Chinese hostages

Chinese hostages
in safe hands: Report (2x15)

Chinese news agency says Chinese hostages safely in Chinese
hands

Eight Chinese construction workers taken hostage by Iraqi
insurgents have been safely transferred to Chinese custody,
China's Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. The agency quoted
the Chinese embassy in Baghdad as saying the eight would leave
for home soon. The Associated Press telephoned the Chinese
Embassy here but there was no answer, and the Foreign Ministry in
Beijing said it had no confirmation of the report. The eight were
seized this month by the Islamic Resistance Movement as they
tried to leave Iraq for neighboring Jordan. In a videotape aired
on Saturday, the insurgents said they had decided to release the
captives after China pledged to discourage its citizens from
traveling to Iraq. -- AP

UN launches clean
water campaign (2x15)

UN launches major campaign to get water into schools

The United Nations will launch a global campaign on Monday aimed
at ensuring every school in the world has clean water and
sanitation within a decade, cutting health risks and raising
attendance. Access to safe water and sanitation is one of the key
Millennium Development Goals to be met by 2015. Studies show that
besides safeguarding health, cleaner water helps boost school
attendance which in many deprived areas is very low. "Half of the
schools worldwide lack access to basic facilities like safe water
and clean toilets. This is the start of a major effort to change
that," a spokeswoman for the UN children's fund UNICEF said. A
three-day conference starting in the central English city of
Oxford is bringing together governments, international agencies
and NGOs from the United States to Tajikistan but with a strong
emphasis on Africa, Asia and Central America. -- Reuters