Related articles and links |  1 of 2

The Taliban arrested 24 workers of the Kabul office of an aid group called Shelter Now International based in Germany. No one has been allowed to visit the prisoners but fears are mounting because the Taliban said last year anyone converting an Afghan to any religion could face execution.

The BBC is reporting that a Taliban senior official saying that the prisoners had "'confessed to the crime' and would be tried soon under Islamic law." Of the workers, 16 are from Afganistan, four are German, two are Australian, and two are American.

Contrary to reports yesterday, the workers arrested were not connected with the US-based organization, Shelter Now International. Instead, a separate organization based in Germany had oversight of the office and personnel in Kabul.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Shelter Now, saying it "has crossed the line between aid work and evangelising before … In the early 1990s the group, then based in the United States, [Shelter Now]was forced to pull out of Pakistan after its activities among Afghan refugees there provoked unrest.

"After the group pulled out of Pakistan its name and work in Afghanistan were taken over by a German-based Christian aid group, Vision For Asia."

Team prepares to implant clones, will announce details today
While debates continue on cloning technology and the ethics confronted with such science, a team of researchers is going ahead and doing it. Involved in the team are Dr. Panos Zavos, a retired University of Kentucky professor and fertility specialist, and Italian doctor Severino Antinori.

The team is expected to announce its plans today. But Antinori, already being threatened with loss of his license, has previously planned to clone a human embryo by the end of the year. Now, it seems that he and Zavos are preparing to implant up to 200 clones in infertile volunteers from around the world this year.

The Associated Press reports that Antinori has 1,300 couples in America, mostly in Kentucky, and 200 in Italy as candidates for his research and that he plans to start cloning embryos in November. But despite the doctors' rushing ahead, the ethical debate around cloning has not ended. According to CNN:

"Since the House of Representatives has voted to ban all human cloning and the Senate likely to follow suit, Zavos said the attempt would be made outside the United States in one of two countries that have not moved against human cloning research. He did not disclose where the attempt would be made."

The plans of the team will be discussed today at a National Academy of Sciences international panel brought together in Washington D.C. to discuss the technology and where it may be heading. The discussion on human cloning will be broadcast on the Web just about all day. The Web cast is available at the National Academies Web site.

Antinori will deliver a 45-minute presentation this afternoon with other team representatives followed by a half-hour discussion. Weblog will cover the announcement and media reaction tomorrow.

In unrelated news, Lucasfilm has announced yesterday the title of the new Star Wars movie due next summer. It will be Episode II: Attack of the Clones.

next page... |  1 of 2

August (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45