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THE HAMBURGER STANDARD: Each year The Economist magazine (London) ranks the world’s currencies according to what it costs to buy a Big Mac. Its index is based on purchasing power parity. In dollars, it costs more to buy a Big Mac in Switzerland than anywhere else ($3.81). The cheapest burger is in Argentina ($.78).-The Economist, April 27, 2002, p. 76.

AFGHANISTAN: A magazine for women made its first appearance in Kabul, thanks to outside assistance. The first run of 1,500 copies was free; following issues will cost 20 cents, which also buys two loaves of bread. Eighty percent of Afghan women cannot read.

BRAZIL: Political observers think evangelicals could swing the next presidential election. The logic goes like this: Candidates are falling over each other to woo evangelical voters because, by some accounts, one in six Brazilians belongs to evangelical Protestant churches. Pastors have been elected to local and national offices. Church members tend to vote as their pastors tell them to.

CHINA: The risk of heart disease soars and could well turn into a public health crisis. Officials predict a cardiovascular epidemic in the very near future. High blood pressure and high cholesterol affect one-third of the people. Western lifestyle gets the blame, including smoking, lack of exercise and fast food. So far, China ranks far below Russia in deaths per 100,000 from heart disease among those aged 35 to 74. The figure for Russia is 853; rural China, 346; urban China, 331; the US, 271; Japan, 135.

INDIA: Political and religious conflicts are inseparable. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making political hay out of the Muslim-Hindu carnage in Gujarat. After four years of even handedness, the government blamed Muslims for the violence against them, thereby hoping to keep the support of some coalition parties espousing Hindu nationalism. . . . Gospel Recordings teams have put the gospel in 460 languages and dialects. A major push will bring the number to 1,200 languages with little or no Christian witness. . . . A team of Christian women working with prostitutes held an AIDS awareness class for 150 women. Another team started a tailoring class for women that now has more than 250 attending. . . . The first 4,000 “talking Bibles” (New Testaments) have been produced in Tamil and Telugu. The listening device is the size of a Gideon Bible and costs about the same as a printed Bible. The patented listening device combines high tech computer sound with low tech cassette sound.

JAPAN: Foes of nationalism and militarism were dismayed when Prime Minister Koizumi visited the Yasukuni shrine, a memorial to Japan’s war dead. He gained many votes last year by appealing to nationalist supporters. He promised to visit the shrine in August to coincide with Japan’s World War II surrender. Some think his spring visit may get him off the hook with his critics.

MALAWI: Hunger stalks the horizon because of a slim harvest last year. People are so hungry that they are eating this year’s harvest before it ripens. Aid workers fear that by next January thousands will start dying of starvation. Malawi is bordered by Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.

RUSSIA: Nerves are on edge over church-state separation, which is more theory than practice. Two foreign Roman Catholic leaders, who have lived in Russia for years, had their visas canceled. Catholics and Protestants alike are routinely hassled. Government bureaucrats work closely with the Russian Orthodox hierarchy to keep the interlopers in their places. While only six percent of Russians say they go to Orthodox services, other churches flourish.

SOUTH AFRICA: Church and mission leaders celebrate the government’s decision to allow the use of AIDS drugs called antiretrovirals. Although some five-million are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, doctors have not been allowed to prescribe the AIDS drugs, which sharply reduce chances that infected mothers will pass on HIV to their babies. The ban was instituted by President Thabo Mbeki, who said the drugs may be as toxic and as dangerous as the disease.

UGANDA: Things are getting messy in the battle with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group that slips in and out of Uganda along its northern border with Sudan. The LRA features child fighters who refuse to surrender. The army destroyed their camps, but the kids took refuge in Sudan. The LRA has abducted 15,000 children in 16 years. The UN claims the LRA still has 5,500 child fighters. The movement is led by a spirit medium.

UKRAINE: Tuberculosis is rampant, with 32,000 new cases reported last year. Because of the epidemic it is expected that 700,000 of Ukraine’s 49 million people will contract TB. Many new strains of the disease are resistant to standard drugs.

UNITED KINGDOM: Britain loses churches so fast that no one knows how many have been demolished in recent years, but the number runs into the thousands. The trend is blamed partly on declining church attendance and partly on consolidation among nonconformist churches. The Methodists, for example, once had 14,000 chapels. Today they own 6,000 and dispose of 100 a year.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Bahrain adds to its oil wealth by managing $85 billion in offshore banking assets. Dubai’s population and economy are roaring ahead. Building plans totaling $15 billion are on the drawing boards, including a Festival City conference center, luxury housing, six new skyscrapers, six new hotels and a new air terminal.

VIETNAM: The economy grew by almost seven percent last year, more than that of any other big country except China. Transition from a state-planned economy began in 1986. Vietnam is the world’s biggest exporter of rice after Thailand. The number of private firms doubled after laws were loosened in 2000. Brakes on growth are attributed to deeply held communist ideas and lack of experience with capitalism.

YEMEN: The government granted United Bible Societies permission to import Scriptures. The first Bibles were delivered to Christ Church in Aden, one of only two functioning churches in the country. . . . America’s war on terror may give President Saleh his chance to turn Yemen into a one-party Arab state and extend his power over rebellious tribes. He has banned private Muslim schools, sacked Muslim governors, and issued rules for Friday mosque sermons. He did not get tribal leaders to hand over two bin Laden associates.

AUSTRALIA: Asylum-seekers create havoc while they wait for their requests to be processed. They are locked up in detention camps for up to two years. Many fled Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran. The government has tried various measures to discourage illegal immigrants from seeking refuge in Australia.

ETHIOPIA: The Free Methodist Mission World Health Center opened in Addis Ababa. It is located among a population of 150,000 to 200,000 poor people.

INDONESIA: A children’s writing workshop drew about 20 writers who wrote five assignments, including mini-dramas, which were a big hit the last day. Oppusunggu, the Bina Kasih Publishing House director, said they were excellent, and he thinks they are good enough to submit to national TV. Simunjuntak, the other leader, said it was the best workshop he had attended in 40 years.

June 7, 2002