Tashkent

An Uzbekistan court has ordered the closure of the office of the US non-governmental organisation Partnership in Academics and Development, which aims to foster co-operation in educating and training, for breaking its charter. The organisation had already decided to shut the office, but the ministry insisted on the case going ahead on the eve of a visit by Koichiro Matsuura, Unesco director-general, for talks on co-operation in education.