Dubai Properties Group’s Director Ayesha Al Balooshi receives Emirates Women Award

Ayesha Al Balooshi, Director of Business Excellence and Acting Head of Human Capital at Dubai Properties Group (DPG), a member of Dubai Holding, was awarded the Emirates Women Award (EWA) 2011 in the ‘Strategic and Financial Planning’category. 

Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and CEO of Emirates Group,the event is organized by Dubai Quality Group (DQG).Now in its eighth year, EWArecognises businesswomen for their excellence in various fields. 

The event was attended by His Highness Sheikh Ahmad who is also the ‘Honorary Patron’ of DQG, in addition to the presidents of the ‘Businesswomen Councils’ of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman. 

The honour has been given to Ayesha in recognition of her professional achievements, especially her strategic and financial planning skills that demonstrate her hard work and efficiency.Ayesha has been a key member of the HR team at DPG for the past five yearsproviding critical support in the area of human capital and business excellence. Through her exemplary performanceand achievements,Ayesha has remained a role model for her colleagues at DPG. 

Khalid Al Malik,CEO of DPG, also honoured Ayesha in recognition of her accomplishments with a special award. Al Malik said: “We are keen on fostering personal development of employees andbelieve even more strongly in celebrating their success.” 

DPG pursues a proactiveagenda to recruit, train anddeveloptalented Emirati nationals across all layers of the organization. It also identifies suitable placements for young graduates within its various departments. 

Since its inception, Dubai Properties Group has implemented a series of training, mentoring and coaching programmes to help its UAE national workforce tackle demanding corporate challenges in a rapidly evolving market environment. 

By designing, building and developing landmark communities in prominent locations such as Jumeirah, Mirdif, Business Bay, and DUBAILAND, DPGcontinues to play a pivotal role in shaping the growth and landscape of Dubai.

Taboo-breaking women among Gadhafi's biggest fans

TRIPOLI, Libya - The young woman police officer swaggers through a crumbling Tripoli slum, her dark hair cut boyishly short, an empty gun holster and walkie-talkie hanging from her police belt. A tattooed man with a cigarette dangling from his lips shrinks away.He doesn't want to mess with 25-year-old Nisrine Mansour.A member of the regime's vice squad, her hero is Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. His image is on her cell phone, his face emerging from rays of green - the iconic regime color. Her ring tone is a tinny pro-Gadhafi chant.Gadhafi has bestowed many titles upon himself during his 42-years of iron-fisted rule over Libya, branding himself "King of Kings" in Africa and "Brother Leader of the Revolution" in Libya.Women like Mansour give him another title: emancipator of women."Moammar Gadhafi is the one who opened the opportunities for us to advance. That's why we cling to him, that's why we love him," says Mansour. "He gave us complete freedom as a woman to enter the police force, work as engineers, pilots, judges, lawyers. Anything."Among Gadhafi's most ardent loyalists are a core of Libyan women who have risen to high-profile roles in the police, military and government and credit Gadhafi with giving them greater career avenues than many of their sisters elsewhere in the Arab world. They consider any threat to his regime a threat to their own advancement.Even as Gadhafi's regime has cracked down brutally on dissent, locking up and torturing opponents, it has also long touted its policies of breaking cultural taboos concerning women's work and status in the deeply conservative nation. The most well known example is Gadhafi's personal guard of female bodyguards, but women have also been elevated to prominent positions in government ministries.Gadhafi's policy was in part aimed at weakening traditional tribal and religious powers so he could impose his own vision of society.It was only somewhat successful. Women who have gained prominence are a small minority in an otherwise strongly male-dominated Libya, far from the popular regime myth of a society filled with revolutionary fighting women. And, just as for men, advancement depends on total adherence to Gadhafi's authoritarian rule.Women were also at the forefront of the protests that launched the anti-Gadhafi uprising in mid-February, demanding democracy for the country and - they hope - better rights for themselves. Still, while they have no rosy memories of their lives under Gadhafi, they say their struggle for equality is ongoing. Women activists were dismayed when the rebels appointed only one woman to the interim administration in their de facto capital of Benghazi."We are very disappointed," said Enas Al-Dursy, a 23-year-old activist. "We feel like we are being marginalized."For policewoman Mansour, there is nothing a woman like herself can't aspire to in Gadhafi's Libya."I've never felt that I was treated differently because I'm a woman. Even when I'm picking up drunkards off the street, nobody ever said: 'She can't do that, she's a woman,'" said Mansour, who is charged with cracking down on drug addicts, drunkards and beggars in the slums of Tripoli.A woman hugged her as she patrolled the garbage-strewn alleyways of the Hara Kabira slum in Tripoli's walled old city - once the pretty, brightly painted Jewish quarter, now a crumbling mess of homes filled with impoverished Libyans and African migrant workers. A little girl running by slapped Mansour's hand in greeting.One man with a tatoo on his arm paused at the top of an alley."Troublemaker," Mansour said with a wink. He scurried away.Throughout Gadhafi's Tripoli stronghold, female soldiers - a rare sight in most Arab countries - patrol roadside checkpoints in khaki uniforms and Muslim headscarves. They keep order at gas stations made rowdy by severe shortages that cause days-long lines. Police women sporting large sunglasses cruise by in cars.Senior government officials in coifed hairstyles lunch at an upscale hotel where reporters stay in Tripoli. Gadhafi's daughter, Aisha, is a prominent lawyer.Women are also involved in Gadhafi's mechanism of oppression against his opponents. Women run their own interrogation center for suspected female anti-Gadhafi activists, according to a resident who said she was hauled into one in May.One of the most hated figures among the Libyan rebels seeking to overthrow Gadhafi is a woman - the former Gadhafi-appointed mayor of Benghazi, Huda Ben Amer, known as "the executioner." During a public hanging of a regime opponent in 1984, Ben Amer pulled down on the man's legs so he would die faster.Early on, Gadhafi created a cadre of female bodyguards - glamorously made-up women in form-fitting military-style uniforms and high-heeled boots known as "amazons." He pointed to them as evidence of his commitment to promoting nontraditional roles for women.Other hard-core supporters are known as Gadhafi's "nuns of the revolution," mostly women who came of age during the early years of Gadhafi's rule in the 1970s and devote themselves to his regime. Now in their 50s and 60s, many run ministerial departments.About 27 percent of Libya's labor force were women in 2006 - low by world standards but high for the Arab world. Only Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia had higher rates, and the increase in women's participation in Libya over the past 20 years was by far the highest in the region, rising from 14 percent in 1986, according to the U.N.'s International Labor Organization."In part to boost its legitimacy, the regime promoted a more open, expansive, and inclusive role for women," said Ronald Bruce St John, who has written five books on Gadhafi's Libya.Lisa Anderson, a Libya expert and president of the American University in Cairo, agreed, noting that when Gadhafi seized power in 1969, few women went to university. Now more than half of Libya's university students are women."One of the career paths that opened up for women in the past 30 years is the police, but general access to employment, education and the public sphere - as much as there is one for women - dramatically increased under Gadhafi," she said.In her studio in an upscale Tripoli suburb, 25-year-old Radia al-Bodi, a television anchor for Libyan state TV, said women like herself would fight to defend Gadhafi's regime because of the promise it offered women."This is all because of Father Moammar," said Ibtisam Saadeddin, a 35-year-old soldier who wore gold-edged pins of a smiling Gadhafi on her khaki uniform and headscarf. "He is our air and sustenance. We can't be without him."

New French Open champion creates tennis history

China's Li Na holds the trophy after winning over Italy's Francesca Schiavone during their Women's final in the French Open tennis championship at the Roland Garros stadium

Pakistan celebrates Independence Day

Pakistani girls, their faces painted in the colours of the national flag, join in celebrations for the country\'s Independence Day in Karachi,

India celebrates Independence Day

ndian vendors look on as they sell Indian national flags and lapel pins to passing motorists and commuters on a street in Bangalore,

Saudi Arabia: Advisory Council Urges Vote for Women

The advisory Shura Council said Monday that women should be allowed to vote and run as candidates in future municipal elections. Saudi authorities announced in March that half the seats in municipal councils would be elected in the future, but they ruled out female candidates or voters. The council said the government “should take the necessary measures to include female voters in municipal elections, in accordance with Islamic Sharia.” A council spokesman said the recommendation “has nothing to do with the current elections but is rather a recommendation for future elections.”

Minister Safar dismissed us from Qurain: Kuwaiti women

KUWAIT: A number of Kuwaiti women who are small investors within the Qurain Markets appealed to His Highness the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah to interfere and serve justice to them after the Minister of Municipality Affairs Dr. Fadhil Safar issued a decision to evacuate the shops and transfer them from shops allocated for commercial purposes to shops allocated for craftsmen. They threatened to go the Prime Minister's office to file a complaint against Safar. This came during a meeting held by small number of female investors on Sunday in the presence of female activist Najlaa Al-Niqi, lawyer Laila Al-Rashid, female activist Latifa Razihan and female investor Mona Al-Zayer and dozens of other women who were keen on attending the meeting in order to appeal to the political leadership to protect their rights. Fatma Al-Ali said that their appeal is within the framework of law, adding that they have the documents which support their claims. For her part, Razihan said that she is facing troubles because of the minister's decision. She added that she possesses documents from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Municipality which prove that she owns four shops in Qurain Markets. Razihan highlighted that a large number of male and female investors lost money and are deprived from their basic rights and called on Minister Safar to apply the law on other places where the law is not applied because of influential people. Lawyer Al-Rashid said that Kuwaiti women have got their political rights but they are still demanding their civil, social and economic rights. She added that the government should encourage them instead of confronting them. She added that women in Kuwait are the victims of bureaucracy and improper laws. Addressing Minister Safar, Al-Rashid said, "Don't you know about the procedures followed by the investors? Didn't you read the newspapers or watch the ads? Didn't you see the licenses of the shops?" She added, "There is no power that can deprive Kuwaiti citizens from practicing their legitimate rights". Al-Zayer wondered, "Is it a crime to run small investments to earn our living?" She said that she invested in Qurain Markets after she saw the ads in newspapers and streets urging the citizens to invest in the markets. She said that she had a license and renewed it. Al-Niqi spoke about the tragedy of Kuwaiti women who were victims of improper decisions by the Municipality. She appealed to the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser to stand with Kuwaiti women.

Woman to sue for UAE adultery jailing

A BRISBANE woman imprisoned for adultery in the United Arab Emirates can sue the commonwealth for not telling her a rape claim could land her in jail.

Alicia Gali, 29, spent eight months in a UAE prison for adultery and drinking without a permit before being pardoned in March 2009.

Ms Gali says she was drugged and raped by three or four male employees at the Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort, Fujairah, where she worked as a salon manager.

She has already been given leave to pursue action against the resort.

Her legal team Maurice Blackburn filed a claim in the Brisbane Supreme Court to seek leave to sue the Australian government for an oversight by a consular official, which was granted today.

Ms Gali alleges she was not told she could be charged with adultery if she made a rape complaint against married men.

Maurice Blackburn principal Michelle James said there were strong grounds for examining the role of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in dealing with Ms Gali's case.

"Over the past few months further information has come to light about what embassy staff did and did not do," she said.

"The embassy's deficient advice led to Ms Gali spending a hellish eight months in prison."

Ms James told reporters in Brisbane today that the failure to provide consular advice directly led to Ms Gali being jailed when she reported her rape to police.

"She should have been told, as a bare minimum, of the local laws that apply in the UAE," she said.

"We say no advice was given at all.

"Alicia was merely told that she should reconsider her need to be in the country at that time, but the embassy was fully aware that Alicia's employer was illegally holding her passport. They didn't assist her to have the passport returned. They didn't advise her to seek local legal representation."

Maurice Blackburn is still pursuing a claim against her employer Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujairah, which is part of the international Starwood Group of hotels.

In her suit against the resort and its owners, Ms Gali alleges the hotel failed to protect staff against assault and the legal consequences of reporting the assault.

Both cases are going through pre-court procedures, Ms James said.

She also says the resort encouraged workers to drink illegally at its staff bar, despite strict laws and the requirement of drinking permits.

"I thought I would be safe and protected in an international hotel group," she said in a statement in March.

Earlier this year, Starwood Group spokesman Trey Sarten said in a statement the "safety and security of staff is a paramount priority".

"The management of Le Meridien Al Aqah is aware of the unfortunate circumstances that occurred in June 2008 concerning Alicia Gali, a former employee of the hotel."

Comment was being sought from the department.

Iran: FIFA ban on Islamic outfits for women "insult to all Muslims"

Iran said Monday that the decision by FIFA, the international football body, to ban the Iranian women's football team from playing a 2012 Olympics qualifier in Jordan because of the players' Islamic outfits was an "insult to all Muslims", dpa reported.

"The FIFA decision was an insult to all Muslims whose only aim was to show their (religious) belief in sports arenas," Farideh Shojaei, the deputy of Iran's football federation, told Mehr news agency.

FIFA cancelled Friday's game in Amman and declared Jordan 3-0 winners after the Iranian authorities refused to have their players remove their headscarves and track suits.Iran has filed an official complaint against and aims to expose the issue as a political plot.

"FIFA which considers itself as a democratic international organization should explain about this discrimination," Shojaei said.

Women in Iran are obliged to respect the hijab - Islamic dress code - and wear a long gown and scarf to conceal body contours and hair in public.

FIFA on Monday rejected the Iranian protest and said that Iran had been informed in advance that the Hijab would not be allowed for security reasons and that the decision by the Bahraini FIFA observer to cancel the game was in line with its laws and regulations.

Social site commentators critical of abused Libyan woman

DOHA: Comments keep pouring in on Qatari social networking sites on the ‘deportation’ of Iman Al Obeidi, the Libyan woman who was gang-raped by pro-government militiamen in her country and offered a temporary stay in Doha.

Commentators have mostly been critical of Al Obeidi, with most suggesting that she might have been ‘sent back’ after it was realised by the Qatari authorities that she was a ‘spy’ of the Muammar Gaddafi regime.

Some say they suspect foul play as the US has been ‘harping’ so much on her ‘deportation’ issue despite the fact that more than 700 Libyan women have been gang-raped by pro-government militiamen.

Interestingly, this newspaper spoke to some Libyan expatriates as well and most of them said they were not convinced that Al Obeidi was deported by Doha. “Why should Qatar bring someone as oppressed as a raped woman to provide help and solace and then deport her,” was how one Libyan who didn’t want his name in print said.

Others echoed similar sentiments and said it looked highly unlikely that Al Obeidi might have been deported.

Qatari commentators are more or less of the same view and said they thought Al Obeidi was telling lies and that her credentials were suspect. “It was clear that Al Obeidi was an agent of the Gaddafi regime, or she wouldn’t have been able to leave Libya so easily and land here to narrate the tale of her rape,” said one commentator.

Another suggested: “It seems that the Qatari authorities realized that she was a spy of Gaddafi and that’s why her camera, mobile phone handset and laptop were seized.”

UAE hotel rape claim woman to sue Australian gov't

The Australian woman who was jailed in Dubai for adultery after she was allegedly drugged and raped plans to sue the Australian Government as well as the Le Méridien Al Aqah Beach Resort in Fujairah where she worked.

Alicia Gali, 29, claims she was drugged and sexually assaulted by four co-workers at the hotel in June 2008.

She has already been granted leave to sue the resort and will tomorrow seek leave to sue the Commonwealth in the Brisbane Supreme Court.

Gali claims she contacted an Australian consular official for advice over whether to report the incident or go to hospital.

She claims the officer warned her she could face a life sentence if drugs were found in her system, but did not tell her a complaint of rape could see her charged for adultery.

"I thought I would be safe and protected in an international hotel group," she said in a statement.

"They didn't give me the correct advice and didn't help me when I was charged and imprisoned."

When Gali reported the alleged incident she was jailed on an adultery charge and spent eight months in prison.

The former beauty salon manager at the resort was later pardoned and released in March 2009.

A spokesman for the international group Starwood Hotels, which owns the resort, said the management of Le Méridien Al Aqah “is aware of the unfortunate circumstances that occurred in June 2008 concerning Alicia Gali”

“The matter was investigated thoroughly by local United Arab Emirates authorities at that time. Upon completion of the investigation, and after obtaining statements from Ms. Gali as well as other hotel staff and third parties, the local authorities applied local laws and determined that it was appropriate to incarcerate Ms. Gali and the other individuals involved in this matter,” he said.

“The hotel management provided support and assistance to Ms. Gali and her family throughout this time including assisting with medical support, arranging for financial support, assistance with the investigation, liaising with her representative embassy and arranging for her family to come to the UAE from Australia. The safety and security of staff is a paramount priority.”

Saudi King restricts lingerie shop work to women

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has issued a decree limiting work in lingerie shops to Saudi women only in a bid to reduce high female unemployment in the Kingdom, state media reported.

SPA news agency said the king also made employment at certain industrial facilities, including drug manufacturers, exclusive to Saudi women, and backed a programme to encourage production by families.

The issue of Saudi women working in lingerie shops was at the centre of a row three years ago between the labour ministry and the powerful religious authority which issued a fatwa banning such jobs.

Saudi women have long complained they feel uncomfortable having to buy lingerie from men and would prefer female sales assistants.

Fatima Garub, the founder of a campaign on social networking website Facebook called “Enough Embarrassment”, welcomed the King’s decision, saying it would create about 6,000 jobs for Saudi women.

“From now, embarrassment will end. We thank the king who felt our problem and took the decision that we have been waiting for a long time,” said Garub.

The decree gave the ministries of interior and labour one month to implement the decision.

Zardari may pardon condemned Christian woman

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s president may pardon a Christian woman facing a death sentence for blasphemy against Islam, officials said Saturday, as the mother of four tearfully denied the charge in interviews.

The case of Asia Bibi has  appeals from Pope Benedict XVI and human rights groups to free her. She was sentenced to death earlier this month.

Bibi appeared in a televised interview at her prison Saturday, protesting her innocence to reporters and maintaining the case stemmed from a personal dispute.

“It was just the outcome of a rivalry. I would never even think of blasphemy,” she said weeping. “I have small children. For God’s sake, please set me free.”

The verdict has drawn attention to Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, which critics say are used to persecute Christian and other minorities and fan extremism. They are also often exploited to settle personal scores.

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s minister for minority affairs, said Saturday that President Asif Ali Zardari has asked for a report on the case and has the power to pardon Bibi.

“The president has taken notice of this case … he is concerned on this issue,” Bhatti said, adding that Zardari has the power to pardon her even ahead of the court appeal.

Gov. Salman Taseer of Punjab province, where Bibi is held, told reporters in a televised conference he believes Zardari will soon pardon her.

“I am going to take this petition to president and he will forgive her,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL PRESSURE

International human rights advocate Amnesty International has joined calls for the release of Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi who has been sentenced to death under the country’s blasphemy laws.

Amnesty International on Friday also called on Pakistan to revise the law under which  Bibi was convicted this month.

The case stems from a dispute between Bibi and a group of Muslim women over the use of a water bowl. The other women accused her of making derogatory remarks against the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). She has been in prison for one-and-a-half years and her case has been appealed. -Agencies

World's Ugliest Woman World Records by Anne Woods – Weird

A BRITISH world champion GURNER has finally had her feat officially recognised by Guinness World Records for World’s Ugliest Woman.

Anne Woods was accepted into the record books after winning the world title 27 times. The contesttakes place in her hometown of Egremont, Cumbria, at its regular Crab Fair.

And after her latest success in September, her daughter Brenda Hoey applied to have her included in the prestigious tome.

Judges have now confirmed Anne, 62 – who performs to the sound of Babybird’s hit You’re Gorgeous – will appear in the next edition of the book alongside fellow Cumbrian Tommy Mattinson, who has won the men’s title eleven times.

Anne said: “It feels so great to have been accepted. It’s not before time – I’ve won it 27 times.

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“I haven’t decided yet if I will carry on with gurning. It’s a possibility I might retire.

“I don’t think my record will be beaten though.”

Anne started gurning when she was 30 — but it was not her choice.

Daughter Brenda said: “My brothers Brian and Robert entered her for a laugh and she just went up on stage and did it – and she won.”

That was in 1977 and 33 years later Anne is still contorting her famous face.

Drama hit this year’s competition when Anne collapsed and was rushed to hospital after leaving the stage.

Brenda added: “I think this year gave her a bit of a shock, but she’s known for gurning and that’s what she’ll do.

“It’s a big part of her life.”

Anne has only missed the competition once and that was because she was heavily pregnant.

The following year she was back up on stage to reclaim her crown — just two weeks after giving birth to Brenda.

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Women’s Day?

Iran to complain FIFA over banning of women's team for hijab

Tehran Iran will file a complaint against the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) official, who banned the country's women football team from playing in an Olympics qualifier match, over their hijab.

 

According to the English language satellite Press TV, a FIFA official had banned the Iranian women's national soccer team from playing against Jordan in the second round of the qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympic Games as the entire team was wearing hijab."We have already held talks with the president of the FIFA about the participation of Iranian women in matches with full Islamic hijab. Unfortunately, however, I do not know why the official in charge of the matches refused to let our team play. Therefore, we will file a complaint to FIFA against the official in charge of the games," the Xinhua quoted the Iranian Football Federation Chief, Ali Kaffashian, as saying.

 

  

Libyan woman who claimed rape leaves to US

BENGHAZI, Libya — A relative says a Libyan woman who claimed she was raped by Gadhafi troops says she has left Libya on her way to the United States.

Marwa al-Obeidi says her sister Iman was flown out of Benghazi early Sunday morning.

The sister told The Associated Press that a human rights group aided by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton arranged for Iman and their father to travel in a private plane to the US by way of Malta and Austria.

In March, Iman al-Obeidi burst into a hotel in the Libyan capital of Tripoli where foreign journalists were staying to tell her story of being gang raped by Gadhafi militiamen.

Several days ago she was suddenly deported from Qatar, where she was seeking asylum. She was flown to Benghazi, the de facto capital of Libya's rebels.