travel news review

22 March '01
Dead Lines
Telephone communications have been disrupted in Bakpahkistan indefinitely, announced Hornazar Bhonevich, Acting Head of the Agency of Communications, last Sunday. Apparently, neighbouring Turkmenistan - which provides the communications network for the whole of Bakpakhistan - is fed up with the overload of crank calls coming into its President's offices. The calls - up to 200 per day - are reportedly made by Bakpakhi children who learn their trade from the popular American cartoon, The Simpsons. Officials in Bakpakhistan are incensed at the charges that they claim are ridiculous, and are soliciting the help of other Stans in the region, but so far to no avail. Turkmenistani officials, meanwhile, say they will not reconsider their decision until some discipline is exercised by Bakpakhi parents. 'It's like these kids have nothing else to do,' laments Walkitullenko Talkinov, Turkmenistan's Head of the Agency of Communications. 'Why can't they just play stïcbol like normal children?' Travellers in Bakpakhistan are advised to avoid situations in which contacting anyone in the outside world may become necessary. Postal services are, as far as anyone knows, still running normally (meaning, unfortunately, not very frequently at all).

9 March '01
Russia's Religious Row
A Moscow court this week ruled against an attempt to have the Jehovah's Witnesses banned in what has been widely regarded as a test case for Russia's treatment of religious minorities. The case against the Jehovah's Witnesses was brought by an anti-cult group called Save Our Youth, which argued that they contravened the 1997 Religion Law. The law certifies Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism as Russia's established religions and requires other religious groups to undertake a complicated registration process. Last month the Salvation Army fell foul of the process, was labeled a dangerous group and subsequently banned.

Detractors of the law see it as an effort to shield the Russian Orthodox Church, the nation's dominant faith, from competition. Its supporters argue that the law is needed to keep cults and extremist groups from taking advantage of a population that is only starting to reestablish its ties to religion after 75 years of Soviet-enforced atheism. This week's decision not only allows Moscow's 10,000 Jehovah's Witnesses to practice their religion freely, it also sets a political precedent for other minority religions required to complete the registration process, who could face similar challenges.

14 February '01
Ford Every Mountain
Holiday makers will be able to reach the popular Black Sea playground of Sochi in double-time, following the completion of a new tunnel. Burrowing through a mountain range between the Agura and Matsesta rivers not far from the Georgian border, the 1.3km (0.8mi) tunnel is Russia's longest and - according to engineers - can withstand earthquakes of up to 7 points on the Richter Scale.