ANKARA, 2 Jul 2004 (IRIN) - Five Tajik workers were killed after the walls of a well collapsed around them in the Moscow region, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said on Wednesday. The AP reported that the accident occurred on Tuesday as the men were repairing a well in the village of Lugovaya, just outside the Russian capital. According to a preliminary investigation, the workers may have succumbed to methane that flooded the well. Full report

ANKARA, 2 Jul 2004 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: AFGHANISTAN: UN condemns attack on election workers AFGHANISTAN: Poverty forces children to quit school to work AFGHANISTAN: NGOs...Full report

KABUL, 1 Jul 2004 (IRIN) - At least one man was killed and 26 other people, including five children and three police officers, were injured in bomb explosions in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Wednesday, according to officials from the Afghan Interior Ministry. The bombs went off shortly after 1 pm in the city, the capital of the eastern Nangarhar province. Full report

ANKARA, 1 Jul 2004 (IRIN) - Human rights groups have called for the immediate release of two conscientious objectors in Turkmenistan who, citing religious grounds, have refused to do their military service. Full report

ANKARA, 30 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - With warmer temperature in Tajikistan's mountains melting the snows, water levels in the Zarafshon river in the north have risen, threatening thousands of residents in the area. Full report

ANKARA, 30 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - The European Union (EU), under its Technical Assistance to the Commonwealth of Independent States (TACIS) programme, plans to invest up to 35 million euros (US $42.5 million) in Turkmenistan over a period of five years. Full report

KABUL, 30 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) is continuing its efforts to demobilise upwards of 8,000 child soldiers in Afghanistan, a country devastated by over two decades of war. Full report

TEHRAN, 29 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - Afghans have been streaming into Iran for decades, fleeing war, despotic leaders, fanatical regimes and economic misery. In 2000 alone, almost a quarter of a million Afghans sought refuge in Iran from the feared Taliban rulers. Full report

ANKARA, 29 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - NGOs working in Afghanistan have expressed doubts over the effectiveness of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) proposed plans for expansion in the north and west of the country. Full report

ANKARA, 29 Jun 2004 (IRIN) - Although the Central Asian region, home to some 60 million people, has a relatively low HIV/AIDS prevalence rate, a steep growth in infections over recent years is becoming a source of concern. Full report

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