We Need Muslim Women to Unite With Us in the Fight against Terror
New Age Islam News Bureau
4
Oct 2014
Nasir Ahmadzai, press officer for the Afghan Premier League, said the match was a symbol of progress for women
• Floral
Designs Are In As Muslim Women Shop For Hijab Fashions
• Better
Education and Girls' Rights in Pakistan Start Now
• ABVP to
Launch Campaign against 'Love Jihad' In Delhi University
• Hundreds
of Young Women from the West Leaving Home to Join IS Fighters
• 'Facial
Coverings' Restricted In Australian Parliament House Public Galleries
• 1,497
Breast Cancer Cases in Saudi Kingdom Reported In a Single Year
• World
First: Woman Has Baby after Womb Transplant
• ‘5% of Saudis of Both Sexes Reluctant To Get Married’
• Yusra
Hussien Hunt: Police Fear for Girls' Safety after Jihad Dating Website Claims
• Big
Hopes for Afghan Women's Football
• Iranian
Women Aim High In Combative Sport Kabaddi
Compiled by New Age Islam News Bureau
-----------
We Need
Muslim Women to Unite With Us in the Fight against Terror
4
October 2014
AUSTRALIA
is home to 476,000 Muslims and of those 227,000 are women and girls.
These
women, like many other communities, contribute to Australia’s cultural and
religious diversity, which is a source of social and economic strength, and a
key part of Australian life.
Their
importance, even though they represent a very small number of Australian women,
should not be underestimated.
This is
why the debate about the Burqa is not only unfortunate but threatens to
alienate the very people who we need to help keep us safe. This is why it is imperative
we maintain a calm and reasoned debate at this critical time.
The
debate about what women wear has become a distraction; the real issue is how we
best protect ourselves from potential terror threats in Australia.
It
threatens to polarise us at the very time we need to be united, calm and
reasonable. We cannot allow the Burqa to become the public embodiment of
people’s fear of terrorism. What you do not know, you fear; and what you fear,
you isolate.
Having
extensively consulted with the Muslim communities — and most recently in
relation to the security legislation — I know that they are at the heart of the
protection of our national security. Many have already played a pivotal role in
keeping our country safe from terrorists by alerting authorities to disaffected
young people who may leave our shores to fight.
They
include the wives, the mothers, the girlfriends and the aunts who are at the
forefront of the country in stopping young people from travelling overseas to
fight or to become radicalised.
Muslim
women of Australia may represent a very small percentage of an Australia that
is home to many faiths and cultures, but they are now united with us in the
fight against terrorism.
Freedom
is at the heart of our Australian values.
It is a
fundamental value that all Australians are free to choose their religion.
They are
entitled to express and practise their religion and beliefs, without
intimidation or interference, as long as those practices are within the
framework of the Australian law. Similarly the freedom of Australian women is
one of our values. This includes the freedom of people to express their
religion or culture through their choice of clothing.
BURQA
DEBATE: Western feminists fail to see free choice
It is
always regrettable that women, especially Muslim women, are criticised or
attacked for what they choose to wear. We are a free society and it is not the
business of government to tell people what they should and should not wear.
However, in heightened security environments, identification can be important
for all Australians.
I
welcome the Prime Minister’s request that parliament’s presiding officers
reconsider their interim decision on arrangements for people wearing facial
coverings in the public gallery.
Other
governments have dealt with this. In 2011, the NSW government with the support
of Australian Muslims was able to work collaboratively to ensure laws were
enforced, at the same time affirming religious freedom for women who chose to
cover their faces.
The NSW
Ombudsman report last year reviewed the new police powers and confirmed they
were working well to ensure laws were enforced. This is the time to reinforce
what unites us as a country, not what divides us. For if we don’t, we risk
losing the very unity we need in our fight against terrorism.
Senator
Fierravanti-Wells is parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Social
Services and has responsibility for multicultural affairs.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/we-need-muslim-women-to-unite-with-us-in-the-fight-against-terror/story-e6frgd0x-1227079549664
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Floral Designs
Are In As Muslim Women Shop For Hijab Fashions
4
October 2014
On the
eve of one of Islam's biggest holidays, the Nasiba fashion store in Coburg
North is bustling with women searching for the perfect Eid-al-Adha outfit
Floral
designs are trendy at the moment, proprietor Nasiba says. A sign reading
"Eid special" advertises a discounted collection of two-piece hijab,
in pink and blue, and decorated with diamantes.
Above
the cash register sits a mannequin head, clad in a black Burqa. The model's
plastic eyes peep out from an unveiled rectangular cut-out in the fabric.
But the
shop does limited sales in these types of garbs, selling an average of one Burqa
a day. The store's core business is headscarfs, shawls and the long,
loose-fitting dresses known as abaya.
"Anything
is OK as long as it doesn't show the figure of the body," says Nasiba, as
she flicks through a hanger of colourful dresses.
In
recent days, just how Australia's Muslim women choose to dress has been the
subject of growing commentary. Headlines over terrorism-linked police raids
have been followed by calls to ban the Burqa in federal Parliament.
The
smiling mothers shopping for their holiday outfits say their Hijabs have recently
been attracting fearful glances in the street. Nasiba says she feels her entire
religion is being unfairly judged by the actions of "one or two
people".
Meadow
Heights mother Samia said she had started locking the doors of her car while
driving through the suburbs. Her husband has warned her not to go out alone
with the kids
"But
it's school holidays. How can I stay at home!" she said. "Honestly,
it's been fine, I think we're just sticking to the areas we know."
Childcare
worker Leena is out shopping also, for a new comfortable outfit for work. She
said she believed the media was portraying Muslim people "as something
we're not".
"I
would like to see a documentary on the true Islam to say what they're hearing
is not necessarily right."
Four
years ago she was standing on a Moonee Ponds pedestrian strip when she was
shoved and abused by a stranger. "No one helped. They just looked at me.
That's what annoyed me," she said.
"I
was born and raised here, I call myself an Aussie."
On
Friday, Leena paired an olive green Hijab with matching cargo pants and a
fitted long-sleeve black top. She says wearing her headscarf makes her feel
safe. "I don't feel oppressed. I feel free."
http://www.smh.com.au/national/floral-designs-are-in-as-muslim-women-shop-for-hijab-fashions-20141003-10pznm.html#ixzz3FAteWXtu
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Better
Education and Girls' Rights in Pakistan Start Now
4
October 2014
Amid the
sadness and sorrows of a summer where children's rights have been ignored,
neglected, and trampled upon in the world's conflict zones; there is a glimmer
of hope.
In the
Pakistan province of Sindh, child marriage has been outlawed with the most
extensive legislation yet to dissuade patriarchs from marrying off their
children as teenage brides.
And now
in an important step to follow up on this new law, a child marriage free zone
will be created in Pakistan by the education and girls' rights organization,
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA), designed to encourage girls to stand up together
for their rights when pressed unfairly into an early marriage. The Global
Business Coalition for Education is one of the backers for this first pilot
zone.
The new
law, which makes marriage illegal under eighteen years old, stipulates a three
year sentence on the husband who marries an under-age child. Fathers who sell
their children off in marriage will also be subject to a minimum of two years
imprisonment. Guardians and family friends who marry off adolescent members of
their family are also to be punished as a result of the old Child Marriage Restraint
Act, first passed 85 years ago in 1929.
Today,
over 10 million children across the world are married off before they finish
their school days. The rate of child marriage has not been falling fast enough
to encourage more girls to complete their education, and in some countries like
Iraq and Pakistan, Muslim extremists have ruled that current laws be weakened
to make child marriage easier.
In
April, Iraq legislators urged that child marriage be permitted at eight years
and in Pakistan the council for Muslim ideology called for the removal of age
limits.
But the
new move in Pakistan's Sindh province to outlaw child marriage in such a
forceful way, with such new enforcement mechanisms, is a triumph for
campaigners who have been exposing the perils of forced marriage and of schools
girls being married off when they should still be in education.
It
represents a significant progress too for the child marriage free zone
movement, which started in Bangladesh and will soon have more child marriage
free zones in Pakistan. Here, girls are encouraged to come together to resist
pressure upon them to leave school and be married off before their school days
are over. Here, girls have clubbed together to tell even their fathers that
they will not be married off against their will. And in the dozen or so
Bangladeshi zones, great successes have been recorded as a result of girls
coming together to support each other.
In the
next few weeks, modelled on this record of achievement when a similar zone is
to be created in Pakistan, Baela Raza Jamil, Director of
Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) who are behind the new initiative, will send out
a message that girls are not powerless when faced with parental pressure to
marry before they are ready to do so.
Child
marriage free zones, encouraged by Plan International, are spreading in
popularity throughout not just the Indian sub continent, but across the world.
There is now talk of creating child marriage free zones in countries from
Tanzania and Malawi to Ethiopia and Nigeria. This is one very positive step
when as Girls Not Brides, the ground-breaking umbrella organisation against
early marriage has made clear, it happens alongside proper policing of the law,
registration of girls' birth dates, and educational work in schools. All of these
actions contribute to the ending of the practice of child marriage.
Ending
child marriages is one way of ensuring girls get the education they deserve,
and to stand up for the right of girls to schooling as championed by A World at
School's campaign. But of course the way that child marriage was ended most
successfully in the West was when school was made compulsory, and when the
parent of any girl who was absent from school was pursued by the attendance
officers, and eventually making it a crime to fail to get their child to
school. Making education fully compulsory and policing it is the next stage in
the battle for girls rights. The new petition #UpForSchool is calling globally
for every child to be in school and learning - if you have not yet signed please
add your name now: www.upforschool.org
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-brown/better-education-and-girl_b_5926940.html
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ABVP to
launch campaign against 'love jihad' in DU
Mail
Today
4
October 2014
The
Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) will soon launch a campaign in the
Delhi University to counter 'love jihad' in an attempt to what it claims as
raising voice against atrocities on women.
The
campaign, which will include sensitizing and raising awareness on 'love jihad',
will be launched soon after the varsity reopens in mid-October after vacation,
ABVP leaders said.
"We
will campaign against 'love jihad' in the DU after colleges re-open. The ABVP
top leadership has already announced for a campaign in all universities,"
Rohit Chahal, ABVP national secretary and a student of Buddhist Studies at DU,
claimed. Observing that cases of 'love jihad' are reportedly increasing across
the country, the ABVP leaders claimed that the trend of Hindu women falling in
love with Muslim men posing as Hindus and their alleged forceful conversion is
not a simple event but is happening as part of a strategy.
"There
are many cases of 'love jihad'. We will launch a campaign in all universities
to raise awareness on 'love jihad' which is part of a larger campaign. We are
not against love but against hiding identity and forced conversions," ABVP
national vice-president Mamta Yadav asserted.
The ABVP
leaders said that their move is aimed at restoring 'respect for women', 'safety
for women' and achieving a 'liquor-free culture'. At a recent national meeting,
the ABVP had reportedly decided to form vigilante groups at universities to
curb 'love jihad'.
Chahal
said that the ABVP will run a general awareness campaign on women's safety,
female foeticide and other issues in the DU. The ABVP will form a human chain
on October 7 at various locations in the country to raise awareness against
atrocities on women.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/abvp-love-jihad-delhi-university-rohit-chahal/1/394097.html
----------
Hundreds
of Young Women from the West Leaving Home to Join IS Fighters
4
October 2014
Hundreds
of girls and women are going missing in the West, reappearing in Iraq and Syria
to marry Islamic State extremists.
GIRLS as
young as 14 or 15 are travelling mainly to Syria to marry militants, bear their
children and join communities of fighters, with a small number taking up arms.
Many are recruited via social media. Women and girls appear to account for
about 10% of those leaving Europe, North America and Australia to link up with
militant groups including Islamic State, Isis.
France
has the highest number of female recruits with 63 in the region – about 25 of
the total – and at least another 60 believed to be considering the move.
In most
cases, they appear to have left home to marry extremists drawn to the idea of
“supporting brother fighters” and “having children to continue the spread of
Islam”, said Louis Caprioli, former head of the French security agency
Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire. If their husband dies, they will be
given adulation as the wife of a martyr.
Five
people, including a sister and brother, were arrested in France this month on
suspicion of belonging to a ring in central France that specialised in
recruiting young French women, according to Bernard Cazeneuve, the interior
minister.
Counter-terrorism
experts in Britain believe about 50 British girls and women have joined Isis,
about a 10th of those known to have travelled to Syria to fight.
Many are
believed to be based in Raqqa, the eastern Syrian city that has become an Isis
stronghold.
Twin
sisters Zahra and Salma Halane, 16, left their home in Chorlton, Manchester, in
July without their parents’ knowledge to follow their brother to Syria.
The
girls – whose parents came to Britain as refugees from Somalia - passed their
GCSEs last summer and went on to study at Sixth Form College. They left home in
the middle of the night and were reported missing by their parents.
Now,
both are reportedly married to Isis fighters. A social media account believed
to belong to Zahra shows her in a full veil posing with an AK-47 and kneeling
in front of the Isis flag.
Those
identified by researchers at the International Centre for the Study of
Radicalisation at Kings College London are mainly aged between 16 and 24.
Many are
university graduates and have left behind caring families.
Another
woman from Britain, Aqsa Mahmood wrote in a blog post earlier this month, “Most
sisters I have come across have been in university studying courses with many
promising paths with big happy families and friends and everything in the
Dunyah material world to persuade one to stay behind and enjoy the luxury.
“If we
had stayed behind, we could have been blessed with it all – from a relaxing and
comfortable life, to lots of money. Wallahi I swear that’s not what we want.”
At least
40 women have left Germany to join Isis in Syria and Iraq in what appears to be
a growing trend of teenagers in that country becoming radicalised and
travelling to the Middle East without their parents’ permission.
“The
youngest was 13,” Hans-Georg Maassen, president of the Federal Office for the
Protection of the Constitution told the Rheinische Post. Four under aged women
left with a romantic idea of marriage and married young male militants who they
got to know via the Internet.
In
Austria, the case of two teenage friends Samra Kesinovic, 16 and Sabina
Selimovic, 15, who ran away from their homes in Vienna to join militants in
Syria may be only the “tip of the iceberg”, said Heinz Gartner, director of the
Austrian Institute for International Politics. An estimated 14 women and girls
are known to have left Austria to fight in the Middle East, according to the
interior ministry.
The
United States does not have data available on women and girls joining Isis
fighters in Syria, a senior intelligence official said in an e-mailed
statement.
“We do
not have numbers to share on the number of women linked to Isis or fighting for
them,” the official said.
Daveed
Gartenstein-Ross, a counter-terrorism expert at the Washington-based Foundation
for Defence of Democracies, downplayed the issue in the US, saying the number
of women and girls joining Isis were of concern, but not an epidemic. “It’s a
threat but it’s (one) among many potential threats coming out of Syria,” he
said.
Karim
Pakzad, of the French Institute of International and Strategic Relations, said
some young women “had an almost romantic idea of war and warriors. There’s a
certain fascination even with the head and throat-cutting. It’s an adventure”.
Some may
feel more respected and important than in their home countries, he added.
But
Shaista Gohir, of the UK Muslim Women’s Network, said little was known about
the young women’s motivation or what happened to them after leaving home.
“Some of
these girls are very young and naive, they don’t understand the conflict or
their faith and they are easily manipulated. Some of them are taking young
children with them; some may believe they are taking part in a humanitarian
mission,” she said.
Social
media plays a crucial role in recruiting young women to join Isis in the Middle
East, according to many experts.
Some
British women and girls have posted pictures of themselves carrying AK-47s,
grenades and in one case, a severed head, as they pledge allegiance to Isis. But
they also tweet pictures of food, restaurants and sunsets to present a positive
picture of the life awaiting young women.
Mia
Bloom, a security studies professor at Massachusetts University and author of
Bombshell Women and Terrorism, said the recruitment campaign painted a
“Disney-like” picture of life in the caliphate. Some young women were offered
financial incentives such as travel expenses or compensation for bearing
children.
Women
living amid Isis fighters used social media adeptly to portray Syria as a
utopia and to attract foreign women to join their “sisterhood in the
caliphate”, she said.
“The
idea of living in the caliphate is a very positive and powerful one that these
women hold dear.”
But the
reality was very different, she said.
Bloom
and Rolf Tophoven, of Germany’s Institute for Terrorism Research and Security
Policy, said reports indicated that women had been raped, abused, sold into
slavery or forced to marry.
“Isis is
a strictly Islamist, brutal movement ... the power and the leadership structure
is clearly a male domain,” said Tophoven.
Messages
between a British Isis fighter in Syria and his common-law wife, read in a
British court last month, revealed that many fighters are taking several wives.
In an
article in Foreign Policy focusing on Isis’s attitudes to women, former CIA
analysts Aki Peritz and Tara Maller said fighters were committing horrific
sexual violence on a seemingly industrial scale.
“For
example, the United Nations last month estimated that (Isis) has forced some
1,500 women, teenage girls and boys into sexual slavery. Amnesty International
released a blistering document noting that (Isis) abducts whole families in
northern Iraq for sexual assault and worse.
Even in
the first few days following the fall of Mosul in June, women’s rights
activists reported multiple incidents of (Isis) fighters going door to door,
kidnapping and raping Mosul’s women.”
http://www.thestar.com.my/Lifestyle/Women/2014/10/03/More-young-women-are-leaving-home-to-join-Islamic-State-fighters/
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'Facial
Coverings' Restricted In Australian Parliament House Public Galleries
4
October 2014
Muslim
women who wear the Burqa into Federal Parliament will be banned from watching
proceedings from regular public galleries and will be forced to sit in glass
enclosures instead.
Extra
security measures were announced on Thursday afternoon while Parliament's
Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Senate President Stephen Parry await security
officials' advice on a request from Liberal senator Cory Bernardi to ban the religious
face-covering from being worn in the building.
Senator
Bernardi believes the Burqa is a symbol of oppression and un-Australian but
wants it banned from Parliament on security grounds.
A
message from the Department of Parliamentary Services says while screening
policies are under review it is "prudent to implement an additional layer
of security controls".
"Persons
with facial coverings entering the galleries of the House of Representatives
and Senate will be seated in the enclosed galleries," the statement
says.
"This
will ensure that persons with facial coverings can continue to enter the
chamber galleries, without needing to be identifiable."
The
glassed enclosures are commonly used by school groups so the procedures of
Parliament House can be explained to them without disrupting parliamentary
proceedings.
Two
separate broader reviews into who can be issued passes and whether the Burqa
should be banned outright in the building are still taking place and the
presiding officers could still decide to extend restrictions to stop Burqa
wearers from entering the building.
Senator
Parry said the changes were an "interim" and "management"
measure.
"One
of the key reasons for this is if there is an incident or someone is
interjecting from the gallery, which as senators would know happens from time
to time, they need to be identified quickly and easily so they can be removed
for that interjection," he told the Senate.
The
President said it was important that people interjecting weren't allowed back
into the building "in disguise" if they had been booted out.
Prime
Minister Tony Abbott said this week that as far as he was aware nobody had ever
sought to enter Parliament wearing the Burqa.
But
Senator Bernardi has told Fairfax Media his concerns were prompted after seeing
a group of veiled individuals in the building three years ago.
In other
new security arrangements, adult visitors being signed in by pass holders,
including journalists, staffers and bureaucrats will have to show ID, including
those wearing Burqas.
Currently,
they can be signed in without showing any proof of who they are. Regular
visitors to Parliament's public areas do not need to show any ID or be signed
into the building.
Burqa
restrictions condemned
The
decision was immediately condemned by the federal human rights and race
discrimination commissioners.
Race
discrimination commissioner Tim Soutphommasane told Fairfax Media the ruling
would see Muslim women treated differently to non-Muslim women.
"No-one
should be treated like a second class citizen, not least in the
Parliament," he said.
"I
have yet to see any expert opinion or analysis to date which indicates that the
Burqa or the Niqab represents an additional or special security threat.
"Muslim
Australians are entitled to a fair go and to be treated as equal members of our
society.
"If
there is a concern with public safety or security, this surely would be met
with the security screening that all visitors are required to undergo upon
entry into Parliament."
He said
he hoped the ruling did not mean bigots had won "because the vast majority
of Australians understand that bigotry has no place in our society and that
there is no right to be a bigot".
Human
rights commissioner Tim Wilson lashed the new security arrangement for treating
some Australians as "a different type of citizen".
"This
will treat free citizens wearing an otherwise legal piece of clothing, after
they have gone through security, as a separate group of people," he said.
"There
is no justification for such a measure. If there was a danger then why would we
sit people with children?
"The
need for separate treatment in the Federal Parliament for people who wear face
covering is completely unjustified and unnecessary."
Immediately
after the new rules were circulated, Greens leader Christine Milne said in a
tweet the decision was "disgraceful".
"Just
found out Muslim women who wear facial coverings are to be relegated to the
part of Parliament reserved for rowdy school children," Senator Milne
said.
Inflaming
cultural divisions
Earlier
in the day, the Greens leader wrote to Ms Bishop and Senator Parry urging them
to reject the proposal for a Burqa ban at Parliament House, describing it as an
assault on multicultural values that would inflame cultural divisions.
Senator
Milne wrote that Parliament should be "led by example and bring all
members of our community together. We won't make Australians safer by
marginalising and attacking people."
"Security
screening already applies to everyone entering Parliament House," Senator
Milne wrote.
"In
airports and courts culturally appropriate screening protocols already exist
which only require women to temporarily remove the Burqa for identification
purposes.
"However,
the current proposal seeks to permanently ban the Burqa in Parliament House, which
is not only completely at odds with our multicultural and free society, but is
not deemed necessary in airports for security and nor should it be at
Parliament House."
The
restrictions on the wearing of the Burqa in Parliament come as PUP senator Jacqui
Lambie has proposed a private members' bill banning the Burqa from public
spaces across Australia. On Thursday her stance was criticised by Maha Abdo
from the Muslim Women's Association, who questioned as to how the facial
covering was a risk.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/Burqa-crackdown-facial-coverings-restricted-in-parliament-house-public-galleries-20141002-10p8pl.html#ixzz3FAnVpNez
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1,497
breast cancer cases reported in a single year
4
October 2014
Some
1,497 breast cancer cases were reported in a single year Kingdom-wide, 50
percent of which were in the late stages, local media said quoting medical
sources.
The
announcement of these breast cancer figures coincides with the launch of the
national awareness program on breast cancer, which kicked off in Jeddah on
Thursday.
The
event, which comes under the slogan “the Kingdom is rosy,” will be organized by
the Cancer Society in the Eastern Region, the Sheikh Mohamed Hussien Al-Amoudi
Center of Excellence in Breast Cancer, Health Directorate, and Roche Program
for Awareness of Doctors and Cancer Patients.
Fatima
Al-Milhim, head of the Early Detection Committee at the Saudi Cancer Society,
said awareness campaigns in the last few years have contributed to enlightening
women and society in general on the importance of early detection of the
disease which, in turn, saved thousands of cases due to the discovery of the
disease in its early stages.
For her
part, Samiya Al-Amoudi, executive director of the Sheikh Mohamed Hussien
Al-Amoudi Center of Excellence in Breast Cancer at King Abdulaziz University
and supervisor of the campaign in the Jeddah Province, said one in eight women
is subject to breast cancer.
http://www.arabnews.com/food-health/news/639586
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World first:
woman has baby after womb transplant
4
October 2014
A
36-year-old Swede has become the world’s first woman to give birth after
receiving a womb transplant, medical journal The Lancet said on Saturday.
The baby
boy was born last month, it said, describing the event as a breakthrough for
infertile women. Both mother and baby are doing well.
The
baby, weighing 1.775 kilos (3.9 pounds), was born by Caesarean section at 31
weeks after the mother developed pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy condition, it said.
The woman
had a genetic condition that meant she was born without a womb but her ovaries
were intact.
The
replacement organ came from a 61-year-old woman, a family friend who had been
through menopause seven years earlier. The organ was transplanted in an operation
last year.
The
recipient underwent in-vitro fertilization, in which eggs were harvested from
her ovaries and fertilized, and then cryogenically preserved.
A year
after the transplant, a single early-stage embryo was inserted into the
transplanted womb. A pregnancy test three weeks later was positive.
“Our
success is based on more than 10 years of intensive animal research and
surgical training by our team and opens up the possibility of treating many
young females worldwide that suffer from uterine infertility,” the British
journal quoted Professor Matts Braennstroem of the University of Gothenburg,
who led the operation, as saying.
“What is
more, we have demonstrated the feasibility of live-donor uterus
transplantation, even from a post-menopausal donor.”
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/healthy-living/2014/10/04/World-first-woman-has-baby-after-womb-transplant-.html
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‘5% of
Saudis of Both Sexes Reluctant To Get Married’
4
October 2014
Some
five percent of Saudis of both sexes are facing a life with no marital
prospects, while a third of marriages ended in divorce in a two-year period,
local media said quoting a recently released study.
More
than 1.4 million Saudi girls and 100,000 young men remain unmarried, a local
daily said quoting a study.
The
United Arab Emirates (UAE) had the highest divorce rate among the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC), with a more than 40-percent divorce rate and a
60-percent spinsterhood rate, followed by Qatar, at 38 percent and 15 percent,
Kuwait 35 percent and 18 percent, Bahrain 34 percent and 20 percent, and Oman
at 29 percent and 17 percent, the report said.
Mohamed
Al-Qahtani, assistant professor of sociology, said the problem emanates from
the absence of spiritual, religious and social compatibility between couples
which, in turn, will fail to produce healthy family units.
“The
situation has led to high divorce rates and has shocked a new generation that
may be reluctant to get married as a result,” the academician said.
GCC
countries are suffering from a population crisis, while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait
and Oman are experiencing a natural balance between foreign workers and their
population.
The UAE,
Bahrain and Qatar, meanwhile, continue to suffer from population imbalances
since many citizens are married to foreign and Arab nationals, which has led to
high separation rates due to social differences, he said.
http://www.arabnews.com/saudi-arabia/news/639151
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Yusra
Hussien Hunt: Police Fear for Girls' Safety after Jihad Dating Website Claims
4
October 2014
Counter
terrorism police officers searching for missing Yusra Hussien have refused to
confirm whether she was lured to Syria through a jihad dating website.
National
newspapers yesterday reported that officers feared the missing Bristol 15-year-old
had been groomed online.
Yusra
disappeared on September 24 after skipping school and flying to Turkey from
Heathrow.
It was
reported that Yusra may have contacted a dating site called Jihad Matchmaker in
the weeks before she left. It is possible she could have been brainwashed into
running away by men working for the Islamic State who are looking for wives.
Police
officers from the Counter Terrorism Unit, based in London, refused to say
whether the reported fears were true. A spokesman only confirmed police were
still investigating Yusra's disappearance. He said: "Officers from the
South East Counter Terrorism Unit, supported by the Metropolitan Police Service
and Avon and Somerset police, are leading the response to ensure the safe
return of a 15-year-old girl and 17-year-old girl who were reported missing.
"Enquiries
by officers identified the 15-year-old from Bristol and the 17-year-old from
London are understood to have flown to Istanbul. Officers believe they may be
attempting to make their way to Syria. Officers are providing support to both
families and are working to identify where they are and encourage them to
return home safely."
It was
claimed by the newspapers, which cited security sources, that Yusra contacted a
Twitter account with the same name as Jihad Matchmaker, which urges followers
to "picture all the little Mujahideen running around", a number of
weeks ago.
The
Twitter account has fewer than 200 followers, and it has not been verified
whether it provides a genuine service in matching girls with extremists in
Syria.
However,
a spokesman for the Counter Terrorism unit said that a journey to Syria would
be "extremely dangerous" for Yusra, who is in Year 11 at City
Academy. He said: "Travelling to Syria is extremely dangerous and anyone who
is considering travelling to the region is putting themselves at great risk.
"We
urge anyone who is concerned about someone planning on travelling to Syria to
contact police and get access to the support available.
"Our
aim is to not criminalise young people, it is to prevent tragedies.
"The
UK Counter Terrorism Network continues to work to deliver the Prevent strategy
with key partners and communities to support individuals who may be thinking of
travelling to Syria and thereby putting themselves at great risk or may be
vulnerable to extremism."
The
reports came on the same day that Yusra's parents, Mohammed and Safiya, made a
heartfelt appeal for their daughter to come home.
They
also refuted claims that Yusra had become radicalised and begged people to wait
for evidence before calling their daughter a jihadist bride.
Mr and
Mrs Hussien said: "Yusra, our daughter, is a very young bright bubbly girl
who is loved by not only her family but her peers, teachers and her community.
She's a typical teenager – she loves to play table tennis and to ride her
bicycle."
"Our
family is very heartbroken and we are struggling to come to terms with this
situation."
http://www.westerndailypress.co.uk/Yursa-hunt-police-fear-girls-safety/story-23037563-detail/story.html#ixzz3FAoR8FEo
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Big
hopes for Afghan women's football
4
October 2014
KABUL -
The final score line read Kabul 5 - Herat 1, but for the players and noisy
supporters who cheered them on Friday, women's football was the biggest winner
at the climax of Afghanistan's first female sport's league.
Empty
stands at Kabul's 6000 seat all-weather stadium failed to diminish the
enthusiasm of the hundred or so spectators urging on their teams, in a country
where women were rarely allowed to leave their homes under the Taliban's
oppressive rule.
The
groundbreaking women's four-team league was held in parallel with the Afghan
Premier League (APL), a competitive men's event now in its third year.
"I
came here to support my team because football is not only for men," said
Waheeda Bahrami, 17, a high-school student in Kabul, wearing the yellow replica
shirt of her team and waving pictures of the players.
"Backing
the girls is so important for us. Football is good for health and we need to
show girl power."
Players
wore black head-scarves and full leggings to adhere to the country's
conservative Muslim culture in the trophy clash between the home side and
western Herat.
Even 13
years after the fall of the Taliban, gender segregation remains sharp in Afghan
life, with women in cities and rural areas often wearing the all-encompassing Burqa
when they venture out of the house.
"I
feel sad. Most of the families don't allow women to come watch football,"
said Najeela Bayat, 35, who attended the game with her husband and 10-year-old
son.
"We
had problems at the gate. They wouldn't allow my husband to come in. They told
me only I could go in. But we insisted."
On the
pitch, the star player was Madina Azizi, 19, agricultural student and striker
for Kabul, who scored four goals.
"My
family never told me not to play, they encouraged me. Here in Afghanistan there
is war, suicide attacks, everything. When I play football I forget
everything," she said.
"I
think the future for women's football here is bright, if we work hard."
http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/big-hopes-for-afghan-womens-football-20141004-10qa8d.html#ixzz3FAw44ldv
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Iranian
women aim high in combative sport Kabaddi
4
October 2014
Iran
captain Salimeh Abdollahbakhsh visited the hospital on the eve of the Kabaddi
final at the Asian Games. She had fever and felt dreadful. She had no intention
of missing the kabaddi title match, though, knowing her skills could tilt the
match in favour of her team and against India, the creator and dominant nation
in the sport.
So she
lined up along with her teammates - all in their Hijabs - as they prepared to
give India a run for its money in a combative sport that combines tag with
wrestling.
In the
end, India won the final 31-21, but Iran showed glimpses of its potential and
is growing in confidence for the next Asian Games.
“India
is, of course, a good team but Iran is improving fast,” Abdollahbakhsh said.
“Iran could have done better in the final and I thought we had a chance of
upsetting India. We won the bronze last time and silver here. We’re aiming for
gold next time.”
Abdollahbakhsh
and her teammates present a rather paradoxical sight as they compete in a sport
that involves running and grappling with opponents, covered from head to toe
and with full-length sleeves.
But in contrast
to games in which head covering are banned - like the hijabs were here in the
women’s basketball competition - officials in Kabaddi take great care to ensure
the faith and customs of the athletes is respected. Often, the umpires have to
move quickly to block spectators’ views with their blazers if a player’s head
covering is displaced.
“We come
from a conservative society and are used to playing (in) the way we dress, so
that’s not a problem. Our aim is to gain maximum exposure and play a team like India
more often so that we can improve our skills,” said 29-year-old Abdollahbakhsh,
a member of the team that played in the inaugural women’s competition at the
2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.
Coach
Azam Maghsodlou said a series with India could not be organized ahead of the
games, but Iran had prepared well anyway.
“We had
camps spread over nine months in preparation,” Maghsodlou said.
“There
were exposure tours to Thailand and South Korea and that helped the team get
together and gel. We also have a growing pool of players.”
Iran has
some 100 Kabaddi clubs for both men and women, with many in its northeastern
province of Golestan. The game has gained in popularity over the past decade
but can’t be compared with the likes of football or volleyball in terms of
popularity.
“People
follow kabaddi since we are doing well at the Asian Games, but it still has a
long way to go,” Maghsodlou said. “One has to remember the fact that India has
been playing it for hundreds of years.”
That’s a
fact India’s head coach Edachery Bhaskaran knows all too well, so his praise
for the Iranian team was genuine.
“They
have strength and stamina but we are better in skills and technique,” Bhaskaran
said. “I understood midway through the tournament that Iran was the team to watch
and so we studied a lot of their videos and made plans for particular players.”
The
basic rules of Kabaddi are simple, but the finer arts of the game have taken
centuries to develop. It is a game between two teams of seven players each. The
teams take turns to send a raider into the rival half of the field to gain
points by trying to touch opponents, who then go out of the game. All the
while, the raider chants the word ‘Kabaddi’ until running out of breath.
The
opposite team tries to either evade the touch or gets into a grapple to try to
stop the raider returning to their own half.
Despite
the visible improvement from the Iranian team, Indian player Abhilasha Matre
remains convinced that her country’s larger player base will keep it ahead of
the competition.
“They’re
an improving side but I’m sure even a second-string Indian side will be able to
beat Iran,” she said.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/sports/2014/10/03/Iranian-women-aim-high-in-combative-sport-kabaddi.html
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