By Agencies / 29 Nov 2013

Yemeni women at the Banat Cafe in Sanaa sip coffee and surf online. But this is a cafe with a difference it caters only for women. Tagreed Ali runs the cafe, she said it was down to a lack of decent space for women to get together that prompted her to open the 'Girls Cafe'.

“The other cafes are mixed, and even when they have a dedicated space for women, it is usually small and uncomfortable. So this was the first reason that encouraged us to open a women-only café,” she said.

Source : World Bulletin / 28 Nov 2013

A French appeals court on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a Muslim daycare worker for wearing a headscarf at a creche that demanded strict neutrality from its employees.

The Paris court's decision was announced at the same time as French lawyers defended the country's ban on full-face veils in public before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

By Joseph Brean / 27 Nov 2013

The Edmonton Police Service is to reveal a prototype official hijab for its officers this week, following testing to ensure its safety.

It is understood the Muslim headscarf would be black, and designed to be worn underneath the standard police cap.

Source : World Bulletin / 26 Nov 2013

Chinese authorities have launched the "Project Beauty" campaign, which aims to discourage women from covering their faces — a religious practice of some Muslim Uighurs women in the East Turkistan (Xinjiang) province.

A Xinjiang government web portal promoting Project Beauty did not mention banning veils directly, but listed its goals in promoting local beauty products and other goods, as well as encouraging women to be "practitioners of modern culture".

Source : iwpeace.com / 21 Nov 2013

Muslim leaders in Indonesia have welcomed a recent decision by the national police to allow policewomen to wear the hijab while on duty, a move that promises to quell long-standing complaints.

On June 20th, National Police chief Timur Pradopo announced that he would revoke the ban, and he has since assigned a team to draft new rules on policewomen and hijab, The Jakarta Post reported.

Source : Presstv / 21 Nov 2013

Muslim women are more likely to be targeted by Islamophobic attacks than men in Britain, a new study has found.

According to the report, entitled "Maybe We Are Hated," about 58 percent of those experiencing Islamophobia in the UK between April 2012 and April 2013 were female.

Source : Reuters / 13 Nov 2013

Arab women played a central role in the Arab Spring, but their hopes the revolts would bring greater freedom and expanded rights for women have been thwarted by entrenched patriarchal structures and the rise of Islamists, gender experts in the countries say.

By Cihan / 12 Nov 2013

The Council of State has ruled that female lawyers are not required to provide a photograph showing their hair in order to register for the bar, the Turkish media reported on Monday.

The 8th Chamber of the Council of State, handling a case opened by a headscarved lawyer after her application for registry at the bar was refused, granted an injunction on a bylaw of the Legal Profession Act. The chamber made its decision unanimously.

By Patricia Zahra Pál / 11 Nov 2013

When I was 15 years old, my family and I moved from Hungary to Austria, to a little city called Villach.

The integration was not an easy task without the knowledge of the German language.

I was suffering a lot from homesickness and I always wished to have lots of friends who could relieve me from this bad feeling in this new country.

By Karima Burns / 08 Nov 2013

The Qur'an (2:233) says, "And the mothers should suckle their children for two whole years for him who desires to make complete the time of suckling; and their maintenance and their clothing must be borne by the father according to usage. No soul shall have imposed upon it a duty but to the extent of its capacity; neither shall a mother be made to suffer harm on account of her child, nor a father on account of his child. And a similar duty (devolves) on the (father's) heir, but if both desire weaning by mutual consent and counsel, there is no blame on them, and if you wish to engage a wet-nurse for your children, there is no blame on you so long as you pay what you promised for according to usage; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah and know that Allah sees what you do."