Why Do These Women Stretch Their Necks?

Published on 29 May 2013 : Starting at an early age, women of the Padaung tribe wear a coil of brass rings around their necks. This collar, and the elongated appearance it gives their necks over time, are Padaung symbols they wear proudly. In their native Myanmar, Padaung people often faced persecution over these visible tribal symbols. Now, having relocated to a Thailand refugee camp, these Padaung women continue this centuries-old custom, memorializing the struggles of the past and maintaining a link to their tribe's history.

Previously Citizen Smith, today Citizen Khan?

BBC facing investigation for Muslim sitcom ‘disrespectful’ to Islam

UK broadcaster BBC is facing an investigation after launching a controversial sitcom about a Muslim family. The show sparked outrage over its treatment of ethnic and religious issues.

Citizen Khan is a comedy show from BBC1 about the Muslim community in Birmingham and began its run on Monday August 27. The network has received over 700 complaints saying the programme caused offence and insulted Muslims and Islam according to metro.co.uk. 

Media critics complained the show strengthens stereotypes about the Muslims. The Independent writer Arifa Akbar labeled it "not just outdated, but lazy and offensive."

The UK media regulator Ofcom is considering a formal investigation to see if any broadcasting rules have been broken after receiving 20 complaints about the show.

BBC sitcom Citizen Khan accused of being disrespectful to Muslims and Islam to face investigation (Image from www.bbc.co.uk)

The sitcom mocks the head of the Khan family, who overestimates his own importance and place in the community and business world.  

According to BBC synopsis "Mr Khan is a loveable larger than life character, with strong opinions and big dreams… Things would be so much easier if everyone just listened to him and followed his lead, but his obsessively house-proud wife and two feisty daughters usually have other ideas."

Defending the show the BBC said that a new comedy always provoked "differing reactions". 

"Citizen Khan has made a very positive start, launching successfully with 3.6million viewers,”  a BBC spokesman is quoted by The Daily Mail as saying. “New comedy always provokes differing reactions from the audience. The characters are comic creations and not meant to be representative of the community as a whole.”

British Muslim Adil Ray, is the man behind the show and plays the leading role of Mr Khan told This Is Staffordshire:"The biggest, most important, thing you can do is laugh at yourself… If you can laugh at yourself, it doesn't matter what anybody says to you as you're laughing already."

“My own cultural outsider's view is that Citizen Khan pays British Muslims perhaps the highest compliment television can bestow, which is treating them like any other creed and people by subjecting them to a gentle domestic sitcom in the tradition of My Family,” Mark Lawson of the Guardian wrote in defense of the series.

The show also prompted debate among Twitter users; opinions are split.

31 Aug, 2012   |  source here  >>

America's deadly leftovers?

Female bomb clearance teams created in Laos

Published on Sep 2, 2012 by AlJazeeraEnglish : During the Vietnam War, the US dropped millions of cluster bombs on Laos.Forty years on, an estimated 80 million remain buried and unexploded - posing a risk to anyone who goes near them.

Now, 50 women have joined teams of the Mine Action Group, MAG, to clear as many as they can.The decision to have three of its 14 teams led entirely by women is also a financial one, as the work helps elevate the women's position in society.

Insight: Ideas for Change - Karen Armstrong - Charter for Compassion.

Published on Aug 16, 2012 by WorldEconomicForum : "Never treat others as you would not like to be treated yourself."

The First 2 Females U.S. Four-Star Generals Talk to TIME

Published on Aug 15, 2012 by TimeMagazine : Four star-generals Janet Wolfenbarger and Ann Dunwoody reflect back on their pioneering careers.

'Easy' parking spots for women introduced by German mayor.

A German mayor has courted controversy by allocating so-called easy parking spaces to women.





So far the mayor says he has received mostly positive feedback despite expecting some 'humourless reactions from the political correct' and being accused by one angry female critic of exhibiting 'male pig-headedness' Photo: Alamy

Spaces in a new car park in the Black Forest town of Triberg now come with male and female symbols. The spaces for women are wider and well lit, while those for men are close to concrete pillars and can only be reversed into. Explaining the policy, Mayor Gallus Strobel said it was a natural decision because men are better at parking than women.

"In the new car park we found that two place were not rectangular, at an angle to the road and placed between walls and pillars; that makes parking difficult so we decided to allocate them to men," the 58 year-old mayor told Germany's Spiegel magazine.

But, he added, that there were great women drivers, and all women were welcome to try and park in the men-only spaces. Mr Strobel, who denies accusations of sexism, also pointed out that 10 spaces were reserved for women as opposed to just two for men.

So far the mayor says he has received mostly positive feedback despite expecting some "humourless reactions from the political correct" and being accused by one angry female critic of exhibiting "male pig-headedness. One man, the mayor reported, said he would travel to the town just to try the parking.

In an attempt to deflect any charges of sexism Mr Strobel also indicated that the whole affair may be a marketing ploy aimed at drumming up business for the small town of 5,000, more famed for its waterfalls and natural beauty than being a bastion of male chauvinism.

"I never expected this reaction," he said. "I've been on the phone all day, the TV will come. I am happy, and it looks like we've hit a raw nerve in society. It's been a great marketing gimmick.

"Women can come here and prove me wrong, and while they're at it they can see the town's attractions," he added.

Original report | 11July 2012

SEXY, WEALTHY & SINGLE: The World's Most Eligible Royals.

Getty: Princess Madeleine and her brother, 
Prince Carl Philip of Sweden.

It's been just over a year since Prince William wed Kate Middleton in a lavish and internationally televised ceremony. Even with the most eligible bachelor of the past decade off the market, girls all over the world are still dreaming of their own fairytale weddings. (Grace Kelly, anyone?)

This week is the Queen's Diamond Jubilee–an event celebrating the Queen's 60 years as monarch–where family, friends, and other royals will all gather to honor Queen Elizabeth II.

Prince Harry, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice will all be there (you can watch them in an exclusive interview by ABC's Katie Couric).

But they don't have to be English. Here are the world's hottest and most eligible royals, ranging from Great Britain all the way to Thailand.

See the most eligible royals in the world >


Read more: 

Before NATO Summit, Protestors rally, march in Chicago

Published on May 19, 2012 by VOAvideo : Though the NATO Summit starts May 20th, protestors are already filling the streets of the host city, Chicago. VOA's Kane Farabaugh has more on what was originally supposed to be the opening day protest rally of the G8 meeting in the city.

How the Elite Rule and their Goals

Uploaded by 108morris108 on Mar 15, 2012 - We are given the spin of wars for the resources, but in reality the goals are far more sociological.

Women's World : Western women converting to Islam.

Uploaded by PressTVGlobalNews on 29 Dec 2011 - The Muslim faith in under the spotlight again and this time its critics are wondering why more women in the west are embracing Islam than any other religion. In their eyes, Islam is supposed to be a religion which oppresses and subjugate women, or that is what critics want everyone to think and the profiles of the new converts have them baffled. According to figures from a multi faith group called faith matters, those most likely to convert to Islam are career women in their 20s and 30s.

Scores of Copts leave faith over divorce laws

Uploaded by AlJazeeraEnglish on 1 Oct 2011 - More than 100 Coptic Christians in Egypt have left the Church in recent weeks in a dispute over its strict divorce laws. Some followers in the church are now questioning whether the canons should be changed after Pope Shenouda III restricted divorce to cases of adultery or conversion to another religion.The revision excludes justifications of impotence, abandonment, abuse and mental disability which was allowed by the 1938 Coptic bylaws. 

   

Islamic law of Qisas.

Lets have a look at this Irani experience: Eight years back he devastated the life of a young woman, Ameneh Bahraami, by throwing a jug of acid at her face.

First Woman Prime Minister of Thailand.

Yingluck Shinawatra - for the record.

Modern Slavery in Gulf Countries

14 May 2011 - Adam Hanieh: Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states created a super exploited migrant work force after facing a radicalized Arab working class in the 60's

Peace possible: Arab-Jewish love breaks stereotypes.

RussiaToday | Nov 18, 2009 - It is a story of love between divided peoples. While it isn't illegal for Jews and Arabs in the Middle East to marry, it is seen as taboo. But as RT's Paula Slier finds out, there are times when love can triumph over any kind of social barrier.

China's dirty secrets

AlJazeeraEnglish 101East | February 04, 2011 - China's juggernaut economy is the envy of the world, but at what cost to the country's people and environment? 101 East investigates.

China's workers return home for New Year's

Today marks the Lunar New Year in China. Millions of workers in China return home for New Year Many employers fear they may not come back.



Marketplace - American Public Media 3 February 2011

Christmas toy market faces China crisis.

China Toys and Uighurs.

It's November, and by mid-afternoon London's streets are already shrouded in autumnal twilight. There's a bitter chill in the air.

Yet the city's shopping districts are brightly lit, colourfully decorated and thronging with people. Christmas may be more than a month away, but in the slightly surreal world of seasonal retailing, it's here already.

But this year, the risk of a toy shortage is higher than ever. And this time, the reason lies in China, where a large proportion of the toys sold in Europe and North America are made.

Most of China's toy factories are based in the south of the country, in southern coastal areas such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

In the past, these factories have relied on a steady, and cheap, supply of migrant labour from poorer parts of the country where work has been less readily available.

Now, though, the supply is drying up. The government in Beijing has been investing huge sums recently to promote development in inland regions.

Plus some other reasons - read full reports | BBC news 17 November 2010

Irish graduates look abroad for jobs.

AlJazeeraEnglish | November 19, 2010 - With Ireland on the brink of accepting a massive financial bailout, times are tough for job seekers.

As the boom has collapsed into a bust, a new wave of Irish workers are leaving home, just like generations before them.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports from Dublin.

What VoA says about Maids in Malaysia :

VOAvideo | November 19, 2010 - Cambodian women are increasingly finding work as domestic labor in Malaysia. But in their rush to employment, some are finding little protection from abuse at work. Like many developing countries, Cambodia is trying to find ways to protect its migrant workers. VOA's Brian Calvert reports from Preah Vihear province.