Jailed Uzbek activist pardoned, supporters say

Tuesday, December 26, 2006, 10:30 [IST]

TASHKENT, Dec 25 (Reuters) A prominent Uzbek human rights activist jailed for extortion has been released in an amnesty, his supporters said today.

An Uzbek court sentenced Yadgar Turlibekov, 70, to 3-1/2 years in jail in October. Uzbekistan's IGNPU human rights group said it was a fabricated case.

IGNPU chairman Surat Ikramov said Turlibekov was pardoned and released from jail yesterday. Uzbek justice officials were not available for comment.

Uzbekistan, an ex-Soviet Central Asian state, has been criticised in the West for jailing dissidents and human rights campaigners.

REUTERS MS PM1522

Other articles published on December 26, 2006

Shanghai mayor promises openness in graft fight

Tuesday, December 26, 2006,10:30 [IST]

SHANGHAI, Dec 25 (Reuters) The acting Communist Party boss of China's financial hub has promised more transparency in the fight against graft, a state newspaper said today after his predecessor was sacked for corruption. Han Zheng, who is also Shanghai's mayor, added that improving oversight of officials would ensure too much power was not concentrated in the hands of one person, said the People's Daily, the Communist Party's newspaper. Former Shanghai Party chief Chen Liangyu was.....

Christmas peace calls ring out in Bethlehem

Tuesday, December 26, 2006,10:30 [IST]

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Dec 25 (Reuters) Bethlehem celebrated Christmas today with calls for peace in a town, where Christians believe Jesus was born, that has been hard hit by economic woes and Israeli travel restrictions. Hundreds of pilgrims gathered in Manger Square, decorated with coloured lights and Christmas trees. Worshippers also flocked to the grotto of the Church of the Nativity, revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus. The traditional midnight mass was celebrated.....

Limitless Updates

India News

News Archives

'Godfather of Soul' James Brown dies

Tuesday, December 26, 2006,10:30 [IST]

ATLANTA, Dec 25 (Reuters) Singer James Brown, the self-proclaimed ''Godfather of Soul,'' who billed himself as the hardest working man in show business, died today at age 73, his agent said. Brown died at 0145hrs (1215IST) at Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta after being admitted there over the weekend for treatment of severe pneumonia, his agent, Frank Copsidas, said. The singer, also known as ''Mr Dynamite,'' is credited with bringing the word ''funk'' into.....

Indonesian floods, landslides kill at least 80

Tuesday, December 26, 2006,10:30 [IST]

JAKARTA, Dec 25 (Reuters) Floods and landslides in Indonesia's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces have killed at least 80 people and forced tens of thousands to flee to higher ground, authorities in the region said today. Aceh, still feeling the devastating effects of the 2004 tsunami, was hardest hit. Ridwan Sulaiman, head of social affairs in the province, said the death toll was now 42, although the figure could go higher as rescuers reach more.....

Worship God, not technology, Pope says on Christmas

Tuesday, December 26, 2006,10:30 [IST]

VATICAN CITY, Dec 25 (Reuters) Pope Benedict said in his Christmas message today that mankind, which has reached other planets and worships technology, cannot live without God or turn its back on the hungry. It was shameful that in ''this age of plenty and unbridled consumerism'' many remained deaf to the ''heart-rending cry'' of those dying of hunger, thirst, disease, poverty, war and terrorism. In his ''Urbi et Orbi'' (to the city and the world) message,.....