Friday Links | January 3, 2014

An attack by a female suicide bomber in Volgograd, Russia has left 16 dead and many more injured. Several sources have identified the woman as Turkmenistan national Oksana Aslanova.

A newly issued fatwa in Kashmir allows women with husbands missing for over four years to remarry, though many so-called half widows indicate that this is not their priority.

Afghan authorities have annulled a marriage for money, involving a 7-year-old girl; the father of the girl is said to be a drug addict and has been sent to a rehabilitation center.

Syrian refugee women in Jordan continue to struggle to survive, and are often not very experienced at providing for their families economically.

New billboards in Iran’s capital Tehran encouraging families to have more children have been criticized by many for being sexist and completely ignoring the harsh economic climate in Iran, which makes it for many not feasible to have a large family.

Four Uyghur women have been forced to undergo abortions in China’s Xinjiang province; one other woman is still awaiting the procedure and a sixth one escaped. One woman was 9 months into her pregnancy.

Qantara.de speaks to Bahraini blogger and activist Ala’a Shehabi about how she and her colleagues are subject to surveillance by the Bahraini security apparatus.

Two women were seriously injured by militiamen in Darfur, Sudan, when they tried to prevent the men from raping two girls, who were accompanying them. On Sunday ten women collecting firewood outside a camp were injured by militiamen in southern Darfur, who assaulted them with the aim to rape them.

Four Afghan women have been hired as park rangers in Afghanistan’s first national park Band-E-Amir.

The proportion of women working in Pakistan has increased over the last decade, but for many women, such as qualified driver Aliya Bibi, it is still very difficult to enter the male-dominated workforce.

The death of 3-year-old Hala Abu Sheikha by Israeli shelling in the Gaza strip, has residents worried about another military confrontation.

An increasing number of Indonesian women choose to wear trendy hijabs, which has resulted in a whole new business to mushroom.

One Saudi woman was pulled over by Saudi police last Saturday, while she was driving during another challenge of the driving ban. Another woman drove for two hours elsewhere in the country without problems.

A new law in Nigeria’s Kano state states that any man who divorces his wife will have to pay a $300 dollar fine. It is hoped that this will curb the high divorce rate in the state.

Ashraf Jehan has been appointed as the first female judge in Pakistan’s sharia court.

NPR speaks to Malaysian singer Yuna on her success in the USA and being a visible Muslim singer.

Al Monitor features an article that suggests that the role of Palestinian women during the uprisings has decreased over the years, due to a rise in religiosity and an increase in political appropriation of women’s issues.

Acid victims in Bangladesh who have been employed in beauty parlors, say it helps them to come to terms with what happened to them.

The Malaysian state of Pahang has outlawed cross dressing for its Muslim citizens.

Training in handicrafts among displaced women in Pakistan’s tribal regions has giving many women new opportunities to provide for their families.