Asia

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon has called on a Melbourne conference to do more to "keep the promise" of saving the lives of women and children.

MP Setrida Geagea's Press office issued a statement on Monday about the Lebanese Forces MP's words during the meeting organized by Women's Affairs department of LF Bsharre division.

During the meeting, Setrida Geagea confirmed the necessity to boost women's role in the society, particularly in municipal work and developmental projects.

Two Iranian rights activists arrested on their way to the funeral of a senior dissident cleric last year have won international press freedom awards, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports.

The two are jailed blogger Kouhyar Goudarzi and prominent women's rights activist Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh.

“The Russian Compound...” said Jehan Dahadha, before trailing off. Her gaze shifts to the floor and the 23-year-old Palestinian woman sighs before continuing.

The women come from all over Israel every month to pray at the Western Wall, one of Judaism's holiest sites.

As their voices rise and fall in prayer, onlookers gawk and occasionally harass the praying women. Israeli police have arrested several women on charges of disturbing the peace; Orthodox men and women have spit at, cursed and attacked others.

The bloody wake left by the Mavi Marmara after the May 31 Israeli commando raid has not deterred 50 female activists from trying to break the four-year-old siege of Gaza. To hear Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak speak of their planned relief effort, one would think the very existence of Israel was at stake.

Pulling Western troops out of Afghanistan will condemn mothers and children to suffer, a leading Afghan women's advocate has warned.

Sakena Yacoobi said yesterday that foreign soldiers - including from Australia - were needed for at least another five years in a conflict where extremists deliberately poison the drinking water at schools to scare away children.

The small classroom is abuzz with conversations in Persian. But it ends as soon as a young woman in salwar-kameez enters and starts teaching English. Meet Aarzoo Hussain, an Afghan national, who is fiercely independent and wants womenfolk from her country to lead a free life too. Hussain is happy that her family chose to come to India and she is away from the land of “tyranny and subjugation”.

Ten campaign workers for a female parliamentary candidate in western Afghanistan were abducted by gunmen Thursday and the Taliban claimed responsibility for two deadly attacks, one that killed eight Afghan police officers and another that killed two Spanish police trainers and a translator a day earlier.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday that he will not sacrifice women's rights in any peace deal with the Taliban.