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• Ethar writes about how Egyptian universities and banks are teaming up to improve Egyptian women’s business skills.

• Hurriyet Daily News profiles Yaşar Seyman, a political powerhouse in Turkey.

• The New York Times examines Sheikh Hasina’s political troubles.

• Government offices in Dubai are getting ready to implement childcare in every office. YEAH! More here.

• Muzzammil Hassan has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Aasiya. Uh….

• The New York Times interviews Jehan Sadat, Anwar Sadat’s widow. Al-Ahram also has a word with her.

• Professor Baher Gosher explores the role of Muslim women at the University of Pennsylvania.

• Female Yemeni journalists demanded better participation in the Yemeni Journalists Syndicate and call for the allocation of 20% of seats to women.

• AIM Magazine looks at the CineForum event, which aims to help Muslim women get ahead in the media industry. Incidentally, MMW is looking for someone to cover this event. Email us if you’re interested.

• A woman commits self-immolation in Herat, Afghanistan. May Allah give her peace.

• The Malaysian Insider discusses Muxlim, an online networking site for Muslims, and examines women’s roles in the online community. Via ProgressiveIslam.

• The Times Online profiles Hannah Shah’s story.

• The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Justice’s statistics show that there are 78 divorce cases a day in the kingdom.

• Al-Ahram Weekly looks at the balance sheet of women’s rights in Egypt.

• A Toronto judge is scheduled to hear arguments fighting a court order to testify without the niqab.

• The compensation that was paid to a woman claiming police assault is causing police officers to complain to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board.

• Shazia Rafi examines U.S. policy with the Taleban.

• A forum to help Saudi women sharpen their business skills will be held in Jeddah later this month.

• On the fifth anniversary of the hijab ban, French students protest the law.

• Scandal erupts after Khadeeja Najea gives a platonic kiss on the forehead to an older man.

• According to Al Arabiya, a study finds that Egyptian & Saudi women are the most active on marriage sites.

• GOATMILK’s series on Muslim women continues with Darah Rateb, Zerqa Abid, and Shagufta Ahmed.

• Sheema Khan tells the Globe and Mail that yes, Muslim women are smart enough to math and anything else we put our minds to.

• The Star profiles a voice who’s skeptical about justice for Muslim women ever happening.

• Al-Ahram Weekly profiles a documentary about hymen restoration.

• IslamOnline interviews author Ahdaf Soueif.

• Female judges in Palestinian territories give women hope of fair trials.

• At the 22nd Islamic Unity Conference in Tehran, participants discussed the situation of women.

• Women in Swat valley are still afraid to leave their homes.

• Global Post rehashes the fact that Saudi women must still buy their underwear from men.

• Counterintuitively, the number of marriages (and dowries) are going up in Bahrain during the global recession.

• Deputy Chairman of the National Society for Human Rights Al-Jawhara Al-Anqari tells Saudi women that they must not accept “half-solutions.” More here.
  

• Jinous Sobhani, former secretary for the offices of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, was released from prison last week. She had been detained since January 14 of this year. More from Ms. Magazine.

• The National profiles book clubs in Abu Dhabi.

• Hajiya Bilkisu discusses Amina Wadud’s presentation at the Musawah conference.

• A married couple was was murdered in Multan, Pakistan. May Allah give them peace and justice.

• Islam in Europe reports on the Netherlands’ granting of asylum for female genital cutting.

• Sabria Jawhar weighs in on the arrest and sentencing of an elderly Syrian woman in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Jeans gives his take, too.

• An ayatollah’s recommendation to grant amnestyto Ashraf Kalhor, sentenced to stoning for adultery and accesory to murder, was rejected by the Judicial Commission for Amnesty and Clemency. May Allah keep her.

• An Egyptian cleric says that neighbors can divorce unhappy couples. I write about why this is a bad idea for ReligionDispatches.

• Iran is to send a female skier to the Winter Olympics for the first time at next year’s Games in Vancouver, Canada. More from Fars News Agency.

• Lawyers for three men convicted of the kidnap and gang rape of a Sudanese woman yesterday claimed she had tried to extort money from them in return for dropping the case.

• On fashion design in Oman.

• Speaking of fashion design, The Huffington Post writes an article about rich Western women using consumer-based philanthropy to help Afghan women. Hm. More of that in Canada.

• More fuckery from the Commission to Promote Virtue and Prevent Vice.

• Laila Paaitae Daoh, a prominent Muslim women’s rights activist and peace advocate in Thailand, has been murdered. May Allah give her peace and justice.

• The Guardian profiles the first ladies of the Arab world.

• The Dubai School of Government’s Gender and Public Policy Program and the Ministry of State for Federal National Council Affairs have co-authored a study that examines the role of Emirati women in politics. More from Gulfnews, Arabian Business, and The National.

• Mukhtar Mai is married. But read the article before you get all excited. May Allah give her happiness: her pre-nuptial agreement didn’t even focus on herself, subhanallah.

• HijabStyle’s Jana is profiled in The Observers.

• Two horrific stories about the terrible condition of Iraq’s widows. Monday Morning examines how all Iraqi women are suffering, and the Middle East Times reports on how Iraqi mothers want change.

• The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Turkish police had abused two teenage girls suspected of supporting Kurdish separatism and authorities had failed to investigate their complaints properly.

• Alhaji Abdul-Gani Layi Oyeduntan, the Co-ordinator of Afenifere Renewal Group in the Nigerian state of Osun, calls on Muslim women to support a violence-free society.

• Fahima Vorgetts, a humanitarian who has been working for women’s rights in Afghanistan, will speak in New York today.
  

• Turkish women in Istanbul form a platform against sexual violence.

• Women in Egypt learn how to kick ass, literally. Via Natalia Antonova.

• Finally, some justice: an Indonesian cleric who married a 12-year-old girl has been arrested over the marriage. Via ProgressiveIslam.

• The International Herald Tribune asks whether Taleban negotiations are in Afghan women’s best interests.

• The Moroccan government, together with civil society, has stepped up efforts to end domestic violence with a media campaign.

• How preparing for marriage is like preparing for war, according to one Saudi bride.

• Dubai considers “manly women” a menace.
  

• Diane Tucker interviews two Gulf women about the glass ceiling for The Huffington Post.

• The Yemen Observer interviews Hind Ali Al-Shaqa’, a local artist.

• The Christian Science Monitor examines the national debate about hijab in Norway.

• Egyptian women are blogging for their rights.

• The U.K.’s National Health Service is offering to reverse any female genital cutting procedures on British women, without prosecution.

• A case of upskirting in the U.A.E. is causing outrage in the country, with many calling for stricter sentences.

• Law firms in Saudi Arabia are opening their doors to women for training.

• AllAfrica.com discusses Muslim and Christian women’s discourses in Nigeria’s northern region.

• Hamas offers monetary rewards for men willing to marry Gaza widows. Uh…

• The father of imprisoned Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi says she is upset and frustrated.

• Bombing near the mausoleum of a mystic poet closes off the shrine to Pakistani women.

• Some people think that Mother’s Day shouldn’t be celebrated in Saudi schools.

• The National profiles Zineb Sedira’s artwork.

• Saudi businesswomen will be able to receive start-up loans after graduating from college.

• The BBC will explore Nujood’s story in a two-part series.

• Egypt’s National Council of Women focused on women in leadership positions during its recent conference.

• Itedal Shalabi calls for the silence around domestic violence to be broken.