders. He had previously criticized minister Baharum and asked readers to “vote this guy out.” Baharum was investigated and cleared last week after allegations that he had received $1.6 million in bribes to release three convicted criminals.

Analysts see the government’s campaign as an attempt to instill fear and suppress attacks on national leaders, especially on Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi before of a general election expected later this year.

The ruling National Front coalition does not want to see a swing in voter support for the opposition party, which is promising more transparent government, affirmative action to help all Malaysians, and to end racially-discriminatory policies.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance and Reporters without Borders both urged the government to respect human rights and restrain the police. “By arresting [Tan], the authorities are trying to intimidate Malaysian Internet users and get them to censor themselves,” SEAPA said in a statement. “Until now, they had limited themselves to threats and abusive prosecutions. Now they have gone further and adopted a more radical form of repression.”

For more information, please see:

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38581

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=29966

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IG20Ae01.html