Saudi king gives women right to vote

He also announced that women would have the right to join the all-appointed Shura (consultative) Council, in an address opening a new term of the council.

“Starting with the next term, women will have the right to run in municipal elections and to choose candidates, according to Islamic principles,” he said.

This means that women will be able to take part in the elections that will be held in four years, as the next vote is due to take place on Thursday and nominations for those are already in.

“We have decided that women will participate in the Shura Council as members starting the next term,” the king also said in an unexpected move to enfranchise women in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

“The Muslim woman… must not be marginalised in opinion or advice,” said King Abdullah.

More than 5,000 men will compete in Thursday s municipal elections, only the second in Saudi Arabia s history, to fill half the seats in the kingdom s 285 municipal councils. The other half are appointed by the government.

The first elections were held in 2005, but the government extended the existing councils  term for two years.

More than 60 intellectuals and activists called in May for a boycott of the ballot because “municipal councils lack the authority to effectively carry out their role” and “half of their members are appointed,” as well as because they exclude women.

Saudi Arabia s Shura Council had recommended allowing women to vote in the next local polls, officials have said.

In April, Samar Badawi said she was suing the municipal affairs ministry for upholding the ban on women taking part in the local poll.

Badawi filed a lawsuit at the administrative court in Mecca against the ministry for denying women the right to register as voters.

Also in April, a group of women defied the ban on women in elections by turning up at a voter registration office in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, in a rare public demonstration against the male-only electoral system.

But they were turned back by the head of the centre who told them women were still banned from voting.

Women s rights activists have long fought to gain the right to vote in the kingdom that applies a strict version of Sunni Islam and bans women from driving or travelling without the consent of a male guardian

A group of defiant Saudi women got behind the steering wheels of their cars on June 17 in response to calls for nationwide action against the ban.

Woman eats 183 chicken wings in 12 min

The Black Widow of eating contests has eaten 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes to break her own world record set last year in Buffalo, N.Y.

Sonya Thomas took home first place Sunday at the tenth annual National Buffalo Wings Festival. She beat eating marvel Joey “Jaws” Chestnut, who came in second with 174 wings.

The two won titles at the July Fourth hot dog eating contest on Coney Island.The 100-pound Thomas of Alexandria, Va., is the reigning wing-eating champion. She downed 181 wings to win the 2010 contest. Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., settled for second with 169 wings.

The winner gets $1,500. The runner-up wins $750, and third place gets $300. Thomas is called the Black Widow becomes she often beats male competitors in eating contests.

Woman ticketed in France for wearing face veil

It is the first reported sanction under a new ban on the garments. Another woman in Paris suburb was stopped for wearing a veil, but was let go with a warning. The inconsistent response illustrates the challenge for towns with a large Muslim community in enforcing a law that some view as Islamophobic.

Though such veils are very rare in France, many of the country s 5 million Muslims see the ban as a stigma. Islam is France s second-largest religion after Catholicism. The ban also has been criticised by Iran s government and activists in Jordan.

A 27-year-old woman was stopped by police in the mall parking lot in the town of Mureaux. She was handed a ticket that requires her to pay $216 fine or register for citizenship classes within a month.
Police said the exchange was brief and calm. The incident occurred on Monday, the day France s ban on veils such as the niqab and burqa came into effect.

Another woman was stopped on Tuesday for wearing a veil in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. The 35-year-old was brought to the police station and reminded of the law.

While these were the first publicly reported incidents, it was unclear how many women have been stopped so far nationwide. The French government has estimated only about 2,000 women in France wear such veils, and a few vocal wearers have said they will defy the ban.

Nicole Kidman Opens up on 60 Minutes

Nicole Kidman gave an interview to the Australian version of “60 Minutes”, she spoke candidly about motherhood and openly about her fertility issues. It was only very recently that she and Keith Urban announced that they are now parents for the second time.

Their new daughter Faith was born via a gestational carrier; this means that Faith is their biological daughter but she was carried by another woman. Both Nicole and Keith were present at the birth.

“It was so deeply emotional and moving, and having given birth and then being on the place of seeing my child being born this way. The love I felt for our gestational carrier…She was the most wonderful woman to do this for us,”

Nicole opened up and tearfully discussed her long struggle with fertility issues and about how grateful she is to the woman who carried their daughter Faith. And in case you’re curious, Conner and Bella, her children from her previous marriage to Tom Cruise have met their new sister.

Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik turns 37

Bollywood ‘superhero’ and heartthrob of millions of females world wide, Hrithik Roshan, turns 37 on Monday.
Here are some trivia about the macho Roshan junior, as he prepares to rejoice the all important day in his life.

Hrithik debut in the glamorous world of Bollywood as a child actor in films like- ‘Aasha’, ‘Aap Ke Deewane’, ‘Bhagwan Dada’.

Both ‘Bhagwan Dada’ and ‘Aap Ke Deewane’ featured his father Rakesh Roshan in the lead role.

Later on Hrithik also followed his father and went on to help his father as an assistant director in films like “Karan Arjun” and “Koyla”, before making his debut in the blockbuster ‘Kahoo Naa Pyar Hai’ that was directed by his father.

In this exciting career, Hrithik has received multiple awards besides winning his first international award at the Golden Minbar International Film Festival for his performance in the period film ‘Jodhaa Akbar’.

It is said that in the year 2000, on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Hrithik Roshan received an an unbelievable 30,000 marriage proposals. Surely this actor knew how to attract his female fans.

Hrithik’s list of favourite films include names like- ‘Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge’, ‘Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai’, ‘Sholay’, ‘Pretty Woman’ and’ When Harry Met Sally’.

In the coming months, Hrithik will be back with a couple films like ‘Zindagi Na Milegi’, ‘Dobara’ ‘Agneepath’, to spell his magic once again on the big screen.

Catastrophic Australian Floods Claim First Victim

Catastrophic Australian Floods Claim First Victim, Devastating floods in northeastern Australia claimed their first victim Sunday, with the body of a missing woman recovered as the surging waters continued to rise and a fresh storm loomed.

Emergency officials and police searched through the night by boat and helicopter for the 41-year-old swept from her car as she tried to cross a swamped causeway in the northern Gulf of Carpentaria region.

Police managed to save three children and another adult from the car but the woman disappeared before they could reach her.

“Searchers located the woman?s body around 10:20 am today about two kilometres (one mile) from the causeway,” police said.

There were fears for another man missing after his fishing boat was swamped Saturday afternoon near Gladstone, at the centre of the floods, and witnesses reported seeing a second man swept away in the swamped city of Rockhampton.

“These waters are exceptionally fast, they’re not to be trifled with and they’re not to be taken lightly,” said assistant police commissioner Alistair Dawson.

A severe storm was expected to sweep through the region late Sunday, bringing “damaging winds, very heavy rainfall, flash flooding and large hailstones” the weather bureau said, urging residents to take shelter.

Up to 200,000 people are estimated to have been hit by the floods which have left entire towns under water and cut off many more over an area the size of France and Germany combined, wreaking untold billions in damage to crops and the nation’s key mining industry.

“In many ways, it is a disaster of biblical proportions,” Queensland State Treasurer Andrew Fraser told reporters in flood-hit Bundaberg on Saturday.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who on Friday toured inundated regions, said the floods had been devastating and would have an economic impact.

Gillard said the mining sector had been particularly badly hit, adding that farmers, small businesses and tourism would also suffer.

Residents in the coastal town of Rockhampton were forced to flee the rising waters in darkness Saturday night, while helicopters delivered food and other supplies to about 20 towns hit by the deluge.

Rockhampton’s airport, a major regional hub, was closed to commercial traffic as the runways went under water while the deluge also cut main roads into the town and disrupted power supplies.

The town’s river is expected to peak at 9.4 metres (yards) Wednesday, threatening 2,000-4,000 homes, and mayor Brad Carter said desperate sandbagging was under way.

Rockhampton could be isolated for as many as 10 days, and though food shortages were not yet an issue, Carter said he was unsure how long supplies could last as the situation worsens.

“The water inundation is far more extensive than we thought it was. It’s very extensive,” Carter said after an aerial tour of the region on Sunday.

“The geographic area has an enormous amount of water to it either side of… the Fitzroy river, which has broken through its banks and is covering large agricultural areas,” said Carter.

Officials were warning of a critical drinking water shortage at the inland town of Dalby after its treatment plant was swamped, meaning supplies had to be trucked in.

In Bundaberg, in Queensland’s southeast, the clean-up was set to begin in about 300 homes and 120 businesses as flood waters recede, but other towns such as Theodore and Condamine remain empty of residents.

Deputy state premier Paul Lucas flew over the devastated region and warned much of the heartbreak was still ahead as the full extent of damage became clear.

“(There are) swimming pools filled with mud, houses where people are sweeping the mud out. The devastation is enormous,” said Lucas.

Offshore oil drilling operations have been suspended due to a tropical cyclone developing off Australia’s resources-rich west coast, which also forced the closure of major iron ore export ports.

Sudan: Authorities investigate whipping of woman on YouTube video

A YouTube video showing a Sudanese woman pleading and crying as she was flogged in public by police officers has prompted an inquiry by the country’s judicial authorities.

An investigation was started immediately into the lashing of a woman as seen on a website, and the implementation of sanctions that go against what is outlined in the criminal code, the judiciary said in a statement published in a number of Sudanese state-run newspapers.

The video, which has been circulated around the Internet over the last two days, shows a woman in a long black dress and a headscarf being whipped by two blue-uniformed police officers in what appears to be a government yard; a Sudanese flag stands nearby.

One of the officers is heard saying that the unidentified woman’s sentence is 50 … lashes, while others laugh in front of the camera when they realize that the incident is being filmed. Sudanese authorities initially downplayed the event. The timing of the video was intended to coincide with the Human Rights Day on Dec. 10 in order to defame the country. However, the governor of Khartoum, Abdul Rahman Al Khedr, said that the woman was rightfully punished according to the sharia law, but the violation was in the manner her punishment was carried out.

Khedr said his country won’t allow the incident to be politicized. In northern Sudan, where the law is based on Islamic sharia, the punishment for crimes such as adultery, prostitution or running a brothel can include up to 100 lashes. It is unknown what the woman’s crime was, but in the beginning of the video she is asked to either bend down or face two years in jail. The whipping was criticized by the anti-government Sudanese Women’s Union, which issued a statement calling the incident a shame, disgrace and humiliation to all Sudanese women.In 2009, Sudanese reporter and U.N employee Lubna Hussein was arrested and sentenced to 40 lashes for indecent clothing after she wore loose jeans in public. The sentence was ondemned by local and international human rights organizations, leading to the commutation of the sentence to a fine of $200.

Lahore: woman killed on resisting dacoits

A 25-year-old woman has been killed in Lahore upon resisting dacoits, trendpk.Com reported on Thursday.
The relatives of the woman have accused that the dacoits were police personnel. According to Ghulam Nabi, resident of Shahdara, he and his wife were coming back after withdrawing money from an ATM machine when all of a sudden two people wearing police uniforms came and started looting them. The culprits opened fire on the couple when they resisted the dacoits. Their firing injured his wife Maimona who later could not succumb to her injuries and died of the bullet wounds. The relatives of the couple have said that police personnel were involved in the incident. Police sources have not forwarded their stance on the issue.

Unknown men strangle five people in Multan

Staff Report

MULTAN: Unknown men strangled five of a family near Markaz-e-Abn-e-Qasim, Trend Pk reported Friday.

Three family members, Atif, 24, Tasleem, 20, and another woman, died while two others are seriously injured.

Law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area. Police have started launched an investigation into the matter.

It is the result of family enmity, said police. Trend Pk

Akshay Kumar to kidnap the media

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T.M.K wallpapers

Getting the correct buzz right through the making till the very release has traditionally played a major role in hyping up a film. Tees Maar Khan has aimed at being

nothing different with a highlight a week keeping this Farah Khan directed film in news ever since it was announced.

Now add another highlight which is bound to make audience look forward to what new does this Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif starrer has to offer. The music of

the film would be launched in Mumbai on Friday and if sources are to be believed, it would turn out to be one of its own kind and never-seen-before event.

“It is definitely not going to be a regular press conference coupled with the screening of a few songs. It is going to be an altogether different affair”,

says a highly placed source from the marketing team of Tees Maar Khan, “A film like Tees Maar Khan has to be pitched differently.”

Extending the reason behind the ‘difference’ that Tees Maar Khan is aiming for, the source adds, “When it comes to regular music launches, there is at

least one such event that happens in Bollywood, whether for a big or a small film. There is visibility that comes in but nothing which is long lasting. Also,

one doesn’t always find a launch to compliment the theme and the genre of a film as all of them look just the same. If Tees Maar Khan too had to do

the same, its music may well have arrived on the stands without quite going for one such event.”

With music by Vishal-Shekhar and a guest composition (for the title track) by Shirish Kunder (who is also the producer of the film), Tees Maar Khan

music is being looked at with a keen interest as it also brings the team together once again after Om Shanti Om. However, with continued suspense

being created around the launch of the film’s soundtrack, one reaches out to the woman at the hot seat, Farah herself.

“Well, a suspense has to be suspense, so why break it before its due date”, Farah teases here, “Sunday is just a few days away so why not wait for a little

while longer. All I can confirm though are two things – 1) The launch is going to be unconventional and would take you by total surprise. You have never seen

music of a film release like this ever before. 2) Going by the genre of the film, our protagonist Tees Maar Khan is going to take you for a ride for

sure, so keep your seat belts fastened and be prepared for the unexpected. Beyond that, if I utter a word, I would just end up revealing it all.”

Well, even though the film is touted to be a racy masala entertainer, seems like Farah and Co. chose the ‘suspense, thrill and action’ genre for the launch

here. Hope it indeed does lead to a grand finale!

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