Former president Didier Ratsiraka fled Madagascar at the beginning of July, ending a bitter seven-month power struggle with his successor, Marc Ravalomanana.

In dispute was the result of last December's presidential election. Ravalomanana, the charismatic mayor of Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital city, claimed a first-round victory; but the High Constitutional Court, packed with Ratsiraka supporters, denied him an outright win. It ordered a second ballot.

In February, Ravalomanana declared himself president, and the Indian Ocean island nation found itself divided, with two capitals and two governments.

In April, a peace deal was brokered in Senegal. After a May recount, Ravalomanana was formally sworn in as president, but Ratsiraka still refused to step down.

Troops loyal to Ravalomanana took control of five out of six provinces, and more and more countries recognized him as president. In July, Ratsiraka saw the writing on the wall. He flew first to the neighbouring Seychelles and then into exile in France.

Scores of people had died in the bitter fighting between their rival supporters, and the blockades separating the capital from the provinces devastated Madagascar and left its economy in ruins. Ravalomanana, a successful businessman, has now set himself to root out corruption and to rebuild the economy with foreign aid.

On July 10, Edmond Razafimahefa, president of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar, wrote to the Alliance. In the name of the church, the Christian Council of Madagascar, and the whole people of Madagascar, he thanked the Reformed family for its support in the struggle for democracy in the island, and expressed the hope that this support would be continued in the longer-term task of economic reconstruction.

Pakistan

A terrorist attack on the offices of Idara-e-Aman-o-Insaf in Karachi on September 25 killed seven of its staff.

In a letter of condolence, WARC general secretary Setri Nyomi described the attack as a cowardly act that demonstrated the destructiveness of violence. It was, he said, "a clarion call for us to do everything in our power to overcome violence in all its forms".

In recent months, Christian churches, schools, hospitals and other institutions in Pakistan have been repeatedly attacked, in what is widely seen as a response by Islamic militants to the war in neighbouring Afghanistan. Despite repeated assurances, the military government led by General Pervez Musharraf has failed to take adequate steps to protect Pakistan's tiny Christian minority.

Ironically, the Idara, a committee for justice and peace founded in the 1970s, had been a pioneer in Christian-Muslim cooperation.

Clement John, a lawyer from the Church of Pakistan now working with the World Council of Churches, was among its founding members. "It was the first organization that actively encouraged the participation of Muslims in the life and action... of the church in Pakistan," he says. "Muslims were not only members of the policy-making bodies but were also members of the staff."

"Christians in Pakistan are not responsible for the actions of western governments," John says. "Their only crime is that they are Christians and as such identified [by militants] with the Christian West and its actions against Muslims around the globe including Palestine."

He calls on Christians and churches outside Pakistan to engage in advocacy work with their governments. It is necessary, he says, to keep reminding Musharraf's government of its duties towards religious minorities in the country.

"It is also important that the Pakistan government does a lot more to create a culture of tolerance and non-violence," he adds. "Without such an initiative, not only is the future of the Christians in jeopardy, but there is also a danger of the entire country being engulfed by violence."

Palestine

In a eucharistic ceremony on October 13, Fahed Abu-Akel, the current moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), was installed as ecumenical canon of St George's cathedral.

Just blocks away from the Damascus Gate in the old city of Jerusalem, the cathedral is the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.

It is, said Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, "a focal point for the whole Anglican Communion, [but] by its very nature, set at the heart of the Christian church here in this land of the Holy One, it is also a place of welcome and ecumenical prayer for God's church." Installing Abu-Akel as ecumenical canon, he asked him: "With God's help, will you do all in your power to strengthen our relationship with other churches and encourage prayer for this land so that God in all things may be glorified and his kingdom enlarged?"

"I will so do, the Lord being my helper," answered the moderator.

Abu-Akel is the second PCUSA moderator, and the third Presbyterian, to be installed in the canonry. But his story is particular poignant. Born in the Galilee, he is the first Palestinian-American to be granted the honour - and the first Palestinian-American to be moderator of the PCUSA.

The ceremony came towards the end of a 12-day visit to the Holy Land by a PCUSA delegation.

Victor Makari, liaison with the Middle East in the PCUSA's worldwide ministries division, said that throughout the visit Palestinian Christians responded to Abu-Akel's election as moderator with "a sense of vindication of the Palestinian people's cause".

For Palestinians, he said, the election of a Palestinian moderator was a tangible sign of the PCUSA's partnership with both the Episcopal Diocese and the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

The role of ecumenical canon underlined this solidarity, Makari added. It means "standing with the people" and being counted on to do all you can do "to tell their story, to interpret their reality, but above all to uphold the people in your prayers".

Abu-Akel and his delegation travelled nearly the length of Israel and Palestine, visiting his home town, close to the border of Lebanon, and then, in the opposite direction, the occupied territory of Gaza. The bulk of their time was spent in meetings in Palestinian East Jerusalem with church leaders, humanitarian workers and political analysts.

During his sermon in St George's cathedral, Abu-Akel told the congregation that he would return to the United States and "lift up the plight of people of faith" in Palestine.

The Missouri-based mining company, Doe Run, is poisoning children in Peru. Health officials say that as many as half of the children in the village of La Oroya need hospital treatment for severe lead-poisoning caused by the company's contamination of air, water and soil.

No story.

Local action groups - the Movement for the Defence of Health in La Oroya and the Asociación Filomena Tomaira Pacsi - try to force Doe Run to clean up its act.

No story.

Giddings-Lovejoy presbytery in Missouri is active in the Presbyterian Church (USA) programme, Joining Hands against Hunger. Four members of the presbytery travel to Peru to hook up with these partner groups.

While they are meeting with the mayor of La Oroya, the chief of police and a provincial judge storm in to break up what they call an "illegal meeting" and demand that the US visitors explain their presence. Local radio and TV, which are presenting live coverage of the meeting, get the brouhaha on tape.

Story.

Over the next few days, the Peruvian and US activists meet with national officials to demand respect for Peruvians' rights. The national TV programme, Contrapunto, broadcasts a lengthy segment titled "Children of Lead". The Peruvian congress launches an investigation into the environmental degradation of La Oroya and the health problems of its children.

The result is a huge boost for the campaign to save the children.

We can make a difference.