Asia

A group of Saudi female activists launched an online campaign calling for the participation of women in municipal elections both as voters and candidates, amid arguments over the conflict between law and tradition.

First Lady of Pakistan Fouzia Gilani has said the PPP-led government is ensuring the empowerment of women in the society.Addressing the closing ceremony of Women Entrepreneurs Furniture Exhibition organised by Furniture Pakistan at a local hotel on Sunday, she said that nations, societies and the countries could not make progress without the contribution of women in the economy.

The women of Filipino Ladies Association of Guam donned brightly colored mestizas and floral wreaths to commemorate a golden benchmark -- five decades of service to the community.

On Jan. 8, the organization held it's 50th Induction and Christmas Ball at the Guam Marriot Resort & Spa, where new officers and directors pledged allegiance to FLAG.

Saudi female activists who had been expected to brave a driving ban have postponed a planned day of action for Sunday following the death of Crown Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz, a member of the group said.

They sit patiently in the lobby of the directorate of women's rights at the women's ministry, their sad, bruised faces testimony to the years of ill-treatment and beatings they have been forced to endure.

The Palestinian Cabinet endorsed a nine-year national strategic plan to combat violence again women in the occupied Palestinian territory, the first of its kind in the Arab region.

The Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has considered the combined fourth and fifth periodic report of Israel on how that country implements the provisions of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.

Ahead of municipal elections in the spring, a group of activists in Saudi Arabia have launched a campaign to allow women to run, as well as vote.

The campaign, dubbed My Country, kicked off Sunday with letters sent to various government officials and posts on social networking Web sites.

Women can be a major power in convincing Mideast leaders to agree to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday as she urged regional leaders to embrace the rising expectations of their skyrocketing youth populations.

'Muslim women' have been used as symbolic pawns in the global war on terror as well as in national disputes between groups vying for political power. In India this was demonstrated most starkly during the 1980s in the Shah Bano case, which has since come to exemplify the potential conflict between religion, culture and women's rights.