NEW YORK CITY, July 12, 2013 (AFP) – Pakistan teenager Malala Yousafzai vowed Friday not to be silenced by terrorists in a powerful speech to the United Nations on her first public appearance since being shot by the Taliban. “They thought that the bullet would silence us, but they failed,” Malala said on her 16th … Read more
ISLAMABAD, July 14, 2013 (AFP) – Pakistan’s first group of female paratroopers completed their training on Sunday, the military announced, hailing it as a “landmark achievement” for the nation. Captain Kiran Ashraf was declared the best paratrooper of the batch of 24, the military said in a statement, while Captain Sadia, referred to by one … Read more
STOCKHOLM, August 20, 2013 (AFP) – Sweden’s justice minister on Tuesday met with activists who convinced prominent Swedes to wear headscarves this week to protest an alleged attack on a Muslim woman who wore a hijab. “We tried to say that there is structural discrimination …but (Justice Minister Beatrice Ask) kept referring to individual responsibilities,” … Read more
DAKAR, September 1, 2013 (AFP) – Senegal’s former justice minister, Aminata Toure, has been appointed to replace the prime minister, Abdoul Mbaye, she announced to the press on Sunday after the former government had been dismissed. Toure said after talks at the presidential palace in Dakar that the Senegalese head of state Macky Sall “did … Read more
RIYADH, September 22, 2013 (AFP) – Saudi women activists have called for a new day of defiance next month of the longstanding ban on women driving in the ultra-conservative kingdom. An online petition entitled “Oct 26th, driving for women” had on Sunday gathered almost 6,600 signatories, as activists try again to push authorities to end … Read more