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تقدمت مجموعة من النساء السعوديات بدعوى لدى المحكمة الإدارية (ديوان المظالم) ضد إدارة المرور للمطالبة بالحصول على رخصة قيادة سيارة، وأعلن محامي المدعيات أن المحكمة الإدارية قبلت النظر في الدعوى. واستقبلت المحكمة الإدارية قضية رفعتها الناشطة السعودية منال الشريف ضد الإدارة العامة للمرور في السعودية تطلب فيها إلغاء قرار منع استخراج "رخصة القيادة" للسيدات في البلاد، بحجة عدم وجود نظام يجيز للمرور تطبيق هذا المنع، وقد قبلت المحكمة النظر فيها. وأكد المحامي عبدالرحمن اللاحم في حديث لصحيفة "الحياة" اللندنية، أمس، أن ديوان المظالم قبل النظر في مطالبة موكلته منال الشريف بإلغاء القرار الصادر من الإدارة العامة للمرور حول منع إصدار رخصة قيادة لها بعد تقدمها بطلب ذلك في فرع الإدارة بالمنطقة الشرقية.

سعوديات يرفعن دعوى قضائية للحصول على رخصة قيادة

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/05/192740.html
The video for M.I.A's new track Bad Girls has just been released. Why is there so much hype around it? Well, first, M.I.A's aesthetic, whether you're find her irritating or not, is significant in its power, influence and downright badassness. And second, it's directed by Roman Gavras, the hottest director of the moment, who won major props for Born Free in 2010, another M.I.A video that shocked some with its violent massacre of gingers (note the ginger kid reference at the end of Bad Girls). Anyway, it's not hard to imagine what the Sri Lankan-British singer – a sucker for political statements – is saying.

Watch: M.I.A's middle finger to Saudi Arabia's insane driving laws trumps Madonna's sexy pop

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/lucyjones/100060274/watch-m-i-as-middle-finger-to-saudi-arabias-insane-driving-laws-trumps-madonnas-sexy-pop/
http://bigthink.com/daylight-atheism/the-religious-war-on-reproductive-health

The Religious War on Reproductive Health | Daylight Atheism

When it comes to reproductive health in America, progress often seems like a one-step-forward-two-steps-back kind of situation. But let's start with some rare good news: in January, the Obama administration announced that most employers would have to cover birth control in their employee health plans with no co-pay - enraging religious groups, which had hoped for a broad exemption for church-run businesses. This rule is a straightforward application of anti-discrimination law. Churches, which inherently cater to people of similar religious views, can set whatever rules they like for themselves and their members. But if those churches run institutions, like charities or hospitals or schools, that serve the general public, those institutions don't get special exemptions from generally applicable law.
3 February 2012 Last updated at 09:48 ET By Kate Dailey BBC News Magazine Sgt Justin Griffith wants atheists to be given more respect in the armed forces In a land of faith and flag, Justin Griffith is challenging the US military to abandon its religious ties. When he was a child growing up in Plano, Texas - a place he describes as the "oversized, goofy buckle on the Bible belt" - he would bring his bible to science class and debate his teachers on the finer points of evolution.

Can the US Army accept atheists?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16859421
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/11/benetton-kissing-ads-obama.html

Shock, anger follow Benetton's controversial kissing ads

Benetton's ads showing world leaders kissing each other on the mouth has caused an uproar in various parts of the globe, angering the Vatican enough to take legal action. The ads are part of the company's "Unhate" campaign -- and yet another example of "shockvertising" by the Italian clothing company. The poster-size ads were unveiled in major cities including New York, Milan and Paris on Wednesday. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday about the digitally manipulated images in the ads, two of which show President Obama kissing Hugo Chavez, above, and Chinese President Hu Jintao. [ The White House had a succinct response to the Obama ads. Spokesman Eric Schultz told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday: "The White House has a longstanding policy disapproving of the use of the president's name and likeness for commercial purposes."]
The Internet is already heavily restricted in Iran, but authorities in the country are hatching further plans to crack down on cyberspace by introducing tighter monitoring of Internet users. The Guardian reports that the state will soon begin gathering an alarming amount of information relating to anyone who accesses the Internet from a cyber cafe in the country. A national police statement reveals the details that will be collected from each customer:

Iran Monitoring Cyber Cafes as it Tests 'Closed' Web Alternative

http://thenextweb.com/me/2012/01/06/iran-monitors-cyber-cafe-users-as-it-tests-closed-internet-alternative/

Egyptian Women Confront Patriarchy

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/world/middleeast/egyptian-women-confront-restrictions-of-patriarchy.html?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto But when her father, a religious conservative, saw electric prod marks on her body, they revived memories of his own detention and torture under President ’s government. “History is repeating itself,” he told her, and together they vowed to file a court case against the military rulers, to claim “my rights,” as Ms. Ibrahim later recalled. That case has proved successful so far. For the first time last month, an administrative court challenged the authority of the military council and banned such “tests.”