The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Kabul - Suspected Taliban insurgents set fire to two girls' schools in northern Afghanistan, a local official said Monday, in the second such attack in recent days. Suspected insurgents also delivered leaflets or "night letters" in Balkh warning people "not to send girls to schools." Hanoi - Vietnam on Monday refused to recognize Pope John Paul's appointment of a new cardinal for Ho Chi Minh City, renewing tension between the Vatican and the communist country, which tightly controls religion. Archbishop Jean-Baptiste Pham Minh Man was chosen Sunday as one of 31 new cardinals. But officials at the Vietnamese Government Committee for Religious Affairs, said the Vatican did not seek permission to elevate Man and they were unaware of the appointment. Only a handful of state-sponsored churches are permitted to operate in Vietnam. There are more than five million Roman Catholics in the country - the second-largest religion after Buddhism Brussels - The European Union, whose members were bitterly divided over the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein, issued a statement Monday unanimously agreeing that a transfer of power to Iraqis should occur "as soon as feasible" and that the United Nations should play a "vital" role in the transition. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin has called for a transfer by the end of the year.
