DUBAI, 2 September 2007 (IRIN) - CONTENTS:

IRAQ: People flee Baghdad district as gunmen impose Shariah law IRAQ: Lower school attendance expected in coming year IRAQ: Translators forced to quit jobs after being targeted by insurgents IRAQ: Aid agencies unable to gain access to violence-afflicted Karbala IRAQ: Hospitals in north struggle to contain cholera outbreak ISRAEL-OPT: Ban on truckloads of paper set to hit Gaza schools ISRAEL-OPT: Israelis, Palestinians see eye to eye on fly tipping in West Bank YEMEN: Fears over possibly rising number of child labourers

IRAQ: People flee Baghdad district as gunmen impose Shariah law

Residents of Dora District in Baghdad have been fleeing after gunmen imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic Shariah law there.

"We have reports of more than 300 families fleeing the area over the past two weeks and this number is increasing daily," Fatah Ahmed, vice-president of the Iraq Aid Association (IAA), said. The gunmen are particularly stringent when it comes to Christian families, who are forced to convert to Islam or pay huge taxes.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73968

IRAQ: Lower school attendance expected in coming year

The Iraqi Ministry of Education has warned of the possible low attendance of pupils at schools in the coming year, saying it expects at least a 15 percent drop compared to previous years. Parents have blamed the government for the poor protection of their children and many have opted to keep them at home.

[Read this story in Arabic]

"We are trying to encourage families to take their children to school as there has been a continuous decrease in attendance in the past four years and this has seriously affected pupils' performance," Leila Abdallah, a senior official at the Ministry of Education, said.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73979

IRAQ: Translators forced to quit jobs after being targeted by insurgents

Translators are being targeted by militants who accuse them of espionage and of working for the US military, says a local translation association.

"Hundreds of translators have been killed or injured in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003 but their situation has worsened since January: Militants and insurgents have been distributing leaflets in Baghdad offering money to those providing information about translators," said Moussa Fahid, a spokesperson for the recently formed Iraq Translators' Association (ITA).

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74002

IRAQ: Aid agencies unable to gain access to violence-afflicted Karbala

Local aid agencies are finding it difficult to get food and medicines to the southern city of Karbala after Shia-on-Shia violence - in which at least 50 people have been killed - following a religious festival there. One million pilgrims have now been ordered to leave the city.

"We are unable to venture into the streets of Karbala to deliver food to people in need," said Hassan Yehia, a spokesperson for South Peace Organisation, a locally-based non-governmental organisation. Most shops have been closed for security reasons and pilgrims are finding it difficult to get hold of basic necessities.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74006

IRAQ: Hospitals in north struggle to contain cholera outbreak

Doctors in the northern city of Sulaimaniyah have asked for more help to cope with the rapidly increasing number of cholera cases.

"We need urgent medical support as the disease is spreading. We didn't expect an outbreak in this area," said Dr Dirar Iyad of Sulaimaniyah General Hospital.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74028

ISRAEL-OPT: Ban on truckloads of paper set to hit Gaza schools

The Israeli ban on deliveries of paper to Gaza is not only threatening to create a shortage of textbooks in the Strip but also shining a spotlight on what constitutes legitimate humanitarian aid.

[Read this story in Arabic or French]

Israel is allowing in food, medicines and fuel, which it sees as essential aid, but not paper, even though many would see education as a vital sector in need of all the support it can get.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73944

ISRAEL-OPT: Israelis, Palestinians see eye to eye on fly tipping in West Bank

The issue of illegally dumped rubbish in the West Bank, which is threatening the environment and people's health, is bringing together Israeli settlers and Palestinian residents, environmentalists say.

According to Isaac Meyer, director-general of the Israeli Environmental Protection Association (IEPA) in the West Bank, a forum for the settlement authorities, there are hundreds of illegal dumping sites in the territory. "We did a survey in 1996 and found about 450 sites. The number has only risen since then," he told IRIN.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=74020

YEMEN: Fears over possibly rising number of child labourers

The number of child labourers in Yemen may be increasing due to the country's deteriorating economic conditions, including price hikes, activists and experts have warned. The future of these children is at stake mainly because they leave school at an early age, they said.

[Watch IRIN video on child labour in Yemen or read this story in Arabic]

"The situation [in the country] is miserable. Child labour is on the rise due to the deteriorated economic situation of most families," Jamal al-Shami, chairman of Democracy School, a local non-governmental organisation (NGO), told IRIN.

http://irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=73964

© IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org

IRIN news