"I have been in close contact with my colleague Michael Cashman who has written to Ambassador Sellal, head of the Permanent Representation of France to the European Union, not only to express our concerns that this may be a continuation of the campaign by the Chinese authorities against Falun Gong, but also to raise our concerns about the behaviour of the French Police during the New Year parade. This is an issue we have been monitoring for some time and we will continue to do so."

Falun Dafa: Road to Peace: this was the title of a special presentation given by Falun Gong practitioners at a “Peace and Philosophy” workshop in Jaumen University in Spain. Their participation was at the invitation of the Centre for International Peace and Development in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation and Jaumen University.

Reports show 26 Falun Gong practitioners died from torture in China during the past three months, and now the Chinese police are starting a new round of large-scale arrests. As more killings occur, a second candlelight vigil was held by Falun Gong practitioners in Austria to call for an end to the persecution and to demand Jiang Zemin be brought to justice.

Falun Dafa practitioners from around Finland gathered in the city of Jyväskylä on the weekend of 14th -15th of February 2004 to study the Fa {to read the books of Falun Gong] together and share experiences of cultivation practice. This was also a precious opportunity to let the people know about Falun Dafa and about the persecution that is taking place in China. It was also a chance to inform people of the recent incidents in Paris, where practitioners were unlawfully arrested due to pressure from the Chinese authorities.

French Falun Gong practitioners held a peaceful protest outside the Chinese embassy and the Chinese consulate in Paris, to protest against the worsening of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, as more arrests and killing continue to be reported. They demanded bringing Jiang Zemin, together with his accomplices Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang, to justice.

Falun Gong practitioners gathered at 10:00 in the morning of the 17th of February 2004 outside the Chinese consulate in Gotheburg. They were calling for the end of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and demanding Jiang Zemin, the main culprit accused of Genocide together with his accomplices Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang, to be brought to justice.

On February 13th and 14th the well-known Italian human rights organisation “Hands Off Cain” hosted an international human rights conference concerning the abolishment of capital punishment. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Zhang Erping was invited to explain the facts of the persecution against Falun Gong in China and to participate in the press conference. Mr. Zhang cited some specific cases. For example, how a judge in Jiangxi province had been unlawfully arrested and injected with poisonous drugs; how a farmer in Shandong province was persecuted to death and his body cremated...

From November 2003 to January 2004, at least 26 Falun Gong practitioners were tortured to death in prisons or labour camps. On February 16, Falun Gong practitioners in Berlin gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy to mourn for those victims and strongly call on the Chinese government to bring the persecutors of Falun Gong to justice.

On the 13th of February 2004, Australian artist Ms Zhang Cuiying and Belgium human rights lawyer Georges-Henri Beauthier held a joint press conference in Brussels, appealing for an immediate end to Jiang Zemin’s genocide against Falun Gong practitioners in China and for the upholding of human rights and justice.

Mr. Zhang Mengye was a graduate from the Department of Hydraulic and Hydropower Engineering. He was a classmate of Hu Jintao, China's General Secretary. He was persecuted for writing to the central government before 1999 to express his understanding of Falun Gong. The "610 Office" of Guangdong Province devoted a lot of manpower to searching everywhere for him. They threatened that they would arrest him and send him to forced labour or a brainwashing class

Because of my age, it was not easy for me to find a job. Thus, I had a lot of tribulations and have not been able to pay back my debt up to now. My children were seriously damaged by this incident. My younger daughter felt anxious all the time. In addition, the lies and hate-inciting propaganda on the TV, as well as the sneering from our neighbours and other people who didn't know the truth, all made my children unable to thrive, and it seemed to them that I had done some disgraceful things.

However, would a poor farming family like Ms. Chen's be able to come up with such a large sum of money? Ms. Chen's husband fell into the depths of despair and almost committed suicide to escape the fine. Under the police's coercion and threats, he had no choice but to borrow money from friends and relatives. The police had also harassed them at home, and repeatedly ransacked their home. They wouldn't give Ms. Chen's family a moment of peace.

They built an iron fence around the houses, set up monitors in every room and in all the places where Dafa practitioners were active, and hired security guards. Thus they effectively turned the area into a prison built especially for the "610 Office." All the practitioners who are sent to this brainwashing centre are forced to pay 2,000 to 5,000 Yuan. The "610 Office" staff either coerces the practitioners' families to pay the fine, or deducts the money from the practitioners' salaries or pensions.

The young man struggled to take off his jacket and revealed a yellow T-shirt underneath that read, "Truth- Compassion-Tolerance." I saw he was a Dafa practitioner, so I ran up and said to the police, "Don't beat him, he is a good person." A plainclothes police officer yelled at me, saying, "We are executing public order, go away!" I said, "I'm also a police officer. Police should suppress the bad and support the good. You shouldn't beat people like this!"

At the age of 88, my mother now lives better than ever. Some people even joke that she is just like a thousand-year-old iron tree bursting into blossom. Under her influence, many people in her village started practising Falun Gong. Mum told me that she would have died long ago were it not for practising Falun Dafa, and that only the practice of the Great Law of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance could possibly change one's fate.

According to news from Beijing, at 2pm on February 20, Falun Gong practitioner Qiu Yanyan was abducted by Chaoyang Public Security Sub-Bureau when she was at work. Her home was then ransacked. This incident happened just before a scheduled business trip to the U.S.

On the evening of February 18, the Hong Kong Government sent an unexpected "urgent fax" to China Airline. With the excuse that Zenon Dolnyckyj didn't have a visa, the Hong Kong government refused to allow Zenon to enter Hong Kong to promote his new book Coming for You.

Dozens of Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners sat quietly outside the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong on the mornings of Monday to Wednesday (Feb.16-18). Practitioners requested the Chinese authorities to bring Jiang Zemin and his key accomplices Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkong to justice.

Astronomers believe a doomed star came too close to a giant black hole after being thrown off course by a close encounter with another star. As it neared the enormous gravity of the black hole, the star was stretched by tidal forces until it was torn apart. This discovery provides crucial information about how these black holes grow and affect surrounding stars and gas.