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Hillary Clinton clear choice
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Nov 18, 2006 6:44 am
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Hillary Clinton clear choice for US Democrats in 2008
ALBANY: To fresh off her landslide re-election victory, Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton is the clear choice among New York Democrats for the party's 2008 presidential nomination, a state-wide poll reported yesterday. The waters are not so smooth for her fellow New York political celebrity- Republican Rudy Giuliani. The poll, from Siena College's Research Institute, found the former New York City mayor in a statistical tie with Sen John McCain of Arizona among the state's Republican voters. The poll results come two days after it was learned that Giuliani had created a committee to explore a possible presidential run. McCain is expected to form such a committee shortly. Clinton has still not said what her plans are. The poll found Clinton favoured over Illinois Sen Barack Obama among New York Democrats, 49 per cent to 15 per cent.
No other potential Democrat contender cracked the double-digit mark. Among Republican voters, Giuliani was favoured by 34 per cent while McCain was the choice of 33 per cent. Lame-duck Republican Gov George Pataki, who is eyeing a run for the Republican nomination, trailed far back at 7 per cent. "Rudy wins in New York City and the suburbs," said Siena poll spokesman Steven Greenberg. "McCain wins upstate. Pataki doesn't hit double digits anywhere." The poll found that among all voters surveyed, Clinton led Giuliani, 53 per cent to 39 per cent, and led McCain, 55 per cent to 36 per cent.
Giuliani led Obama, 47 per cent to 41 per cent, among New York voters, while McCain was at 40 per cent and Obama at 39 per cent in another hypothetical matchup. In this month's election, Clinton easily beat back a challenge from former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer. Pataki did not seek a fourth term, and the election for New York governor was easily won by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat. Clinton and Giuliani almost faced each other in New York's 2000 Senate race, but the then-mayor withdrew from the contest in the face of prostate cancer and a second marriage that was falling apart. He subsequently married Judith Nathan, his third wife. Siena's telephone poll of 620 registered voters was conducted Nov 8-14 and has a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4 percentage points. _ AP
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Hejab as tradition, fashion accessory
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Nov 18, 2006 6:32 am
205 Views
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BEIRUT: Shereen Ali is beautiful, young and outgoing. She loves hanging out at Beirut's hip cafes and, like other women in her crowd, is a stickler for the latest fashions. What sets the first-year medical student apart from her girlfriends is her hejab, the headscarf she always wears - and is careful to match with whatever tight ankle-length skirt and fitted, long-sleeved blouse she has picked out that day. "Every morning I wake up, I am aware of my hejab identity," says Ali, 21. "I have to be, because it determines the way I behave toward people and them toward me. "I always feel I have to prove to them that my wearing the hejab doesn't mean that I am a fanatic, close-minded or backward or even an extremist, but that I'm very much like them."
Ali is not alone in Lebanon's diversified society of Muslims and Christians where it is not uncommon to see women in dressed in black with a headscarf walking hand-in-hand with girlfriends - or even sisters and relatives - whose hair flows freely and who wear skimpier outfits. And it's also not uncommon to see young "hejabed" women wearing makeup, parading along the streets. For Lebanon's Shiite Muslim and Sunni Muslim women, dress ranges from traditional black, to the fashionable, colourful scarf tied under the chin, with the face showing, to the typically Western short skirts or slacks favoured by Lebanese Christians.
Although many Muslim women wear the hejab because of tradition or because they're pressured by families or religious figures, many others do so of their own free will, like Sawsan Herbawi, 38, who comes from a family that was not particularly religious. She hides her long, naturally blond hair under a polyester scarf, exposing only her green eyes and freckled face. Until six years ago, Herbawi not only was "hysterically against the hejab" - as she put it - but preferred clothes that were head-turningly revealing. Suddenly one day, she changed to a black robe and a plain headscarf. "I don't know why I became hejabed. It was shocking to me because I used to be disgusted by it, I was against the principle of women wearing it.
"Why I chose to wear it, I really don't know, I can't explain. I felt something inside, I don't know what, but the feeling told me that I should wear the hejab," she said. Her husband was speechless when she told him of her decision, but didn't try to stop her. She first donned the hejab on a visit to the shrine of a Shiite Muslim woman saint in the Syrian capital of Damascus, hoping the saint, Syeda Zainab, would give her the strength to keep the hejab on forever. "After all, hejab is an obligation for a Muslim woman," Herbawi said as she took a drag from her cigarette.
However, she said wearing the hejab had not changed her. "I'm the same person inside and outside. I only hide my hair. Now I go to women-only beaches and wear a bathing suit, like I used to. ... But I do not shake hands with men. That's not allowed in our religion," she said. But she discourages her 11-year-old daughter from wearing the headscarf now. "I don't let her - not until she grows up and decides whether she really wants it or not," said Herbawi.
The medical student Shereen Ali also tried to discourage her younger sister, Mariam, when she insisted on wearing the hejab at age 12 - but to no avail. Shereen herself first wore the headscarf at 12 and didn't want Mariam to face the same doubts she later had about the traditional dress. At their religious school, Shereen and Mariam had been lectured that the hejab was an Islamic obligation, that it would protect them from men's malicious eyes. Their hejab-wearing mother had argued they should not take up the scarf too early, but both went ahead. "For me it was an adventure and I thought it would make me look older and mature," said Shereen.
Later, she started having regrets about wearing the scarf while still a child but was too embarrassed to take it off, worried what her family and teacher would say. Mariam also had regrets and she, too, was "ashamed" to speak up. "I was hoping someone, my mother or Shereen, would tell me to take it off. But they didn't," she said. So she kept quiet and by the following year she had become convinced of wearing it.
These days, both Shereen and Mariam, now 18, warn their 12-year-old sister Sara to stay away from the headscarf, despite pressure from her religion teacher. Sara needs little persuading; she loves to put colourful ornaments in her light brown hair and finds the headscarf "boring". "If I put on the hejab I won't be able to wear earrings," she says. "I like looking pretty." She then adds: "But I know when I grow older - maybe in a year or two - I will have to wear it. "My sisters wear it so I will also have to and because our teacher tells us the Quran says it's the duty of the girl to wear it. I will have to. God will punish me if I don't." -- AP
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Britney files for divorce
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Nov 18, 2006 5:51 am
210 Views
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Britney Spears has filed for divorce from her husband Kevin Federline.
The singer has filed court papers in LA citing "irreconcilable differences".
Spears will seek custody of their two children reports the BBC.
Britney married Kevin in 2004 and gave birth to her first child - Sean Preston - last year. She gave birth to their second child - Jayden James Federline - in September.
The documents state the day of separation as 6 November.
In the papers, Spears asks that each party pay their own legal fees and does not request spousal support.
She also asks for assets including "miscellaneous jewellery and other personal effects" and her earnings from after the separation date be confirmed as separate from her husband's property.
Spears personal wealth was estimated at about $123m in 2004 by Forbes business magazine.
Federline has two other children by his former partner, TV actress Shar Jackson.
Spears's previous marriage, to childhood friend Jason Alexander, was annulled two days after the couple exchanged vows in Las Vegas in 2004.
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K-Fed will fight Britney for custody
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Nov 18, 2006 5:45 am
201 Views
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Court papers filed in LA show that Kevin Federline is seeking sole custody of his and Britney's two young sons.
Britney made the first move to separate from Kevin, filing legal documents which cite "irreconcilable differences" as grounds for divorce. She has also said that she wants physical and legal custody of Sean Preston and their youngest son, Jayden James.
According to the BBC, 24 hours after the popstar mum filed for divorce, Kev set the ball rolling on the legal process to seek both sole custody and "spousal support".
Kevin's lawyer has said that the rapper is prepared to do whatever is necessary to protect and safeguard his children.
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Bangladeshi pimp business in Kuwait
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Nov 15, 2006 11:45 pm
235 Views
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Prostitution dens.
KUWAIT CITY: The Ahmadi police have arrested a Bangladeshi pimp, identified only as Altaf, reports Al-Anba daily. A police source said the suspect was put under surveillance because police suspected him of setting fire to the car of an unidentified Kuwaiti man. The citizen had earlier allegedly informed police about Altaf’s illegal activities which led to the arrest of some of his men when police raided vice dens in various parts of Kuwait said to have been run by him. During interrogations Altaf admitted that he had been deported from the country five times within two years and each time he managed to enter the country on forged passports. He also said he is running 11 Prostitution homes all over the country and employs three bodyguards. Each bodyguard is paid KD 300 a month salary. He also told police his bodyguards were arrested and deported from the country on two occasions but they too managed to enter the country on forged passports.
He says each month he earns about KD 21,000. Most of the women he has forced into Prostitution are kidnap victims. Whenever someone kidnaps a woman and brings her to him, he buys her for KD 250. He said he also offered ‘home delivery’ service for a special fee. Altaf admitted to transferring more than KD 240,000 to his bank account in Bangladesh within two years. A reliable security source told the daily police have seized from the man several receipts of bank drafts. A police source said the pimp offered KD 10,000 to the arresting office to set him free.
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Iran to Pursue Atomic Plans ‘Until the End’
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Nov 15, 2006 11:12 pm
239 Views
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Iran to Pursue Atomic Plans ‘Until the End’
Alireza Ronaghi, Reuters
TEHRAN, 16 November 2006 — Iran’s president said yesterday his country would press on with its nuclear program “until the end” and would not be stopped by the West, which fears the Islamic Republic is trying to build atomic bombs.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking a day after the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a report that Iran was still stonewalling probes aimed at determining whether its plans are peaceful.
“The Iranian nation stands for its nuclear right and will go ahead until the end,” Ahmadinejad said in a speech to a rally in western Iran, broadcast live on state television.
“Time is on the Iranian nation’s side. With each passing day, (the West) must retreat one step and acknowledge the rights of the Iranian nation and with each passing day the Iranian nation goes ahead toward the summits of victory,” he said.
“By the grace of God, we will hold a great nuclear celebration before the end of this year, all over Iran,” he said, without elaborating.
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Rape: Who Gets Punished and Who Does Not?
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Nov 15, 2006 11:00 pm
244 Views
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Last week the Arabic daily Okaz carried a story on two more rape cases in Qatif. One of them involved a 17-year-old boy who was dragged into a field by two men and raped. The atrocity was also filmed. The two rapists then attempted to assault another young man who managed to escape and go to the police. The two men were eventually caught and are now awaiting trial.
These two crimes follow the famous rape case known in Saudi Arabia as the “Qatif Girl” incident which was a top news story a few months ago. For those who don’t know, it was the gang rape of a girl in Qatif who called for help and when a man attempted to help her, he was beaten up and raped as well. The sentences, as reported by Arab News, were “Four of the seven men have been sent to jail for periods ranging from one to five years and will be given 80 to 1,000 lashes.” In addition, “The court also sentenced the woman and the man she was meeting to 90 lashes for having met in private. The security source from the Eastern Province said, ‘The judge sentenced the girl and the man to 90 lashes because they were alone with the intention of doing something bad. Because of that, they will be punished.’” Relatives of the woman said that they would appeal the 90-lash-sentence
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police officers violate traffic rules
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Nov 15, 2006 10:42 pm
232 Views
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Traffic rules
KUWAIT: The Assistant Undersecretary for Traffic Affairs, Maj Gen Thabit Al-Muhanna said that all cars belonging to police officers and policemen found flouting traffic rules should be impounded and forced to pay fines. He also said that they should also be presented before the military court as both the policemen as well as the officers are supposed to be examples for others. The instructions were issued after it was disclosed that several police officers violate traffic rules whilst driving.
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Winter not yet
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Nov 15, 2006 10:33 pm
234 Views
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Winter not yet
KUWAIT: people who started wearing heavy clothes of winter will discover that they took fast decisions for changing clothes because they can enjoy wearing summer clothes until November 27.
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