Malaysia Politics: Noraini Ahmad Calls for System Reforms to Boost Women’s Representation
New Age Islam News Bureau
02 May 2026
· Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi hospitalized after a health crisis in prison
· Funeral in Kuala Kangsar for murdered college student, 19; grieving family asks for privacy
· EPCB expected to boost women’s labour participation
· Florida authorities confirm second body as Bangladeshi student Bristy
· Researcher on Arab affairs speaks about experience of Women’s Protection Units in Syria
· ‘The Afghan women’s team is a beacon of hope for every girl around the world’
· Saudi women's T20 tournament postponed due to Iran war
Compiled By New Age Islam News Bureau
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Malaysia Politics: Noraini Ahmad Calls for System Reforms to Boost Women’s Representation
1 May 2026
Women’s participation in national politics must be strengthened through more comprehensive and structured reforms, says Wanita UMNO chief Noraini Ahmad.
KUALA LUMPUR: Women’s participation in national politics must be strengthened through more comprehensive and structured reforms to ensure fairer and more balanced representation, said Wanita UMNO chief Datuk Seri Dr Noraini Ahmad.
The Plantation and Commodities Minister said women’s participation in politics remains low and does not reflect their true capabilities, despite strong achievements in education and the economy.
“When women make up more than 60 per cent of university enrolment and the female labour force participation rate reaches 56.6 per cent, women’s representation in the Dewan Rakyat is still only around 13.5 per cent,” she said in her speech at the Voices of HER Forum at the World Trade Centre here today.
She said this reflects a significant gap between women’s achievements in other sectors and their representation in political decision-making.
Noraini added that the lack of women’s voices in politics not only affects women themselves but also undermines the quality of public policy, which should be more inclusive and comprehensive.
She therefore proposed several measures, including the introduction of quota mechanisms or incentives within the electoral system, improvements to political party nomination structures, and more systematic development of women leaders.
Noraini also said societal attitudes towards women leaders must improve to ensure more women are given opportunities to take on leadership roles in shaping the nation’s direction.
“Increased women’s participation will not happen naturally without clear, structured and sustained policy intervention,” she added.
The forum, themed ‘Women in Politics: Leadership, Representation and Reality’, brought together local and international figures to discuss challenges and strategies to strengthen women’s roles in the political landscape.
Source: thesun.my
https://thesun.my/news/malaysia-news/politics/system-reform-womens-participation-in-politics/
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Iranian Nobel laureate Narges Mohammadi hospitalized after a health crisis in prison
May 01, 2026
BEIRUT: Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been urgently transferred from prison to a hospital in northwestern Iran after a “catastrophic deterioration” of her health, her foundation said Friday.
The Narges Mohammadi Foundation said the Nobel Prize laureate had two episodes of complete loss of consciousness and a severe cardiac crisis.
Earlier Friday, Mohammadi had fainted twice in prison in Zanjan in northwestern Iran, according to the foundation. She was believed to have suffered a heart attack in late March, according to her lawyers who visited her a few days after the incident. At the time, she appeared pale, underweight and needed a nurse to help her walk.
The hospital transfer comes “after 140 days of systematic medical neglect,” since her arrest on Dec. 12, the foundation said.
“This transfer was done as an unavoidable necessity after prison doctors determined her condition could not be managed on-site, despite standing medical recommendations that she be treated by her specialized team in Tehran,” the foundation said.
Help may be little too late, family says
Mohammadi’s family had advocated for her transfer to adequate medical facilities for weeks.
The foundation, quoting her family, said her transfer Friday to a hospital in Zanjan was “a desperate, ‘last-minute’ action that may be too late to address her critical needs.”
Mohammadi’s brother Hamidreza Mohammadi, who lives in Oslo, Norway, said in an audio message shared with The Associated Press by the foundation that her family is “fighting for her life.”
“My family in Iran is doing everything they can. But the prosecutors in Zanjan are blocking everything,” he said.
On March 24, Narges Mohammadi’s fellow inmates found her unconscious, her lawyers said she told them during the visit a few days later. Upon later examination at the prison’s clinic, a doctor told her that she probably had had a heart attack. She had chest pain and breathing difficulties since.
Her legal representative in France, Chirinne Ardakani, said at the time that Mohammadi had been denied transfer to the hospital or to visit her cardiologist. A prison official was present throughout the brief visit by Mohammadi’s lawyers.
Won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023
Mohammadi, 53, a rights lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2023 while in prison, was arrested in December during a visit to the eastern Iranian city of Mashhad and sentenced to seven more years in prison.
Her family said in February that her health was worsening in prison, in part because of a beating she endured during her arrest in December. He said multiple men hit and kicked her in her side, head and neck. The Nobel committee condemned the “ongoing life-threatening mistreatment” of Mohammadi in a statement in February.
“In recent days, her blood pressure has experienced severe fluctuations, going very high and low, and today she suddenly fainted due to a sudden drop in blood pressure,” her lawyer Mostafa Nili posted on X.
At first, the prison doctor injected Mohammadi with drugs but she refused to be transferred to a hospital, demanding to see her cardiologist. A few hours later, Mohammadi fainted again. This time a neurologist ordered her immediate transfer to a hospital, the lawyer added.
Mohammadi was urgently transferred to the hospital and admitted to the cardiac care unit, “but her blood pressure continues to fluctuate severely,” Nili wrote. He said a medical official in Zanjan recommended a one-month suspension of her sentence for treatment, but the public prosecutor in Zanjan referred the matter to his counterpart in Tehran.
Prior to her arrest Dec. 12, Mohammadi had already been serving a sentence of 13 years and nine months on charges of collusion against state security and propaganda against Iran’s government, but had been released on furlough since late 2024 over medical concerns.
Continued her activism on furlough
During that furlough, Mohammadi kept up her activism with public protests and international media appearances, including demonstrating in front of Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, where she had been held.
In February, a Revolutionary Court in Mashhad sentenced Mohammadi to an additional seven years. Such courts typically issue verdicts with little or no opportunity for defendants to contest their charges.
Mohammadi suffered multiple heart attacks while imprisoned before undergoing emergency surgery in 2022, her supporters say.
In 2023, Mohammadi became the fifth laureate to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize while in prison, further amplifying her voice in support of widespread protests that swept Iran after the death the year before of Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the country’s morality police for not properly wearing the mandatory headscarf.
Her selection enraged Iran’s hard-line Shiite theocracy, which increased her prison time and later sent guards to rough her up along with other prisoners who were protesting inside Evin Prison.
Yet Mohammadi remained defiant, even issuing boycott calls for the 2024 election that President Masoud Pezeshkian won. She maintained that one day Iran’s government would change due to popular pressure.
Source: arabnews.com
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2642004/middle-east
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Funeral in Kuala Kangsar for murdered college student, 19; grieving family asks for privacy
02 May 2026
KUALA KANGSAR, May 2 — The family of a 19-year-old student found stabbed to death 61 times in Kampung Simah, Ketereh, Kelantan, asks for space to grieve in peace.
A visit to the victim’s family home in Kampung Batu Jarau here revealed a solemn silence, with only her closest relatives present.
“We’d like some privacy. We need some quiet because we’re exhausted and haven’t slept since yesterday.
“When we’re ready, we’ll talk to the media,” said the victim’s uncle, who didn’t want to be named.
The remains of Nurfisya Zulkifly were laid to rest at 5.30 am today at Kampung Periang Muslim Cemetery here, following a post-mortem at the Forensic Unit of Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Bharu last night.
Yesterday, the victim’s brother, Mohd Faris Zulkifly, 21, said the family came to Kelantan last Saturday to drop off Nurfisya for her new semester, only to be informed about the tragic news at noon.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said that the victim was believed to have been murdered elsewhere before her body was dumped near the padi fields in the village, adding that the case is being probed under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Four suspects, three men aged 19 to 66 and a 60-year-old woman, were remanded this morning to assist with the investigation. — Bernama
Source: malaymail.com
https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/05/02/funeral-in-kuala-kangsar-for-murdered-college-student-19-grieving-family-asks-for-privacy/218455
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EPCB expected to boost women’s labour participation
2 May 2026
EPCB aims to raise women’s workforce involvement, aligning Malaysia with ILO standards through shared liability.
KUALA LUMPUR: The introduction of the Post-Maternity Leave Allowance (EPCB) is expected to increase women’s participation in the active labour market, thereby aligning Malaysia with the global standards outlined by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The Social Security Organisation (PERKESO) in a statement today said that the benefit will use a ‘liability-sharing’ approach by absorbing part of the cost of living burden for employees during the additional leave without directly impacting the employer’s operations.
According to PERKESO, the approach has been implemented in developed countries such as Spain, Portugal, France and China, which utilise social security funds to ensure the continuity of industry without neglecting the welfare of women after childbirth.
“The implementation of this is not only critical in preserving the health of pregnant women but also serves as a buffer against the tendency of women to leave their careers after childbirth due to the rising cost of living for families.
“As the main driver, PERKESO is determined to make the EPCB a cornerstone for a more inclusive, fair, and progressive Malaysian labour market,” it said.
The latest benefit will be implemented through amendments to the Employment Insurance System Act 2017 (Act 800).
Meanwhile, PERKESO said that the implementation of the PERKESO Traveller Scheme through the Self-Employment Social Security Protection Act 2017 (Act 789) plays a role in filling the gaps in social protection involving cross-border workers.
“This measure is expected to protect around 1.6 million individuals, including nearly 480,000 workers who commute daily through the Johor Causeway, to ensure they receive appropriate protection from previously unmanageable risks.
“This is not just an extension of the scheme, but rather a manifestation of support for the sacrifices of hundreds of thousands of workers who face high risks for their survival,” the statement said.
The agency emphasised that all operational mechanisms and support systems have been streamlined to ensure the smooth implementation of both initiatives in line with the aspirations of the MADANI Government.
“PERKESO is now at the highest lvel of readiness to implement the mandate to ensure that every improvement has a tangible impact on the well-being of the people,” the statement added.
Yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, while delivering the national-level Labour Day 2026 message, said that the government will introduce the EPCB as a progressive step to support women’s participation in the workforce, following a slight decline in the labour force participation rate among that group, partly due to maternity commitments.
Source: thesun.my
https://thesun.my/news/malaysia-news/people-issues/epcb-expected-to-boost-womens-labour-participation/
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Florida authorities confirm second body as Bangladeshi student Bristy
1 MAY 2026
Authorities in Florida have confirmed that the second recovered body is that of Bangladeshi PhD student Nahida Sultana Bristy, said Golam Mortoza, Minister (Press) at the Bangladesh Embassy in the United States, on Friday.
Police from Florida contacted Bristy's brother to confirm the identification, he said in a WhatsApp message.
The family has requested that arrangements be made to send her body back to Bangladesh. The Bangladesh Embassy in Washington, DC, in coordination with the Bangladesh Consulate in Miami, has started the process to repatriate the body.
Meanwhile, the body of Zamil Ahmed Limon will arrive in Dhaka on May 4.
Golam Mortoza said the mortal remains will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 8:40am on an Emirates flight. The body has been received by a funeral home and will be transported from Orlando via a flight departing at 8:50pm on May 2, through Dubai.
Limon and Bristy, both 27-year-old PhD students from Bangladesh, disappeared on April 16. Limon was last seen at the off-campus complex where he shared an apartment with murder suspect Hisham Abugharbieh and another roommate.
Detectives used cellphone location and license plate reader data to track Abugharbieh's car and Limon's phone to the bridge where Limon's body was found on April 24. Limon had numerous stab wounds and appeared to be bound, according to a report filed by prosecutors.
Authorities later recovered another body from a nearby waterway on April 26, which has now been confirmed as Bristy.
The suspect was arrested days after the incident by a SWAT team at his parents' home. A court ordered that he be held without bond.
Hisham Abugharbieh has also been barred from contacting witnesses or the victims' family members, Hillsborough County Judge Logan Murphy said during a brief hearing in Tampa.
According to court records, Abugharbieh faces two counts of first-degree murder with a weapon along with other charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted, though prosecutors have not yet said whether they will pursue capital punishment.
Source: thedailystar.net
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/florida-authorities-confirm-second-body-bangladeshi-student-bristy-4165541
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Researcher on Arab affairs speaks about experience of Women’s Protection Units in Syria
2 MAY 2026
Media professional and researcher on Arab and international affairs Suha Al-Baghdadi affirmed that the experience of the Women’s Protection Units in Syria represents an exceptional model in the region, as it was not limited to being a military formation and participating effectively in confronting ISIS, but rather evolved into a political and social project that redefined the role of women in a highly complex environment.
This came during an exclusive interview with our agency, where Suha Al-Baghdadi explained that the Women’s Protection Units proved their ability to engage on the most dangerous front lines—not merely as a support element, but as a principal actor in achieving victory.
The Political and Social Dimension
She added: “Politically, the Women’s Protection Units contributed to consolidating a representative model based on involving women in decision-making centers within the areas of the Autonomous Administration, which was reflected in issues such as gender justice, combating violence, and enhancing community participation.”
The Symbolic Impact of the Women’s Units Experience
Suha pointed out that more important than that is the symbolic impact of the Women’s Protection Units, as this experience broke the stereotypical image of women in conflict zones and presented them as an active force capable of both defense and construction at the same time.
Risks of Exclusion and Marginalization
Al-Baghdadi noted that any attempt to exclude the Women’s Protection Units cannot be understood apart from the broader context of women’s struggle in Syria. She continued by saying: “These units are not merely a military entity, but the accumulation of a long social and political struggle. Therefore, weakening or marginalizing them may be interpreted as reproducing traditional systems of exclusion.”
Al-Baghdadi explained that the impact would not be military only, but would also extend to the symbolic and moral sphere, as this could lead to a decline in confidence in the possibility of achieving sustainable feminist gains within conflict environments. It could also create a vacuum in the representation of women within future political equations, threatening the re-marginalization of their issues in any upcoming settlements.
YPJ as a Global Source of Inspiration
The researcher on Arab and international affairs explained that it cannot be denied that the experience of the Women’s Protection Units has become a source of inspiration for a number of feminist movements around the world, especially those active in conflict environments or conservative societies.
She continued, saying: “Talking about the end of the role of the Women’s Protection Units may carry dual implications. On the one hand, it may be viewed as the closing of a historical phase associated with confronting ISIS. But on the other hand, it may be understood as a negative message implying that strong women’s models remain temporary and dependent on exceptional circumstances.”
The Importance of the Continuity of the Women’s Protection Units
Suha Al-Baghdadi affirmed that herein lies the danger, because feminist movements draw inspiration not only from successes, but also from their continuity. Therefore, preserving the moral and political legacy of this experience is a necessity, even if its roles or forms change.
The Needs of the Current Stage
The researcher also stressed that today’s needs are no longer limited to physical protection, despite its importance, but include a broader system, including: Legal security, through legislation that protects women from violence and guarantees their rights.
Economic representation, because financial independence is the cornerstone of any genuine liberation, in addition to political representation, which guarantees the presence of a women’s voice within decision-making centers, alongside psychological and social support, especially in societies emerging from long conflicts.
Transformations in the Nature of Struggle
Suha Al-Baghdadi pointed out that the nature of struggle has changed. It is no longer necessarily an armed struggle, but has become a struggle with multiple tools—political, legal, media-related, and cultural.
She explained that the current stage requires a transition from the struggle for survival to the struggle for securing rights, and from acts of resistance to building institutions capable of protecting women’s gains in the long term.
The media professional and researcher on Arab and international affairs, Suha Al-Baghdadi, concluded her remarks by saying:
“What the Women’s Protection Units presented was not merely a passing experience, but a pivotal stage in the history of feminist struggle in the Middle East. The challenge today does not lie in preserving this experience, but in translating it into lasting achievements that ensure women do not return to square one with every new political transformation.”
Source: hawarnews.com
https://hawarnews.com/en/researcher-on-arab-affairs-speaks-about-experience-of-womens-protection-units-in-syria
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‘The Afghan women’s team is a beacon of hope for every girl around the world’
1 May 2026
As Taliban fighters swept across Afghanistan to take the capital in the summer of 2021, Fatima Yousufi took her goalkeeping gloves, her football shirt and her player awards, dug a hole in the back garden of her home in Kabul, and buried them.
Like her team-mates, she had already erased her social media presence, and she had been told to burn every trace of physical evidence that she had ever represented Afghanistan on the international stage as a member of its women’s football team. But even as the Taliban bore down on the city and raided her coach’s home, she could not bring herself to do it. Perhaps, she thought, she could come back one day and find it.
“It wasn’t just an award, it wasn’t just a jersey,” she said. “It was a lot of memories and a lot of hardship; every moment of making it one step closer to my dreams. And I was just putting it in a hole, trying to just save people around me, and maybe myself too, in the end.”
Yousufi told me this story this time last year as we looked out across the Southern Ocean from a beachside cafe in Melbourne, where she and her family have been living in exile since 2021.
When Kabul finally fell, she had been among the thousands of people who crowded the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the aftermath of the US military’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, facing the threat of suicide bombs and Taliban fighters wielding cattle prods to try to get to safety.
Yousufi and her team-mates managed to flee, but they did not regain their right to play as a team.
From exile, the Afghan women’s team found themselves snared in a grotesque situation: they could not play football within Afghanistan because the Taliban banned women and girls from playing sport, but they could not play outside it either as a team, not without the recognition of the Afghan Football Federation, which they would never receive.
And so, due to the nature of its membership structure, Fifa found itself in the position of passively enforcing the Taliban’s system of gender apartheid on women living in Australia, the UK and Portugal; women who had risked everything to play.
For five years, as they have sought to rebuild their lives in new countries, the team have fought for the Fifa recognition that would allow them to represent their country on the international stage at a moment when women’s football has exploded in popularity but when the brutal oppression of women and girls in Afghanistan is being rapidly forgotten.
This week, their campaign paid off. At its annual congress in Vancouver, Fifa announced that it had amended its regulations to allow the Afghan women’s team, and any other international team that may struggle for recognition from its federation, to take part in official Fifa competitions, including the World Cup.
Source: observer.co.uk
https://observer.co.uk/news/sport/article/the-afghan-womens-team-is-a-beacon-of-hope-for-every-girl-around-the-world
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Saudi women's T20 tournament postponed due to Iran war
1 May 2026
A lucrative women's T20 tournament in Saudi Arabia scheduled for later this year has been postponed due to the war in Iran - but is not set to be impacted by sporting cutbacks in the country.
The Women's World T20 Challenge was due to take place a few weeks after the English domestic season had finished with some of the best players from England, Australia and India poised to be involved.
Sources close to the event in the Gulf state have told BBC Sport it has now been delayed until 2027 at the earliest because of the ongoing Iranian conflict.
It is also understood there are no concerns over funding for the tournament amid a reduction in sporting investments by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
It was announced this week that PIF will stop bankrolling LIV Golf at the end of the season which has cast doubt on other Saudi-backed sporting ventures.
But sources say the Women's World T20 Challenge, a six-team tournament sanctioned by the International Cricket Council, is not directly connected to PIF.
The deal for the tournament, signed in November last year, was between the Saudi Arabian Cricket Federation and FairBreak Global and is seen as a domestic project so its financial backing will not be affected.
FairBreak, a private company founded in 2013 that aims to improve gender equality in sport, had been enlisted to run and manage the tournament and help provide the impetus and expertise for cricket's wider development in Saudi Arabia.
England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt has featured in previous tournaments organised by FairBreak along with team-mates Heather Knight, Sophie Ecclestone and Sophia Dunkley.
Source: bbc.com
https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/articles/c98re1zp8gyo?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Byahoo.north.america%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bsport%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D
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