Hollande and Julie Gayet 'affair going for two years'

Mr Hollande is said to have had an affair with Julie Gayet (l) although his official partner is Valerie Trierweiler

17/01/2014

The French gossip magazine Closer has published claims President Francois Hollande has been having an affair with actress Julie Gayet for two years.

It also printed more details of the alleged romance, which it says began during the 2012 presidential race.
Ms Gayet has announced she is suing Closer for breach of privacy.
Mr Hollande's official partner, Valerie Trierweiler, remains in hospital, where she was admitted after learning of the alleged affair a week ago.
'Turbulent romance' In its latest revelations, Closer said the French president used a second apartment in the west of Paris to meet the 41-year-old actress.
It is claimed the pair snatched weekends together in the south of France, and that Mr Hollande made excuses to avoid a holiday in Greece last year with Ms Trierweiler, so he could travel instead to his Correze constituency with Ms Gayet.
The magazine said the president and Ms Gayet had been having a "turbulent romance" for two years - during and after Mr Hollande's election campaign.
The magazine did not publish any further photos despite earlier reports that it would.
Ms Gayet is seeking 50,000 euros (£41,000; $68,000) in damages and 4,000 euros in legal costs from the magazine.
If she wins, Closer will have to publish the legal verdict on its cover page, AFP reports.
Mr Hollande decided not to take legal action after first threatening to.
Flowers and chocolates Ms Trierweiler - seemingly still keen to defend Mr Hollande's character - is said to have defended him following reports he had not visited her in hospital.
She phoned a journalist on Thursday to explain it was her doctors who had asked Mr Hollande not to attend, says the BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris.
She said she is still too weak to stand - and that the president has sent flowers and chocolates in his absence, our correspondent adds.
In response to the reports, a source at the Elysee Palace said Mr Hollande was "not unhappy" about the hospital forbidding him to visit.
Meanwhile, French magazine Le Point has quoted a friend of Ms Trierweiler saying she had not tried to commit suicide but had taken "one pill too many".
Mr Hollande, 59, told reporters on Tuesday he was experiencing a "difficult moment" in his private life but refused to answer questions over the report in Closer, saying "private matters should be dealt with privately".
Nor would he clarify whether Ms Trierweiler, 48, was still first lady before a February trip to the US.
Closer published a seven-page report on the alleged affair, which Mr Hollande has not denied, last Friday.
Photos show a man in a crash helmet on a moped, said to be Mr Hollande, visiting an apartment building near the Elysee Palace. Ms Gayet is shown at the building in a separate photo.
Public reaction to the alleged affair has been generally muted in France.

Women and children rescued from privat jail of Balochistan MPA

14/01/2014

BARKHAN: Police and Anti Terrorist Force (ATF) conducted a raid at the private jail of former provincial minister education and member of Balochistan Assembly, Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran on Sunday.

Police said seven people including two women, three children were recovered from the private jail of the former provincial minister.

Six proclaimed absconders were also picked up by ATF and police. Police recovered arms and ammunition from their possession.

Earlier on Sunday, Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran surrendered to police in the aftermath of the registration of the kidnapping case against him in Barkhan Police Station.

Police had registered cases against Khetran, his son and eight others for kidnapping three policemen and snatching weapons from them.

A senior police official who declined to be named told Dawn.com that a team of police comprising personnel of ATF was already dispatched to Barkhan to arrest the Sardar. "Before the arrival of ATF party, Sardar Khetran surrendered before police", he added.

Sardar Abdul Rehman Khetran is the member of Balochistan Assembly and he belongs to Jamiat Ulema Islam (F).

He remained provincial minister for education in the past and several times elected as member of Balochistan Assembly.

The police officer said that Sardar Khetran had subjected the police personnel to torture after kidnapping and snatched weapons from their possession. "We will not spare anyone targeting the police", he said.

However, Sardar Khetran contradicted police allegations and termed the registration of case as politically motivated.

"I am in opposition therefore I am being targeted," he said.

There has been no reaction from his religious party since registration of case against him.

Shahzaib honoured in Mathematics Olympiad in Colombo

13/01/2014

ISLAMABAD: Shahzaib Ali Abbasi 18 has been declared top in the world for mathematics in the Cambridge O level examinations held by the University of Cambridge UK.

He has also achieved regional distinction in O Level in computer studies. His latest achievement is getting the coveted mention in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) 2013 held in Colombia South America and a mention in the Asia Pacific Mathematics Olympiad among other accolades, The Technology Times reported.

Shahzaib is studying for his A levels final from FFC Grammar School Mirpur Mathelo. Shahzaib is not a bookworm. In addition to his studies he makes time for sports. But when it comes to mathematics he is crazy about it so much so that while travelling he keeps a diary and pen ready and keeps solving mathematical problems said Zulfiqar the father of Ali.

Ali said that he has received scholarship offers from King's College London Bath University UK and the University of Hong Kong but he dreams of a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in USA.

It was a moment of pride for us when he was honoured in the mathematics Olympiad in Colombo and was handed the Pakistani flag said Mohammad Usman who teaches mathematics at Shahzaib's school.

 

8-yr-old Thalassaemia patient with rare blood type looking for donor

13/01/2014

KARACHI: Afifa, 8, suffers from an inherited form of anemia caused by faulty synthesis of hemoglobin, which calls for frequent transfusion of fresh blood so that the patient could survive.

Thalassaemia is not at all a rare medical condition, but unfortunately, the type of Afifa’s blood certainly is.

This mum-dad’s little princess, who only wants to live a healthy life, was diagnosed with this genetic blood disorder five years back when she was just three. The news had blown the loving parents away, but the worst was yet to come.

“It came as a blow that benumbed us for a while, but then we made up our mind to do whatever we can to keep out child alive and healthy. We knew it’s a lifelong struggle, but we were resolved”, said her father, Wajahat Ayaz.

A tearful Ayaz said when Afifa’s blood type report arrived it got the better of us.

FACT CHECK: H/h, also known as Oh or the Bombay Blood Group, is a rare blood type. This blood phenotype was first discovered in Bombay, now known as Mumbai, in India, by Dr. Y. M. Bhende in 1952.

“We were told that hers is a blood group so rare that its donors could be counted on the fingers of one hand. At first we just broke down, but the next moment collected all the shards of our shattered world to make sure we grew old watching our child grow up, come what may”, Ayaz said further.

FACT CHECK: This very rare phenotype is generally present in about 0.0004% (about 4 per million) of the human population, though in some places such as Mumbai (formerly Bombay) locals can have occurrences in as much as 0.01% (1 in 10,000) of inhabitants and 1 in a million people in Europe. Given that this condition is very rare, any person with this blood group who needs an urgent blood transfusion will probably be unable to get it, as no blood bank would have any in stock.

Ayaz said it is very difficult for anyone to see their child fighting an illness as serious as Thalassaemia, but the power of parenthood saw us through.

According to media reports there were only seven people in Karachi who had this blood type.

"Reaching them was no easy. I ran from pillar to post to get to them", said he.

FACT CHECK: There are only 14 people in Pakistan who have this blood group.

Afifa's was the first case of a Thalassaemia patient with Bombay Blood Group reported in Karachi –we cannot say for sure about more cases.

“The problem with the Bombay Blood Group is that it could not be transfused, even with the O + blood group, which is the universal donor. Blood from a Bombay Blood Group individual only should be transfused to a Bombay Blood Group patient”, he added.

“There are only a few people with the particular blood type in Karachi, and if transfused with any other blood group, the blood cells start to break and results in a severe immune reaction,” he said.

Thalassaemia could prove fatal if enough donors were not available to support the consistent supply of blood to the patient.

He appealed to citizens at large with Bombay Blood Group to step forward to help Afifa lead a healthy life.

"No amount of money can buy even an ounce of Bombay Blood Group, all we need are healthy donors, who we need as urgently as ever as Afifa's blood transfusion is 45 days overdue", said he.

Ayaz further added that there were only two registered donors in the country when his daughter was diagnosed with Thalassaemia in 2008. Fortunately last year, he found another. According to Ayaz three of the Bombay Blood donors fly to Pakistan from the US and Dubai every year to donate.

A health expert said Afifa should undergo a bone marrow transplant before long as her mother could donate it to her, but also warned that the procedure was too risky as Afifa was the only child of her parents.

"The bone-marrow match could be tricky, if it is not 100 percent than the transplant may not help he much", said he.

The average cost of a bone-marrow transplant is around Rs4 million.

Afifa, may you live long, get all the love you deserve, smile all the time, and make the most of this life. We are with you. Aren't we?

What to do if you need Bombay Blood Group? We can definitely start a search for Bombay Blood Group by following these steps.

a) Get all the family members and relatives of the patients tested for the blood group. It’s very likely that one or the other relative has this group.
b) Put up a request for the requirement in the leading newspapers. Please don’t circulate messages and mails as they may end up in the spam folder.
c) Be open to get blood from other cities.
d) The most effective way is visiting all blood banks of the city as well as neighbouring big cities. Usually blood banks have a huge list of donors who had donated in the blood bank till date. Out of this huge list 1 or 2 may be having Bombay blood group.

For the autosomal recessive forms of the disease, both parents must be carriers in order for a child to be affected. If both parents carry a hemoglobinopathy trait, there is a 25 percent risk with each pregnancy for an affected child. Genetic counseling and genetic testing is recommended for families that carry a Thalassemia trait.

All recognise valour of Hangu hero but PTI govt

13/01/2014

PESHAWAR: The 15-year-old Aitezaz Hassan Bangash is a hero. He laid his life on January 6 to save his Hangu schoolmates from falling victim to the devil designs of a suicide bomber.

Young Hassan did something that most of us, perhaps, would not even dare think about when a situation warrants. His parallel to none sacrifice is being eulogised by all except for some.

Foreign and local media has covered his valour with professional aplomb. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has recommended his name to the President for conferment of Sitara-i-Shujaat on him.

Military authorities have also jumped in as well. Army chief sent in a representative to lay a wreath of flowers on the young hero’s last resting place and asked the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary to recommend young Hassan for Sitara-i-Shujaat, ignoring that the same has already been done by the premier.

Senate has passed a resolution, recognising his and the bravery of Sindh police officer Chaudhry Aslam killed in a Karachi bomb blast on Thursday.

Malala Yousufzai, the internationally acclaimed peace and education activist from Swat, has reportedly announced Rs500,000 for Hassan’s family.

On a much larger scale, the young Bangash scion has become a household name. In family living rooms, friends’ gatherings, social networking sites, political conversations, people just can’t fail to recognise his service to humanity and bravery.

Are we missing here something in listing out praise, affection, recognition with which people and institutions have responded to acknowledge the young man’s courage in preferring death over spinelessness?

Yes, we are missing someone that is important because of its constitutional responsibility and moral obligation towards its people. Someone that is also important to directly serve an assurance to the young hero’s family, friends, and the whole of citizenry of Hangu and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reminding them that there is somebody out there to feel their pain, shed tear on their loss, solace them in their difficult time, and stand bravely with them in a time when they need it the most.

The silence with which the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has reacted to the young man’s courage or the carelessness with which it responded to the attack on the school is not so astonishing.

The provincial assembly offered belated prayers (on Friday) for both Hassan and the Sindh police officer. Had it not been the police officer’s tragic death in a violent Taliban attack, the assembly might not have opted to remember the young hero.

One can put this argument across with certain degree of confidence because the assembly did not pay attention to the Hangu school attack in its sittings held between Monday and Friday: the day the attack occurred and the day the prayers were offered.Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and its major coalition partner Jamaat-i-Islami have over the past several months shown the tendency to protest and explode in condemnation only when a militant is killed in a US drone attack. They beat chest on every such occasion and term it a conspiracy to thwart peace prospects.

PTI chairman Imran Khan’s statement following the Sindh police officer’s murder did not come as a surprise either. The party’s stand towards militancy may not be in line with its own election manifesto, but it is consistent with its attempts to avoid confrontation with Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

There is a growing public perception that suggests the PTI leadership is frightened of challenging Taliban over their violence against humanity.

The party supporters might differ with the observation by citing Imran Khan’s recent participation in the polio vaccination campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a reminder of going against Taliban.

However, Mr Khan’s participation in the vaccination campaign would have meant something really bigger if he had chosen to administer the polio vaccination drops to children in Peshawar or Swabi where the ruthless hands gunned down poor vaccinators in the recent. Instead, Mr Khan chose to administer drops to a grandson of his political ideologue Maulana Samiul Haq at a well guarded rural health centre at Akkora Khattak.

Governance requires a little more than rehashing old ideas to formulate forms and project them as a recipe for change. It also requires more than studying different laws to make a new regulation and claim it to be a new initiative. Laws are important. Equally important is the enforcement. Without strict and effective implementation good laws becomes a burden of history.

PTI has promised to ensure good governance. Its election manifesto serves as a sorry reminder of a document that has apparently lost meaning in today’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

PTI’s latest take on peace is well known. Peace cannot be established unless drone strikes are stopped. What if TTP does not agree to peace talks even if the drone strikes are stopped? TTP has already spoken its mind: its struggle is for the enforcement of Sharia in Pakistan, which means drone strikes are a secondary issue.

We can’t remind Chief Minister Pervez Khattak his role as a protector of the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. But, we can refer to his party’s election manifesto in which it clearly states that “PTI also recognises the scourge of terrorism and its devastating effect on Pakistan and its citizens.” Isn’t Aitezaz a victim of terrorism? Doesn’t he deserve justice? Shouldn’t we arrest the masterminds, who planned the ghastly attack on Hangu’s school?

These are the questions the answers to which are lost deep in PTI-led provincial government’s silence over the consistency with which terrorists have targeted people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since its taking office in June last.

Taliban deny sending girl to attack Afghan police

 
08/01/2014

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which he dismissed as government propaganda. — File Photo

KABUL: The Taliban denied Tuesday that they dispatched a 10-year-old girl to carry out a suicide attack against Afghan police, a day after the girl said her brother wrapped her in an explosives-packed vest but that she refused to blow herself up at a checkpoint in Helmand province.
Border police in the southern Afghan province arrested the girl's father, Abdul Ghfar, and were searching for the brother, a police commander said.
The girl, who was detained Monday and identified herself only as Spozhmai, said her brother is a Taliban commander.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahamdi denied any involvement in the alleged plot, which he dismissed as government propaganda.
''We never do this, especially with girls,'' he said.
Spozhmai spoke to journalists Monday after Afghanistan's Interior Ministry announced her detention and said she was just 10 years old.
Addressing television cameras, she said her brother, named Zahir, told her to approach a checkpoint and ask the deputy commander for a ride with him to neighboring Kunar province.
''I agreed, then he attached the vest on my body and told me to spend the night here and leave in the morning,'' she said.
But after she and her brother spent the night somewhere, she said she had second thoughts. ''I said I won't go, then he took off the vest and tried to convince me that they (police) will die and I will remain alive,'' Spozhmai said.
She said her brother then fled with the vest.
Police said they believed her account.
''The guy named Zahir had the suicide vest and escaped, but she was still there and when our commander of the battalion heard her voice, they surrounded the area and brought this girl to their base, and we all heard her story on how she was forced into this action,'' Col Hamidullah Sediqi said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the Taliban, saying that ''using a child as a suicide bomber is un-Islamic and goes against Afghan culture and beliefs.''
Although the Taliban deny it, human rights groups say the insurgent group has occasionally dispatched children for suicide bombings. But girls have been used only rarely, according to Heather Barr, Afghanistan senior researcher at Human Rights Watch.
''There have been very few documented cases of girls being involved in suicide bomb attacks,'' Barr said.
According to Human Rights Watch, an 8-year-old girl was killed in central Uruzgan province in 2011 when a bag of explosives the Taliban instructed her to carry to a police checkpoint detonated.

16 killed in clash in China's restive Xinjiang region

16/12/2013

Beijing  -- Sixteen people have been killed in violence in China's volatile western region of Xinjiang, state media reported Monday.

Two police officers chasing suspects came under attack late Sunday from people with machetes and explosive devices in Shufu county, near the city of Kashgar, said Tianshan, a news website run by the Xinjiang government.

In the clash that ensued, two police officers died and 14 "gang members" were shot and killed, Tianshan reported. It described what happened as a "terrorist attack."

Police detained two suspects, the report said, and the violence is under further investigation.

Deadly unrest frequently breaks out in Xinjiang, a large, resource-rich region that is home to the Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking, predominantly Muslim ethnic group.

The arrival of waves of Han Chinese people over the decades has fueled tensions with the Uyghurs. Chinese authorities have cracked down heavily on violence involving Uyghurs, deepening resentment.

The Tianshan report Monday didn't specify the ethnicity of the people involved in the clash with police.

The details of violent clashes in Xinjiang often remain murky. Uyghur diaspora groups, like the World Uyghur Congress, have criticized the Chinese government for the lack of transparency over such events.

Xinjiang government officials didn't immediately return calls from CNN seeking further information on Sunday's violence.

Chinese authorities have blamed Uyghurs for a vehicle attack in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in October that killed five people -- including the three in the vehicle -- and wounded 40 others.

Xinjiang's worst violence in decades took place in July 2009, when rioting in the capital, Urumqi, between Uyghurs and Han Chinese killed some 200 people and injured 1,700. That unrest was followed by a crackdown by security forces.

Xinjiang is now home to more than 8 million Han Chinese, up from 220,000 in 1949, and 10 million Uyghurs. The newcomers take most of the new jobs, and unemployment among Uyghurs is high.

They complain of discrimination and harsh treatment by security forces, despite official promises of equal rights and ethnic harmony.

Beijing accuses some Uyghur groups of trying to establish an independent state.

Most tattooed woman wins Guinness World Record

Julia Gnuse, who will be featured in the 2011 Guinness World Records, has spent more than £40,000 covering almost every inch of her 5ft 2 body with an array of brightly coloured tattoos.

From pictures of punk band the Sex Pistols to Disney characters, there’s hardly a slither of flesh that hasn’t been inked. Only her ears and feet remain their natural colour.

With 95 per cent of her skin covered and 400 tattoos in total, Julia has even earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most tattooed woman and the nickname The Illustrated Lady. But she also admits her passion has turned into something of an addiction.

Bizarrely, Julia, 53, started having tattoos in an attempt to hide a rare skin condition, which left her with ugly blisters. Doctors suggested flesh-coloured tattoos would cover the red scars. But when they failed to fully disguise the marks, she opted for traditional-coloured body art instead.

While the tattoos have detracted attention from Julia’s scars, her skin still erupts in painful blisters. But she says her mission has been worth every penny.“My skin still blisters, but I feel happier and my tattoos have made me more confident,” she says. “They cover the scars and enable me to have a better life.

“Now people stare at me because I am a walking canvas, and not because of some ugly blister. I feel more confident. People want to get to know me. They are fascinated by the tattoos.”

The former singer’s love affair with tattoos began when she was 35 and diagnosed with a rare and incurable skin condition known as porphyria. It causes her to blister when exposed to direct sunlight, and makes her very sensitive to certain fabrics as well as chemicals found in washing detergents. 

“I developed it overnight,” says Julia. “It wasn’t just sunlight that affected me. My skin became so sensitive I couldn’t wear a bra as the chafing from the strap caused blisters. They were the size of a 50p piece and I’d sometimes have up to 50 at a time. And they were excruciating. If I knocked a part of my body they’d burst.

“The blisters made me feel unclean and ugly, and living in California, where every other woman is stunning, just made me feel worse. I felt very depressed and unattractive, and stayed indoors all the time. I could have moved somewhere less sunny but I hate cold, dark weather.”A dermatologist suggested to Julia that flesh-coloured tattoos would cover up the scars left by the blisters. Julia followed his advice and, while the needle didn’t irritate her skin or worsen the condition, the tattoos failed to hide the scars. It was then that Julia decided to try colourful designs instead.

She recalls: “I’d always thought tattoos looked tarty, but I was prepared to try it because I hated my scars so much. When I had the first tattoo, a five-inch octopus on my right calf in 1988, I was so scared my hands were shaking. It was painful, but I soon got used to it. And I loved the result so much I decided to have more.”

It was the start of an addiction for Julia, and she began paying almost weekly visits to a tattoo parlour in Los Angeles, California, with each tattoo taking a couple  of hours at a time. 

“I grew to love the feeling of the needle on my body,” she admits. “I was in the tattoo parlour once a week, looking at Julia’s favorite TV actress and comedian Lucille Ball features prominently on her back, while Elizabeth Perkins from the ’60s TV series Bewitched appears on her bottom.Peeking out from Julia’s breast is Bart Simpson, along with US comic Rodney Dangerfield. “Dangerfield can be rude and dirty, so being on my breast was quite appropriate,” she laughs.

“The only places I’ve kept bare are my feet and my eyes because I wanted to keep some places free of tattoos.”

Julia doesn’t work, so has funded her addiction using a generous family trust fund. But she says at first her family were shocked by her decision to get her body covered with tattoos.

“My parents and sister were pretty shocked, but they saw the tattoos as a creative outlet for me,” she says. “They have no worries about me spending the trust fund money on them. It is paid as an allowance and I can do what I want with it.” 

And she insists she’s never encountered any prejudice because of how she looks. “Of course people stare and ask about the tattoos, that’s to be expected,” says Julia. “It’s something I’ve got used to. I don’t consider myself a freak, but a body of art.”

Julia’s currently dating, and says her boyfriend thinks her tattoos are great. “I’ve been with a guy called David for over a year, and we’re very happy. He doesn’t have any tattoos, but he does love the way I look.

“I like men who are interested in me as a person, and not what I look like. Some people will not go out with me because of what I look like, and it does take a strong man to be with me because I do attract attention. They have to be secure in themselves.”

Now Julia’s running out of space for tattoos, but if she does want to get a new design, she just has it over the top of an old one.  But although Julia’s tattoos have helped her deal with the effect of her skin condition, they haven’t cured it. Sunlight still makes her blister, so when she ventures out she wears long-sleeved shirts and jeans and shields her face from the sun with a hat.

Bizarrely, having devoted so much time and money to her body art, Julia has now decided to have the bright blue tattoos on her face toned down.

Using a process known as dermabrasion, a specialist has removed the top layers of skin with a laser and in doing so has lightened the look.

“I just suddenly thought I might look a bit strange when I’m much older with a full face tattoo,” she says. “But I intend to keep the rest. They are my trademark after all – I’ll always be remembered for them.”

designs and deciding what I wanted on my body. I loved being stared at for my tattoos rather than my scars.”

Local Press: Saudi women and smoking

A recent report revealed that the number of smokers in Saudi Arabia has reached more than 6 million.

I find this number very strange, especially in an educated society that realizes the dangers of smoking, whether they are health, social or financial hazards.

What caught my attention in this high number is that out of these 6 million smokers, 1 million are women. This number is big and scary.

Besides the dangers, what is the woman smoker going to tell her children at home when they see her smoking as she is supposed to be a role model for them?

What is the smoking woman teacher going to tell her students at school when they find out that she smokes?

The gentle and beautiful women should not sully their lips with cigarettes. The gentle and beautiful women should not replace the smell of perfume on their bodies with the smell of smoke.

One million women smokers is indeed a dangerous number. The majority of them are young women.

This raises many questions. What are the reasons behind 1 million women smoking in a conservative Saudi society? Is it because of the lack of family supervision? Is it because of unemployment and plenty of free time? Is it because women are working outside home and not paying attention to the kids any more? Is it because women are searching for gender equality? Is it because they would like to imitate actors on TV? Or is it because of the Internet?

There are many questions that need to be answered by experts. This is a dangerous subject and we need a national project to fight smoking. We do not need useless seminars or distribution of brochures. We need to use modern ways to fight smoking.

Woman resumes testimony on Iraq rape allegations

 A woman is set to continue her testimony on the sexual assault she says she suffered in Iraq at the hands of co-workers for Houston-based military contractor KBR Inc.

Monday will be the second day on the witness stand for Jamie Leigh Jones, who began her testimony Thursday in a federal court in Houston.

Jones says she was raped while working for KBR at Camp Hope in Baghdad in 2005. She's asking for unspecified damages from the Houston-based companies, which split in 2007.

She sued KBR, Houston-based former parent Halliburton Co. and a former KBR worker she alleges raped her. All deny Jones' allegations.

The Associated Press usually doesn't identify people alleging sexual assault, but Jones' face and name have been in media reports and on her own website.

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.”

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.

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.

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. 

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.