Source : New York Daily News / 25 Mar 2014

A New Mexico woman is claiming Planet Fitness isn’t always ‘judgment free.’

The national budget-friendly gym chain promises members an atmosphere free of “gymtimidation.” But Tarainia McDaniel, a Muslim woman, says a gym in Albuquerque booted her out because she was wearing a head scarf. The woman reportedly told staff at the gym that the head scarf was an essential part of her Muslim faith. In return, she was told to go find a baseball cap.

Source : AFP / 24 Mar 2014

Women are being put off careers in science by stereotypes and are less than half as likely as men to apply for degrees in the field, said a study published Wednesday.

Source : Arab news / 24 Mar 2014

Swansea University law undergraduate Jood Al-Harthi has been selected to attend a Geneva International Model United Nations (GIMUN) conference later this month. Jood will be attending as the representative of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the university announced on its website.

By Maryam Hedayat | islam.ru | 20 Mar 2014

Fashion as we identify today means to wear classy, stylish and trendy clothes, or we can say wearing branded  and  expensive clothes. Fashion is not only restricted to clothes,  but before using or buying anything like shoes, cosmetics, purse,furniture,  television, mobile, computer  etc., we first check whether it is in fashion or out of fashion.

Source : UN.org / 19 Mar 2014

The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) today called on Governments, the private sector and civil society to scale up efforts to provide quality education for girls, stressing the transformative benefits this has for all of society.

Source : Saudi Gazette / 18 Mar 2014

Statistics indicate that Gulf citizens have led the way in marrying Saudi women during 2011; Kuwaitis were at the top with 762 registered marriage contracts, Al-Watan daily reported.

The total such registered marriages were 1,618, where Qataris accounted for 554 marriages with Saudi women, followed by UAE citizens with 246, Bahrainis with 36, and Omanis with 20.

Source : IINA / 17 Mar 2014

President of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, in his capacity as ruler of Abu Dhabi, has appointed the first female member of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council.

Dr Amal Al Qubaisi is a Federal National Council member and also the new general manager of Adec, the Abu Dhabi Education Council. An architect by profession, she was the first woman to be elected to the FNC and the first woman to chair one of its meetings. Three other new members appointed to the Executive Council are Saeed Al Ghafli, Mohammed Al Rumaithi and Ali Al Mansouri.

Source : Morocco World News / 15 Mar 2014

According to daily La Vie Eco, a recent report by the Higher Commission of Planning (HCP) showed that the bulk of Moroccan working women are “relatively young” and hold no diplomas.

In rural areas, women aged 25 years old constitute 20% of the total number of working women, whereas in urban areas, women of the same age represent only 10%.

According to the same report, 57.7% of working women in Morocco are married, 30.7% are single and 11.7% are either widowed or divorced.

Source : IRNA / 14 Mar 2014

Senior member of the Iranian Majlis (Parliament) Halimeh Aali said on Wednesday that men and women enjoyed equal rights in Islam.

Aali made the remarks at her speech to the 58th session of the Commission on the Status of Women which started in New York on March 10.

Source : World Bulletin / 14 Mar 2014

Women in Algeria have reacted angrily to comments made by the country's Religious Affairs Minister, Abu Abdullah Gulamullah, who implied that women should conform to workplace rules that forbid them from wearing the headscarf.