Update April 21, 2009: U.S. journalist Roxanna Saberi who is being held in Iran was sentenced to eight years in prison for
espionage, her father, lawyer and news reports said Saturday -- a
sentence that prompted denunciation from the United States.
Reports in Iranian media, including an Iranian judiciary source quoted
Saturday by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency, confirmed
the sentence of Roxana Saberi, a 31-year-old Iranian-American from
North Dakota.
March 3: CNN filed this report on American journalist Roxanna Saberi who was working in Iran and has been out of contact with her family for close to a month. It's believed she's in an Iranian jail.
April 19 update: 28 miliion and 144,000 YouTube views and comments respectively on the video clip AWR is tracking. Susan notes: 12 hours after I posted this story, YouTube views and comments had climbed to over 10 million and nearly 60,000 respectively. An ordinary 47-year-old unemployed, unmarried woman who lives alone with her cat inspires millions of people around the world with her dream, a song and the gift of hope. Who says one person can't change the world?
Less than a week ago, 47-year-old Susan Boyle was unemployed, and pretty much unknown beyond
her hometown (in her own words: "a collection of villages"), outside of Edinburgh,
Scotland.
As of last night at midnight (Dubai time), the video of Boyle’s audition performance for Britain’s
Got Talent 2009 has generated worldwide media coverage based on almost
six million views, close to 40,000 five-star ratings, and 36,000
comments on YouTube.
A Saudi judge has refused for a second time to annul a marriage
between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man, a relative of the
girl told CNN.
The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld
his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of
Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from
the girl's mother, who was seeking a divorce for her daughter.
The relative said the judge, Sheikh Habib Al-Habib, "stuck by his
earlier verdict and insisted that the girl could petition the court for
a divorce once she reached puberty." The family member, who requested
anonymity, added that the mother will continue to pursue a divorce for
her daughter.
Susan notes: An excerpt from an article by Shelina Zahra Janmohamed, British Muslim writer, blogger and author of the recently released book Love in a Headscarf. The full article on Darfur appears today on Janmohamed's blog and in Abu Dhabi daily newsaper The National.
I went to see Darfur with my own eyes at the end of last year. In the camps outside Al-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, I saw families living in tents no more than three metres square, with rationed food and water.
Aid agencies were doing their best, but the Sudanese government is not keen on their presence and, with the crisis into its sixth year, donors are growing weary.
At one school I visited, scores of fidgeting youngsters dressed in white stood under the midday sun facing inwards to a small centre stage where their head teacher led them in vibrant song. Their joillity belied the pain many had endured, especially those old enough to remember the bloodshed, fear and crisis that began in 2003. I spoke to two young girls.
"I'd like to become a lawyer when I'm older," 16-year-old Fatima told me. "I want to be a writer," said her friend Layla. "Why?" I asked. "To make our country better," said Fatima. "So it doesn't happen again," said Layla.
Najla Al Awadhi, a female member of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council recently spoke out in the UAE parliament on a piece of legislation regarding housing for Emirati women who have married non-Emirati men.
An article she wrote describing the process and the debate appears in yesterday's Gulf News. In it she says:
The law that we passed in parliament is just the beginning. The road to progress starts by breaking the silence in the face of practices and ideologies which we know are repressive and unjust, it starts by taking a stand, and it starts by creating awareness.
It was a victory. It was a proud moment. I knew that because of what we did, some day some Emirati woman will benefit.
We still have major hurdles, particularly in terms of reforming mindsets…
It's a long road ahead, but we are unwavering, and each small victory paves the way for greater justice in the advancement of the rights of Emirati women, until we get to a point where our society sees beyond gender and only weighs the merit of the human being.
April 19 update: 28 miliion and 144,000 YouTube views and comments respectively on the video clip AWR is tracking.
I went to see Darfur with my own eyes at the end of last year. In the camps outside Al-Geneina, the capital of West Darfur, I saw families living in tents no more than three metres square, with rationed food and water.
Najla Al Awadhi, a female member of the United Arab Emirates Federal National Council recently spoke out in the UAE parliament on a piece of legislation regarding housing for Emirati women who have married non-Emirati men.