July 09, 2007
Tummy fat can grow new breasts
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6283444.stm
Fat from the tummy or bottom could be used to grow new breasts in a treatment which could be carried out in an hour - or a lunch break.
Scientists say they can create a fat mixture with concentrated stem cells, which, when injected into the breast, apparently encourages tissue to grow.
The therapy, detailed in Chemistry and Industry Magazine, could help cancer patients who have had mastectomies.
And if licensed, it may rival silicone for those seeking bigger breasts.
Using fat from the patient's own body to rebuild other areas is not a novel idea, but such reconstructions often fail as the fat is simply reabsorbed.
However using fat-derived stem cells appears to overcome this problem, according to the company behind the procedure, Cytori Therapeutics.
The procedure - dubbed Celution - could be carried out in an hour.
Fat from the either the stomach, bottom or thigh can be taken out with a standard liposuction procedure, and the stem cells then extracted.
These cells are placed into a cartridge ready for injection one hour later. The company says the breasts will then fill out over the course of six months.
The largest trial so far has involved 19 women in Japan. All of them had had at least partial mastectomies and all responded well to the treatment, with no major side-effects.
Clinical trials are continuing, and the company hopes to introduce the therapy to Europe in early 2008.
It is expensive - costing a few thousand pounds per cartridge, but this is not dissimilar to the price of conventional surgery.
Posted by chek at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2007
Semi-Identical Twins
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6498215.stm
Scientists have revealed details of the world's only known case of "semi-identical" twins.
The journal Nature says the twins are identical on their mother's side, but share only half their genes on their father's side.
They are the result of two sperm cells fertilising a single egg, which then divided to form two embryos - and each sperm contributed genes to each child.
Each stage is unlikely, and scientists believe the twins are probably unique.
Normally, twins either develop from the same egg which later splits to form identical twins - who share all their genetic material, or from two separate eggs which are fertilised by two separate sperm.
This creates non-identical (fraternal) twins - who share on average 50% of their genetic material.
Sometimes, two sperm can fertilise a single egg, but this is only thought to happen in about 1% of human conceptions.
Most embryos created this way do not survive.
Posted by chek at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2007
Incest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6424337.stm
As a German brother and sister take their fight for the right to a sexual relationship to the country's highest court, the BBC News website's Clare Murphy looks at the history of the incest taboo and how it is changing.
Posted by chek at 04:04 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2007
Unicef Report on Children
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6359849.stm
The first report on the well-being of children in 21 western states shows marked divisions in education, health and sexual behaviour and drug-taking.
The Netherlands topped the well-being table compiled by the UN children's agency Unicef, with Scandinavian nations also performing well.
However the United Kingdom and United States fare much worse, taking the bottom two places in the table.
Report Categories
Material well-being
Family and peer relationships
Health and safety
Behaviour and risks
Own sense of well-being [educational]
Own sense of well-being [subjective]
Posted by chek at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2007
Women Taxi Cabbies
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,2004378,00.html
Taxi Bisim Banovan (Ladies' Wireless Taxi) has been formed to provide a safe environment for female travellers in Tehran, where an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 women use private cabs each day. No male passengers are allowed and only female job applicants are accepted. Preference goes to those who are married or are family breadwinners. The telephone operators are all women, some of them multilingual to cater for foreign passengers.
All the directors, by contrast, are men. But they proudly hail their enterprise as meeting women's need to travel free from fear of attack or harassment.
With plans to expand to 2,000 taxis and operate nationwide, they claim to be agents of female emancipation by creating jobs for women.
The taxis' presence on Tehran's notoriously congested roads has provoked some ugly male responses. Omekolsoom Shahpasand, 54, who quit working as a hairdresser to become a cab driver, said several men had tried to intimidate her with aggressive manoeuvres.
"Most of the negative reaction comes from motorcyclists, who drive up close and wolf-whistle or boo," she said. "But I've also had the opposite reaction. Women drivers have rolled down their windows and shouted encouragement."
Posted by chek at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2007
Spanking Children Outlawed
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1581853,00.html
Next week, Assemblywoman Sally Lieber will introduce a bill banning the practice of spanking children younger than four. If passed, the state will become the first to make the corporeal punishment of infants and toddlers a misdemeanor — punishable by up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine — along with more than a dozen countries, mostly in Europe, that have laws against the practice.
Posted by chek at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2007
Women Win Many Seats in Municipal Elections
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070104/lf_afp/iranwomenpolitics_070104081328
Banned from becoming president and with just a dozen MPs, women have started making inroads in the male-dominated world of Iranian politics by boosting their numbers on local councils.
Ashdari is one of four women who will sit in the new nine-member council in Qazvin after the December 15 elections, where women represented just one-sixth of the 180 candidates in the city.
While Iranian women have yet to make a major breakthrough on a national stage, their success in the municipal polls was startling -- out of 264 seats available on councils in provincial capitals, 44 went to women.
Since the Islamic revolution, no woman has served as a minister in an Iranian cabinet.
Reformist president Mohammad Khatami, who swept to power with the help of female votes, started a new trend by naming two women to serve as vice presidents for the environment and women's affairs.
Hardline successor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has kept up his predecessor's tradition by filling the same portfolios with women, but all ministries are still headed by men.
Posted by chek at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2006
Polygamy in US
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/5296196.stm
US polygamy sect leader arrested
The 10,000-strong FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) split from the Mormon Church more than a century ago after the latter renounced polygamy. The sect dominates the towns of Colorado City, in Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, less than a mile away.
Polygamy is illegal in the US, but the authorities have reportedly been reluctant to confront the FLDS for fear of sparking a tragedy similar to the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas, which led to the deaths of around 80 members.
Posted by chek at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2006
Ansari, Anoushe in Space
http://www.anoushehansari.com/videos.php
09/29/06
08/30/06
08/22/06
Daisuke Enomoto, a Japanese space tourist who had hoped to blast off on board a Russian rocket next month was deemed unfit for the trip on Monday, a Russian space official said, and Anoushe Ansari, an Iranian-American woman entrepreneur was most likely to replace him.
05/09/06
Kommersant: Russia Sends Iranian Female into Orbit
The Russian Federal Space Agency officially announced that Iranian born Anoushe Ansari (X prize) would travel in space on the Soyuz aircraft next spring. It is not an official Russian-Iranian flight, since Ms. Ansari, a U.S. citizen, is to fund the flight on her own to become the first female space tourist. The Ansari family is also well known for investing in space tourism projects.
See Also: Muslim Astronauts
Posted by chek at 02:54 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2006
Iranian Women in all Stadiums
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4938912.stm
Women in Iran are to be allowed to attend major sporting events, ending a ban that has held since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the lifting of the ban would "promote chastity" among all Iranians.
Women must have a chance to watch all sporting events, he said, and must be given the best seats in the house.
Posted by chek at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2006
Gender Gap in EU
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4785824.stm
March 8th, International Women's Day
Statistics released by the EU to mark International Women's Day show European women do better in school than men, but get lower pay and fewer top jobs.
Posted by chek at 02:47 PM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2006
Breast Milk for Sale
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/parenting/01/26/btsc.cohen.breastmilk/index.html
There is a new movement of women nursing each other's babies and sharing pumped breast milk.
Many of these women meet over the Internet, where Web sites such as craigslist.org and parent chat groups have made it easier for mothers to reach each other.
The practice is so prevalent that craigslist and La Leche League told my producer that they and many other Web sites regularly pull these postings out of fear of running afoul of some state laws against selling any bodily fluids.
When Jenn Connell set up her Web site, feedmybaby.com, she never dreamed she'd get the response she did. Connell couldn't breast-feed her two sons -- she'd lost her breasts to cancer, but through the site found 35 women to donate milk -- most sharing pumped milk and a handful actually nursing her sons on occasion.
Most of the women I met take great precautions when entering a milk-sharing agreement, having their donor moms fill out a health questionnaire, and requiring lab work showing they'd tested negative for diseases like HIV and hepatitis.
But the American Academy of Pediatrics and the La Leche League, an international parent group devoted to breast-feeding, frown upon this kind of milk sharing. They point out that even if someone tests negative for a disease, they could contract it after the testing while still supplying milk to the baby.
Yet, experts, and even formula makers, agree that breast milk is best and not everyone can produce enough of it.
It's the only perfect food for babies. It has antibodies and other properties that infant formula can't copy. Study after study shows that breast-fed babies have all sorts of health advantages, such as fewer ear infections, a lower risk of developing asthma, and even higher IQ's.
Posted by chek at 04:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 13, 2006
Polygamy in Chechnya
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4610396.stm
Polygamy proposal for Chechen men
Chechnya has lost so many men to war that survivors should be legally allowed to take several wives, acting Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov has said.
He was backed by Russian parliamentary deputy speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky.
Russian law restricts citizens to one marriage, but Islamic custom allows a man to take up to four wives.
Posted by chek at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)
December 12, 2005
Pioneer Women Pilots
http://www.iranian.com/History/2002/November/Pilots/index.html
THE IRANIAN: Women pilots, Abbas Atrvash
In Iran, the civilian pilot training began approximately 15 years after Iran acquired its first aircraft for the air force. Ret. Maj. Gen. Ali A. Rafat, then a young air force lieutenant, a pilot and flying instructor and later the managing director of Iranian Aero Club remembers, "In 1939, Reza Shah, after returning from an official visit to Turkey ordered the founding of the Iranian Aero Club."
The first announcement for accepting flight trainees' applicants was made by the club management, through newspapers, on 15th Aban 1318 (7 November 1939). Some 630 young men and women registered as members and trainee applicants.
Starting 1939, women's emancipation was just getting started and their involvement in social activities had barely started. Flying was supposed to be a man's domain and was not yet unproblematic for women to enter. However, despite the prevailing situation, 22 women sailed against the wind and registered at the club.
The first three pioneers who took the initiative to lead the way were, Effat Tejartchi, Sadiqeh Farrokhzad Dowlatshi and Ina Avshid. Effat Tejaratchi at the age of 22 with a burning desire of flying was the first to join the club. This daring woman, passed away in August 1999, at the age of 82. Thanks to her daughter, Nahid Fiaz Manesh, who kindly provided some information and pictures.
Effat first enlisted with the aero club as a member; however, when she got home, her father encouraged her to apply for the flying course. By doing so she became the first woman to register as a pilot student. Shortly after, Sadiqeh Farokhzad Dowlatshahi, whom I had the pleasure of meeting in Toronto, where she is currently living, joined the club.
Posted by chek at 05:00 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2005
Musical Breast Implants
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1570835.html
Computer chips that store music could soon be built into a woman's breast implants.
One boob could hold an MP3 player and the other the person's whole music collection.
BT futurology, who have developed the idea, say it could be available within 15 years.
BT Laboratories' analyst Ian Pearson said flexible plastic electronics would sit inside the breast. A signal would be relayed to headphones, while the device would be controlled by Bluetooth using a panel on the wrist.
Posted by chek at 10:00 AM | Comments (0)
October 06, 2005
Democrocy in Saudi Arabia
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1006/p01s03-wome.html
Saudi king tiptoes toward more openness
Posted by Chekonim at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2005
Pakistan women in soccer punch-up
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4297628.stm
Pakistan's women footballers, used to battling hardline Islamists opposed to their activity, ended up fighting themselves in a landmark final.
A mass brawl broke out after the award of a penalty in the first final of the National Women's Football Championship in Islamabad's Jinnah Stadium.
Posted by chek at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
Polo in Iran
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4272210.stm
Polo comes back home to Iran
It has been called the Game of kings, but polo is being revived in post-revolutionary Islamic Iran.
And it's not just men who are playing this dangerous sport - women are now competing too but observing Islamic dress restrictions.
As the female riders prepare for the first ladies' polo tournament in Iran for at least 100 years, the sports commentator gives the audience a history lesson - reminding them that polo originated in the royal courts of ancient Persia 2,500 years ago.
The queen and her ladies-in-waiting would play against the emperor and his courtiers.
Indeed the main square in the historic city of Isfahan was a royal polo ground whose dimensions were copied for all other polo grounds around the world.
Polo spread to India with the Mughals and then across the world with the British, but ironically it almost died out in its country of origin in recent years.
Posted by chek at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)
September 15, 2005
Sagheb, Sabrina
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/south_asia_afghan_election_candidate/html/1.stm
Afghan Election Candidate
Twenty-four-year-old Sabrina Sagheb is the youngest woman to stand in Afghanistan's parliamentary elections on 18 September 2005.
She hopes to make the wearing of the burkha a matter of choice for all women and advocates an end to forced marriages.
After living in Iran for the past 23 years she has had to adjust to more conservative dress as she settles back into her home country.
She is an avid basketball player and has been chosen for the national team.
Posted by chek at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
June 27, 2005
Mai, Mukhtar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4330335.stm
When Mukhtar Mai was gang raped in Pakistan in February 2002, she lost her so-called "honour" and, along with it, her chance to lead a normal life in her village.
Many expected Ms Mai, 33, to commit suicide, as is all too common after rape in Pakistan.
But she refused and started what has become a three-year legal battle against her alleged rapists.
She now campaigns internationally for women's rights.
CNN Video
Posted by Chekonim at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
June 20, 2005
Kuwait, 1st woman minister
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4111234.stm
Kuwait's first woman cabinet minister has been sworn-in amid noisy protests from Islamist politicians.
Massouma al-Mubarak, the new planning minister, described her appointment as a "great victory" for Kuwaiti women.
Posted by chek at 01:41 PM | Comments (0)
June 09, 2005
Cities Project
http://www.citiesproject.org/
Cities project by Dr. Mina Marefat
Dr. Mina Marefat has launched a program focused on Islamic Cities at the John W. Kluge Center for Scholarly Studies at the Library of Congress. These programs, which are free and open to the public, aim to disseminate knowledge about Islamic cultures and to develop a line of communication with parts of the world about which our knowledge is limited.
Posted by chek at 02:51 PM | Comments (0)
Women in Azadi
http://www.nasiriphotos.com/blog/?id=1002700
Mansour Nasiri's Photoblog
عکس نوشتههای منصور نصيری
The story of 30 something women who made it inside the Azadi stadium to watch the Iran vs Bahrain match on the day Iran qualified for 2006 World Cup, Germany.
18 Khordad 1384 (June 8th 2005)
Congratulation to all Persian soccer fans for the Iranian National Soccer Team qualifying for Worldcup 2006
Posted by chek at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)
June 03, 2005
Wedding on top of Mount Everest
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4605711.stm
A Nepalese couple have exchanged wedding vows on top of Mount Everest, the first people ever to marry there.
Moni Mule Pati and Pem Dorjee Sherpa briefly took off their oxygen masks and put on plastic garlands, while the groom symbolically applied red powder on the bride's forehead.
On Monday, 45 climbers scaled the 8,850-metre (29,035-feet) peak - including Pem Dorjee and Moni Mulepati.
Nepalese Appa Sherpa broke his own world record by climbing it for the 15th time while two Iranian climbers became the first Muslim women on top of the peak.
Posted by chek at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
May 31, 2005
Iranian Girls at the top of the World
http://www.mountainzone.ir/news.htm#everestwomen
According to EverestNews.com and based on the report of Liaison officer and Leader of Iranian Expedition, 8 members and 4 sherpas from the expedition has summitted Everest today May 30.
The following is the list of Iranian 2005 Everest Expedition summiteers:
1. Mr. Eghbal Aflaky Aghbelagh (51) Leader, Alpinist, Iran
2. Mr. Mahmoud Shoaei (43) Member, Engineer, Iran
3. Mr. Azim Gheychisaz (24) Member, Iran
4. Mr. Reza Bahadorani (27) Member, Jewellery Sellar, Iran
5. Ms. Farkhondeh Sadegh (36) Member, Designer, Iran
6. Ms. Laleh Keshavarz (26) Member, Dentist, Iran
7. Mr. Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa (37), Climbing Sirdar, Juving, Kharikhola-1, Solukhumbu, Nepal
8. Mr. Chhang Dawa Sherpa (23), Makalu-9, Sankhuwasava Nepal
9. Mr. Lhakpa Sherpa (44), Khumjung -1, Solukhumbu, Nepal
10. Mr. Karma Gyalgen Sherpa (21) Makalu-9, Sankhuwasava, Nepal
11. Mr. Reza Zarei Toudeshici, (36), Member, Alpinist, Iran.
12. Mr. Jalal Cheshmeh Ghasabani (46), Member, Mountain Guide, Iran
Among them are two Iranian women. As two representatives of Iranian girls, Farkhondeh Sadegh (Graphic Designer) and Laleh Keshavarz (Dentist) scaled the top of the world to pave the way for new generation of Iranian women. They are also the first Muslim women who scaled the highest point of the world.
Posted by chek at 05:58 PM | Comments (0)
May 18, 2005
US mulls ban on women in combat
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4560847.stm
Republicans in the US Congress are trying to pass legislation which would keep female soldiers out of combat.
Advocates of the proposal want to stop women from working as drivers, medics and logistics specialists in teams which provide back-up to combat units.
They say the women get too close to the fighting. But the US army is opposed to the plan at a time when they are having problems with recruitment.
Women who serve in the US army are barred by law from fighting on the front line.
About 9,000 women are serving in Iraq and 35 have been killed.
For the last three months, the army has failed to meet its recruiting targets. At the moment it looks set to miss its annual target by 15%.
Posted by chek at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2005
Gender Gap report
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4550789.stm
Women in Egypt are the furthest behind men in terms of economic equality, while no country has closed the "gender gap" entirely, a new survey has found.
Sweden has the smallest difference between the sexes, followed by Norway, Iceland, Denmark and Finland, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF).
It's interesting to mention that Iran was not even on the list.
Posted by chek at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
Kuwaiti women win right to vote
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4552749.stm
Posted by chek at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)
May 11, 2005
Pakistan's first women fighter pilots
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4533367.stm
The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) academy has been all-male for more than 55 years - but now it is going through major change.
There are 10 women in two batches in the flying wing of the academy. Many more are competing with men in the engineering and aerospace wing.
Posted by chek at 01:53 PM | Comments (0)
April 25, 2005
Ebadi anger at women election ban
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4481155.stm
Iran's Guardian Council has interpreted the constitution to ban women from standing for the presidency. Women will not be allowed to run in Iran's June presidential elections. This decision has angered Ms Shirin Ebadi's human rights group.
Posted by Chekonim at 12:55 PM | Comments (0)
Virginity Sale - $1.5m
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4482913.stm
Peruvian virgin turns down $1.5 million offer after talk with mom.
Posted by Chekonim at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2005
Legal Abortion in Iran
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4436445.stm
Iran's parliament has passed a bill on Tuesday (April 12th, 2005) to legalize abortion in the first four months of a pregnancy, if the fetus is mentally or physically disabled.
Previously abortions were allowed only if the life of the mother was in danger.
This bill needs to be approved by the Guardian Council before it becomes law.
Posted by Chekonim at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)