The Right Way

Kuwait parliament moves ahead with women's rights legislation

[JURIST] Kuwaiti draft legislation broadening women's rights was approved by a parliamentary panel Sunday and will likely be debated in the house in the next two months. The panel's head, MP Saleh Ashour [Kuwait Politics Database profile, in English and Arabic], revealed that the bill would make government housing, currently only offered to married men, available to women who are married to non-citizens, divorced or widowed. Other benefits include two-year maternity leave, a monthly stipend for unemployed mothers, and an increase in paid leave from 40 days to 70 days. If passed by parliament, the bill must then be signed by Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah [BBC profile] to go into effect. AFP has more.In May 2005, the Kuwait National Assembly [official website] passed a law granting women the right to both run and vote in parliamentary elections [JURIST report].

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Human rights report: Israeli occupation forces kill six ...

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights conducted field research into the Israeli killings of six Palestinians in the West Bank on Thursday and Friday, including resistance and security members, and a child. Little attention has been paid to Israeli violations of international and human rights law in the West Bank as of late. All eyes are on the internal conflict focused mainly in the Gaza Strip. The full text of the PCHR report follows: Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have escalated their war crimes in the West Bank over the past two days, killing 6 Palestinians in 4 separate crimes. Two were killed resisting an IOF incursion into Nablus. A third was killed in an extra-judicial execution in Tulkarm. A child was killed due to excessive use of force in Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

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Child labor laws are for the weak

I was surprised to see that our little two-year-old is kicking ass in the "Gross Motor Skills" category, which we've lovingly renamed "Child-Labor-Laws-Be-Damned". I see that she got her highest scores in sweeping, cleaning, setting the table, serving the food and cracking nuts (?) which is awesome because she's now qualified to work as a janitor for squirrels. At two! We're very proud. And kind of confused. My first thought was that this seems like a pretty sweet deal for you guys. I'm paying you $12k a year to use my daughter as a mini-housekeeper. Honestly, it seems like a lot of unpaid manual labor for a two year old but I guess I can see how those skills could help gross motor skill development. And then I got a little further down on the list and found out that she's also being graded on something else: Her ability to polish the silver.

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Animal-Rights Group Wants to Halt Dog-Chaining

Durham — Mopsy and Bessie are 79-year-old Dietrich von Haugwitz's companions. Mopsy has been around for years, but Bessie joined her only a few weeks ago. "The dog has taken to me and now loves me dearly as if she's been with me for years and years," von Haugwitz said.That might come as no surprise at all, considering what Bessie has been through."Bessie was not being taken care of. She was being fed every few days at best," von Haugwitz said, Bessie lived on a chain no more than 6 feet long. Her owner, an elderly woman with dementia, reportedly neglected the dog.Animal advocates fought to have Bessie removed from her former home. Now they are fighting for other animals. The group known as the Coalition to Unchain Dogs is working to restrict or ban the chaining of dogs in Durham and Orange counties."Dogs are social animals," said spokesperson Amanda Arrington.

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Films explore women's rights, religion, drugs

The idea that a documentary can be both educational and entertaining seems to go without saying, but nonfictional films haven't always been given their proper due. Especially among academics. Between the years of 1936 and 1938, the late New York cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead helped chart new territory by using film to document her field work in Bali. She made several movies about Balinese dance and later produced films on cross-cultural child rearing and other subjects. Years later, on her 75th birthday, Mead was honored for her pioneering commitment. The American Museum of Natural History in New York City launched a documentary film festival and named it after her. The event continues today and has since branched out into a traveling festival. It is known as the longest-running showcase for international documentaries.

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14k Yellow Gold Filigree Butterfly Charm

Crafted from 14 karat yellow gold and exquisitely detailed, this filigree butterfly charm is a delightful addition to your collection. Measuring about 1/2 inch long, not including the bale, the charm is thin and lightweight, with a slightly sculpted shape that adds dimension to the wings. A diamond-cut finish along the edges of the wings enhances its sparkle and shine. Add a chain of your choice to show it off.

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Students help design human rights minor

One week before America celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, USC's department of political science made its own contribution to King's legacy of civil rights advances. The department added human rights as a minor this semester, the fifth minor the department offers. The core course for the class is POSC 448a, The Politics of Peace: Human Rights. The minor will require 14 additional units, mostly selected from upper division political science, international relations, anthropology and history courses. An internship, community involvement or independent project is also required. POSC 448a professor Alison Dundes Renteln's students came to her with a petition during the fall of 2004, encouraging her to pursue the creation of the minor. Renteln, who is also the director of the Jesse M.

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Can child labor be eradicated in the world?

Child labor has been defined as any work anywhere. It is easy to see children working in factories, shops and in the streets. The streets, in the end, are the place where most children work. They work as sellers and roadsweepers. Most of the child laborers are under 14 years of age. There are over 1,000,000 child workers in the world. Children mainly find employment. Child laborers are often paid very little for long hours of labor. They accept this situation because they need money to support their family, and sometimes they are not paid at all. Most of child workers take jobs on false promises of high pay, but when they work, they face reality. In addition to that, most of these children work in terrible conditions with low wages and poor food and shelter. They fall prey to various diseases, especially lung-disease and breathing problems because most of the child workers labor in factories or in the streets.

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KFC's owner turns down free land from animal rights group

Yum Brands, the fast-food conglomerate, wanted to buy property for a Taco Bell in Norfolk, Virginia, on the site of a former appliance store. But the identity of the seller turned out to be an unpleasant surprise. The real estate department of Yum Brands made a $1 million offer this month for property on the corner of Monticello Avenue and 20th Street, on the fringes of downtown Norfolk. Unbeknownst to Yum, the property was owned by the PETA Foundation, a group that provides support services for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, known as PETA. The animal rights group has been engaged in a campaign against KFC, the Kentucky Fried Chicken chain owned by Yum Brands. The campaign, called Kentucky Fried Cruelty, has sought to force the chain to adopt more stringent animal welfare guidelines.

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Protection of women's rights urged

THE Arab world has a long way to go before the level of women's rights can reach international standards, women's rights activists said yesterday. Children and Mothers Information Centre president Shaikha Hind bint Salman Al Khalifa said that there was no longer any room in the world for discrimination between the sexes. "The world today no longer believes in such divisions. The global trend is for one world in which men and women work together to achieve common economic, political, cultural, social and civil goals," she said. Shaikha Hind said that while women in Bahrain have risen to very high leadership positions, there are still many forms of discrimination which remain firmly in place. "Bahrain's constitution states that all nationals are equal before the law and should face no discrimination based on sex, origin, language, religion or belief," she continued.

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