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. 

China and India Uplift Millions from Slums as U.S. Inequality Grows

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

pakistan women brothel

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.

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. 

ORISSA, INDIA -Old village women thresh rice to remove chaff

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.

Women in India today

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.

FIFA Bans Iran Women's Soccer Team for Headscarves

Iran is out. Of the 2012 Olympics. For women’s soccer. But here’s why you should care:

The decision was made by FIFA based on the necessity for the athletes on the team to wear headscarves during play. The international governing body of soccer took a break from its in-fighting to make the decision on Friday, just before the Olympic qualifying game between Iran and Jordan.

FIFA does not allow players to wear fabrics that cover the ears or neck (clearly scarves are OK for fans) and states that “players and officials shall not display political, religious, commercial or personal messages or slogans in any language or form on their playing or team kits.”

The rule is, in effect, not incredibly different from the NBA, where players who have personal or offensive messages tattooed onto their bodies, must cover those areas before play. Difference is, obviously, the NBA allows religious (Christian) symbols (crosses).

The Iranian team claims they changed the team uniforms last year after a different sartorial ban was handed down by FIFA, and thinks they should be allowed to play. But, if that similar regulation was “don’t wear headscarves” apparently something was lost in translation. 

FIFA says their ruling was for safety reasons. No, not for the danger of the players overheating, but for fear that the Muslim costuming would incite violence at international soccer matches – or, we suppose, more violence than usual. 

Is that a reasonable measure for FIFA to take? If the organization is genuinely looking out for the safety of a larger number of people, is that reason enough to prevent a group of athletes who have been training years for a single event from participating in that event .