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Well, readers, it’s 2009 (and 1430). May Allah give us all peace and prosperity in this new year!

• An association of Muslim businesswomen in Nigeria call for the Islamic Hijrah calendar to be used side by side with the Gregorian calendar in varying governmental levels. Many Muslim groups, including Muslim women’s groups, back making the first day of Muharram a national holiday.

• A British department store opens its doors in Tehran.

• The Washington Post looks at female genital cutting in Kurdistan.

• Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wins the first Bangladeshi election in seven years. Arab News and The Guardian weigh in. 

• Yemeni and Palestinian women and girls demand a stop to the Gaza attacks. More from the Yemeni News Agency.

• The News reports that 179 women in Pakistan were victims of honor killing. Other reports confirm that honor killings have risen in parts of the country.

• More coverage on Muslim women organizing swimming lessons in North Carolina. And more yet.

• Jobeda Ali’s film on The Great Hejab Debate for Current TV.

• Two female students were attacked by two men this past week in Hawally, reportedly for not wearing the hijab.

• Saudi Arabia’s The Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice says it treats women arrested for minor social violations kindly. (cough, cough)

• A bright future awaits a young woman after a short life full of pain, enshallah.

• An Egyptian woman escapes slavery in the U.S. More from The Huffington Post via ProgressiveIslam.

• The Huffington Post profiles editor of the Yemen Times, Nadia al-Sakkaf.

• On Iraqi Dana Abdul-Razzaq’s journey to the Olympics.

• What Nahla Hussein al-Shaly’s murder means for Kurdish women.

• Sherry Rehman reminisces about Benazir Bhutto for The News.

• Saudi Arabia’s Labour Office rejects an advertisement for cleaning jobs available to Saudi women.

• The National writes about why Saudi Arabia is the land of “one step forward, two steps back” for women.

• The Calgary Herald profiles Salima Ebrahim, an accomplished young woman.

• On jobs for women in the lingerie sector in Saudi Arabia.

• The Taleban threatens to blow up girls’ schools. WTF, guys?

• Muna AbuSulayman discusses the recent requirements of women to be “Superwoman.”
  

• A preliminary hearing will be held next week in Aqsa Parvez’s case.

• Saudi Arabia’s morality policy shut down the only women’s park in Yanbu, resulting in a loss of jobs for women.

• More on the upcoming First Women’s Leadership Forum in Dubai.

• The Telegraph reports on the rise of pre-marital sex in Iran. Via ifeminists.

• Women in Ras al Khaiymah, U.A.E., make strides in local business.

• An Arab party in Israel promises to fill 1/3 of the seats won in the Knesset with women.

• Syria Today looks at the increase in divorce rates.

• The L.A. Times profiles an Egyptian matchmaking service.

• The Washington Post re-examines the private issue made public in the case of the Muslim couple in France divorcing over virginity.

• In the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, 15 girls were married in mass weddings. The age of the girls is not known.

• Shirin Ebadi’s home is attacked. The U.S. condemns the earlier attack on her offices.

• Women in Peshawar’s Swat area are facing fewer economic and social opportunities. Via Progressive Muslima News.

• Another rumor about Sahar Daftary’s death. Via ProgressiveIslam.

• More on the eight-year-old girl who was refused an annulment. A Saudi women’s group blasts the judge who refused her an annulment. Via ifeminists.

• The News profiles poet Attiya Dawood. Via ifeminists.

• Egypt’s The Daily News mentions us when talking about soap operas.

• Feministe weighs in on the influx of marriage proposals for the Iraqi shoe-thrower Muntazer al-Zaidi.

• The CIA is using Viagra as a way to elicit cooperation from the Taleban. KABOBfest and Feministe discuss.

• Women’s eNews examines where Pakistani women are after Bhutto.

• Time looks at Dr. Humeyra Abedin and forced marriages. Via ifeminists.

• On Kashmiri women’s participation in recent elections.

• Birmingham-based Ulfah Arts is to hold a showcase to find musicians for a European tour.

• The TimesOnline reports that women who wear the niqab may suffer from vitamin D deficiencies in countries with little sunlight, like Ireland.

• The Huffington Post’s thoughts on Benazir Bhutto.

• Abed Ayoub writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution his opinion that the judge who threw Lisa Valentine out of the courthouse should apologize.

• Sri Lanka’s Minister of Education refuted allegations that certain state-run schools have banned wearing of the headscarf by Muslim girls inside school premises.

• The stoning of a woman from Shiraz, Iran, is upheld after appeals. May Allah protect her.

• A doctor in Saudi Arabia was able to stop the marriages of two sisters, aged five and 11.

• Austrolabe casts a skeptical eye on Australian lawmaker Fred Nile’s aim to “protect” Muslim women from nude beaches

• Violence against Iraqi women continues unabated.

• A terribly offensive article about awesome Wajeha al-Huwaider.

• Five Palestinian sisters died in their sleep during an Israeli air strike. May Allah grant them peace. Via Islamify.

• Middle East Online looks at the increase of male staff in Saudi lingerie shops.

• Iran held a five-day fashion show to promote Islamic styles for women and children.

• A member of the Pakistani group Jamaat-e-Islami says that in Islam, women are not allowed to divorce men, only the other way around.