Haylah Al Qusayir could keep a secret, hated Saudi security forces and ran a lucrative cash flow operation for Al Qaeda, sending it more than $293,000 from women who thought their jewelry and savings were supporting poor Muslim orphans.

Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan- Five years ago, when Afghanistan was last preparing to hold parliamentary elections, Rahela Alamshahi would sometimes hop into her car and drive herself to campaign events in her home province.

Only one of Nidal Haidar's six sisters is married. She has given up on ever getting hitched.

"Our chances of finding husbands are diminishing as we grow older," said Haidar, a 38-year-old dressmaker from Baghdad. "I am at an age where anyone who may propose to me will either be a widower or very, very old, but no one is really proposing to me since all the men now are looking for a rich or a young bride."

The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas on Saturday said that all Jews living in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank") are legitimate military targets, regardless of whether they are men, women or children.

Often called the Switzerland of Central Asia, mountainous and ethnically diverse Kyrgyzstan was once touted as a success case for peaceful coexistence. Now, following violent clashes in June between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, ethnic tension is threatening to topple the stability of the entire region. But, a well-organized and thriving women's movement could pull Kyrgzstan back from the brink.

LUWERO DISTRICT, Uganda – Soon after her husband died, Olivia Nakazi's troubles began anew. As she struggled to support her six children, the youngest then just two years old, Olivia found herself at the center of a conflict over the very ground she lived on: four acres that belonged to her father-in-law.

Representatives of several Asian rights and women groups yesterday expressed solidarity with Bangladesh initiatives to try 1971 perpetrators of crimes against humanity particularly against women.

They expressed the solidarity on the concluding day of a three-day international workshop in the city.

Over the period of 29 August to 1 September, UNAMID conducted several focus group discussions and interviews with key stakeholders as part of the 10-year impact study on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000). The landmark document ensures that the promotion of women's empowerment and gender equality form a central part of efforts to implement peacekeeping mandates.

Afghans go to the polls on September 18 to elect a total of 249 members to the country's lower house of parliament, or Wolesi Jirga. Here are some of the main issues surrounding the election:

The Microfinance Unit of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in collaboration with the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and CARE International, has completed a weeklong financial training program for more than one hundred women representing five community based organizations.