Saudi Arabia may allow women over 30 and without makeup to drive after 8:00 pm.
Saudi Arabian women may be allowed to drive. (Image courtesy of Jamali Hasan/Associated Press).
Previously, it was banned for women to drive, but after decades of campaigning, the king’s advisory council recommended the government to lift the ban against female drivers. The unique ban was initially imposed because Saudi Arabia’s ultraconservative Muslim clerics said “licentiousness” will spread if women are allowed to drive. Nevertheless, there is no official written law that prevents women from driving; this is only implemented due to religious edicts made by senior Muslim clerics.
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Mexican officials comment concerning case of 43 missing students sparks outrage.
Protestors demand answers from unresponsive government officials about 43 murdered Mexican college students. (Image courtesy of Marco Ugarte/Associated Press).
After the disappearance and purported murder of 43 Mexican college students, citizens are outraged at their government’s inaction and lack of answers. The students disappeared on 26 September after being led away by the police. Investigators say that the mayor of Iguala, where the students disappeared, ordered the city police to confront the students. The police then shot the students, killed six, and then handed them to a drug cartel. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam stated that the authorities believe that drug gang members incinerated the students, and then dumped their remains into the San Juan River. He abruptly ended the questions after an hour, saying “Enough, I am tired.” There was an immediate backslash against the Attorney General and fury spread over the country. Protestors are rallying for support to demand the government for more answers.
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U.S. launches coalition to aid Iraqi forces in the fight against the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria.
U.S. launches airstrikes against the Islamic State militants in Iraq (Image courtesy of Staff Sgt. Shawn Nickel/USAF/Reuters).
In order to give Iraqi forces the time and space to counterattack and form a more effective offensive, U.S. President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of up to 1500 more American troops on 7 November, 2014. The American-led coalition has conducted a series of airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) militants and strongholds in Iraq and Syria for months. Airstrikes on 7 November near the northern city of Mosul, Iraq, destroyed a convoy of 10 armed trucks believed to be carrying some IS leaders, although officials were not able to confirm whether Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-declared caliph – the supreme leader – of the vast areas of territory in Syria and Iraq under ISIS control, was among those hit.
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9 November marks the fall of the Berlin Wall that occurred in 1989, 25 years after it was built.
The fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November, 1989 (Image courtesy of Herbert Knosowski/Reuters).
Every year, 9 November brings about a time of commemoration as people worldwide celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall that occurred on 9 November, 1989. The wall was initially erected in 1961 to stop Germans from leaving the repressive East. For many Germans, the day celebrates not only the opening of the barrier but also the subsequent integration of East and West, and the rise of a united and prosperous Germany. For others, it brings forth memories of the East Germany that was a state of suspicion, public rigidity and private despair, especially for those who lost friends and friends at the Berlin Wall.
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Japan reopening its nuclear reactors after devastating tsunami four years ago.
The Sendai Plant has been approved to reopen after its shut down four years ago. (Image courtesy of BBC News)
Japan has decided to restart the Sendai plant in southwest Japan. The tsunami resulted in over 300 000 people being evacuated from Fukushima. Government officials argue that the nuclear reactors are perfectly safe and that locals need the jobs and money provided by reopening the plant. However, many people are in protest, fearing another incident that will parallel Fukushima’s previous one. Others fear that if a similar incident happens, the government would not be able to evacuate and would deal with the disaster as poorly as they did four years ago.
Source and more information can be found here.
