Anti-terror probe agency NIA could be empowered to investigate cases of human trafficking, in what seems to be a breakthrough in the nearly year-long consultations among various stakeholders, including the home ministry and the ministry of women and child development.

Sources say the additional responsibility for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be part of the proposed anti-human trafficking law unveiled by Maneka Gandhi last year.

The move will also require amending the law that gave birth to the counter-terrorism agency -- the National Investigation Act, 2008.

The Draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection, and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016, proposed setting up a National Bureau on Trafficking in Person for &quot;prevention, investigation of the trafficking of persons cases and protection of the victims of trafficking&quot; -- a role which could be performed by the NIA, sources said.

&quot;The ministry of home affairs (MHA) wanted NIA to investigate trafficking and we have agreed to that. MHA has also given its approval for the draft Bill. After we get a green flag from Prime Minister&#39;s Office, a Cabinet note will be circulated,&quot; according to a top official of the ministry of women and child development.

Another official said that &quot;a cell within NIA&quot; could be probing human trafficking cases.

After the Union Cabinet gives its approval, the draft bill will be tabled before Parliament.

&quot;Traffickers enjoy immunity because local police agencies are not able to probe inter-state or cross-border crimes. We require a nodal agency as 80-90 per cent of trafficking cases span across various states,&quot; said President of NGO Shakti Vahini, Ravi Kant, explaining why activists have been seeking a central body to probe human trade.

Government officials say that in order to empower the NIA to investigate trafficking cases the National Investigation Act, 2008, will have to be amended.

The NIA was set up by the previous UPA government in 2009 to probe terrorist activities in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people.

As per the National Investigation Act, the anti-terror body is empowered to probe offences under eight specified laws, including the Atomic Energy Act 1962, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, and the Anti-Hijacking Act 1982.

The proposed anti-human trafficking legislation will be independent of the existing law on trafficking in relation to prostitution -- Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 -- while a section of the civil society has sought an umbrella law.

The draft law divides offences into &quot;trafficking&quot; and &quot;aggravated trafficking&quot;. The punishment for offences in the former category is rigorous imprisonment between 7 and 10 years and a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh, while aggravated forms of trafficking will invite a jail term of between 10 years and life imprisonment and a fine of not less than Rs 5 lakh.

Aggravated trafficking will include trafficking of children, transgenders, differently-abled, pregnant women and those which involve the use of drugs and alcohol.

There is also a provision for a national committee as well as a central fund for the relief and rehabilitation services for the victims.

Sources say the additional responsibility for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be part of the proposed anti-human trafficking law unveiled by Maneka Gandhi last year

Anti-terror probe agency NIA could be empowered to investigate cases of human trafficking, in what seems to be a breakthrough in the nearly year-long consultations among various stakeholders, including the home ministry and the ministry of women and child development. Sources say the additional responsibility for the National Investigation Agency (NIA) would be part of the proposed anti-human trafficking law unveiled by Maneka Gandhi last year. The move will also require amending the law that gave birth to the counter-terrorism agency -- the National Investigation Act, 2008. The Draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection, and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016, proposed setting up a National Bureau on Trafficking in Person for "prevention, investigation of the trafficking of persons cases and protection of the victims of trafficking" -- a role which could be performed by the NIA, sources said. "The ministry of home affairs (MHA) wanted NIA to investigate trafficking and we have agreed to that. MHA has also given its approval for the draft Bill. After we get a green flag from Prime Minister's Office, a Cabinet note will be circulated," according to a top official of the ministry of women and child development. Another official said that "a cell within NIA" could be probing human trafficking cases. After the Union Cabinet gives its approval, the draft bill will be tabled before Parliament. "Traffickers enjoy immunity because local police agencies are not able to probe inter-state or cross-border crimes. We require a nodal agency as 80-90 per cent of trafficking cases span across various states," said President of NGO Shakti Vahini, Ravi Kant, explaining why activists have been seeking a central body to probe human trade. Government officials say that in order to empower the NIA to investigate trafficking cases the National Investigation Act, 2008, will have to be amended. The NIA was set up by the previous UPA government in 2009 to probe terrorist activities in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which killed 166 people. As per the National Investigation Act, the anti-terror body is empowered to probe offences under eight specified laws, including the Atomic Energy Act 1962, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act 1967, and the Anti-Hijacking Act 1982. The proposed anti-human trafficking legislation will be independent of the existing law on trafficking in relation to prostitution -- Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, 1956 -- while a section of the civil society has sought an umbrella law. The draft law divides offences into "trafficking" and "aggravated trafficking". The punishment for offences in the former category is rigorous imprisonment between 7 and 10 years and a fine of not less than Rs 1 lakh, while aggravated forms of trafficking will invite a jail term of between 10 years and life imprisonment and a fine of not less than Rs 5 lakh. Aggravated trafficking will include trafficking of children, transgenders, differently-abled, pregnant women and those which involve the use of drugs and alcohol. There is also a provision for a national committee as well as a central fund for the relief and rehabilitation services for the victims.

NIA likely to probe human trafficking cases

Welcome to Vidya Vanam, a school for rural and tribal children in Anaikatti near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/01-img_2017-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114060104.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Welcoming faces at Vidya Vanam (Others)
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Vidya Vanam is a school with no prescribed textbooks. The children learn their subjects in themes. Last year, for instance, the theme was Rice, and their learning included cultivating five micro-plots of paddy themselves. Two teams of first-generation English speakers even had a debate on genetically modified crops: Debating rice in the forest of learning

It is a school where children learn to speak their minds and explore their talents. And they do this at their own pace. Some of the smallest children are clearly born &lsquo;leaders.&rsquo;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/02-img_1813-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114060143.jpg" />
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A born &lsquo;leader&rsquo; (Others)
</div>
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At 12.15 it will be lunchtime, so the pattis (older women, grandmothers) and akkas (younger women, sisters) get things ready, while some children enjoy their favourite time of the day: &lsquo;games&rsquo;.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/untitled%20design%20(24)-20171114062658.jpg" />
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An aspiring Lionel Messi? (Others)
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&nbsp;

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Three-in-one hoop (Others)
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&nbsp;

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Another use of the hoop (left); And another ball game (right) (Others)
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In the open dining hall, there is silence before the storm.

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Plates and mats in the dining room just before the children storm in (Others)
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A short while later the younger children are enjoying their lunch and the sounds of laughter fill up the open air dining area.&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/09-img_1949-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114060520.jpg" />
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Eager faces above still empty plates (Others)
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After about 10 minutes the laughter is replaced with the chanting of &lsquo;patti, patti&rsquo; as the children request a second serving.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/10-img_1964-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114060550.jpg" />
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The chants of &lsquo;patti, patti&rsquo; are rewarded with a second serving (Others)
</div>
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Meanwhile, the older students gather on stage for the daily assembly. Today is comedy day and whoever has something prepared or wants to improvise is given time to do so. These two boys enact a short skit on &lsquo;The elephant and the tree&#39;.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/11-dscn4127-nw-here_everyday_is_childrens_day.width-1440-20171114060656.jpg" />
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The elephant and the tree (Others)
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Some students conduct a quiz and others tell jokes (Others)
</div>
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The children from the senior classes often steal the show.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/13-dscn4148-nw-here_everyday_is_childrens_day.width-1440-20171114060808.jpg" />
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The day&rsquo;s comedians are a hit with the audience (Others)
</div>
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After lunch, the children have some free time for doing what they like most: playing with the hula-hoops.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/14-img_2058-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114060847.jpg" />
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The school&rsquo;s hula-hoopers in performance (Others)
</div>
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And soon the lunch break is over and the students walk back to their classes, though some girls want to keep playing right until they reach the classroom.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/15-img_2061-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114060915.jpg" />
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They can&rsquo;t let go the hoops even while walking back to class (Others)
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Senior students, Vindhya and Aravali are preparing the newspaper that will come out on &lsquo;project day&rsquo; on November 27. During art class and discussions with group members they are highly focussed, jotting down important points in their neat handwriting.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/untitled%20design%20(27)-20171114063100.jpg" />
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Planning pages for the forthcoming newspaper (Others)
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Getting the artwork done as well (Others)
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&nbsp;

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/21-img_2154-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114061138.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
A leaf for a painted eye (Others)
</div>
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<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/22-img_2172-sth-here_everyday_is_childrens_da.width-1440-20171114061214.jpg" />
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&lsquo;Group photo&rsquo; time has them bubbling with smiles again (Others)
</div>
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This&nbsp;<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/here-everyday-is-children%E2%80%99s-day" rel="nofollow" target="blank">article</a>&nbsp;was originally&nbsp;published on 13/11/2015 on the&nbsp;<a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">People&#39;s Archive of Rural India.</a>

At this school in Tamil Nadu, children grow at their own pace and not under pressure

Welcome to Vidya Vanam, a school for rural and tribal children in Anaikatti near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. Welcoming faces at Vidya Vanam (Others) × Vidya Vanam is a school with no prescribed textbooks. The children learn their subjects in themes. Last year, for instance, the theme was Rice, and their learning included cultivating five micro-plots of paddy themselves. Two teams of first-generation English speakers even had a debate on genetically modified crops: Debating rice in the forest of learning It is a school where children learn to speak their minds and explore their talents. And they do this at their own pace. Some of the smallest children are clearly born ‘leaders.’ A born ‘leader’ (Others) × At 12.15 it will be lunchtime, so the pattis (older women, grandmothers) and akkas (younger women, sisters) get things ready, while some children enjoy their favourite time of the day: ‘games’. An aspiring Lionel Messi? (Others) × Three-in-one hoop (Others) × Another use of the hoop (left); And another ball game (right) (Others) × In the open dining hall, there is silence before the storm. Plates and mats in the dining room just before the children storm in (Others) × A short while later the younger children are enjoying their lunch and the sounds of laughter fill up the open air dining area. Eager faces above still empty plates (Others) × After about 10 minutes the laughter is replaced with the chanting of ‘patti, patti’ as the children request a second serving. The chants of ‘patti, patti’ are rewarded with a second serving (Others) × Meanwhile, the older students gather on stage for the daily assembly. Today is comedy day and whoever has something prepared or wants to improvise is given time to do so. These two boys enact a short skit on ‘The elephant and the tree'. The elephant and the tree (Others) × Some students conduct a quiz and others tell jokes (Others) × The children from the senior classes often steal the show. The day’s comedians are a hit with the audience (Others) × After lunch, the children have some free time for doing what they like most: playing with the hula-hoops. The school’s hula-hoopers in performance (Others) × And soon the lunch break is over and the students walk back to their classes, though some girls want to keep playing right until they reach the classroom. They can’t let go the hoops even while walking back to class (Others) × Senior students, Vindhya and Aravali are preparing the newspaper that will come out on ‘project day’ on November 27. During art class and discussions with group members they are highly focussed, jotting down important points in their neat handwriting. Planning pages for the forthcoming newspaper (Others) × Getting the artwork done as well (Others) × A leaf for a painted eye (Others) × ‘Group photo’ time has them bubbling with smiles again (Others) × This article was originally published on 13/11/2015 on the People's Archive of Rural India.

Here, every day is Children's Day

&ldquo;I would like to ask them a question&rdquo;, said a boy standing up from a sea of children in pink scarves. My co-fellow and I had just introduced ourselves to the Balsena, as we had to the many new faces and people we had been meeting in the past few days. One of his eyes was stitched up and the scars of a badly done surgery were visible on his face. Yet, the conviction in his voice made me search for the speaker. &ldquo;What is your Dream?&rdquo; he asked with one eye, looking straight at me. I was stumped.

Sitting in the middle of a dusty field in the slums of Kumbharwada, 4 kms on the outskirts of Bhavnagar, with 60 crackling kids and smoke arising from the pile of plastic being burnt right next to us, I was taken aback with the depth of the question. In the days since we arrived, I had heard stories of children being beaten up by teachers, bullied on the streets, pressured to work, pressured to study, fending for themselves, having no one listen to them amongst others. Yet, here at <a href="http://shaishavchildrights.org/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">Shaishav</a>, I met children still curious to know more, willing to learn more, dreaming big and smiling from their hearts despite violence being a routine occurrence in their lives.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/picture1-20171110071541.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Balsena team &lsquo;Morpeach&rsquo; having their weekly meeting at Kumbharwada. (Others)
</div>
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Balsena, literally meaning &lsquo;Children&rsquo;s Collective&rsquo; is the <a href="http://shaishavchildrights.org/maitree/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">flagship program</a>me of Shaishav in Bhavnagar. It is run by the children, for the children, with Shaishav acting as a facilitator. Established in 2003, Balsena is open to all children, regardless of class, gender, caste or religion, and is centred on a child-participation approach &ndash; where children can experience the power of collective strength, learn to develop empathy for other children and support each other. The children decide what they would like to learn about, discuss problems in their community, problem solve together, organise rallies and outings, amongst other things. Aged between 8-16 years, they are organised into teams (Balsena points) based on either their school or community. Each team holds a weekly meeting and participates in activities which focus on developing hard skills and soft skills.

The United Nations identifies children&rsquo;s basic rights to be Right to Survival, Right to Development, Right to Protection and Right to Participation (see CRY 2017). While provisions in the Indian legal system like <a href="http://ncpcr.gov.in/index1.php?lang=1&amp;level=0&amp;linkid=23&amp;lid=593" rel="nofollow" target="blank">POCSO</a> Act and <a href="http://righttoeducation.in/know-your-rte/about" rel="nofollow" target="blank">RTE</a> Act look at protecting the former three, the latter &ndash; Right to Participation &ndash; remains largely ignored. Shaishav aims to bridge this gap through programs like the Balsena. Viewing &lsquo;children leading change&rsquo;, Shaishav hopes to enable in children the confidence to make their own decisions.

<div class="ui-state-default" contenteditable="false"><img alt="" draggable="false" src="http://s.wionews.com/photos/untitled%20design%20(4)-20171110071821.jpg" />
<div class="media-description">
Children tallying votes for deciding on what shall be the activities for the weekly meetings this month. (Others)
</div>
<a class="close-mark close-div" href="javascript:void(0)" id="jqclosemark">&times;</a></div>

On my first day, I happened to witness a module on Child Rights being introduced to the Balsena. What was interesting though, was that it was not being &lsquo;taught&rsquo; to the children. Two Youth Fellows were facilitating the session. These were children from the Balsena who had been trained to lead and conduct the module, the weekend before. &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s decide among ourselves what are the five essential things we need in our lives&rdquo; said the fellow, and I listened in on what the groups were discussing.

&ldquo;Money can buy anything&rdquo;, said one boy with utmost seriousness. &ldquo;Therefore it is critical to our survival&rdquo;. &ldquo;But it doesn&rsquo;t buy clean air or water&rdquo; interrupted another. &ldquo;Clothes are most important, otherwise how will you go out and work to earn money?&rdquo; added another.

I watched the children debate their rights in smaller and then larger groups. They went on to play a game of snakes and ladders, integrated with child right pictures in it. Every time my piece landed on a picture, the children chimed in to describe the scene and what right it stood for. &ldquo;Look, the girl is sitting on the side while the males in the family are served and eat first. This is not right. She should get nutritious wholesome food also, and not just leftovers. This goes in her right to survival.&rdquo; And on went the game with each picture being categorised, debated and imbibed.

I wish I had known these rights as a child. I remembered the subtle gender dynamics in my family where girls would be called to help lay out the dishes as the boys continued watching television. While it was never explicitly stated that girls had to help out in household work, these forms of inequality persisted, and I internalised them into my idea of a family structure. Till much later, I never learnt to question them.

To be able to identify gender dynamics and spot subtle gender roles in the family and other environments can be extremely tricky, and it is even more challenging to teach children how to recognise it. But through games like this, it is possible. Here, children were being taught to identify specific scenarios, question what they saw and learned, and place this knowledge within a framework.

The children were being encouraged to think for themselves and stand up for what they believe&nbsp;in. They were learning to form opinions. A rally organised by the children in their communities yesterday was a&nbsp;testament to that. Shouting slogans against tobacco and alcohol, the children marched in the lanes of their neighbourhood, their voices resonating through the alleys and bringing people to their doorsteps.

Shaishav and its work through Balsena, demonstrate that children are capable of asking questions and taking charge of their own lives, if they are equipped with the right set of knowledge, values, direction and mentorship to do so.

Initially stumped by the boy&rsquo;s question, I think I have my answer now. My dream is to be able to watch each child find their voice, explore their curiosity and work towards making this world a more peaceful, green, harmonious and better place to live.

&nbsp;

This&nbsp;<a href="http://aif.org/children-leading-change-notes-from-the-field/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">article</a>&nbsp;was originally&nbsp;published on 20/ 10/ 2017 on <a href="http://aif.org/" rel="nofollow" target="blank">American India Foundation</a>

Photo Credit:&nbsp;Adrian Fisk for Shaishav

Children are capable of asking questions and taking charge of their own lives if they are equipped with the right set of knowledge, values, direction and mentorship to do so.

“I would like to ask them a question”, said a boy standing up from a sea of children in pink scarves. My co-fellow and I had just introduced ourselves to the Balsena, as we had to the many new faces and people we had been meeting in the past few days. One of his eyes was stitched up and the scars of a badly done surgery were visible on his face. Yet, the conviction in his voice made me search for the speaker. “What is your Dream?” he asked with one eye, looking straight at me. I was stumped. Sitting in the middle of a dusty field in the slums of Kumbharwada, 4 kms on the outskirts of Bhavnagar, with 60 crackling kids and smoke arising from the pile of plastic being burnt right next to us, I was taken aback with the depth of the question. In the days since we arrived, I had heard stories of children being beaten up by teachers, bullied on the streets, pressured to work, pressured to study, fending for themselves, having no one listen to them amongst others. Yet, here at Shaishav, I met children still curious to know more, willing to learn more, dreaming big and smiling from their hearts despite violence being a routine occurrence in their lives. Balsena team ‘Morpeach’ having their weekly meeting at Kumbharwada. (Others) × Balsena, literally meaning ‘Children’s Collective’ is the flagship programme of Shaishav in Bhavnagar. It is run by the children, for the children, with Shaishav acting as a facilitator. Established in 2003, Balsena is open to all children, regardless of class, gender, caste or religion, and is centred on a child-participation approach – where children can experience the power of collective strength, learn to develop empathy for other children and support each other. The children decide what they would like to learn about, discuss problems in their community, problem solve together, organise rallies and outings, amongst other things. Aged between 8-16 years, they are organised into teams (Balsena points) based on either their school or community. Each team holds a weekly meeting and participates in activities which focus on developing hard skills and soft skills. The United Nations identifies children’s basic rights to be Right to Survival, Right to Development, Right to Protection and Right to Participation (see CRY 2017). While provisions in the Indian legal system like POCSO Act and RTE Act look at protecting the former three, the latter – Right to Participation – remains largely ignored. Shaishav aims to bridge this gap through programs like the Balsena. Viewing ‘children leading change’, Shaishav hopes to enable in children the confidence to make their own decisions. Children tallying votes for deciding on what shall be the activities for the weekly meetings this month. (Others) × On my first day, I happened to witness a module on Child Rights being introduced to the Balsena. What was interesting though, was that it was not being ‘taught’ to the children. Two Youth Fellows were facilitating the session. These were children from the Balsena who had been trained to lead and conduct the module, the weekend before. “Let’s decide among ourselves what are the five essential things we need in our lives” said the fellow, and I listened in on what the groups were discussing. “Money can buy anything”, said one boy with utmost seriousness. “Therefore it is critical to our survival”. “But it doesn’t buy clean air or water” interrupted another. “Clothes are most important, otherwise how will you go out and work to earn money?” added another. I watched the children debate their rights in smaller and then larger groups. They went on to play a game of snakes and ladders, integrated with child right pictures in it. Every time my piece landed on a picture, the children chimed in to describe the scene and what right it stood for. “Look, the girl is sitting on the side while the males in the family are served and eat first. This is not right. She should get nutritious wholesome food also, and not just leftovers. This goes in her right to survival.” And on went the game with each picture being categorised, debated and imbibed. I wish I had known these rights as a child. I remembered the subtle gender dynamics in my family where girls would be called to help lay out the dishes as the boys continued watching television. While it was never explicitly stated that girls had to help out in household work, these forms of inequality persisted, and I internalised them into my idea of a family structure. Till much later, I never learnt to question them. To be able to identify gender dynamics and spot subtle gender roles in the family and other environments can be extremely tricky, and it is even more challenging to teach children how to recognise it. But through games like this, it is possible. Here, children were being taught to identify specific scenarios, question what they saw and learned, and place this knowledge within a framework. The children were being encouraged to think for themselves and stand up for what they believe in. They were learning to form opinions. A rally organised by the children in their communities yesterday was a testament to that. Shouting slogans against tobacco and alcohol, the children marched in the lanes of their neighbourhood, their voices resonating through the alleys and bringing people to their doorsteps. Shaishav and its work through Balsena, demonstrate that children are capable of asking questions and taking charge of their own lives, if they are equipped with the right set of knowledge, values, direction and mentorship to do so. Initially stumped by the boy’s question, I think I have my answer now. My dream is to be able to watch each child find their voice, explore their curiosity and work towards making this world a more peaceful, green, harmonious and better place to live. This article was originally published on 20/ 10/ 2017 on American India Foundation Photo Credit: Adrian Fisk for Shaishav

Why it is crucial to ensure rights of a child

Philippine troops fighting Islamic State-linked rebels in a southern city have encountered armed resistance from women and children, the military said on Monday, as troops make a final push to end a conflict that has raged for more than 100 days.

Ground forces were braced for higher casualties amid fierce fighting in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, where the field of battle has shrank to a small area in a commercial heart infested with snipers, and littered with booby traps.

&quot;We are now in the final phase of our operations and we are expecting more intense and bloody fighting. We may suffer heavier casualties as the enemy becomes more desperate,&quot; Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, who heads the military in Western Mindanao, told reporters.

He said the number of fighters was diminishing and a small number of women and children, most likely family members of the rebels, were now engaged in combat.

&quot;Our troops in the field are seeing women and children shooting at our troops so that&#39;s why it seems they are not running out of fighters.&quot;

More than 800 people have been killed in the battle, most of them insurgents, since May 23 when the militants occupied large parts of the predominantly Muslim town.

The battle is the biggest security challenge in years for the mostly Catholic Philippines, even though it has a long history of Muslim separatist rebellion in Mindanao, an island of 22 million people that has been placed under martial law until the end of the year.

The protracted clashes and resilience of the rebels has fanned fears that Philippine groups loyal to Islamic State, and with ties to Indonesian and Malaysian militants, have formed an alliance that is well-organised, funded and armed, and serious about carving out its own territory in Mindanao.

Citing information provided by four hostages who had escaped from the rebels, Galvez said there were some 56 Christian hostages - most of them women - and about 80 male residents may have been forced to take up arms and fight the military.

The fighting was concentrated in an area around a mosque about a quarter of a square kilometre. He said soldiers were taking control of an average 35 buildings a day and at that rate, it could be three weeks before the city was under government control.

AIR STRIKES

Fighting in Marawi was intense on Monday, with heavy gunfire and explosions ringing out across the picturesque, lakeside town, the heart of which has been devastated by near-daily government air strikes.

Helicopters circled above to provide air cover for ground troops as fighting raged, with bursts of smoke rising above the skyline as bombs landed on rebel positions.

Galvez said intelligence showed the rebels&#39; military commander, Abdullah Maute, may have been killed last month in an air strike.

Postings on Facebook and chatter over the past two days on Telegram, a messaging application used by Islamic State and its sympathisers, had carried tributes to Abdullah, referring to him by one of his pseudonyms, he said.

&quot;There is no 100 percent confirmation until we see his cadaver but this is enough to presume he died already,&quot; he said.

The military has contradictory statements about the status of the rebel leaders over the past few months.

Abdullah Maute and brother Omarkhayam are the Middle East-educated leaders of a militant clan known as the Maute group that has gained notoriety in the past two years due to its ability to engage the army for long periods.

Under the name Dawla Islamiya, the Maute group has formed an alliance with Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of a pro-Islamic State faction of another group, Abu Sayyaf.

Galvez said the army&#39;s intelligence indicated both Omarkhayam and Hapilon, Islamic State&#39;s anointed &quot;emir&quot; in Southeast Asia, were still in the Marawi battle.

Ground forces were braced for higher casualties amid fierce fighting in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, where the field of battle has shrank to a small area in a commercial heart infested with snipers, and littered with booby traps.

Philippine troops fighting Islamic State-linked rebels in a southern city have encountered armed resistance from women and children, the military said on Monday, as troops make a final push to end a conflict that has raged for more than 100 days. Ground forces were braced for higher casualties amid fierce fighting in Marawi City on the island of Mindanao, where the field of battle has shrank to a small area in a commercial heart infested with snipers, and littered with booby traps. "We are now in the final phase of our operations and we are expecting more intense and bloody fighting. We may suffer heavier casualties as the enemy becomes more desperate," Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, who heads the military in Western Mindanao, told reporters. He said the number of fighters was diminishing and a small number of women and children, most likely family members of the rebels, were now engaged in combat. "Our troops in the field are seeing women and children shooting at our troops so that's why it seems they are not running out of fighters." More than 800 people have been killed in the battle, most of them insurgents, since May 23 when the militants occupied large parts of the predominantly Muslim town. The battle is the biggest security challenge in years for the mostly Catholic Philippines, even though it has a long history of Muslim separatist rebellion in Mindanao, an island of 22 million people that has been placed under martial law until the end of the year. The protracted clashes and resilience of the rebels has fanned fears that Philippine groups loyal to Islamic State, and with ties to Indonesian and Malaysian militants, have formed an alliance that is well-organised, funded and armed, and serious about carving out its own territory in Mindanao. Citing information provided by four hostages who had escaped from the rebels, Galvez said there were some 56 Christian hostages - most of them women - and about 80 male residents may have been forced to take up arms and fight the military. The fighting was concentrated in an area around a mosque about a quarter of a square kilometre. He said soldiers were taking control of an average 35 buildings a day and at that rate, it could be three weeks before the city was under government control. AIR STRIKES Fighting in Marawi was intense on Monday, with heavy gunfire and explosions ringing out across the picturesque, lakeside town, the heart of which has been devastated by near-daily government air strikes. Helicopters circled above to provide air cover for ground troops as fighting raged, with bursts of smoke rising above the skyline as bombs landed on rebel positions. Galvez said intelligence showed the rebels' military commander, Abdullah Maute, may have been killed last month in an air strike. Postings on Facebook and chatter over the past two days on Telegram, a messaging application used by Islamic State and its sympathisers, had carried tributes to Abdullah, referring to him by one of his pseudonyms, he said. "There is no 100 percent confirmation until we see his cadaver but this is enough to presume he died already," he said. The military has contradictory statements about the status of the rebel leaders over the past few months. Abdullah Maute and brother Omarkhayam are the Middle East-educated leaders of a militant clan known as the Maute group that has gained notoriety in the past two years due to its ability to engage the army for long periods. Under the name Dawla Islamiya, the Maute group has formed an alliance with Isnilon Hapilon, a leader of a pro-Islamic State faction of another group, Abu Sayyaf. Galvez said the army's intelligence indicated both Omarkhayam and Hapilon, Islamic State's anointed "emir" in Southeast Asia, were still in the Marawi battle.

Philippine army says taking fire from women, children in Marawi battle

By Naziya Alvi Rahman

It&#39;s traumatic for any woman to learn that her husband is gay. And when the husband in question is from Pakistan and the wife from India, it&#39;s a story that goes beyond personal anguish to get enmeshed in the complicated tangle that the two countries are forever caught in.

Ask Salma, whose marriage lasted just a year and who has been fighting a lone battle for her 11-year-old daughter&#39;s nationality. The resident from Mumbra was married to Karachi-based Salman in 2005. She was from a lower-middle-class family who had managed to complete her masters in economics, and he a rich brat who claimed to be an engineer but was actually a school dropout.

&quot;There was no means to cross-check. And we believed them as they were related to us distantly,&quot; says 40-year-old Salma, regretting every day that her daughter was born in Pakistan. &quot;If only if she was not born there... I got her here when she was 2.5 months old and applied for her nationality within the first year of moving back. Eleven years later, she is still a Pakistani.&quot; With that comes worries about her school, college and other admissions.

Salma is not alone. Given the fractious, yet symbiotic, relationship between the two countries and the large number of divided families, there are many such Salmas across India. &quot;In Maharashtra alone, there are hundreds of pending cases,&quot; says an official on the condition of anonymity.

The Home department&#39;s foreign section is flooded with such cases &ndash; Indian women married to Pakistanis, divorced and back in India with &#39;Pakistani&#39; children. Officials who deal with these cases claim that one of every 10 cases that comes for citizenship is of children born of such marriages.

In some cases, like that of 29-year-old Saira, a resident of Sewri Cross Road, divorce resulted in the children being divided. She managed to bring three children back but her eldest, a boy, remained with the father.

&quot;She would come to us every second month to seek a visa to go to Pakistan to meet her eldest son. We understand a mother&#39;s plight but we can&#39;t move her file seeking a Pakistan visa so frequently. We have so many such cases,&quot; says a Home department official.

&quot;I have no means to raise these three kids. It&#39;s not easy for me to leave behind my son. I want to go back and seek alimony from my in-laws. I will fight for my children&#39;s rights,&quot; Saira says determinedly.

Officials believe there are several reasons behind the failure of these marriages. &quot;It&#39;s like any NRI marriage where you only know the truth after you get married,&quot; says an official.

Salma&#39;s is a classic such case. That he was gay was known in Pakistan but she realised it only much later. &quot;He left within two days of our wedding without establishing any physical relations with me&hellip; It was only a month later when I reached Pakistan that I learnt about his sexual preference.&quot;

She says she was tortured by her in-laws and came back to India after three months. Told the full story, her parents supported her decision to stay back but relatives persuaded them to give him one more chance. Her father-in-law himself came over to India with the boy.

&quot;It was during this encounter that I conceived my daughter. We believed that everything would be fine now and I went back to stay with him,&quot; says Salma.

When Salma gave birth to a girl child, the family lost interest in her and she was sent back to India. &quot;Since that day, they have never looked back at me or my daughter. For how many more years will I have to continue to run from pillar to post to get her an Indian nationality?&quot;

Salma, who supports a family of four with the Rs 25,000 she gets as an executive in a private firm, got married again but lost her second husband in a road accident.

Officials claim her case is now in the final stages. But the process can only be completed after she surrenders her daughter&#39;s Pakistani passport to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

She doesn&#39;t have the money to travel to Delhi and stay in a hotel. &quot;The department officials did request them to consider my case as an exemption&hellip; but on December 16, 2016, my file came back with a rejection,&quot; Salma says.

And the wait continues.

(This report first appeared on DNA)

Hundreds of such citizenship cases are pending in India's western state of Maharashtra

By Naziya Alvi Rahman It's traumatic for any woman to learn that her husband is gay. And when the husband in question is from Pakistan and the wife from India, it's a story that goes beyond personal anguish to get enmeshed in the complicated tangle that the two countries are forever caught in. Ask Salma, whose marriage lasted just a year and who has been fighting a lone battle for her 11-year-old daughter's nationality. The resident from Mumbra was married to Karachi-based Salman in 2005. She was from a lower-middle-class family who had managed to complete her masters in economics, and he a rich brat who claimed to be an engineer but was actually a school dropout. "There was no means to cross-check. And we believed them as they were related to us distantly," says 40-year-old Salma, regretting every day that her daughter was born in Pakistan. "If only if she was not born there... I got her here when she was 2.5 months old and applied for her nationality within the first year of moving back. Eleven years later, she is still a Pakistani." With that comes worries about her school, college and other admissions. Salma is not alone. Given the fractious, yet symbiotic, relationship between the two countries and the large number of divided families, there are many such Salmas across India. "In Maharashtra alone, there are hundreds of pending cases," says an official on the condition of anonymity. The Home department's foreign section is flooded with such cases – Indian women married to Pakistanis, divorced and back in India with 'Pakistani' children. Officials who deal with these cases claim that one of every 10 cases that comes for citizenship is of children born of such marriages. In some cases, like that of 29-year-old Saira, a resident of Sewri Cross Road, divorce resulted in the children being divided. She managed to bring three children back but her eldest, a boy, remained with the father. "She would come to us every second month to seek a visa to go to Pakistan to meet her eldest son. We understand a mother's plight but we can't move her file seeking a Pakistan visa so frequently. We have so many such cases," says a Home department official. "I have no means to raise these three kids. It's not easy for me to leave behind my son. I want to go back and seek alimony from my in-laws. I will fight for my children's rights," Saira says determinedly. Officials believe there are several reasons behind the failure of these marriages. "It's like any NRI marriage where you only know the truth after you get married," says an official. Salma's is a classic such case. That he was gay was known in Pakistan but she realised it only much later. "He left within two days of our wedding without establishing any physical relations with me… It was only a month later when I reached Pakistan that I learnt about his sexual preference." She says she was tortured by her in-laws and came back to India after three months. Told the full story, her parents supported her decision to stay back but relatives persuaded them to give him one more chance. Her father-in-law himself came over to India with the boy. "It was during this encounter that I conceived my daughter. We believed that everything would be fine now and I went back to stay with him," says Salma. When Salma gave birth to a girl child, the family lost interest in her and she was sent back to India. "Since that day, they have never looked back at me or my daughter. For how many more years will I have to continue to run from pillar to post to get her an Indian nationality?" Salma, who supports a family of four with the Rs 25,000 she gets as an executive in a private firm, got married again but lost her second husband in a road accident. Officials claim her case is now in the final stages. But the process can only be completed after she surrenders her daughter's Pakistani passport to the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. She doesn't have the money to travel to Delhi and stay in a hotel. "The department officials did request them to consider my case as an exemption… but on December 16, 2016, my file came back with a rejection," Salma says. And the wait continues. (This report first appeared on DNA)

Citizens of nowhere: Children born to Indian mothers & Pakistani fathers caught in India-Pak tangle

British teenagers drink a bathtub full of sugary drinks every year, Cancer Research foundation said on Tuesday.

According to CRUK, Children aged 11 to 18 consume on an average about 234 cans of sugar-sweetened soft drinks each year.

The figure is equal to almost a bath full and more than double for children between four and 10, their average annual intake adding up to 110 cans.

The data is from a recent report carried out by the British government&#39;s health department and the Food Standards Agency.

The study found a drop in the amount of sugar-sweetened soft drinks consumed by children, and a more significant fall recorded in the under-10s than teenagers.&nbsp;

However, despite the improving data, CRUK said there is &nbsp;an urgent need to further reduce children&#39;s intake of sugary drinks and voiced its support behind government proposal to introduce a sugar tax.

&quot;The ripple effect of a small tax on sugary drinks is enormous, and it will give soft drinks companies a clear incentive to reduce the amount of sugar in drinks,&quot; Alison Cox, director of prevention at CRUK told AFP.

&quot;But the government can do more to give the next generation a better chance.

&quot;The UK has an epidemic on its hands, and needs to act now,&quot; she added.

British Prime Minister Theresa May &nbsp;in August had said that she plans &nbsp;to introduce a sugar tax aimed at tackling childhood obesity, tooth decay and type 2 diabetes.

The sugar levy was first unveiled in March by former prime minister &nbsp;David Cameron&rsquo;s administration.

The tax is meant for drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100 millilitres and will be introduced in two years, despite strong opposition from the drinks industry.

Only &nbsp;France, South Africa and Mexico have attempted such a tax.

 
(WION with inputs from AFP)

 
&nbsp;

Cancer Research UK has voiced its?support for government proposal to introduce a sugar tax after the report

British teenagers drink a bathtub full of sugary drinks every year, Cancer Research foundation said on Tuesday. According to CRUK, Children aged 11 to 18 consume on an average about 234 cans of sugar-sweetened soft drinks each year. The figure is equal to almost a bath full and more than double for children between four and 10, their average annual intake adding up to 110 cans. The data is from a recent report carried out by the British government's health department and the Food Standards Agency. The study found a drop in the amount of sugar-sweetened soft drinks consumed by children, and a more significant fall recorded in the under-10s than teenagers. However, despite the improving data, CRUK said there is an urgent need to further reduce children's intake of sugary drinks and voiced its support behind government proposal to introduce a sugar tax. "The ripple effect of a small tax on sugary drinks is enormous, and it will give soft drinks companies a clear incentive to reduce the amount of sugar in drinks," Alison Cox, director of prevention at CRUK told AFP. "But the government can do more to give the next generation a better chance. "The UK has an epidemic on its hands, and needs to act now," she added. British Prime Minister Theresa May in August had said that she plans to introduce a sugar tax aimed at tackling childhood obesity, tooth decay and type 2 diabetes. The sugar levy was first unveiled in March by former prime minister David Cameron’s administration. The tax is meant for drinks with more than five grams of sugar per 100 millilitres and will be introduced in two years, despite strong opposition from the drinks industry. Only France, South Africa and Mexico have attempted such a tax. (WION with inputs from AFP)

British teens drink a 'bathtub' of sugary drinks a year: Report

The power of&nbsp;Internet is such that if you have the talent and appeal, then it only takes a heartbeat to reach millions around the world.

This Children&#39;s Day, we bring some of South Asia&#39;s youngest online sensations:&nbsp;

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Afghanistan:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Murtaza Ahmadi, a&nbsp;five-year-old Afghan boy&nbsp;became an Internet star after photographs of him wearing a&nbsp;football jersey made using a plastic bag went viral. The jersey he was wearing carried Argentinian star Lionel Messi name. After the pictures went viral, Messi actually sent him a signed jersey.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Bccye4BRKto" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Bangladesh:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

This little boy from Bangladesh made it big after he started singing a local song with a tourist in Cox&rsquo;s Bazar.&nbsp;

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kafGknPD3nE" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Bhutan:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

While celebrating girl power on International Women&#39;s Day, a production house in Bhutan promoted its women&nbsp;hip-hop crew. The girls soon became an online sensation.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IgH-wDfrRUk" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>India:</li>
</ul>

Apoorva Mali from India is just 6 years old, but she can fool you with her magic tricks. Practicing around the country, she has won several accolades.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JgIOU59eH6o" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Pakistan:</li>
</ul>

15-year-old Saania and 13-year-old Muqqadas Tabaydar are popularly called&nbsp;&#39;Justin Bibis&#39; by their neighbours.&nbsp;The teenage sisters became an Internet sensation by singing Justin Bieber&#39;s song &#39;Baby&#39;, with their mother chiming in with music that she played using a pot.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NQMp-0tU7qk" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Nepal:</li>
</ul>

This kid from Nepal is a serious performer. His&nbsp;beatboxing skills have rocked him to online fame in South Asia.

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YZX-yejNcD0" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Sri Lanka:</li>
</ul>

Stephanie from Kandy, Sri Lanka, does covers of popular Sinhala and English songs. That&#39;s helped her garner a&nbsp;sizable online fan following.&nbsp;

<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GmJJp81lQXA" width="970"></iframe>

&nbsp;

(Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

On Children's Day, here is a list of some of the youngest bundles of talent in South Asia

The power of Internet is such that if you have the talent and appeal, then it only takes a heartbeat to reach millions around the world. This Children's Day, we bring some of South Asia's youngest online sensations: Afghanistan: Murtaza Ahmadi, a five-year-old Afghan boy became an Internet star after photographs of him wearing a football jersey made using a plastic bag went viral. The jersey he was wearing carried Argentinian star Lionel Messi name. After the pictures went viral, Messi actually sent him a signed jersey. Bangladesh: This little boy from Bangladesh made it big after he started singing a local song with a tourist in Cox’s Bazar. Bhutan: While celebrating girl power on International Women's Day, a production house in Bhutan promoted its women hip-hop crew. The girls soon became an online sensation. India: Apoorva Mali from India is just 6 years old, but she can fool you with her magic tricks. Practicing around the country, she has won several accolades. Pakistan: 15-year-old Saania and 13-year-old Muqqadas Tabaydar are popularly called 'Justin Bibis' by their neighbours. The teenage sisters became an Internet sensation by singing Justin Bieber's song 'Baby', with their mother chiming in with music that she played using a pot. Nepal: This kid from Nepal is a serious performer. His beatboxing skills have rocked him to online fame in South Asia. Sri Lanka: Stephanie from Kandy, Sri Lanka, does covers of popular Sinhala and English songs. That's helped her garner a sizable online fan following. (Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

These little online stars are sure to win your hearts

For many parents, the thought of letting their offspring walk to school alone is source of much angst. But the Spanish city of Pontevedra has decided to advocate giving children their space.

Launched in 2010, the &quot;Road to School&quot; programme has been taken up by seven establishments in the northwestern city which believe that far from being in danger, children as young as six actually thrive going to school without adults, developing strong self-confidence.

Dragging their wheeled schoolbags across a pedestrian crossing, brothers Pablo and Jorge Pazos, 8 and 10, are just one example of an initiative based on research by Italian educational psychologist Francesco Tonucci, who believes in giving kids autonomy.

&quot;We talk about our stuff, our games, nothing important but things that adults don&#39;t really understand,&quot; says Pablo, 8.

&quot;It&#39;s not necessary for adults to be with us all the time,&quot; he adds politely.

&quot;They bother us a little, they talk all the time, ask &#39;how is school?&#39;.&quot;

Pablo prefers wandering around his district, buying bread before going home and &quot;sometimes, being a little silly, like the other day when we hid behind a tree to scare a friend.&quot;

Playing outside, no screens&nbsp;

According to city statistics, 25 per cent of students aged six to 12 from the seven establishments who encourage the initiative walked to school alone last year.

They are registered as such, and if they don&#39;t arrive at school as usual, staff call their parents.

In some cases, adults stand at the most dangerous road crossings to help children across, but otherwise, they are on their own.

Tonucci, now 76, has long advocated letting children develop without excessive amounts of adult interference as part of Italy&#39;s National Research Council.

&quot;When I was a kid, we played in the streets, where we would discover the world,&quot; he tells AFP in Pontevedra, an 83,000-strong city in Galicia.

&quot;Now, we have to rebuild this normality.&quot;

His ideas have inspired some 20 cities in Spain, as well as schools in Italy, Latin America, Turkey and Lebanon.

Adamantly against &quot;computer games made to keep children at home for a long time,&quot; Tonucci tells parents to let them out and &quot;invent their own games&quot;.

&quot;It feels like a form of abandon but it&#39;s a way of loving them: I leave you alone because I trust you.&quot;

He believes that &quot;the presence of an adult deprives children of surprise, of discovering things on their own, of risk-taking, which is an essential part of playing.&quot;

Pilar Lores, principal at one of the schools that has adopted his ideas, says the act of letting children walk alone builds their self-confidence.

&quot;They have to look after one another, they also arrive more awake, fresher, and hyperactive or fidgety children are calmer because they have released their adrenalin,&quot; she says.

Less accidents&nbsp;

Tonucci, meanwhile, has a response for every parent&#39;s anxious queries.

&quot;The desire for transgression increases in children who cannot be a little naughty when they need to, and explodes in teenage years in a much more dangerous manner,&quot; he says.

In Italy, he estimates that only around seven percent of six- to 11-year-olds go to school alone, and blames the media for creating panic, particularly &quot;with television programmes that analyse the most horrible crimes committed on children.&quot;

But after years of research, Tonucci says sexual abuse, for instance, is often committed by people close to the children, and not by strangers in the street.

Paradoxically, accidents also often happen when an adult is present.

Miguel Anxo Fernandez, who has been mayor of Pontevedra for 17 years, is a fan of Tonucci&#39;s ideas -- so much so that he had one of his books translated into Galician, the regional dialect.

Generally speaking, he has been a strong advocate of centering the city around its people -- adults and children -- reducing car traffic and creating more pedestrian and cycling areas.

This earned Pontevedra a UN Habitat prize in 2015, which aims to reward individuals or institutions for improving living conditions in urban centres.

The reduction of car traffic, for one, has had concrete results.

Since February 2011, there have been no deaths related to traffic accidents in the city, says Daniel Macenlle, Pontevedra police chief.

And the &quot;Road to School&quot; programme has contributed to this, he says, by reducing the risk of accidents near schools, which are often due to the influx of parents droppings off their kids.

(AFP)

Schools believe that far from danger, kids as young as six thrive going to school without adults

For many parents, the thought of letting their offspring walk to school alone is source of much angst. But the Spanish city of Pontevedra has decided to advocate giving children their space. Launched in 2010, the "Road to School" programme has been taken up by seven establishments in the northwestern city which believe that far from being in danger, children as young as six actually thrive going to school without adults, developing strong self-confidence. Dragging their wheeled schoolbags across a pedestrian crossing, brothers Pablo and Jorge Pazos, 8 and 10, are just one example of an initiative based on research by Italian educational psychologist Francesco Tonucci, who believes in giving kids autonomy. "We talk about our stuff, our games, nothing important but things that adults don't really understand," says Pablo, 8. "It's not necessary for adults to be with us all the time," he adds politely. "They bother us a little, they talk all the time, ask 'how is school?'." Pablo prefers wandering around his district, buying bread before going home and "sometimes, being a little silly, like the other day when we hid behind a tree to scare a friend." Playing outside, no screens According to city statistics, 25 per cent of students aged six to 12 from the seven establishments who encourage the initiative walked to school alone last year. They are registered as such, and if they don't arrive at school as usual, staff call their parents. In some cases, adults stand at the most dangerous road crossings to help children across, but otherwise, they are on their own. Tonucci, now 76, has long advocated letting children develop without excessive amounts of adult interference as part of Italy's National Research Council. "When I was a kid, we played in the streets, where we would discover the world," he tells AFP in Pontevedra, an 83,000-strong city in Galicia. "Now, we have to rebuild this normality." His ideas have inspired some 20 cities in Spain, as well as schools in Italy, Latin America, Turkey and Lebanon. Adamantly against "computer games made to keep children at home for a long time," Tonucci tells parents to let them out and "invent their own games". "It feels like a form of abandon but it's a way of loving them: I leave you alone because I trust you." He believes that "the presence of an adult deprives children of surprise, of discovering things on their own, of risk-taking, which is an essential part of playing." Pilar Lores, principal at one of the schools that has adopted his ideas, says the act of letting children walk alone builds their self-confidence. "They have to look after one another, they also arrive more awake, fresher, and hyperactive or fidgety children are calmer because they have released their adrenalin," she says. Less accidents Tonucci, meanwhile, has a response for every parent's anxious queries. "The desire for transgression increases in children who cannot be a little naughty when they need to, and explodes in teenage years in a much more dangerous manner," he says. In Italy, he estimates that only around seven percent of six- to 11-year-olds go to school alone, and blames the media for creating panic, particularly "with television programmes that analyse the most horrible crimes committed on children." But after years of research, Tonucci says sexual abuse, for instance, is often committed by people close to the children, and not by strangers in the street. Paradoxically, accidents also often happen when an adult is present. Miguel Anxo Fernandez, who has been mayor of Pontevedra for 17 years, is a fan of Tonucci's ideas -- so much so that he had one of his books translated into Galician, the regional dialect. Generally speaking, he has been a strong advocate of centering the city around its people -- adults and children -- reducing car traffic and creating more pedestrian and cycling areas. This earned Pontevedra a UN Habitat prize in 2015, which aims to reward individuals or institutions for improving living conditions in urban centres. The reduction of car traffic, for one, has had concrete results. Since February 2011, there have been no deaths related to traffic accidents in the city, says Daniel Macenlle, Pontevedra police chief. And the "Road to School" programme has contributed to this, he says, by reducing the risk of accidents near schools, which are often due to the influx of parents droppings off their kids. (AFP)

In Spanish city,  parents give their children space to be independent

Imagine a child without any toys to play with, regular schooling or a daily dose of cartoons. Sounds like a disturbed childhood, right? This is the reality for about 14.4 million refugees (2014 UNHCR figures) in the world&nbsp;who lead a different life than an average kid living in their own homeland.

World Refugee Day is celebrated every year on June 20.&nbsp;

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World Refugee Day (WION)
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&nbsp;

Living under difficult circumstances, refugees deal with several issues at hand. Displaced from their place of belonging here is a list of things that refugee kids miss out on a daily basis:&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Their home:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Usually relocated, refugee children miss out on growing up in their own homeland, among friends and family. Unlike children who are raised under normal state of affairs, these kids are not exposed to their culture and surroundings that are vital for a holistic development.&nbsp;

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A refugee camp (AFP)
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&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Regular education:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Most refugee children have no or negligible access to regular schools. Some are pulled out of schools because of war-like situations or have to discontinue so as to fend for the family.&nbsp;

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A makeshift refugee school (AFP)
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&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Food:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Leading a disturbed lifestyle, refugee children have no access to everyday food that we munch on. Most of them survive on minimum basics or go without food for several days. In several countries they are given food vouchers, so you can imagine they don&#39;t eat anything that we fancy on as kids -&nbsp;ice creams, burgers, pizzas or other junk food items.&nbsp;

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Displaced kids eating (AFP)
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&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Lose their childhood too early:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

Reeling under physical and psychological pressure, refugee kids mature much early than their counterparts. It is reported by the&nbsp;UN&#39;s refugee agency that countries like Syria have reported grave dangers for refugee kids. Girls are married to much older men vying for safety while the boys are forced into labour so as to sustain a family.&nbsp;

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A kid at work in a refugee camp (AFP)
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&nbsp;

<ul>
	<li>Source of entertainment:&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

As a child refugee, the&nbsp;kids are always striving for safety and have no&nbsp;source of entertainment like movies, cartoons, leisure activities or even access to toys sometimes.&nbsp;

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A child plays with makeshift tricycle (AFP)
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&nbsp;

Every year, war adds on to the number of refugees worldwide. Facing danger to life and other basic human rights, they need to be provided with a closer-to home environment for growth. Many organisations around the world like UNHCR, World Food Programs are working towards improving their living standards.

&nbsp;

(Contributed by: Zeba Khan)&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Owing to pressure, these kids mature faster than those living in their homes

Imagine a child without any toys to play with, regular schooling or a daily dose of cartoons. Sounds like a disturbed childhood, right? This is the reality for about 14.4 million refugees (2014 UNHCR figures) in the world who lead a different life than an average kid living in their own homeland. World Refugee Day is celebrated every year on June 20. World Refugee Day (WION) × Living under difficult circumstances, refugees deal with several issues at hand. Displaced from their place of belonging here is a list of things that refugee kids miss out on a daily basis: Their home: Usually relocated, refugee children miss out on growing up in their own homeland, among friends and family. Unlike children who are raised under normal state of affairs, these kids are not exposed to their culture and surroundings that are vital for a holistic development. A refugee camp (AFP) × Regular education: Most refugee children have no or negligible access to regular schools. Some are pulled out of schools because of war-like situations or have to discontinue so as to fend for the family. A makeshift refugee school (AFP) × Food: Leading a disturbed lifestyle, refugee children have no access to everyday food that we munch on. Most of them survive on minimum basics or go without food for several days. In several countries they are given food vouchers, so you can imagine they don't eat anything that we fancy on as kids - ice creams, burgers, pizzas or other junk food items. Displaced kids eating (AFP) × Lose their childhood too early: Reeling under physical and psychological pressure, refugee kids mature much early than their counterparts. It is reported by the UN's refugee agency that countries like Syria have reported grave dangers for refugee kids. Girls are married to much older men vying for safety while the boys are forced into labour so as to sustain a family. A kid at work in a refugee camp (AFP) × Source of entertainment: As a child refugee, the kids are always striving for safety and have no source of entertainment like movies, cartoons, leisure activities or even access to toys sometimes. A child plays with makeshift tricycle (AFP) × Every year, war adds on to the number of refugees worldwide. Facing danger to life and other basic human rights, they need to be provided with a closer-to home environment for growth. Many organisations around the world like UNHCR, World Food Programs are working towards improving their living standards. (Contributed by: Zeba Khan)

A refugee child misses out on things your average kid takes for granted

Indonesia today began re-inoculating children who received fake vaccines in a major drug counterfeiting scandal that has sparked protests from concerned parents. 
 
President Joko Widodo attended a health clinic in Jakarta at which 36 children were given fresh booster vaccines, vowing the process would continue until all youngsters affected had received new shots. 
 
The health ministry said the first stage of re-inoculation would take place at four hospitals and clinics on the main island of Java where children had been identified as having received fake vaccines. 
 
Police last month smashed a criminal syndicate accused of selling fake vaccines for more than a decade to health clinics across Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 255 million people. 
 
Twenty-three people, including midwives and doctors, have been arrested for alleged involvement in the scheme and vaccines have been confiscated from dozens of health centres across the country. 
 
One of the midwives at the clinic visited by Widodo on Monday is suspected of involvement in the scam, the president said. 
 
The scandal sparked panic and anger among Indonesian families, who last week rallied outside hospitals demanding answers about their children&#39;s health. 
 
Widodo urged concerned parents to remain calm and give authorities time as they assess the scale of the problem, suggesting reforms could be needed in future to protect the community. 
 
&quot;This gives us all momentum to improve governance around the pharmaceutical industry regarding the manufacture and distribution of medicines, including vaccines,&quot; Widodo told reporters. 
 
&quot;Our goal is for the entire community to receive good health care.&quot; 
 
The syndicate, which police said operated for more than a decade, manufactured and distributed fake boosters for diseases including tuberculosis, hepatitis B and tetanus. 
 
The scandal was brought to light after a major pharmaceutical company alerted Indonesian authorities that some of its products had been counterfeited. 
 
(AFP)

The first stage would take place at four Java hospitals and clinics, where children had received fake vaccines

Indonesia today began re-inoculating children who received fake vaccines in a major drug counterfeiting scandal that has sparked protests from concerned parents. President Joko Widodo attended a health clinic in Jakarta at which 36 children were given fresh booster vaccines, vowing the process would continue until all youngsters affected had received new shots. The health ministry said the first stage of re-inoculation would take place at four hospitals and clinics on the main island of Java where children had been identified as having received fake vaccines. Police last month smashed a criminal syndicate accused of selling fake vaccines for more than a decade to health clinics across Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 255 million people. Twenty-three people, including midwives and doctors, have been arrested for alleged involvement in the scheme and vaccines have been confiscated from dozens of health centres across the country. One of the midwives at the clinic visited by Widodo on Monday is suspected of involvement in the scam, the president said. The scandal sparked panic and anger among Indonesian families, who last week rallied outside hospitals demanding answers about their children's health. Widodo urged concerned parents to remain calm and give authorities time as they assess the scale of the problem, suggesting reforms could be needed in future to protect the community. "This gives us all momentum to improve governance around the pharmaceutical industry regarding the manufacture and distribution of medicines, including vaccines," Widodo told reporters. "Our goal is for the entire community to receive good health care." The syndicate, which police said operated for more than a decade, manufactured and distributed fake boosters for diseases including tuberculosis, hepatitis B and tetanus. The scandal was brought to light after a major pharmaceutical company alerted Indonesian authorities that some of its products had been counterfeited. (AFP)

Indonesia re-vaccinates children amid fake drug scandal

Not before 2050 can India be able to provide its children a full course of primary schooling, a UNESCO report said. 
 
The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report further said the country would achieve universal lower secondary education by 2060 and universal upper secondary education by 2085. 
 
The report said the existing education structure would have to be overhauled for the South Asian nation to meet its global education targets by 2030. 
 
?&quot;This means the country would be more than half a century late for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline,&quot; it added. 
 
The SDGs are a set of intergovernmental targets which aim to better the everyday life of millions of underprivileged people across the world. 
 
UNESCO last month stated there were 47 million children in the country who had dropped out of school. 
 
The Indian government has also published figures which states that six million children between the ages of 6 and 13 fall outside the country&#39;s education system.&nbsp; 
 
(WION with inputs from agencies) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
&nbsp;

A report said the existing education structure would have to be overhauled for the country to meet its global education targets by 2030

Not before 2050 can India be able to provide its children a full course of primary schooling, a UNESCO report said. The Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report further said the country would achieve universal lower secondary education by 2060 and universal upper secondary education by 2085. The report said the existing education structure would have to be overhauled for the South Asian nation to meet its global education targets by 2030. ?"This means the country would be more than half a century late for the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) deadline," it added. The SDGs are a set of intergovernmental targets which aim to better the everyday life of millions of underprivileged people across the world. UNESCO last month stated there were 47 million children in the country who had dropped out of school. The Indian government has also published figures which states that six million children between the ages of 6 and 13 fall outside the country's education system. (WION with inputs from agencies)

India can't achieve education targets before 2085: UNESCO

<div style="text-align: justify;">An ambitious project to awaken a sleeping giant of Asian soccer looks like confirming Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen&#39;s famous remark that India pricks up its ears only when comparisons with China are made. 
 
With China embarked on a multi-billion dollar mission to become a soccer superpower by 2050, India looks set to follow suit with its own plan to raise its status in the game to match its burgeoning economic power. 
 
Come&nbsp;October, India,&nbsp;most famously described as soccer&#39;s sleeping giant by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, will launch a programme to engage more than 11 million children in soccer-related activities. 
 
All India Football Federation (AIFF) officials will not share details of the FIFA-backed programme yet, but according to a government statement, &quot;Mission 11 Million&quot; will be launched in about 30 cities across the country. 
 
As in China, where the soccer revolution was inspired by President Xi Jinping, the desire to improve India&#39;s standing in the world game goes to the very top. 
 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March lamented India&#39;s decline from one of Asia&#39;s top soccer nations in the 1960s to its current position at 163rd in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between the Comoros and Tajikistan. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;Unfortunately, over the decades we have slipped to the lowest rungs,&quot; Modi said in his weekly radio talk. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;Today our ranking in FIFA is so low that I feel reluctant even to mention it.&quot; 
 
With India hosting the under-17 World Cup next year, states have been asked to promote football in a pattern similar to the trend across the border in China. 
 
The world&#39;s most populous nation plans to engage 30 million school children by 2020 as the first step towards achieving Xi&#39;s &quot;three wishes&quot; for China - to qualify for a second World Cup finals, to host a World Cup and to eventually win one. 
 
TARGETING DIASPORA 
 
And while the AIFF are looking to engage as many of the country&#39;s 1.3 billion people as possible, they have also cast their net wider with a global scouting programme to identify talent in the Indian diaspora. 
 
&quot;The idea is to increase the talent pool,&quot; former India captain and head of the scouting programme Abhishek Yadav told Reuters. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;We can&#39;t guarantee that we can unearth 20 players overnight. It&#39;s an attempt, which we believe might work. There&#39;s no harm in trying.&quot; 
 
The programme encourages anyone under 16 with an Indian passport to post, on a soon-to-be-launched portal, a two-minute video from a competitive match. 
 
&quot;We wanted to give the message that if you&#39;re talented, location should not be a problem. All you need is a passport and potential,&quot; said the former forward, who played 67 matches for India between 2002-2011. 
 
Yadav and his team are now focusing on the Gulf States, where a large number of expatriates still hold Indian passports. 
 
&quot;Maybe we can then expand it to U.S. and Australia, where we have many Indian students as well as parents who recently migrated there. We will also look at South Africa and Germany.&quot; 
 
While this has added to the buzz in the country around the hosting of the under-17 World Cup, not everyone believes India is standing on the cusp of a soccer resurgence. 
 
&quot;The fundamental difference between the neighbours is that China woke up long ago and played in World Cup finals before veering slightly off-track,&quot; soccer writer Jaydeep Basu told Reuters. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;With state support, they are now trying to get back on track. In contrast, India, I&#39;m afraid, is still in deep slumber,&quot; added Basu, who has written an anecdotal history of Indian soccer. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;&#39;Mission 11 Million&#39; has a nice ring to it but with only 3,000-odd certified coaches around, who&#39;ll teach these kids to play soccer?&quot; 
 
&nbsp;As well as the lack of qualified coaches, Basu cites a fast-shrinking number of pitches - China plans to build 70,000 around the country by 2020 - and paucity of infrastructure as the major handicaps for Indian soccer. 
 
MESSY MERGER OF LEAGUES 
 
The AIFF is also preoccupied with a messy merger of two Indian leagues, which jeopardises the future of several sides, including a couple of century-old clubs in Kolkata. 
 
The franchise-based India Super League (ISL), which is promoted by billionaire Mukesh Ambani&#39;s Reliance Industries and Rupert Murdoch&#39;s Star India TV, looks set to supplant the I-League. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;I&#39;m afraid the ISL franchises have no soccer pedigree and I doubt if they have any long-term commitment to the game either,&quot; Basu said. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;Who can guarantee they won&#39;t switch to another business if they suffer losses in ISL?&quot; 
 
&nbsp;There is, however, no denying the ISL&#39;s spectacular success in gaining a foothold in India&#39;s cricket-dominated sporting landscape since the 2014 launch of the league with celebrity owners. 
 
&nbsp;The ISL debuted as the fourth biggest soccer league with an average attendance lower only than Germany&#39;s Bundesliga, the English Premier League and Spain&#39;s La Liga. 
 
&nbsp;The government hopes next year&#39;s under-17 World Cup will further consolidate football&#39;s popularity in India, attracting kids who would otherwise be picking up bats and heading to the neighbourhood cricket academy. 
 
&nbsp;&quot;Our youth, the children in our schools, should be drenched in sweat just playing football,&quot; Modi said in his radio talk. 
 
&quot;If that happens, we shall have real fun playing the host. So, all of us should make the effort to ensure football reaches every village, street and alley.&quot; 
(Reuters)</div>

The country will launch a programme to engage more than 11 million children in activities related to the sport

An ambitious project to awaken a sleeping giant of Asian soccer looks like confirming Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen's famous remark that India pricks up its ears only when comparisons with China are made. With China embarked on a multi-billion dollar mission to become a soccer superpower by 2050, India looks set to follow suit with its own plan to raise its status in the game to match its burgeoning economic power. Come October, India, most famously described as soccer's sleeping giant by former FIFA president Sepp Blatter, will launch a programme to engage more than 11 million children in soccer-related activities. All India Football Federation (AIFF) officials will not share details of the FIFA-backed programme yet, but according to a government statement, "Mission 11 Million" will be launched in about 30 cities across the country. As in China, where the soccer revolution was inspired by President Xi Jinping, the desire to improve India's standing in the world game goes to the very top. Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March lamented India's decline from one of Asia's top soccer nations in the 1960s to its current position at 163rd in the FIFA rankings, sandwiched between the Comoros and Tajikistan. "Unfortunately, over the decades we have slipped to the lowest rungs," Modi said in his weekly radio talk. "Today our ranking in FIFA is so low that I feel reluctant even to mention it." With India hosting the under-17 World Cup next year, states have been asked to promote football in a pattern similar to the trend across the border in China. The world's most populous nation plans to engage 30 million school children by 2020 as the first step towards achieving Xi's "three wishes" for China - to qualify for a second World Cup finals, to host a World Cup and to eventually win one. TARGETING DIASPORA And while the AIFF are looking to engage as many of the country's 1.3 billion people as possible, they have also cast their net wider with a global scouting programme to identify talent in the Indian diaspora. "The idea is to increase the talent pool," former India captain and head of the scouting programme Abhishek Yadav told Reuters. "We can't guarantee that we can unearth 20 players overnight. It's an attempt, which we believe might work. There's no harm in trying." The programme encourages anyone under 16 with an Indian passport to post, on a soon-to-be-launched portal, a two-minute video from a competitive match. "We wanted to give the message that if you're talented, location should not be a problem. All you need is a passport and potential," said the former forward, who played 67 matches for India between 2002-2011. Yadav and his team are now focusing on the Gulf States, where a large number of expatriates still hold Indian passports. "Maybe we can then expand it to U.S. and Australia, where we have many Indian students as well as parents who recently migrated there. We will also look at South Africa and Germany." While this has added to the buzz in the country around the hosting of the under-17 World Cup, not everyone believes India is standing on the cusp of a soccer resurgence. "The fundamental difference between the neighbours is that China woke up long ago and played in World Cup finals before veering slightly off-track," soccer writer Jaydeep Basu told Reuters. "With state support, they are now trying to get back on track. In contrast, India, I'm afraid, is still in deep slumber," added Basu, who has written an anecdotal history of Indian soccer. "'Mission 11 Million' has a nice ring to it but with only 3,000-odd certified coaches around, who'll teach these kids to play soccer?" As well as the lack of qualified coaches, Basu cites a fast-shrinking number of pitches - China plans to build 70,000 around the country by 2020 - and paucity of infrastructure as the major handicaps for Indian soccer. MESSY MERGER OF LEAGUES The AIFF is also preoccupied with a messy merger of two Indian leagues, which jeopardises the future of several sides, including a couple of century-old clubs in Kolkata. The franchise-based India Super League (ISL), which is promoted by billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries and Rupert Murdoch's Star India TV, looks set to supplant the I-League. "I'm afraid the ISL franchises have no soccer pedigree and I doubt if they have any long-term commitment to the game either," Basu said. "Who can guarantee they won't switch to another business if they suffer losses in ISL?" There is, however, no denying the ISL's spectacular success in gaining a foothold in India's cricket-dominated sporting landscape since the 2014 launch of the league with celebrity owners. The ISL debuted as the fourth biggest soccer league with an average attendance lower only than Germany's Bundesliga, the English Premier League and Spain's La Liga. The government hopes next year's under-17 World Cup will further consolidate football's popularity in India, attracting kids who would otherwise be picking up bats and heading to the neighbourhood cricket academy. "Our youth, the children in our schools, should be drenched in sweat just playing football," Modi said in his radio talk. "If that happens, we shall have real fun playing the host. So, all of us should make the effort to ensure football reaches every village, street and alley." (Reuters)

'Mission 11 Million' to kickoff as India follows China's lead

In recent weeks, packs of shoeless boys and girls have been coaxed off the streets where they have spent their childhoods, crying and frightened as they are loaded onto buses in Dakar, the capital of Senegal in West Africa. 
 
The crackdown on child begging comes after years of inaction and is praised by children&#39;s groups but greeted with anger by powerful Islamic figures in the west African nation. 
 
The children are from a mix of poor or homeless families and others known as &quot;talibes&quot; - boys sent out to beg by Islamic tutors to make money for their boarding schools. 
 
They are brought to Guinddi Children&#39;s Centre in the capital accompanied by social workers, where they are interviewed and checked for signs of maltreatment and disease. 
 
&quot;The children are generally unaccompanied. When they come here we ask them for the telephone number of their tutor or Koranic teacher and they give it to us,&quot; explained Maimouna Balde, director of the Guinddi centre. 
 
Parents, or Islamic teachers known as &quot;marabouts&quot;, will generally come and pick up the children themselves, Balde said, whereupon the centre&#39;s staff explain that if their charges are found on the streets again they will be prosecuted. 
 
The operation will continue &quot;for as long as there are children on the streets&quot;, she said. 
 
With 270 street kids picked up in the first two weeks of July in Dakar, according to the authorities, the initiative is a long way from dealing with the 30,000 talibes estimated to be begging daily. 
 
Often from poor rural families, the talibes are sent to Dakar and other Senegalese cities nominally to memorise the Koran, but are often left vulnerable to abuse and receiving little education. 
 
Sometimes the journey home is long: on July 11 nine children were repatriated to neighbouring Guinea after being collected from the streets, according to one Guinean charity. 
 
The current crackdown is the first time a decade-old law has been firmly applied, with parents or guardians of child beggars potentially facing two to five years in jail and fines of up to 2,000,000 CFA ($3,355). 
 
&quot;There are fattened calves hidden behind this education system to exploit children through begging, which is an easy and profitable business,&quot; Niokhobaye Diouf, national director of child protection services. 
 
Parents of street children should be assessed to see if they could benefit from state welfare and health programmes to deter them from relying on their children&#39;s labour, he said. 
 
Talibes are told to beg for food and money and not to return to their &quot;daara&quot; - Islamic school, until they have collected enough.&nbsp; 
 
Even late at night in Dakar children only visibly out of kindergarten can be seen shaking empty tins of food, trying to get enough to be allowed to finish up for the day. 
 
Dealing with the systematic slavery of children in Senegal in this way has been attempted and then abandoned by the state several times before. 
 
Until now, the power of tradition means few have been willing to challenge the marabouts, given their status and the respect they are afforded as Islamic scholars. 
 
Muslim elder Sidy Lamine Niasse told journalists the government &quot;doggedly pursued daaras&quot; to &quot;stigmatise and demonise&quot; them. 
 
But the schools have a long history of abuse: in February, the Senegalese authorities found 20 boys aged between six and 14 kept in chains by their marabout, resulting in a rare prosecution. 
 
Mustapha Lo, president of the national federation of Koranic schools, said the street sweep was taken without consulting Muslim educators and downplayed the concerns relayed by children&#39;s charities. 
 
&quot;The majority of us manage our Koranic schools without making the children beg on the streets. Some Koranic teachers do that because they lack any other financial means,&quot; Lo said. 
 
Countering their arguments, Diouf said the government hopes to reform the daaras curriculum while giving them a better level of financial support. 
 
More than their education is at stake: the authorities want to avoid children falling prey to jihadist recruiters in the region, who are luring young men away with promises of riches and glory. 
 
(AFP)

The kids are homeless or from poor families. 'Talibes' are boys made to beg by Islamic tutors to fund their boarding schools

In recent weeks, packs of shoeless boys and girls have been coaxed off the streets where they have spent their childhoods, crying and frightened as they are loaded onto buses in Dakar, the capital of Senegal in West Africa. The crackdown on child begging comes after years of inaction and is praised by children's groups but greeted with anger by powerful Islamic figures in the west African nation. The children are from a mix of poor or homeless families and others known as "talibes" - boys sent out to beg by Islamic tutors to make money for their boarding schools. They are brought to Guinddi Children's Centre in the capital accompanied by social workers, where they are interviewed and checked for signs of maltreatment and disease. "The children are generally unaccompanied. When they come here we ask them for the telephone number of their tutor or Koranic teacher and they give it to us," explained Maimouna Balde, director of the Guinddi centre. Parents, or Islamic teachers known as "marabouts", will generally come and pick up the children themselves, Balde said, whereupon the centre's staff explain that if their charges are found on the streets again they will be prosecuted. The operation will continue "for as long as there are children on the streets", she said. With 270 street kids picked up in the first two weeks of July in Dakar, according to the authorities, the initiative is a long way from dealing with the 30,000 talibes estimated to be begging daily. Often from poor rural families, the talibes are sent to Dakar and other Senegalese cities nominally to memorise the Koran, but are often left vulnerable to abuse and receiving little education. Sometimes the journey home is long: on July 11 nine children were repatriated to neighbouring Guinea after being collected from the streets, according to one Guinean charity. The current crackdown is the first time a decade-old law has been firmly applied, with parents or guardians of child beggars potentially facing two to five years in jail and fines of up to 2,000,000 CFA ($3,355). "There are fattened calves hidden behind this education system to exploit children through begging, which is an easy and profitable business," Niokhobaye Diouf, national director of child protection services. Parents of street children should be assessed to see if they could benefit from state welfare and health programmes to deter them from relying on their children's labour, he said. Talibes are told to beg for food and money and not to return to their "daara" - Islamic school, until they have collected enough. Even late at night in Dakar children only visibly out of kindergarten can be seen shaking empty tins of food, trying to get enough to be allowed to finish up for the day. Dealing with the systematic slavery of children in Senegal in this way has been attempted and then abandoned by the state several times before. Until now, the power of tradition means few have been willing to challenge the marabouts, given their status and the respect they are afforded as Islamic scholars. Muslim elder Sidy Lamine Niasse told journalists the government "doggedly pursued daaras" to "stigmatise and demonise" them. But the schools have a long history of abuse: in February, the Senegalese authorities found 20 boys aged between six and 14 kept in chains by their marabout, resulting in a rare prosecution. Mustapha Lo, president of the national federation of Koranic schools, said the street sweep was taken without consulting Muslim educators and downplayed the concerns relayed by children's charities. "The majority of us manage our Koranic schools without making the children beg on the streets. Some Koranic teachers do that because they lack any other financial means," Lo said. Countering their arguments, Diouf said the government hopes to reform the daaras curriculum while giving them a better level of financial support. More than their education is at stake: the authorities want to avoid children falling prey to jihadist recruiters in the region, who are luring young men away with promises of riches and glory. (AFP)

Senegal rescues 270 child beggars from the streets

They lead a life clouded by misery, often robbed of the opportunity of going to school and the fear of being killed is a daily reality.&nbsp;These are the children living under the shadow of the so-called Gjakmarrja vendetta. 
 
AFP met several youngsters living in dread of falling victim to Albania&#39;s blood tradition feuds between families in the mountainous north dating back to the 15th century that spare no male in a family capable of holding a weapon. 
 
The boys spoke out about their plight close to Shkod?r&nbsp;,a town 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of the capital Tirana on the border with Montenegro.&nbsp;Klevis, 13, said he wants to be a doctor while his brother Albert, 11, aspires to be Albania&#39;s justice minister.&nbsp;Marcel, 13, wants to be a singer and Taulant (not his real name), 13, dreams of being a footballer. But despite their lofty ambitions, none of them is able to go to school, join football clubs or learn music. 
 
Their families are &quot;bloodied&quot;, explained Klevis, trapped in the cycle of death and vengeance which is their heritage.&nbsp;Klevis, Albert and Marcel are part of the same extended family forced to hide in their spartan homes, awaiting attack by so-called &quot;Gjakes&quot; - an unknown assassin.&nbsp;They could be attacked tomorrow, or never, simply because they are all related to a man who killed another person in a dispute about a stream in 2010. 
 
&quot;(They) could be the killers of tomorrow,&quot; said Gjin Marku, who promotes reconciliation between families for local organisations. 
 
The Gjakmarrja, or blood feud, has its origins in the 15th century &quot;Kanun&quot;, or social code, set up to regulate everyday life in medieval Albania.&nbsp;It has detailed rules for blood feuds which state that when someone is killed, the victim&#39;s family can take revenge not only against the killer himself but all males of the extended clan. 
 
The families of those involved in a blood feud live &quot;in the knowledge that they will be killed or they must kill&quot;, said the mayor of Shkodra, Voltana Ademi.&nbsp;But Marku doesn&#39;t hold the Kanun code responsible for their plight, instead laying the blame at the door of the country&#39;s authorities. 
 
&quot;When the institutions don&#39;t work, when the judicial system is failing, these people aren&#39;t finding solutions to their problems,&quot; he said. Albania is particularly susceptible to traditional vendetta culture after its authoritarian, one-party state gave way to near anarchy in the 1990s. 
 
That sowed the seeds for the spread of &quot;Gjakmarrja&quot; feuds as a means of settling disputes. 
 
The government ombudsman responsible for tackling blood feuds, Igli Totozani, agrees that crimes stemming from them are not just &quot;a question of tradition&quot;.&nbsp;The authorities are reluctant to publicise numbers of those affected by blood feuds for fear of tarnishing Albania&#39;s reputation as it continues in its bid to join the EU. 
 
&quot;Where the state is absent, vendetta replaces it,&quot; said Totozani, adding: &quot;We damage Albania&#39;s image by acting as if the problem doesn`t exist.&quot; 
 
An estimated 66 families with 157 people including 44 children remain in hiding, according to an official report on the issue published in April.&nbsp;Some 57 of the families live in or around Shkodra and complaints to police or officials are rare, said the report. 
 
Marku, the expert involved in defusing blood feud violence, says there has been a steady decline in the phenomenon but estimated that some 190 children are still affected with as many as 80 deprived adequate schooling because of it.&nbsp;Others put the toll far higher, but accurate statistics are hard to come by because of fraudulent claims for asylum by those using the threat of blood feud violence as a ploy to secure refugee status abroad. 
 
Whatever the true scale of the problem, the threat is very real in a country where, according to recent estimates, more than half a million firearms are in circulation. Liliana Luani is a teacher who volunteers to help homeschooled students trapped by Gjakmarrja. 
 
The father of &quot;Taulant&quot;, one of the students she visits, became a convicted murderer in 1995 following a &quot;quarrel&quot;, according to Luani.&nbsp;He has been hiding in a mountainous area with his two oldest children, aged 16 and 17.&nbsp;Two or three times a month, &quot;Taulant&quot; ventures out to go to school.&nbsp;He blushed when asked about the signet ring on his finger, saying that he had made &quot;a female friend&quot; there.&nbsp;But he too will one day have to join his father and older siblings in hiding in the mountains. 
 
&quot;The Gjakmarrja weighs heavily on us,&quot; said Taulant&#39;s mother. 
 
Marcel&#39;s sister Maria Quku, 16, was fatally shot in front of her younger brother in June 2012 by a gunman who may have been targeting her grandfather, who they were visiting at the time.&nbsp;Maria&#39;s only crime was that she was the cousin of the man who killed another person in the dispute over a stream, in 2010.&nbsp; 
 
Her mother, Manushaqe Quku, 40, only learnt of her death when her husband asked her to pick out clothes to dress their daughter&#39;s body ahead of the funeral.&nbsp;She lives at the end of a rocky track in a desolate house where photos of Maria cover the walls.&nbsp; 
 
Her husband was an obvious target and no longer lives in the house. Their first son Marian is in hiding elsewhere but Marcel remains, eking out a meagre existence from the small strip of land around their house. 
 
Marcel refuses to go to school and his mother has forbidden him from swimming in the lake that lies 200 metres (yards) from their home. 
&quot;I know that it will make the boy introverted, but I&#39;m really scared,&quot; said Manushaqe. 
 
&quot;Our family is completely lost,&quot; she cried, demanding to know who killed Maria, adding: &quot;It is very difficult to forgive.&quot; 
 
(AFP)

Albania still has 15th century blood feud rules, which permit a victim to exact revenge on not just the killer, but all that family's males

They lead a life clouded by misery, often robbed of the opportunity of going to school and the fear of being killed is a daily reality. These are the children living under the shadow of the so-called Gjakmarrja vendetta. AFP met several youngsters living in dread of falling victim to Albania's blood tradition feuds between families in the mountainous north dating back to the 15th century that spare no male in a family capable of holding a weapon. The boys spoke out about their plight close to Shkod?r ,a town 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of the capital Tirana on the border with Montenegro. Klevis, 13, said he wants to be a doctor while his brother Albert, 11, aspires to be Albania's justice minister. Marcel, 13, wants to be a singer and Taulant (not his real name), 13, dreams of being a footballer. But despite their lofty ambitions, none of them is able to go to school, join football clubs or learn music. Their families are "bloodied", explained Klevis, trapped in the cycle of death and vengeance which is their heritage. Klevis, Albert and Marcel are part of the same extended family forced to hide in their spartan homes, awaiting attack by so-called "Gjakes" - an unknown assassin. They could be attacked tomorrow, or never, simply because they are all related to a man who killed another person in a dispute about a stream in 2010. "(They) could be the killers of tomorrow," said Gjin Marku, who promotes reconciliation between families for local organisations. The Gjakmarrja, or blood feud, has its origins in the 15th century "Kanun", or social code, set up to regulate everyday life in medieval Albania. It has detailed rules for blood feuds which state that when someone is killed, the victim's family can take revenge not only against the killer himself but all males of the extended clan. The families of those involved in a blood feud live "in the knowledge that they will be killed or they must kill", said the mayor of Shkodra, Voltana Ademi. But Marku doesn't hold the Kanun code responsible for their plight, instead laying the blame at the door of the country's authorities. "When the institutions don't work, when the judicial system is failing, these people aren't finding solutions to their problems," he said. Albania is particularly susceptible to traditional vendetta culture after its authoritarian, one-party state gave way to near anarchy in the 1990s. That sowed the seeds for the spread of "Gjakmarrja" feuds as a means of settling disputes. The government ombudsman responsible for tackling blood feuds, Igli Totozani, agrees that crimes stemming from them are not just "a question of tradition". The authorities are reluctant to publicise numbers of those affected by blood feuds for fear of tarnishing Albania's reputation as it continues in its bid to join the EU. "Where the state is absent, vendetta replaces it," said Totozani, adding: "We damage Albania's image by acting as if the problem doesn`t exist." An estimated 66 families with 157 people including 44 children remain in hiding, according to an official report on the issue published in April. Some 57 of the families live in or around Shkodra and complaints to police or officials are rare, said the report. Marku, the expert involved in defusing blood feud violence, says there has been a steady decline in the phenomenon but estimated that some 190 children are still affected with as many as 80 deprived adequate schooling because of it. Others put the toll far higher, but accurate statistics are hard to come by because of fraudulent claims for asylum by those using the threat of blood feud violence as a ploy to secure refugee status abroad. Whatever the true scale of the problem, the threat is very real in a country where, according to recent estimates, more than half a million firearms are in circulation. Liliana Luani is a teacher who volunteers to help homeschooled students trapped by Gjakmarrja. The father of "Taulant", one of the students she visits, became a convicted murderer in 1995 following a "quarrel", according to Luani. He has been hiding in a mountainous area with his two oldest children, aged 16 and 17. Two or three times a month, "Taulant" ventures out to go to school. He blushed when asked about the signet ring on his finger, saying that he had made "a female friend" there. But he too will one day have to join his father and older siblings in hiding in the mountains. "The Gjakmarrja weighs heavily on us," said Taulant's mother. Marcel's sister Maria Quku, 16, was fatally shot in front of her younger brother in June 2012 by a gunman who may have been targeting her grandfather, who they were visiting at the time. Maria's only crime was that she was the cousin of the man who killed another person in the dispute over a stream, in 2010. Her mother, Manushaqe Quku, 40, only learnt of her death when her husband asked her to pick out clothes to dress their daughter's body ahead of the funeral. She lives at the end of a rocky track in a desolate house where photos of Maria cover the walls. Her husband was an obvious target and no longer lives in the house. Their first son Marian is in hiding elsewhere but Marcel remains, eking out a meagre existence from the small strip of land around their house. Marcel refuses to go to school and his mother has forbidden him from swimming in the lake that lies 200 metres (yards) from their home. "I know that it will make the boy introverted, but I'm really scared," said Manushaqe. "Our family is completely lost," she cried, demanding to know who killed Maria, adding: "It is very difficult to forgive." (AFP)

Living in fear: children trapped by Gjakmarrja's vendetta

Nearly 200 people have died in the last month at a camp for people made homeless by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria, an aid agency said Wednesday, warning of a growing malnutrition crisis. 
 
A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team on Tuesday visited the camp, home to around 24,000 people including 15,000 children, and found what it called &quot;a catastrophic humanitarian emergency&quot; unfolding. 
 
One in five of over 800 children it examined had severe acute malnutrition, while 16 severely malnourished children &quot;at immediate risk of death&quot; were referred to its in-patient treatment centre. 
 
At least 188 people have died in the internally displaced people (IDP) camp in Bama, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Maiduguri, since May 23 -- about six a day -- mainly from diarrhoea and malnutrition, MSF said in a statement. 
 
A total of 1,233 graves, many of them of for children, had been dug near the camp in the past year, the agency said. 
 
&quot;This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama, but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical,&quot; said MSF head of mission in Nigeria, Ghada Hatim. 
 
&quot;We are treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri and see the trauma on the faces of our patients who have witnessed and survived many horrors.&quot; 
 
&#39;Walking corpses&#39;&nbsp; 
 
The Borno state government and international aid agencies have previously warned about acute food shortages for IDPs in northeast Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region. 
 
On June 15, the Borno state government said it had transferred nearly 700 people, most of them children, from Bama to Maiduguri for treatment for severe malnutrition. 
 
Sixty-one young children and babies were said to be &quot;critically malnourished&quot;. 
 
A civilian vigilante and a soldier based in the remote town of Banki, 60 kilometres from Bama near the Cameroon border, told AFP 
this month at least 10 people were &quot;starving to death&quot; every day. 
 
The vigilante said 376 people had been buried in the last three months and those still alive were like &quot;walking corpses&quot;. 
 
- Security issues - 
 
Boko Haram, whose seven-year Islamist insurgency in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million, controlled swathes of territory in the northeast in 2014. 
 
But the Nigerian government has said IDPs housed in camps or host communities can return after a military counter-offensive pushed the militants out of captured towns and villages. 
 
Despite assurances the northeast is largely clear of the rebels, sporadic attacks continue and security remains an issue, while houses, businesses and farms have largely been destroyed. 
 
Domestic and international aid agencies are mainly based in Maiduguri and dependent on Nigerian army assistance to access camps outside the city. 
 
The Borno state governor Kashim Shettima last week ordered police to investigate reports that relief material, including bags of rice meant for IDPs, was being stolen. 
 
The UN&#39;s children&#39;s agency, UNICEF, said it has been working with its partners in Bama since March and has provided health and nutrition support for some 19,000 people. 
 
Its primary health care centre sees on average 140 patients a day for conditions ranging from malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhoea, as well as malnutrition screening and treatment. 
 
(AFP)

One in five of over 800 children had severe acute malnutrition, while 16 severely malnourished children 'at immediate risk of death'

Nearly 200 people have died in the last month at a camp for people made homeless by Boko Haram violence in northeast Nigeria, an aid agency said Wednesday, warning of a growing malnutrition crisis. A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team on Tuesday visited the camp, home to around 24,000 people including 15,000 children, and found what it called "a catastrophic humanitarian emergency" unfolding. One in five of over 800 children it examined had severe acute malnutrition, while 16 severely malnourished children "at immediate risk of death" were referred to its in-patient treatment centre. At least 188 people have died in the internally displaced people (IDP) camp in Bama, some 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Maiduguri, since May 23 -- about six a day -- mainly from diarrhoea and malnutrition, MSF said in a statement. A total of 1,233 graves, many of them of for children, had been dug near the camp in the past year, the agency said. "This is the first time MSF has been able to access Bama, but we already know the needs of the people there are beyond critical," said MSF head of mission in Nigeria, Ghada Hatim. "We are treating malnourished children in medical facilities in Maiduguri and see the trauma on the faces of our patients who have witnessed and survived many horrors." 'Walking corpses' The Borno state government and international aid agencies have previously warned about acute food shortages for IDPs in northeast Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region. On June 15, the Borno state government said it had transferred nearly 700 people, most of them children, from Bama to Maiduguri for treatment for severe malnutrition. Sixty-one young children and babies were said to be "critically malnourished". A civilian vigilante and a soldier based in the remote town of Banki, 60 kilometres from Bama near the Cameroon border, told AFP this month at least 10 people were "starving to death" every day. The vigilante said 376 people had been buried in the last three months and those still alive were like "walking corpses". - Security issues - Boko Haram, whose seven-year Islamist insurgency in northeast Nigeria has left at least 20,000 dead and displaced more than 2.6 million, controlled swathes of territory in the northeast in 2014. But the Nigerian government has said IDPs housed in camps or host communities can return after a military counter-offensive pushed the militants out of captured towns and villages. Despite assurances the northeast is largely clear of the rebels, sporadic attacks continue and security remains an issue, while houses, businesses and farms have largely been destroyed. Domestic and international aid agencies are mainly based in Maiduguri and dependent on Nigerian army assistance to access camps outside the city. The Borno state governor Kashim Shettima last week ordered police to investigate reports that relief material, including bags of rice meant for IDPs, was being stolen. The UN's children's agency, UNICEF, said it has been working with its partners in Bama since March and has provided health and nutrition support for some 19,000 people. Its primary health care centre sees on average 140 patients a day for conditions ranging from malaria, respiratory infections and diarrhoea, as well as malnutrition screening and treatment. (AFP)

200 die in one month at camp for people made homeless by Boko Haram violence

In a rare case, a 22-year-old woman has given birth to &#39;Siamese twins&#39; at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Latur district of Maharashtra, doctors said today. 
 
The woman, Tasleen Masuldar, last night gave birth to the &#39;Siamese twins&#39;, said doctor Bhaurao Yadav to PTI, who performed a Cesarean on her 
 
&quot;The two children have two hands, two legs, separate heads each, but they posses a common liver and heart,&quot; he said. 
 
According to Yadav, the patient hails from Sastur village and now her condition is stable.&nbsp; 
(PTI)

The two children have two hands, two legs, separate heads each, but they share a liver and heart

In a rare case, a 22-year-old woman has given birth to 'Siamese twins' at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Latur district of Maharashtra, doctors said today. The woman, Tasleen Masuldar, last night gave birth to the 'Siamese twins', said doctor Bhaurao Yadav to PTI, who performed a Cesarean on her "The two children have two hands, two legs, separate heads each, but they posses a common liver and heart," he said. According to Yadav, the patient hails from Sastur village and now her condition is stable. (PTI)

Woman gives birth to Siamese twins in Maharashtra

Instead of going to school, Walid and Ibrahim spend hours each day rummaging through houses destroyed in Gaza&#39;s wars in search of scrap to raise a few shekels for their families. 
 
They were once good students but Walid Maaruf, 11, and Ibrahim Ghaben, 12, had to quit school and earn a living when their fathers lost their jobs. 
 
Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fought three wars since 2008, including a devastating 50-day conflict in 2014 in the Mediterranean territory. 
 
Residents have lived under a punitive Israeli blockade imposed 10 years ago and their options are further limited by Egypt, which has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since 2013. 
 
Nearly half the enclave&#39;s 1.9 million inhabitants live under the poverty line, with 80 per cent surviving on humanitarian aid. 
 
Unemployment has risen dramatically to reach around 45 per cent -- one of the highest in the world -- forcing many children to become breadwinners. 
 
On Sunday, the International Labour Organization marks World Day Against Child Labour, an initiative that has seen the number of child labourers drop to 168 million from 246 million in 2000. 
 
But in Gaza the trend has been upward. 
 
According to Palestinian estimates, child labour has doubled over the past five years, with 9,700 children aged between 10 and 17 now working in the enclave. 
 
&quot;My father is unemployed, he used to gather stones and scrap metal... but now I work,&quot; said Ibrahim who earns about 20 shekels ($5) a day -- toiling six to 12 hours -- to feed his family of nine. 
 
The boy, who looks much older than his age, said he and his father used to transport their find on a donkey-drawn cart, &quot;but the donkey died&quot;. 
 
All day long, often under a searing sun or howling wind, boys like Walid and Ibrahim scour flashpoint Beit Lahiya -- near the border fence with Israel in northern Gaza -- for scrap to sell to recycling firms. 
 
The area is attractive because of potential finds of lead from Israeli munitions. 
 
&quot;Most of the children who work do so in neighbourhoods along the border fence, and these are the poorest areas,&quot; said psychologist Aida Kassab from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. 
 
&quot;Sometimes these children are only five and yet they are forced to do a job which is not appropriate for their age, their physical or psychological state,&quot; said Kassab. 
 
Akram Saeed, 14, said he spent years gathering scrap but now he wants a way out and would like to &quot;learn a useful skill&quot; to improve the condition of his four siblings and parents. 
 
Help came in the form of a Swiss children&#39;s relief agency, Terre des Hommes, which helps families send their children back to school or to attend vocational courses. 
 
&quot;The phenomenon of children who work reflects the economic and social situation of the Gaza Strip,&quot; said Khitam Abu Hamad, who represents the NGO in Gaza. 
 
&quot;There is no job market in Gaza,&quot; she said. 
 
Palestinian law bans children under 15 from working but &quot;it is rarely applied&quot;, said Iyad Abu Hujayr of the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution. 
 
He said enforcement has been hampered by divisions between the Islamist movement Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organisation which rules Gaza, and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. 
 
These divisions have also allowed abuse by some employers who often force children to work for 12 hours a day for as little as 20 shekels, he said. 
 
And the situation is far from improving, said Hyam al-Jarjawi, who is in charge of children&#39;s affairs at the Hamas-run ministry of social affairs. 
 
She said with each war &quot;there is more poverty, and the number of child labourers increases&quot;.

Child labour has doubled over the past five years, with 9,700 children aged between 10 and 17 working to feed their families

Instead of going to school, Walid and Ibrahim spend hours each day rummaging through houses destroyed in Gaza's wars in search of scrap to raise a few shekels for their families. They were once good students but Walid Maaruf, 11, and Ibrahim Ghaben, 12, had to quit school and earn a living when their fathers lost their jobs. Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip have fought three wars since 2008, including a devastating 50-day conflict in 2014 in the Mediterranean territory. Residents have lived under a punitive Israeli blockade imposed 10 years ago and their options are further limited by Egypt, which has largely kept its border with Gaza closed since 2013. Nearly half the enclave's 1.9 million inhabitants live under the poverty line, with 80 per cent surviving on humanitarian aid. Unemployment has risen dramatically to reach around 45 per cent -- one of the highest in the world -- forcing many children to become breadwinners. On Sunday, the International Labour Organization marks World Day Against Child Labour, an initiative that has seen the number of child labourers drop to 168 million from 246 million in 2000. But in Gaza the trend has been upward. According to Palestinian estimates, child labour has doubled over the past five years, with 9,700 children aged between 10 and 17 now working in the enclave. "My father is unemployed, he used to gather stones and scrap metal... but now I work," said Ibrahim who earns about 20 shekels ($5) a day -- toiling six to 12 hours -- to feed his family of nine. The boy, who looks much older than his age, said he and his father used to transport their find on a donkey-drawn cart, "but the donkey died". All day long, often under a searing sun or howling wind, boys like Walid and Ibrahim scour flashpoint Beit Lahiya -- near the border fence with Israel in northern Gaza -- for scrap to sell to recycling firms. The area is attractive because of potential finds of lead from Israeli munitions. "Most of the children who work do so in neighbourhoods along the border fence, and these are the poorest areas," said psychologist Aida Kassab from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. "Sometimes these children are only five and yet they are forced to do a job which is not appropriate for their age, their physical or psychological state," said Kassab. Akram Saeed, 14, said he spent years gathering scrap but now he wants a way out and would like to "learn a useful skill" to improve the condition of his four siblings and parents. Help came in the form of a Swiss children's relief agency, Terre des Hommes, which helps families send their children back to school or to attend vocational courses. "The phenomenon of children who work reflects the economic and social situation of the Gaza Strip," said Khitam Abu Hamad, who represents the NGO in Gaza. "There is no job market in Gaza," she said. Palestinian law bans children under 15 from working but "it is rarely applied", said Iyad Abu Hujayr of the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Conflict Resolution. He said enforcement has been hampered by divisions between the Islamist movement Hamas, a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist organisation which rules Gaza, and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority. These divisions have also allowed abuse by some employers who often force children to work for 12 hours a day for as little as 20 shekels, he said. And the situation is far from improving, said Hyam al-Jarjawi, who is in charge of children's affairs at the Hamas-run ministry of social affairs. She said with each war "there is more poverty, and the number of child labourers increases".

Wars and poverty force Gaza children to work

Boys are slightly more likely to be sexually abused than girls in South&nbsp;Africa, where a third of all children have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the first-ever national study of child maltreatment.

Nearly 37 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls have been sexually abused by the age of 17, either physically or in non-physical ways - such as being forced to watch sexual acts, look at genitalia or explicit material.

Girls were more likely to have been sexually abused physically and boys more likely to have experienced non-contact sexual abuse, researchers said in the study published on Tuesday.

&quot;Even though the forms the abuse takes may differ it can nonetheless be equally harmful to the victim and should be treated just as seriously,&quot; Ian Welle-Skitt, spokesman for UBS Optimus Foundation which commissioned the research.

&quot;This study puts South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;in line with the rest of the world, and challenges the myth that South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;is a more violent society than others,&quot; Welle-Skitt&nbsp;told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

A similar study carried out in Switzerland by UBS Optimus Foundation found that abuse between peers and cyber-abuse was higher there than in South&nbsp;Africa.

There were more than 350,000 cases of sexual abuse among children in South&nbsp;Africa&nbsp;last year, according to researchers from the University of Cape Town, and the Cape Town-based Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, who carried out the study.

Only 31 percent of girls and no boys reported sexual abuse to the police. Young males were especially reluctant to report any form of abuse, the researchers found.

&quot;The sexual abuse and maltreatment of children is preventable, but until now, a lack of data has hindered the development of systems needed to protect and support children,&quot; researchers&nbsp;said.

The study found that when parents knew who their children spent time with and where, they were less likely to become victims of sexual abuse.&nbsp;A&nbsp;supportive relationship between parents and their daughters also significantly lowered the risk for girls.

The researchers&nbsp;recommended that teachers be trained in school safety and that children have classes on sex, gender and violence.&nbsp;They also found substance abuse played an important role.

&quot;Since parental substance misuse is associated with sexual abuse of children, one key preventive strategy is to make substance abuse treatment programmes far more widely available and accessible than they are at present,&quot; the researchers said.

A third of all children in the country have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime

Boys are slightly more likely to be sexually abused than girls in South Africa, where a third of all children have experienced some form of sexual abuse in their lifetime, according to the first-ever national study of child maltreatment. Nearly 37 percent of boys and 34 percent of girls have been sexually abused by the age of 17, either physically or in non-physical ways - such as being forced to watch sexual acts, look at genitalia or explicit material. Girls were more likely to have been sexually abused physically and boys more likely to have experienced non-contact sexual abuse, researchers said in the study published on Tuesday. "Even though the forms the abuse takes may differ it can nonetheless be equally harmful to the victim and should be treated just as seriously," Ian Welle-Skitt, spokesman for UBS Optimus Foundation which commissioned the research. "This study puts South Africa in line with the rest of the world, and challenges the myth that South Africa is a more violent society than others," Welle-Skitt told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A similar study carried out in Switzerland by UBS Optimus Foundation found that abuse between peers and cyber-abuse was higher there than in South Africa. There were more than 350,000 cases of sexual abuse among children in South Africa last year, according to researchers from the University of Cape Town, and the Cape Town-based Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention, who carried out the study. Only 31 percent of girls and no boys reported sexual abuse to the police. Young males were especially reluctant to report any form of abuse, the researchers found. "The sexual abuse and maltreatment of children is preventable, but until now, a lack of data has hindered the development of systems needed to protect and support children," researchers said. The study found that when parents knew who their children spent time with and where, they were less likely to become victims of sexual abuse. A supportive relationship between parents and their daughters also significantly lowered the risk for girls. The researchers recommended that teachers be trained in school safety and that children have classes on sex, gender and violence. They also found substance abuse played an important role. "Since parental substance misuse is associated with sexual abuse of children, one key preventive strategy is to make substance abuse treatment programmes far more widely available and accessible than they are at present," the researchers said.

In South Africa, boys more likely to be sexually abused than girls: researchers

Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role as a policeman on the TV drama &quot;The Shield,&quot; was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife in 2014 in front of the couple&#39;s two children at their Los Angeles home. 
 
Jace, 53, faces a sentence of 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on June 10. 
 
The actor was upset that his wife, April Jace, wanted a divorce when he shot her once in the back and twice more in the legs on May 19, 2014, the Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office said in a statement. 
 
He then called authorities and reported that he had shot his wife, prosecutors said. The couple`s sons, ages 8 and 5 at the time, watched the killing in the family`s South Los Angeles home, prosecutors said. She was 40 years old when she was slain. 
 
Prosecutors had asked jurors to find Jace guilty of first-degree murder, which involves premeditation, Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office spokesman Greg Risling said. But the jury in Los Angeles Superior Court instead found Jace guilty of second-degree murder, an intentional killing that was not premeditated.&nbsp; 
 
Jace`s attorneys acknowledged in court that he shot his wife.&nbsp; 
 
&quot;Our entire goal was to show this was not a case of premeditation, and we achieved that goal,&quot; Jace`s attorney, Jamon Hicks, said in an email. &quot;This was a very smart and intelligent jury who deliberated and considered the evidence. They were not just moved by emotion but by the evidence.&quot; 
 
The jury of six women and six men began deliberations late on Friday and resumed on Tuesday morning, spending two hours considering the case before reaching the verdict, prosecutors said.&nbsp; 
 
The jury found Jace used a handgun in the crime, a special circumstance that increases his minimum prison time by 25 years beyond the minimum term for second-degree murder, Risling said. 
 
Jace is best known for portraying police officer Julien Lowe, a religious Christian conflicted about his homosexuality, on the FX cable drama &quot;The Shield&quot; that ran from 2002 to 2008. 
 
Aside from &quot;The Shield,&quot; Jace had small parts in the films &quot;Forrest Gump,&quot; &quot;Boogie Nights&quot; and &quot;Planet of the Apes&quot; as well as various supporting roles on television in the past two decades. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in 2011.

Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role as a policeman on the TV drama "The Shield," was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife in 2014 in front of the couple`s two children at their Los Angeles home.

Actor Michael Jace, best known for his role as a policeman on the TV drama "The Shield," was convicted by a jury on Tuesday of second-degree murder for fatally shooting his wife in 2014 in front of the couple's two children at their Los Angeles home. Jace, 53, faces a sentence of 40 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on June 10. The actor was upset that his wife, April Jace, wanted a divorce when he shot her once in the back and twice more in the legs on May 19, 2014, the Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office said in a statement. He then called authorities and reported that he had shot his wife, prosecutors said. The couple`s sons, ages 8 and 5 at the time, watched the killing in the family`s South Los Angeles home, prosecutors said. She was 40 years old when she was slain. Prosecutors had asked jurors to find Jace guilty of first-degree murder, which involves premeditation, Los Angeles County District Attorney`s Office spokesman Greg Risling said. But the jury in Los Angeles Superior Court instead found Jace guilty of second-degree murder, an intentional killing that was not premeditated. Jace`s attorneys acknowledged in court that he shot his wife. "Our entire goal was to show this was not a case of premeditation, and we achieved that goal," Jace`s attorney, Jamon Hicks, said in an email. "This was a very smart and intelligent jury who deliberated and considered the evidence. They were not just moved by emotion but by the evidence." The jury of six women and six men began deliberations late on Friday and resumed on Tuesday morning, spending two hours considering the case before reaching the verdict, prosecutors said. The jury found Jace used a handgun in the crime, a special circumstance that increases his minimum prison time by 25 years beyond the minimum term for second-degree murder, Risling said. Jace is best known for portraying police officer Julien Lowe, a religious Christian conflicted about his homosexuality, on the FX cable drama "The Shield" that ran from 2002 to 2008. Aside from "The Shield," Jace had small parts in the films "Forrest Gump," "Boogie Nights" and "Planet of the Apes" as well as various supporting roles on television in the past two decades. He filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in 2011.

Actor Michael Jace of TV''s ''The Shield'' convicted of murdering wife

India&#39;s minister for women and children unveiled a draft of the country&#39;s first-ever comprehensive anti-human trafficking law, which would treat survivors as victims in need of assistance and protection rather than as criminals.

South Asia, with India at its centre, is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, says the U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime.

There are no accurate figures on the number of people trafficked within South Asia, but activists say thousands of them--&nbsp;mostly women and children--&nbsp;are trafficked within India as well as from its poorer neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh.

Many are sold into forced marriage or bonded labour to work in middle class homes as domestic servants, in small shops and hotels or confined to brothels where they are repeatedly raped.

Women&#39;s Minister Maneka Gandhi said the draft bill aims to unify existing anti-trafficking laws, prioritise survivors&#39; needs, and prevent victims such as those found in brothel raids from being arrested and jailed like traffickers.

&quot;The bill shows far more compassion and makes a very clear distinction between the trafficked and the trafficker, which is a nuance that should have been made 60 years ago,&quot; Gandhi said on Monday as she unveiled the draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016.

The draft legislation provides for special courts to expedite trafficking cases, more shelters and a rehabilitation fund to help victims rebuild their lives.

It also provides for anti-trafficking committees - at district, state and central levels - that will oversee prevention, protection and victim rehabilitation.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there were 5,466 human trafficking cases registered in 2014, an increase of 90 percent over the past five years, though activists say this is a gross underestimate.

Thousands of Indians &ndash; largely poor, rural women and children &ndash; are lured to big cities each year by traffickers who promise good jobs but sell them into domestic or sex work or to industries such as textile workshops.

In many cases, they are unpaid or held in debt bondage. Some go missing, and their families cannot trace them.

Gandhi said the draft bill would strengthen prosecutions and boost the number of convictions by setting up a special investigative agency to coordinate work between states and collect intelligence on trafficking offences.

There is also a provision for the recovery of fines from the convicted in the draft bill, officials said, and victims who are not paid wages while in servitude will be reimbursed.

The draft bill makes providing narcotic drugs or alcohol for the purpose of trafficking, and using chemical substances or hormones for purposes of exploitation offences.

Gandhi said her ministry would be accepting suggestions until June 30 on how to further improve the proposed bill.

It would then go to all the ministries for their feedback. The final bill could be brought before the Indian parliament by the end of the year, she added.

Problem of human trafficking has been on the rise in the South Asian countries. As economies continue to expand, the demand for labor in industries and sex tourism is at an all-time high.

India's minister for women and children unveiled a draft of the country's first-ever comprehensive anti-human trafficking law, which would treat survivors as victims in need of assistance and protection rather than as criminals. South Asia, with India at its centre, is the fastest-growing and second-largest region for human trafficking in the world, after East Asia, says the U.N. Office for Drugs and Crime. There are no accurate figures on the number of people trafficked within South Asia, but activists say thousands of them-- mostly women and children-- are trafficked within India as well as from its poorer neighbours Nepal and Bangladesh. Many are sold into forced marriage or bonded labour to work in middle class homes as domestic servants, in small shops and hotels or confined to brothels where they are repeatedly raped. Women's Minister Maneka Gandhi said the draft bill aims to unify existing anti-trafficking laws, prioritise survivors' needs, and prevent victims such as those found in brothel raids from being arrested and jailed like traffickers. "The bill shows far more compassion and makes a very clear distinction between the trafficked and the trafficker, which is a nuance that should have been made 60 years ago," Gandhi said on Monday as she unveiled the draft Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2016. The draft legislation provides for special courts to expedite trafficking cases, more shelters and a rehabilitation fund to help victims rebuild their lives. It also provides for anti-trafficking committees - at district, state and central levels - that will oversee prevention, protection and victim rehabilitation. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, there were 5,466 human trafficking cases registered in 2014, an increase of 90 percent over the past five years, though activists say this is a gross underestimate. Thousands of Indians – largely poor, rural women and children – are lured to big cities each year by traffickers who promise good jobs but sell them into domestic or sex work or to industries such as textile workshops. In many cases, they are unpaid or held in debt bondage. Some go missing, and their families cannot trace them. Gandhi said the draft bill would strengthen prosecutions and boost the number of convictions by setting up a special investigative agency to coordinate work between states and collect intelligence on trafficking offences. There is also a provision for the recovery of fines from the convicted in the draft bill, officials said, and victims who are not paid wages while in servitude will be reimbursed. The draft bill makes providing narcotic drugs or alcohol for the purpose of trafficking, and using chemical substances or hormones for purposes of exploitation offences. Gandhi said her ministry would be accepting suggestions until June 30 on how to further improve the proposed bill. It would then go to all the ministries for their feedback. The final bill could be brought before the Indian parliament by the end of the year, she added.

India unveils first-ever comprehensive draft law on human trafficking

At least 23 people were killed in Russian air strikes overnight in the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, the heaviest bombardment there since a cessation of hostilities was agreed in February, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The Observatory said the air strikes targeted a number of positions in the city, one of them next to a hospital. Seven children were among the dead, Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said. The toll was likely to rise.

Idlib is a stronghold of rebel groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Idlib death toll climbs after Russian airstrike

At least 23 people were killed in Russian air strikes overnight in the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, the heaviest bombardment there since a cessation of hostilities was agreed in February, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The Observatory said the air strikes targeted a number of positions in the city, one of them next to a hospital. Seven children were among the dead, Observatory Director Rami Abdulrahman said. The toll was likely to rise. Idlib is a stronghold of rebel groups including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front.

Death toll from Russian air strikes in Idlib climbs to 23

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