Mozah

Also the UNESCO special envoy for basic and higher education, the First Lady was recognized for her great style and even greater substance, with the Huffington Post dubbing her “First Lady of the World” in 2011 as she emerged in the media during a time of political turmoil and unrest in the region. The third wife of the Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Sheikha Mozah was also named one of Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women.

Her style blends tradition with a strong understanding of couture, setting itself apart as sophisticated, beautiful, different. Despite being a mother of seven, she maintains an impeccable figure. Vogue calls her an “authentic living legend, a strong example of emancipation.” Covering her hair in elegant turbans, her waisted, precise and modern pantsuits, flowing robes in bright colours, opulent yet balanced makeup and jewellery, she raises the bar of glamour for women in international politics.

Rajavi

An Iranian opposition group urged the U.N. refugee agency Wednesday to provide better protection for its members in Iraq following a mortar attack on their camp near Baghdad airport in which seven people were killed.

The call came during a meeting in Geneva of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, a France-based Iranian opposition group. The group's leader, Maryam Rajavi, urged the U.N. to transfer about 3,100 members of its militant wing, known as the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, or MEK, from the Baghdad facility to Camp Ashraf near Iraq's border with Iran.

Last year, the MEK abandoned Camp Ashraf, where it had been based since 1986, and moved to the former U.S. base Camp Liberty as a temporary way station while the U.N. finds host countries for the refugees. The Iraqi government considers the MEK a terrorist organization and has been pressing its members to leave ever since their patron, Saddam Hussein, was ousted in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

On Feb. 9, seven people were killed and dozens wounded in the mortar attack, which was claimed by Shiite militants.

Sabotage

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hinted at sabotage as a possible cause forthe fire which 18 lives in Kolkata on Wednesday. The fire broke out at a multi-storey market complex in the Sealdah area. 

The chief minister has ordered an inquiry and announced compensation of Rs.2 lakh to the kin of each of the dead.

Banerjee, who visited the site, said: "The probe will be jointly done by the police, fire department and the municipal corporation, and a report is to be submitted in three days. On the basis of the report, action will be taken." 

Observing that the market was prone to fires because a large number of inflammable objects were stored there, she also hinted at sabotage: "Why has this incident happened? There are so many inflammable objects that if anybody lit a small fire, it could turn into a major fire. The probe will look into all aspects," she said.

Describing the incident as unfortunate, Banerjee said the families of victims will be given Rs.2 lakh each as compensation.

Read more at:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/kolkata-fire-mamata-banerjee-sniffs-sabotage-orders-inquiry/1/251880.html

Notre Dame

Eight nubile women went topless through Notre Dame to celebrate the legalisation of gay marriage in France. The women are a part of FEMEN, a pro-feminist, pro-gay organisation whose motto is Sextremism. FEMEN held the demonstration to mark the final hour of the homophobic Pope, who they labelled as fascist and the head of the Catholic mafia. After the women disrobed and rang bells housed within the church, security quickly forced them out of the cathedral. They continued their impassioned demonstration just outside.

FEMEN members have a penchant for running about topless when some issue has upset them. While such an approach to conflict could do much to settle miscommunications between the sexes, the context must clearly be suitable. In this case, the majority of people within the cathedral found the display inappropriate and rude.

Bamboo

The Gulabi gang was founded in 2006 by Sampat Pal Devi, a mother of five and former government health worker, as well as a former child bride, as a response to widespread domestic abuse and other violence against women. Gulabis visit abusive husbands and beat them up with laathis, bamboo sticks, unless they stop abusing their wives. In 2008, they stormed an electricity office in Banda district and forced corrupt officials to turn back the power they had cut in order to extract bribes. They have also stopped child marriages and protested dowry and female illiteracy.

Pope Joan

A group of topless activists scandalized visitors at Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral on Tuesday by disrobing in public to celebrate Pope Benedict XVI's resignation.

The small group of women, all affiliated with radical feminist group FEMEN, flashed their breasts and banged on bells in the cathedral, shouting slogans such as, "Bye Bye Benedict" and "No more homophobe," according to the Agence France-Presse.

The pope announced his resignation Monday in a shocking pronouncement that took the Catholic community by surprise. However, FEMEN appears to have little to no love for the outgoing pontiff, whom the group blasted on its website for his stance on same-sex marriage.

Afghana

When NATO published a "media backgrounder" on Afghan security forces in October 2010, the U.S.-led alliance was adamant that as the Afghan National Army (ANA) grew to the point where it would be able to defend its own country, it would also need to increase the women in its ranks.

"This growth must result in an inclusive army," said the NATO document. "This requires future effort in building a cadre of female soldiers, as well as ensuring an ethnically balanced army. Currently there are 301 women in the ANA, of which 166 are officers."

A year later, The New York Times ran a story about a female cadet training to be an officer in the ANA.

"She said she did not feel well because two days before, her fiance had threatened her with (a) knife and told her he would kill her if she did not leave the army," reported the Times.

"He says to me from Saturday to Wednesday (when the training school is in session) you are sleeping among American men," said this Afghan cadet.

Sequential Defense Department reports on progress in the Afghan War describe the department's efforts to integrate women into Afghanistan's army.

Mechanised

When I was young I read about the PPK. They were fighting a guerrilla for independence against multiple enemies. They found that their all-female units had a better kill ratio than their male counterparts. It was the first I'd heard of modern Amazons.In May 1935, French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval allegedly asked Stalin to improve the situation of Catholics in the USSR so as not to provoke a quarrel with the Pope. At that, Stalin, with his brutal sense of humour, asked, “The Pope? How many divisions does he have?”The point is right now women do not have any divisions. As far as I am concerned women won't be a threat until they have their own mechanised armour.

Golf

At the Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament on Thursday, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hit a bad shot on the sixth hole. The ball smacked a female spectator in the face. Here's how the New York Times reported the incident:

"On the par-5 sixth hole, which features a blind approach to the uphill green, Rice’s second shot landed on the side of the hill. After she advanced it several yards with her third, her fourth shot flew out of the grabby grass and hit a spectator standing behind the left gallery rope.

“'Did I hit you?” Rice said, moving quickly to reach the woman, who had a bloody gash above the bridge of her nose. Her daughter was trying to use a pairings sheet as a bandage. “It was a bad shot. I’m really sorry.”

"Rice knelt, handed the woman’s daughter a white towel to stanch the bleeding and held the woman’s right hand until first-aid personnel arrived. Before she headed to the green, she asked the daughter to call her with an update on her mother’s condition. Rice’s assistant, who was walking outside the ropes, slipped the daughter a piece of paper after Rice left. Rice’s game was never the same ..."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/02/08/4055772/fore-condoleezza-rice-takes-down.html#storylink=cpy

Code Pink

Thursday’s confirmation hearing for CIA nominee John Brennan was postponed to clear the room of activists from CODEPINK after they repeatedly disrupted Brennan’s testimony. One woman held a list of Pakistani children killed in U.S. drone strikes. Former United States diplomat Col. Ann Wright interrupted Brennan while wearing a sign around her neck with the name of Tariq Aziz, a 16-year-old Pakistani boy who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in 2011. Wright and seven others were arrested.