Word: western
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...West Bank recently I met female lawyers, architects and even a lift engineer. Of course, we can't get carried away. In some Middle Eastern countries, the progress of women can appear desperately slow. And in none have women attained anything like the opportunities we take for granted in Western Europe or North America. Women still have to contend daily with male-dominated societies and culture, often underpinned by discriminatory laws. They may have more opportunities to study, but even well-educated women struggle to find jobs - and when they do, career progression is difficult. The expectations that men stay...
Helping women in the Middle East and other areas of the world to achieve equality does something else: it reminds the rest of us how much there is still to do. In many Western countries, strong equality laws are in place, but the pay gap between men and women is widening, while the glass ceiling remains as resilient as ever. Today, we may be looking to the positive role that women can play in regions such as the Middle East. But the fight for true equality is a global one, and it is far from won. Cherie Blair...
Amid an international outcry, China carried out the death sentence of a British man convicted of smuggling heroin into the western province of Xinjiang. London had sought clemency for Akmal Shaikh, 53, arguing that he was mentally ill and had been exploited by other smugglers. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "appalled" by the Dec. 29 lethal injection, which Chinese officials defended as being in accordance with...
...concern about a fitful and still highly vulnerable nuclear program, a far greater prize is in sight: the Iranian people and their manifest aspirations for a freer society and an accountable government. The question is whether a Western policy of pressure, threats and further isolation aimed at forcing a nuclear deal with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will risk [the] promise of real change...
...Indeed, public outrage may mean little for a regime that is not exactly dependent on a democratic mandate. "You are not talking about a Western society under a Western regime," says Hala Mustafa. "[Popularity] is not calculated this way in Egypt or in the Arab world in general. Popularity is not the element or the factor that could really influence the regime or push the regime to adopt this policy or that one." But for an already unpopular regime, an unpopular approach to Gaza may still be a step onto ever thinning...