From CNN:

wo men on a motorcycle used water pistols to spray acid on girls walking to school Wednesday in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, blinding at least two of them, military spokesmen said.

U.S. Col. Greg Julian said Afghanistan’s National Military Command Center told him that four girls were hurt in the incident. Two were blinded and remain hospitalized, and two were treated and released, he said.

The men escaped after the attack, and no one claimed responsibility for it, but Arab-language network Al-Jazeera said Taliban militants were suspected to be responsible.

The incident occurred about 8 a.m. near Mirwais Nika Girls High School in the Meir Weis Mena district.

Kandahar government spokesman Parwaz Ayoubi gave different figures on the number of girls injured, saying six were burned, one of them severely. He called the attackers “enemies of education.”

Enemies of humanity is more like it. Attacks on women by burning their faces with acid is not an uncommon occurrence in Afghanistan or Pakistan. Figures on the number of women affected are hard to come by but they likely number in the hundreds annually. I’ve highlighted this non-profit before but with this attack receiving world-wide attention, I’ll highlight them again. Smile Again is a Pakistani-based non-profit that helps female survivors of acid and kerosene oil burns in Pakistan by providing them appropriate medical attention and reconstructive surgery, psychological/psychiatric support, shelter and vocational training. Smile Again also aims to create social awareness and sensitivity by working towards the complete eradication of this heinous crime.

Young girls and women between the ages of 14 to 25 are the common
victims of this crime.

Motives vary but are most frequently obsession, jealousy, suspected infidelity, husband wanting to re-marry, sexual non-cooperation.

Acid is the most common corrosive used. Both acid and kerosene are easily available.

The face and genitalia are the areas most generally targeted, those guaranteeing complete disfiguration.

Mortality rate is low. However, survival is considered by victims to be a fate worse than death.

This crime has long term repercussions. It comprises physical disfiguration and often immobility and psychological complications.

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The annual report on the state of the world’s gender equality from the nonpartisan World Economic Forum was released yesterday. As usual, the Nordic countries ranked atop the WEF Gender Gap Index. This year’s top five are Norway, Finland, Sweden, Iceland and New Zealand versus last year’s top five of Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and New Zealand. The United States ranked 27th up from 31st last year made as the US made progress this year and closed gender gaps in estimated earned income and perceived income gaps for similar work. The United States also made strides in political empowerment, driven by increased participation of women in political decision-making positions. Among the 130 countries covered in the report, Yemen scored as the most unequal in terms of gender equality.

The Global Gender Gap Index scores can be interpreted as the percentage of the gap between women and men that has been closed. The three highest ranking countries have closed a little over 80% of their gender gaps, while the lowest ranking country has closed only a little over 45% of its gender gap. Out of the 128 countries covered in both 2007 and 2008, more than two-thirds have posted gains in overall index scores, indicating that the world in general has made progress towards equality between men and women. Additionally, taking averages across the subindexes for these 128 countries reveals that, globally, progress has been made on narrowing the gaps in educational attainment, political empowerment and economic participation, while the gap in health has widened.

“Greater representation of women in senior leadership positions within governments and financial institutions is vital not only to find solutions to the current economic turmoil, but to stave off such crises in future. At the World Economic Forum, we put strong emphasis on addressing this challenge with a multistakeholder approach through our global and regional Gender Parity Groups,” said Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. These communities of highly influential leaders from business, politics, academia, media and civil society – 50% women and 50% men – seek to share best practices and identify the most effective strategies to optimize the use of talent.

The Global Gender Gap Report 2008 is based on the innovative new methodology introduced in 2006 and includes detailed profiles that provide insight into the economic, legal and social aspects of the gender gap in each country. The Report measures the size of the gender gap in four critical areas of inequality between men and women:

1) Economic participation and opportunity – outcomes on salaries, participation levels and access to high-skilled employment.

2) Educational attainment – outcomes on access to basic and higher-level education.

3) Political empowerment – outcomes on representation in decision-making structures.

4) Health and survival – outcomes on life expectancy and sex ratio.

More on the report from Der Spiegel and from the UK Guardian.

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On Monday, I caught a screening of the a new film by Director Danny Boyle of Trainspotting and 28 Days Later fame and I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It’s a tale of love with glimpses into the vast changes occurring in India.

he story of Jamal Malik (Patel), an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India’s “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika (Pinto), the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show’s questions. Each chapter of Jamal’s increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show’s seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really doing on the game show? When the new day dawns and Jamal returns to answer the final question, the Inspector and sixty million viewers are about to find out…

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US-Latin America relations remained largely on the back burner during the course of the Bush Administration despite an auspicious start with a Fox-Bush summit early in 2001. Of course with the attacks of September 11th of that year, the focus of the United States has largely been on fighting Islamic terrorism. And yet at various times during the US Presidential election campaign, a few Latin American issues came to the fore.

As with much of the Obama agenda, much of Obama’s Latin American plans remain nebulous and unclear so it’s hard to be optimistic that the Latin American issues will get the attention they deserver from an Obama Administration and a Democratic Congress. For starters, Obama has never visited the region and in his let’s talk about the world speech in Berlin, he failed to mention the region at all. During the primaries, he sent worrying signals that he would oppose a FTA with Colombia and would somehow re-negotiate NAFTA. On both Cuba and Venezuela, he has espoused new diplomatic initiatives and yet seemingly backed off those when it was clear it might cost him votes in Florida.

Below, Al Jazeera’s Riz Khan discusses Latin America’s hopes for an Obama presidency with the former president of Costa Rica, José María Figueres.

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Nir Barkat, a secular Jew and a multi-millionarire, has won over 50% of the vote in Jerusalam’s mayoral elections, bringing an end to five years of ultra-orthodox Jewish control. More from Haaretz:

Secular candidate Nir Barkat declared victory over his Haredi rival Meir Porush in the Jerusalem mayoral election early Wednesday, in a race that again exposed the deep divide between religious and secular Israelis.

With all polling stations reporting in the capital, Barkat won 52 percent of the vote versus 43 percent for Porush. Russian billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak ran a distant third with just 3.6 percent.

In his victory speech, Barkat declared himself the mayor of all Jerusalemites, pledging to work for those who had voted for him as well as those who had voted for other candidates. He added that he would be working for both religious and secular, as well as Jewish and Arab residents of the city.

“I’m aware of the depth of the challenge and the complexity of the mission. Now is the time to work together for the good of the city,” Barkat, a technology investor and former paratroops officer, told his supporters.

The race in Jerusalem was one of many that captivated the country as Israelis around the country flocked to the polls for Tuesday’s municipal elections, with Arab and ultra-Orthodox voter turnout exceeding expectations.

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