Asia

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi authorities are detaining thousands of women illegally and subjecting many to torture and ill-treatment, including the threat of sexual abuse, Human Rights Watch said in a report published on Thursday.

(WNN) Los Angeles, California, UNITED STATES, AMERICAS: Despite the election of new President Hassan Rowhani in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI), women continue to face new challenges in exercising their civil rights. For women this means a great challenge to reach equality as well as accessing educational and workforce resources.

GENEVA (AP) — The leader of Syria's Western-backed opposition said Thursday he will give his negotiating team the authority it needs in any talks with President Bashar Assad's government.

Zaatari refugee camp, Jordan (CNN) -- They carried teapots and tiny gas canisters, shopping bags filled with clothes and overstuffed bundles of blankets balanced on their heads. Many held jerry cans, once full with water, now dangling empty.

I've been watching the news about the war in Syria with a mixture of anger and worry. Yes, I'm angry and deeply disturbed when I read about the thousands of people who have been killed and the millions displaced by their own government. And yes, I'm worried about the prospect of United States military intervention after a decade of war.

The new head of Japan's national broadcaster NHK defence of the country's wartime military sexual slavery is deplorable, said Amnesty International.

At his first press conference since his appointment, Katsuto Momii is reported to have said the practice was common in any country at war and he was puzzled at the international outcry of its use.

Roseann Rife, East Asia Research Director at Amnesty International commented:

The campaign to ensure women's equal participation at the peace talks on Syria in January has become more urgent, as certain parties recognize that women are vital in rebuilding and reconciling Syrian society. Yet only a few weeks before the talks are scheduled to start, no commitment has been made as to whether women will actually sit at the negotiating table between the Syrian government and the opposition.

Preliminary research in two provinces has found that a lack of implementation of the domestic violence law means that women continue to suffer abuse and more needs to be done to ensure that attitudes change and perpetrators are held accountable.

In India, a new female-friendly handgun has sparked renewed scrutiny over how women can protect themselves from sexual violence.

Pro-Pakistan Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani Sunday announced the formation of pan-Kashmir women wing of his party, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

The formation of women wing of Hurriyat, which will be headed by Mr Geelani, was formally announced at the party headquarters in Srinagar.

A spokesperson of the party said the decision to form the women wing was driven by their specified role for Islam, unification and freedom movement.