Friday 17 June 2011
Bangladesh Acid Victims Fight For Justice
`The corrosive liquid badly burned my face and part of my child`s head`, said 30-year-old Khodeza.
Khodeza Begum still shivers in fear when she remembers the winter night eight years ago when an unidentified attacker sprayed acid on her and her baby girl as they slept in their Bangladesh shantytown home.
"The corrosive liquid badly burned my face and part of my child's head," said 30-year-old Khodeza, her face partly covered to hide the scars.
"But I received no justice from police or court as I could not identify the offender," she told a conference marking the 10th anniversary of the foundation of the Bangladesh Acid Survivors Foundation (ASF) in Dhaka on Tuesday.
ASF officials, police and victims said acid attacks mostly result from refusal of a sexual advance, demand for dowry or family disputes over land. Most of the victims were young women, they said.
As well as horrific scarring and the inevitable psychological trauma, organisers of the conference said that many victims are denied justice like Khodeza. Others face social isolation and ostracism by families.
"Lucky I am that my husband did not abandon us, unlike the fate that befall on many acid victims," said Khodeza, from Bangladesh's southern Satkhira district.
Police sometimes take the side of the offenders for a bribe and protect them from law, Nur Jahan, another acid victim, told the conference, which was attended by about 600 acid victims from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Cambodia, Uganda and Nepal.
Samina Afzal Naz, an official of the Acid Survivors Foundation Pakistan, said acid attacks over spurned sexual advances or land disputes were also a problem in her country.
"We started working in Pakistan only two years ago and have already identified 149 acid victims in the Punjab region," said Samina.
ASF officials said the number of acid attacks in Bangladesh had decreased since the government enacted tough laws that set death as the maximum penalty for acid throwers.
"When we founded ASF in Bangladesh in 1999, the number of acid victims annually recorded was around 500 in the country. The number has now gone down well below 100," said John Morrison, the founder of the organisation.
Access to good medical care for victims remains a problem, however, ASF officials said.
Bangladesh, home to nearly 150 million people, has only one 50-bed burns unit in a public sector hospital, they said.
"It is only a drop in the ocean," said Monira Rahman, the Executive Director of ASF Bangladesh, adding that the foundation is running a 20-bed hospital to supplement government facilities.
Coaches doing their job very well
Pakistan women’s cricket team captain, Sana Mir said on Thursday that she is very happy with her coaches adding that they are doing their job very well.
Mir contradicted a news item published in a section of the press saying that they were fully satisfied with their coaches.
“It is due to our hard work and devotion of our coaches that we won the first gold in the Asian Games last year,” she told APP on Thursday.
“It is due to our coaches that women’s cricket over the years has transformed into a specialised sport.
Sana, who was Player of the Tournament at the 2008 Women’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier, currently ranks 16th in the ICC Women’s ODI bowlers rankings.
Answering a question, Sana said that only those women can be good coaches who have played cricket themselves. Sana said that the central contracts awarded to them were a great achievement for women cricketers of the country.
“The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is having domestic competitions for women players on a regular basis and that is improving our standard,” Sana said.
Sana pointed out that the recently concluded Twenty20 Pentangular Women Cricket Tournament is a result of the PCB’s effort and commitment to the women’s game adding that women need encouragement and compensation for their hard work.
Saudi Women Called on to End Driving Ban
Saudi Organizers of a campaign to end Saudi Arabia’s ban on driving by females called on women in the kingdom who have international driving licenses to defy the prohibition by using their cars today.
The plan followed an online initiative that led to the detention of one of the campaign’s activists, Manal al-Sharif. Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.
“Saudi Arabian authorities must stop treating women as second-citizens and open the kingdom’s roads to women drivers,” Amnesty International said yesterday in a statement. “Saudi Arabian authorities must not arrest licensed women who choose to drive, and must grant them the same driving privileges as men.”
A group of Saudi men and women, including al-Sharif, began organizing the campaign in May through the Facebook and Twitter social-networking websites. The organizers insisted their coordinated plan wasn’t a protest. Saudi Arabia, which has the world’s biggest oil reserves, has avoided the mass demonstrations that have toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt and threaten the governments of Libya, Yemen and Syria.
Al-Sharif, a 32-year-old computer security consultant, was arrested last month in the city of al-Khobar, in Eastern Province, after she drove on more than one occasion and urged other women to drive in a video she posted on YouTube, according to Amnesty International. The human-rights organization said al- Sharif was forced to sign a pledge that she wouldn’t drive again and was released 10 days later.
“Since her arrest, several women have reportedly been arrested on various occasions for driving in different parts of Saudi Arabia and released shortly after signing pledges not to drive in future,” Amnesty said.
Saudi Arabia enforces restrictions interpreted from the Wahhabi version of Sunni Islam. A woman isn’t allowed to apply for a driver’s license, though some drive when they’re in desert areas away from cities. They can’t travel or get an education without male approval or mix with unrelated men in public places. They aren’t permitted to vote or run as candidates in municipal elections, the only balloting the kingdom allows.
The last time a group of women publicly defied the driving ban was on Nov. 6, 1990, when U.S. troops massed in Saudi Arabia to prepare for a war that would expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The Saudi women were spurred by images of female U.S. soldiers driving in the desert and stories of Kuwaiti women driving their children to safety, and they were counting on the presence of the international media to ensure their story would reach the world and lessen the repercussions.
King Abdullah has taken steps this year to ensure that regional turmoil remains outside his borders, pledging almost $100 billion of spending on homes, jobs and benefits. He also has promised to improve the status of women. He opened the country’s first coeducational university in 2009 and appointed its first female deputy minister, Nora bint Abdullah al-Fayez, the same year. He has said he will provide more access to jobs for women, who make up about 15 percent of the workforce.
A change of policy in 2008 allowed women to stay in hotels without male guardians, and an amendment to the labor law allowed women to work in all fields “suitable to their nature.”
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in January that “reforms to date have involved largely symbolic steps to improve the visibility of women.”
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in January that “reforms to date have involved largely symbolic steps to improve the visibility of women.”
Pakistani man marries two women in one wedding
A Pakistani man's solution to the age-old dilemma of whether to embark on an arranged or a love marriage has captivated the country's media.
Television channels have provided live coverage of Azhar Haidri's decision to marry both women over a 24-hour period.
At first he refused to marry the woman selected by his family since childhood because he loved someone else.
Pakistani law allows polygamy because it interprets Islam to allow a man to have up to four wives.
Islam is the main religion in the country.
Men who take multiple wives usually do so after a period of several years - and must get approval from their first wife prior to a second marriage.
Correspondents say that while it is not unusual for men in Pakistan to have several wives, it is rare for two weddings to take place almost simultaneously under the full glare of the media.
'Lucky'Several Pakistani television stations have carried the nuptials live - on Sunday and Monday - because of the unique circumstances.
Mr Haidri's love for 21-year-old Rumana Aslam - ahead of 28-year-old Humaira Qasim - at one point threatened to split his family apart.
"I gave this offer that I will marry both of them," Mr Haidri, 23, told the Associated Press ahead of his first marriage to Ms Qasim on Sunday in the central Pakistani city of Multan. "Both the girls agreed."
He is scheduled to marry Ms Aslam on Monday.
Both women appear to have given their consent to the compromise and say they plan to live as sisters and friends.
"I am happy that we both love the same man," Ms Aslam told AP.
Mr Haidri, a herbal medicine practitioner, counts himself lucky.
"It is also very rare that two women are happily agreeing to marry one man," he said.
Wednesday 15 June 2011
GCC royals attend Prince William's wedding
Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Princess Ameerah exit following the marriage of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London, England. The marriage of the second in line to the British throne was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and was attended by 1900 guests, including foreign Royal family members and heads of state.
Miss India 2011
Ankita Cheryl Ghazan beat 25 other contestants to win the Miss India Worldwide beauty pageant. The first runner-up was Miss India USA Natasha Arora, followed closely by Miss India Trinidad Anuradha Devika Priya
Sexual violence: most dangerous countries for women
Sexual violence: Congo * About 1,150 women are raped every day, or some 420,000 a year, according to a recent report in the American Journal of Public Health * The Congolese Women's Campaign Against Sexual Violence puts the number of rapes at 40 women a day.
Somalia women
Somalia: One of the poorest, most violent and lawless countries, Somalia ranked fifth due to a catalogue of dangers including high maternal mortality, rape, female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage * 95% of women face FGM, mostly between the ages of 4 and 11. * Only 9% of women give birth at a health facility * Only 7.5% of parliament seats are held by women.
women of pakistan
Pakistan: Those polled cited cultural, tribal and religious practices harmful to women, including acid attacks, child and forced marriage and punishment or retribution by stoning or other physical abuse.
World's most dangerous countries for women
Congo: Still reeling from a 1998-2003 war and accompanying humanitarian disaster that killed 5.4 million, Democratic Republic of Congo ranked second due mainly to staggering levels of sexual violence.
World's most dangerous countries for women
Afghanistan: Beleaguered by insurgency, corruption and dire poverty, Afghanistan ranked as most dangerous to women overall and came out worst in three of the poll's key risk categories: health, non-sexual violence and economic discrimination.
World's most dangerous countries for women
In its global perceptions survey, Thomson Reuters Foundation's legal news service, TrustLaw, asked 213 gender experts from five continents to rank countries by overall perceptions of danger as well as by six risks: health threats, sexual violence, non-sexual violence, cultural or religious factors, lack of access to resources and trafficking. Here are the results.
Picasso, Michelangelo masterpieces to go under hammer
Gainsborough's 'Portrait of Miss Read, later Mrs William Villebois' is displayed at the Masterpieces Exhibition at Christie's on June 13, 2011 in London, England. The painting, estimated at £4-6m, features in the exhibition, open to the public from 13th - 15th June 2011, which showcases some of the £250m worth of art for sale over the next four weeks. Artists including Michelangelo, Gainsborough, Goya, Stubbs, Monet, Picasso and Renoir are represented.
Miss India Worldwide crowned in Abu Dhabi
The Miss India Worldwide 2011 competition was held at the Emirates Palace Hotel
Meet Masdar Institute's first graduates
The students are graduating after completing the two-year graduate-level science and engineering degree programmes.
Tuesday 14 June 2011
Drug addiction grows among women in Pakistan
Drug abuse is nothing new, but Pakistan is facing a two-pronged problem.
First, addicts are getting hooked earlier. The mean age of initial heroin use, according to the last National Drug Abuse Survey (2002-03), has fallen to 22 from 26.
Second, more women are using and the country refuses to take seriously the social factors that contribute to this worsening picture.
Drug addiction can start in school. Girls at one private institution used hashish in the restroom while a reporter was there. A headmistress of one girls’ college in Lahore expelled a group of her students for possessing and using narcotics on the premises.
“The problem of drug addiction among women cannot be separated from other aspects of their social conditioning … such as racism, sexism and poverty … that are essential to understanding drug abuse in women”, said Tasneem Nazir, a clinical psychologist at Lahore’s Mayo Hospital. S
he said teenage girls are likely to abuse substances in order to lose weight, relieve stress or boredom, improve their mood, reduce sexual inhibitions, self-medicate depression and increase confidence. Women who seek treatment for alcohol and drug problems report a connection among domestic violence, childhood abuse, and substance abuse.
One woman said she had suffered from physical, mental and financial abuse before turning to drugs.
“I don’t know why I didn’t realise it”, the woman, 42, said of her addiction, but “I didn’t deserve what my husband put me through”.
Nazir said that to declare addiction openly is to sign a social death warrant.
“Many addicted women refuse to go into drug rehabilitation programmes. They are outpatients because of the shame and stigma attached to substance dependence and addiction. They cannot stay in rehabilitation centres for cultural reasons and go only for medicine and advice”, said Dr. Mahmooda Aftab, a clinical psychologist running a rehabilitation centre.
Nazir suggested that the way to remedy the problem is to address violence and sexual abuse, unsafe housing, unemployment, stereotyping of sexual roles, and the lack of health care and child care, all of which contribute to the depression and hopelessness linked to substance abuse by women.
Brig. Sajjad Ahmed Bakshi, force commander of the Anti Narcotics Force (ANF), Punjab, told Central Asia Online that though information on women’s drug use is limited, drug addiction has increased steadily among girls and women.
“The youth of today are a pathetic sight", he said. "Greater attention is being paid to create awareness among the people about the dangers of drug abuse and the ways to avoid it”.
Bakshi said women, especially young girls belonging to “elite backgrounds”, are becoming addicts.
Some women are not aware of the drugs they are taking. Doctors prescribe a “medicine”, and some incurious users know little about the side effects.
“There is no restriction on buying (painkillers or tranquilisers)”, he said.
Many women have been taking such medicines for months or years and have become dependent on them.
“We came to the doctor for treatment. The doctor prescribed these medicines, which I used to sleep well and to ward off worries”, said Hajra, a rehabilitation centre patient whose name was changed to ensure privacy. “I didn't know the medicines used prescribed by the doctor are poison”.
Bakshi said the ANF has established wards at eight government hospitals to provide free treatment. But most patients don’t know where they can get help, either before or after the addiction takes hold.
“It is important for women to have the knowledge and skills to be a positive force in confronting this problem, especially in drug prevention”, Bakshi said. “It is an imperative of this time that all sections of society combine their efforts to eradicate drugs from our society”.
He suggested that for complete eradication, systematic education and constant community support need to exist.
“It is essential to … implement awareness programmes effectively and intelligently", he said. "Doing so would lead to a better and (more) prosperous future for each member of the society”.
Society’s view on addiction also needs to change, according to concerned observers.
“The barriers to treatment for women must be addressed because most programmes are based on male-oriented models that are not geared to the needs of women", Mahmooda said. "The need of the time is programmes must be designed to overcome the current barriers to women’s access to and participation in treatment”.
Men out of Saudi women's clothing shops
or Fatma Qaroub, a 28-year-old personal trainer from the Saudi commercial capital of Jedda, buying lingerie has been an embarrassing affair. Every time she went shopping, she would encounter male vendors who would ask her about her measurements, her preferred style and whether she was married or single. Qaroub was fed-up. So she started a Facebook page titled "Enough embarrassment," which quickly garnered 11,000 supporters. Other women initiated campaigns to boycott Saudi women's clothing shops that employed men only.It seems that the pressure has finally borne fruit. King Abdullah issued a list of decrees pertaining to employment in the kingdom a week ago. Among them, an order to "feminize" women's clothing shops in Saudi Arabia within the month. Males employees are out and, because the sexes are forbidden to mix at the workplace, they will be replaced by women. "This is a very important decision for women," Qaroub told The Media Line. "Female unemployment was the main reason for my campaign, but also the unnecessaryshame women face.An-ultra conservative kingdom governed by the orthodox Wahhabi stream of Sunni Islam, Saudi Arabia imposes strict gender segregation in the public sphere. But the kingdom is also under pressure to create jobs for Saudis, especially for women who are increasingly educated and demanding opportunities outside their traditional place in the home.
Even as rising oil prices and production are fueling strong economic growth, unemployment is over 10 percent. Last month, Labor Minister Adel said companies would be able to keep an expatriate employee on their payrolls for no more than six years and that some businesses might lose the right to hire foreigners altogether. In 2005, when the pressure to "Saudize" the labor market was less intense, the Labor Ministry gently requested lingerie shops to replace male salesmen with women. But the decision was never implemented.While women work as doctors and journalists and in business, retailing is considered to be especially sensitive because it is difficult to segregate male and female shoppers. The Saudi-owned daily Al-Hayat reported that 15 female cashiers were re-hired this month in the Carrefour shopping center in eastern city of Al-Khabar, nine months after the Labor Ministry forced them to quit. The solution was to create a sex-segregated checkout line. "We won't allow [gender] mixing," a Carrefour employee assured viewer on the Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya. "Families will be serviced by female cashiers whereas single men will work with male cashiers.
Qaroub said that due to the wide media coverage her campaign received, she has found that men have become more supportive of "feminization" than women because they now realize the humiliation their wives suffered. Women's organizations in Saudi Arabia estimated that as the decision is implemented, as many as 5,000 jobs will immediately become available. But Saudi businessman Fawwaz Al-Hakir was much more optimistic, telling Al-Arabiya that as many as 500,000 jobs for women would materialize within three ye
ars. He said more positions would be needed as women begin frequenting clothing shops without embarrassment.
But Eman Al-Nafjan, a Riyadh-based blogger and feminist activist, questioned the new decision, saying the devil was in the details. "It's not very clear how they will implement the decision in one month's time," Al-Nafjan told The Media Line. "Even people who are supportive of the decisions have many questions." Al-Nafjan said women are only employed in "women only" malls, which exist throughout the kingdom, but are of lesser quality than regular malls. She said the short time slot for implementation outli
ned in the decree was unrealistic. "Today, women mostly work in the education, health and banking sectors. Saudi women don't know how to work in shops," she said. "Will all the current salesmen be fired?
The decision was framed by the government as an employment issue, not a women's rights one. Al-Nafjan admitted that the decision contributed in bettering the skewed Saudi labor market. She said that during a recent visit to a mall, she was pained to encounter a female college graduate working as a security guard at the entrance to a fitting room in a clothing shop, while expatriate male vendors manned the cashiers.
I have nothing against foreign workers, but why are we importing expats when we have all these women who are desperate for a job?" Al-Nafjan said she believed between 85-90 percent of sales clerks in Saudi shops were foreign. Following the royal decision, Qaroub said she would abandon her "Enough Embarrassment" Facebook campaign, substituting it with a new campaign titled "The Embarrassment is Over." The new campaign will focus on the need for training women to work as shop vendors. - Media Line
Iranian women's archery team stands second in World Cup
The Iranian women's archery team claimed the silver medal of the women compound section at the 2011 FITA Archery World Cup in Antalya, Turkey, the English language Iran Daily reported on Tuesday.
The Iranian archers lost the final to the United States 221-231 on Sunday to stand second in the second stage of the FITA Archery World Cup, said the report.
The two teams had already met three times, with Iran only winning one of the encounters.
Another Iranian archer in the competition Amir Kazempour also clinched the silver medal in the men's individual compound section, according to the daily.
Kuwaiti Woman Sentenced to Death for Jahra Wedding Fire that Killed 57
Kuwait's supreme court on Sunday upheld a woman's death sentence for setting ablaze her husband's wedding tent, killing 57 women and children.
Nasra Yussef Mohammed al-Enezi, 24, was condemned to death by a lower and appeals courts for the apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.
The ruling against Enezi is final unless the emir commutes the sentence to a life term. Death sentences in the oil-rich Gulf state are carried out by hanging.
Enezi, who has two mentally-ill children from her husband, denied the charges throughout the trial and her defence lawyers argued there was no material evidence to convict her.
The August 15, 2009 inferno engulfed the women-and-children-only tent in minutes and triggered a stampede. The final death toll was 57, including Saudis and stateless Arabs.
If Enezi is hanged, she would be the first Kuwaiti woman to be executed in the Gulf state's history. Three foreign women have been hanged.
Kuwait has executed a total of 72 people since it introduced the death penalty some four decades ago. Most of those condemned have been convicted murderers or drug traffickers.
The last execution in the emirate dates back to mid-2007 although dozens of convicts are on death row.
Sunday 12 June 2011
Dubai-based women get Pak achievement awards
The Pakistan Professionals Wing-Dubai (a wing of Pakistan Association Dubai) presented the ‘Pakistani Women Achievements Awards’ to two UAE-based outstanding Pakistani Women who excelled globally.
Namira Salim is an artist and adventurer, who became the first Pakistani woman to go for polar expeditions and was awarded ‘Tamgha-i-Imtiaz’ by the President of Pakistan.
The second woman, Amna Ehtesham Khaishgi is the author and director of a short film called Leap of Faithwhich was widely appreciated at the Cannes Film Festival 2011 and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival 2010. The film was also shortlisted among the best documentaries.
The awards were given away by Tariq Iqbal Soomro, Consul General of Pakistan, along with Munir Mahmood, Chairman of the Pakistan Professional Wing–Dubai, at a special ceremony in Dubai on Saturday. “The recognition provided to the two ladies is an excellent step taken by PPW for the positive image of the country especially in the UAE,” Soomro said. He also appreciated PPW for their remarkable contribution towards education and social welfare.
Namira is known to most as the first female to go to space from South Asia and the Middle East, aboard Sir Richard Branson’s virgin Galactic. Namira is the first Pakistani and female from the UAE to reach the North Pole in 2007 and the South Pole in 2008. She was also the first Asian and female from the UAE to have skydived from above Mount Everest, the third pole of the world.
Amna is a documentary film maker based in the UAE. She has worked with several news channels and production houses and has produced documentaries on diverse human, social, political and business issues for several international channels. She has about 10 years of experience in the television industry, which includes six years as broadcast journalist and producer/director.
Uzbek woman gets successful treatment for breast cancer in Israel
Zubaida Hamidova, one of the participants of "Campaign 14", a fundraising auction to support women with breast cancer held as part of "Style.Uz" Art Week last year, has returned to Uzbekistan after a successful treatment for breast cancer in Israel.
Hamidova spent 10 days in Haifa and Jerusalem where she underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy procedures and a surgery. The project was organized by "In the Name of Life" National Breast Cancer Association and the Women's Council with support from Tashkent's Andromed&Horev Clinic and Israel's Horev Clinic.
Zubaida Hamidova, 49, Andijan region: "Health is the most invaluable asset people have. When you are ill, everything around you looks bleak and meaningless. I had breast cancer and doctors told me I had to have a surgery to remove my breast. I couldn't even imagine that… I suffered from breast cancer for three years, but I was saved by Campaign 14, which was launched at Gulnara Karimova's initiative."
"It is thanks to her that I had an unparalleled opportunity to go to Israel for treatment. I had chemotherapy sessions there and was operated on by high-caliber specialists. I thought my breast would be amputated. But after I regained consciousness after the surgery I saw that nothing was cut off. After the surgery my life was filled with colors. I now have new dreams, new desires, new plans and new hopes."
"I am very fortunate that I was selected for the surgery out of hundreds of other women. Someone who is able to revive someone's love for life has a big heart. I know that Gulnara Karimova is a very kindhearted and cordial person. I am proud that I was born in this country where so many noble people live. I wish her every success in her activities."
The idea for organizing "Campaign 14" stemmed from a series of projects to support women with breast cancer. The campaign organizers selected one woman from each of the 12 regions of Uzbekistan, the city of Tashkent and the Republic of Karakalpakstan and decided to organize a fundraising campaign to support the women.
It is these 14 women who benefitted from the Campaign which saw women across Uzbekistan participate in breast cancer prevention and detection campaigns free of charge. In selecting women, the organizers considered the participants' medical data and financial status with the aim of helping those who could not afford treatment.
Also, preference was given to mothers growing their children single-handedly, mothers with many children and fertile-age women. Eight lots – decorations, accessories and items by famous Uzbek designers – went under the hammer at the auction organized as part of the Campaign.
"In the Name of Life" National Breast Cancer Association is dedicated to broadening opportunities for prevention, early detection and treatment of breast cancer and other cancerous diseases affecting the female reproductive system by bringing together specialists and the public. The Association also works to improve medico-social and psychological support of women living with breast cancer.
Since its inception, the Association has organized a series of major events. Around 38,000 people have participated in the fundraising marathons overseen by the Association. The proceeds from the marathons have gone toward the purchase of medicine and organization of early detection campaigns.
Through its projects the Association has provided 132 women with 778 million soums worth of costly medication, and over 8,000 women across Uzbekistan have been examined during diagnostic campaigns backed by the Association.
Also, breast care units have been set up in clinics in the regions, where patients can consult breast care specialists and psychologists. The Association organizes master classes involving international specialists on breast care, gynecology and psychology for local professionals.
Libya woman walk at refugee camp during sand storm
Libyan refugees who fled unrest in Libya walk at refugee camp during sand storm near southern Libyan and Tunisian border crossing of Dehiba
Bahrain woman jailed for reciting anti-govt poems
A special security court has given a one-year prison sentence to a 20-year-old woman who recited poems critical of Bahrain’s rulers, the state news agency reported.
Ayat al-Qurmezi is the first woman to be sentenced by the tribunal set up as part of a wide-ranging crackdown on Shiite-led protesters demanding greater rights from Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy.
The official Bahrain News Agency said Ms al-Qurmezi was convicted today of charges including inciting hatred. She can appeal. She read the poems critical of Bahrain’s king and prime minister after demonstrations broke out in February.
Death upheld for Kuwaiti woman for wedding carnage
Kuwait’s Supreme Court Sunday upheld a woman’s death sentence for setting ablaze her husband’s wedding tent, killing 57 women and children.
Nasra Yussef Mohammed Al-Enezi, 24, was condemned to death by a lower and appeals courts for the apparent act of revenge against her husband for taking a second wife.
The ruling against Enezi is final unless the emir commutes the sentence to a life term. Death sentences in the Gulf state are carried out by hanging.
Enezi, who has two mentally-ill children from her husband, denied the charges throughout the trial and her defense lawyers argued there was no material evidence to convict her.
The Aug. 15, 2009 inferno engulfed the women-and-children-only tent in minutes and triggered a stampede. The final death toll was 57, including Saudis and stateless Arabs.
If Enezi is hanged, she would be the first Kuwaiti woman to be executed in the Gulf state’s history. Three foreign women have been hanged.
Kuwait has executed a total of 72 people since it introduced the death penalty some four decades ago. Most of those condemned have been convicted murderers or drug traffickers.
The last execution in the emirate dates back to mid-2007 although dozens of convicts are on death row.
India arrests 23 over murder of alleged witches
Indian police have arrested 23 people over the killing of 11 men and women for alleged witchcraft. The murder took place in Assam state in April, when seven women and four men were killed by fellow villagers after they were suspected of practicing sorcery and thus causing death and disease in the area. Police said Thursday they were keep searching for those behind the killing. Such crimes have taken place in Assam before, with those suspected of witchcraft frequently killed in cold blood by fellow villagers.
Saudi Arabia: woman falls from seventh floor window
Saudi Arabia: woman falls from seventh floor window
In Saudi Arabia gave a woman in her twenties, the same from the fourth floor in one of the buildings of Medina and committed suicide after he left her children accepted.
According to information, a woman who holds American citizenship fell from the top floor of the car and the paramedics arrived and the security authorities to the place.
And show that the woman uttered a breath of serious wounds to her body is transferred to a hospital supporters and then to the General Hospital.
He informed the police spokesman Colonel Fahad Medina Ghannam, that the security authorities received a tip from the hospital about the arrival of a woman's body in the second decade after falling from a window on the fourth floor
Shows that the initial interrogation of late that she was staying with her mother in the same building have been complaining of neurological and psychological disorders.
The spokesman said a police team of investigators and forensic officers and the forensic doctor and a representative from the Bureau of Investigation and prosecutors arrived at the scene to conduct the inspection and investigation.
To the brother of the late Roy, details the last minute and say that it has entered into a room and led the evening prayer
And soon entered in a state of hysterical screaming like a hit and then took her young child and the intervention of all family members to rid the small of her mother's grip and
Then calmed down a bit and asked her children and accepted and then dropped out of the window itself.
Dubai Police Air Wing rescues Emirati woman in Fujairah
DUBAI The Air Wing of the Dubai Police has rescued a 55-year-old UAE national woman, who broke her leg while collecting honey in Fujairah.
Pilot Brigadier Anas Al Matroushi, Deputy Director of Rescue and Transportation of the Dubai Police Operation Room, said that police teams of the Dubai Police Air Wing succeeded to rescue the woman who was unable to move after her leg was broken in Wadi Al Munai in Al Fujairah area. He said the Operation Room of the Dubai Police received a call on Tuesday that the woman called her family and told them that she fell on the ground and she could not move, but she was in stable condition.
A team of the air wing rushed to the site, but found difficulty in landing on the rocky area where she was lying. So the police used a ladder and one of the policemen got down and carefully lifted the woman, who could not move, and took her to the plane.
Al Matroushi said that the police professional managed to lift the woman to the plane and provided her with first aid before referring her to the hospital for medical treatment.
He said that the Air Wing of the Dubai Police had conducted 1,024 missions in 2010, including the rescue of people who were injured in traffic accidents and transporting people to hospitals in 171 emergency cases.
He said that they conducted 74 training missions, 332 day tours and 240 night tours in 2010.
During the last five months, the department conducted 86 missions for transporting patients and injured people, and conducted 103 day tours and 66 night tours in addition to 75 various operations and training of the staff. He said that the Air Wing also intervened and rescued a man, who was injured in a traffic accident on Dubai – Al Ain Road on Tuesday.
A vehicle driven by an AGCC national hit an Asian while he was trying to cross the road to meet his friend who told him not to cross the road on the highway from non-designated area. But, he did not listen.
He said that the man, who was in critical condition, was transported to the hospital by the rescue team.
Al Matroushi called on the public not to gather around in accident scenes as the Air Wing and rescue teams faced difficulties in landing due to people, who stopped their cars to watch the accidents.
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