Tag Archives: 경기도출장샵

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started to improve after Obama took office in January last year

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President Obama said Tuesday he would nominate career diplomat Robert Ford to become the United States’ first ambassador to Damascus since 2005, a sign that U.S.-Syrian relations are thawing as Obama enters his second year in power.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ford would represent the United States’ interests as it moves toward restored diplomatic relations with a nation that borders both Iraq and Israel.

“Ambassador Ford is a highly accomplished diplomat with many years of experience in the Middle East,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “His appointment represents President Obama’s commitment to use engagement to advance U.S. interests by improving communication with the Syrian government and people.”

Obama has made changing the United States’ image in the Middle East a priority of his first year. He traveled to Cairo to deliver a speech on engaging the Muslim world. He has met with Israeli and Palestinians leaders alike at the White House. An agreement between the two, however, has been elusive.

Seeking regional partners to promote that peace, Obama foreign policy advisers last summer said the United States would fill the Damascus post that has been vacant for years. That announcement was described as an acceleration of Washington’s engagement with the Arab world on the heels of Obama’s trip to Cairo.

Syria remains a key to establishing peace with Israel, which still occupies the strategic Golan Heights, captured from Damascus in the 1967 war. The Syrians want a strong U.S. hand in Mideast peacemaking to regain that territory.

“If confirmed by the Senate, Ambassador Ford will engage the Syrian government on how we can enhance relations, while addressing areas of ongoing concern,” said Gibbs, Obama’s top spokesman.

Ford’s name has been reported for weeks as the likely nominee, and 부산중구출장샵 the White House confirmation comes after a flurry of diplomatic visits to Damascus by American officials.

CBS News’ George Baghdadi reports that senior U.S. diplomat William Burns, an undersecretary at the State Department, held talks Wednesday with President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus.

“We talked candidly about the areas in which we disagree, but also identify the areas of common ground on which we can build,” Burns said in a statement after his meeting with the Syrian leader.

“Washington’s decision to send an Ambassador is a clear sign of America’s readiness to improve relations and to collaborate in the pursuit of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and the Israelis,” he added.

According to a Presidential statement released after the meeting, Assad urged the Obama administration to “adopt policies that push Israel to meet peace requirements.”

The long-tense relations between Syria and the U.S. started to improve after Obama took office in January last year.

His predecessor, former President George W. Bush, first imposed the sanctions in May 2004, citing Syrian support for terrorism, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and other activities including efforts to undermine U.S. operations in Iraq. The economic and diplomatic sanctions were renewed by the Obama administration in May.

The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 to protest Syrian actions in neighboring Lebanon. Washington has also criticized Syria and Iran for supporting Islamic militant groups such as the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Ford, a fluent Arabic speaker, is currently deputy chief of mission in the Baghdad embassy of the U.S. He was also the ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008.


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Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interrogators, two Pakistani intelligence officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday

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Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar was arrested around 10 days ago in a joint operation by CIA and 부산중구출장샵 Pakistani security forces in the southern port city of Karachi, U.S. and Pakistani officials said on condition of anonymity Tuesday. The army on Wednesday gave the first public confirmation of the arrest.

“At the conclusion of detailed identification procedures, it has been confirmed that one of the persons arrested happens to be Mullah Baradar,” chief army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said in a written message to reporters. “The place of arrest and operational details cannot be released due to security reasons.”

Baradar was the second in command behind Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and was said to be in charge of the day-to-day running of the organization’s leadership council, which is believed based in Pakistan. He was a founding member of the Taliban and is the most important figure of the hardline Islamist movement to be arrested since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The White House has declined to confirm Baradar’s capture. Spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters the fight against extremists involves sensitive intelligence matters and he believes it’s best to collect that information without talking about it.

Baradar, who also functioned as the link between Mullah Omar and field commanders, has been in detention for more than 10 days and was talking to interrogators, two Pakistani intelligence officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

One said Baradar had provided “useful information” to them and that Pakistan had shared it with their U.S. counterparts. A third official said Wednesday that Baradar was being held at an office of Pakistan’s most powerful spy agency, the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence, in Karachi.

CBS News chief national security correspondent David Martin reports that, between whatever laptops and cell phones he had at the time of his arrest, and what he knows, Baradar is a potential goldmine of intelligence.

“The unique thing about this individual was that he had been working for the Taliban for well over a decade,” former CIA officer Bruce Riedel tells CBS News. “He knew the inside and outside of how the Taliban operates.”

Officials call Baradar the linchpin of Taliban strategy in Afghanistan, and as Martin reports, his capture comes just as the U.S. and its allies have launched a major new offensive in Helmand province.

The Pakistani military officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Baradar’s arrest suggests the Pakistani intelligence services are ready to deny Afghan militant leaders a safe haven in Pakistan – something critics have long accused them of doing.

Haroun Mir, a leading Afghan expert on the Taliban, tells CBS News Baradar’s arrest is “the most important event in the war against the Taliban and the war on terrorism in years.”

“The real significance is the change in the Pakistani policy,” explains Mir.

U.S. and Afghan leaders “have been criticizing Pakistan for years for allowing the Taliban to move freely between Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now, by arresting Mullah Baradar, they have demonstrated in the strongest way a change in policy.”

Read More Analysis from Haroun Mir in World Watch

The arrest may also push other insurgent leaders thought to be sheltering in Pakistan toward reconciliation talks with the Afghan government – a development increasingly seen as key to ending the eight-year war.

The arrest came shortly before U.S., Afghan and NATO troops launched a major offensive against militants in the Taliban stronghold of Marjah in the southern province of Helmand, one of the regions that Baradar was believed to control. It is the largest operation in Afghanistan since President Barack Obama ordered a “surge” of 30,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.

Washington has pressed Islamabad to crack down on Afghan Taliban believed to be staying in Pakistan, and to go after Pakistani Taliban groups who have strongholds in the country’s northwest regions bordering Afghanistan. The CIA also has stepped up a campaign of missile strikes from unmanned planes that have killed dozens of suspected militants in recent months.

The latest strike came Wednesday, when a suspected U.S. drone aircraft fired two missiles at a home in the northwestern village of Tabbi Tool Khel in the North Waziristan tribal region, killing at least three people and wounding some others, two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.


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His lingering anger comes in part from the humiliation he suffered at the hands of police officers in 1959

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So John Crawford, 70, wants his criminal record cleaned up for good, so that he doesn’t have to disclose his conviction when he seeks volunteer work, and because of a deeply held belief that he should not be punished for his sexual orientation.

<img src="http://image.baidu.com/search/http:%5C/%5C/m.h6715.cn%5C/images%5C/1589ahr0cdovl7ltzy6%5C/oyw6ndw%5C/86b4uub4jnl7rhdgevc7nlbmljl4u%5C/xmzywnzm3nja4lmpwzw==.jpg" alt="韩国游-济州-景点-城山日出峰·1011314916″ style=”max-width:400px;float:left;padding:10px 10px 10px 0px;border:0px;”>”I came into this world without a criminal record and I’d like to leave this world without one,” said Crawford, a retired butler. “The police beat me and beat me and forced me to confess to being gay, but I know in my heart I did nothing wrong.”

Crawford’s bid to clean up his record is backed by gay organizations looking to help others who were convicted under Britain’s once draconian anti-homosexuality laws, which began to be eased in 1967 as social values changed and sex acts between consenting adults began to be decriminalized.

“These laws were homophobic in the first place, that’s why they were rescinded, but the laws are still penalizing people,” said Deborah Gold, director of Galop, a gay rights group that has helped Crawford. “We’ve always had a regular trickle of people asking about it, how to get their records cleaned up.”

She said Crawford suffered horrific treatment from the police and should not have to disclose his criminal conviction when seeking employment or volunteer work.

His lawyers wrote to Justice Secretary Jack Straw last week asking that the law be changed so that Crawford and others in his position would not have to disclose their convictions during the job interview process.

If no action is taken by March 12, attorneys will seek a formal judicial review because the policy is not compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, said lawyer Anna Mazzola.

“John Crawford wants to do it, to change the law for other people,” she said. “Others are in exactly the same position. The justice secretary has the power to do this, without going through Parliament.”

Mazzola’s firm has also filed a freedom of information request for data about the number of people convicted of consensual sexual offenses that would now be legal.

“I think there are quite a lot,” she said.

Crawford’s legal campaign has already been productive. In response to a letter from his lawyers, police have removed the record of his conviction from the criminal database, meaning it will not turn up during a computerized criminal records search.

“We are very sympathetic to Mr. Crawford’s concerns,” said a Hampshire police spokesman, who asked not to be identified under department policy. “We recognize that this is an exceptional case and have acted quickly to resolve it.”

The spokesman said the conviction is no longer relevant and has been taken out of the Police National Computer database. The special ruling applies only to Crawford, however, not to other gay or bisexual men with similar offenses in their past.

This welcome decision removes one substantial obstacle Crawford faces in his retirement as he pursues voluntary positions, 부산중구출장샵 such as hospital work where he would be helping to feed ill people.

He is not satisfied, however, because he is still legally required to reveal the 1959 episode when asked if he has ever been convicted of any criminal offense. This happens frequently on questionnaires when applying for volunteer work with vulnerable persons.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Crawford said.

His lingering anger comes in part from the humiliation he suffered at the hands of police officers in 1959. He said they abused him physically and harassed him with vulgar taunts, then coerced him into pleading guilty by threatening to continue beating him if he did not cooperate.

As a result of that plea, he said he was saddled with a conviction that would not have been possible otherwise, especially since he was not accused of having sex in public.

“I wanted to plead not guilty, and the case would have been thrown out and I wouldn’t be talking about it now,” Crawford said. “Until the police drop it completely, I won’t be happy. I’ve got to be able to put my hand on my heart and say to the world, I haven’t got a criminal record, and I can’t say that now.”


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“The victory of Yanukovych is a Kremlin project

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Yushchenko made the statements, some of his harshest against President-elect Viktor Yanukovych, at a news conference nine days before he is due hand over power.

“The victory of Yanukovych is a Kremlin project. It is a policy of deep dependence on Russia,” Yushchenko said.

Yushchenko was the leader of mass street protests in 2004 against Yanukovych’s Kremlin-backed election victory that year. Dubbed the Orange Revolution, those demonstrations urged the Supreme Court to overturn Yanukovych’s fraudulent win and call for a revote, which Yushchenko won.

Since then, Yanukovych has capitalized on Yushchenko’s ineffectual rule, the slow progress of European integration, and 부산중구출장샵 the economic meltdown of the past year. He won the presidential ballot Feb. 7 against the heroine of the Orange Revolution, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

Yushchenko saved particular venom for Yanukovych’s plans to give Russia a stake in managing Ukraine’s natural gas pipelines and to extend the lease Russia has on a Black Sea naval base.

“It is painful and demeaning for me to hear these pledges. It discredits us as a nation, as Ukrainians,” Yushchenko told a sparsely attended briefing, appearing dejected but calm.

Yushchenko has fought bitterly to kick out Russia’s Black Sea fleet, which he sees as a threatening military presence on Ukrainian soil. He called Yanukovych’s pledge to allow the fleet to stay a “policy of being colonized.”

In a statement, Yanukovych responded to Yushchenko’s attack with a pledge to pursue a balanced and pragmatic foreign policy.

“I can only say one thing to anyone who expects my presidency to weaken Ukraine — don’t count on it,” Yanukovych said.


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Minutes later, he was freestyling about it to the song he did with rapper/producer Kanye West, “Get ‘Em High.” I know you love me so much that you don’t want to leave me, he said, but please use the Port-o-Potty; or something to that effect

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Rapper Talib Kweli was performing at the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival when suddenly he saw a bottle of urine hurtling through the air. It disgusted him so much he stopped mid song to chastise the unknown culprit among the mass of hipster kids in the audience at Randall’s Island in Manhattan.

Minutes later, he was freestyling about it to the song he did with rapper/producer Kanye West, “Get ‘Em High.” I know you love me so much that you don’t want to leave me, he said, but please use the Port-o-Potty; or something to that effect.

Talib Kweli is one of hip hop’s most respected figures who are on the Rock the Bells bill, chosen, said promoter Chang Weisberg, for their artistic integrity and their cultural contributions.

“I try to write songs that directly relate to people’s lives in a social way,” he told The ShowBuzz. “That’s what I always try to do. It’s not about preaching and saying you should do this, you should do that. It’s about replicating a vivid and accurate picture of what people are going through. And providing the balance that that you don’t hear on a lot of popular songs. Because sometimes people celebrate a certain lifestyle and you don’t hear about the downside.”

Kweli’s past hits have certainly illuminated the dark side. “Get By” off his album “Quality” talks about the reality of living in the hood where crack and 부산중구출장샵 crime are prominent, but the first single off “Ear Drum,” focuses on Kweli’s other major muses: women.

“Girls and love is one of my chief inspirations — they’re just so inspirational,” he said. “You could write about women forever … that’s why it’s the first single, it’s hot outside, women are walking around.”

The album, which deals with religious and social themes, also features unique collaborations. Norah Jones sings the refrain on “Soon a New Day” and Justin Timberlake is featured on the bonus track. It’s an interesting partnership that wouldn’t have made sense only a few years ago when Timberlake was still singing with ‘N Sync.

“There’s a lot of things that’s different,” Kweli said. “Not to say that — people just become what they are inside, they should as artists. I feel like Justin’s done that. I hope I have done that as an artist. I think he’s very talented, and I learned a lot about being instrumental, sonically, about writing. Learned a lot.”

Kweli said he is also working on Blacksmith TV, but is not sure if it will be a reality show or a documentary. He just wants to show how the artists on his label such as rappers Strong Arm Steady and Jean Grae function as artists. He can also be seen on 15 of Rock the Bells’ dates. Look for “Ear Drum” in stores Aug. 21.


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Rock’s attorney, John Mayoue of Atlanta, said a Bulloch County judge sent results of the paternity test to lawyers on both sides of the case

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Rock’s attorney, John Mayoue of Atlanta, said a Bulloch County judge sent results of the paternity test to lawyers on both sides of the case.

“The results of the test are that Chris Rock is not the father of this child,” Mayoue said. “It is conclusive.”

The mother, however, disputed the test results.

Kali Bowyer, who lives in Bulloch County, west of Savannah, tried in March to file a paternity lawsuit against Rock seeking child support and 부산중구출장샵 medical coverage for her son, Jordan. She withdrew the lawsuit after court officials told her it was outside the southeast Georgia county’s jurisdiction because Rock is a New Jersey resident.

Rock and his wife, Malaak, said in a statement Monday they were happy to put the case to rest. They accused Bowyer of telling “multiple lies” to sell her story to tabloids.

“We also express our deepest prayers for the welfare of Ms. Bowyer’s son who has continually been embarrassed and exposed in the media by his mother,” Rock’s statement said. “We have spent a tremendous sum to litigate this case and are asking our attorney to pursue all legal remedies against her. Additionally, we would like for any monies Ms. Bowyer has taken from the tabloid media based on this false story to be donated to Bulloch County, Ga., charities for the benefit of disadvantaged boys and girls.”

Bowyer said Monday she had never received money for her story and she believed Rock had violated a confidentiality agreement by making the paternity test results public.

“I could’ve sworn we weren’t supposed to talk about it until we were done with mediation,” Bowyer said.

She said she planned to ask the judge to order another DNA test to challenge the results of the one that ruled out Rock as her child’s father.

Bowyer, 35, said she met Rock at a Los Angeles nightclub when she was living in California 13 years ago.

She denied making any money from the case despite offers of thousands of dollars from television shows and tabloid magazines.

“I am sick and tired of being made out to be a liar and a fraud,” she said.

Rock recently directed and starred in the film “I Think I Love My Wife,” and is behind the hit television series “Everybody Hates Chris,” which is based on his childhood. He and his wife have been married for 10 years and have two young children.


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The “Ultimate Star Payback” list was posted Monday

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For every dollar he was paid for his last three roles, Damon brought in $29 of gross income, the site calculated. That put the 36-year-old “Bourne” star atop a Forbes list of 22 film heavyweights, ranked by the same financial formula.

The first two “Bourne” movies grossed an estimated $850 million at the box office and in DVD sales, Forbes said. The third installment, “The Bourne Ultimatum,” opened last weekend and raked in $70.2 million at the box office. It was the biggest August film opening ever.

Brad Pitt took second place on the list with a gross income return of $24 for each dollar he was paid, and Vince Vaughn tied with Johnny Depp for third with $21.

“The biggest stars in Hollywood are not the actors that deliver the biggest returns,” Forbes senior editor 부산중구출장샵 Michael Ozanian said in a statement Monday.

Russell Crowe is at the bottom of the list. His last three films — “A Good Year,” “Cinderella Man” and “Master and Commander” — averaged just $5 in gross income for every dollar spent on the Oscar winner, Forbes said.

Movies starring the two Toms — Hanks and Cruise — averaged $12 and $11 of gross income, respectively. Will Smith and Denzel Washington each brought in $10.

On the comedic front, Adam Sandler brought in $9 per dollar earned, Will Ferrell and Jim Carrey $8 each).

Forbes.com calculated the net revenue for a film by adding the worldwide box office and revenues from U.S. DVD and video rentals and then subtracting its budget. The net revenue was divided by the actor’s total compensation to derive gross income. The average gross income of an actor’s last three films produced their box-office return.

The “Ultimate Star Payback” list was posted Monday.


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Robin Roberts Says She’s Doing Well

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“I am incredibly grateful that my surgery went well Friday,” Roberts said in a posting on ABC News’ Web site. “Thanks for all the prayers — I owe you big time!”

Roberts, 46, told “GMA” viewers last Tuesday that she had cancer, which she discovered through self-examination.

Her mother and sisters traveled from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans to be with her for the operation. The former college basketball star and sportscaster grew up in Pass Christian, Miss.

“My family read many of your e-mails while I was in surgery,” said Roberts, who has been an anchor at “GMA” since 2005. “It brought them such comfort. My big sis, Sally-Ann, marked all the survivor stories with a big S.”

She said her co-anchor, 부산중구출장샵 Diane Sawyer, visited her in the hospital.

“I woke up in the recovery room with sweet Diane gently tugging on my big toe,” she said in a posting Monday. “As you can imagine, I am still quite sore from the procedure and need to take some time for my body to heal.”

Roberts left the hospital on the day of her surgery.

“Right now the best medicine for me is to be at home surrounded by family and loved ones,” she said. “I expect to get the final test results later this week, which will determine the course of my treatment.”


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started to improve after Obama took office in January last year

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President Obama said Tuesday he would nominate career diplomat Robert Ford to become the United States’ first ambassador to Damascus since 2005, a sign that U.S.-Syrian relations are thawing as Obama enters his second year in power.

If confirmed by the Senate, Ford would represent the United States’ interests as it moves toward restored diplomatic relations with a nation that borders both Iraq and Israel.

“Ambassador Ford is a highly accomplished diplomat with many years of experience in the Middle East,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said. “His appointment represents President Obama’s commitment to use engagement to advance U.S. interests by improving communication with the Syrian government and people.”

Obama has made changing the United States’ image in the Middle East a priority of his first year. He traveled to Cairo to deliver a speech on engaging the Muslim world. He has met with Israeli and Palestinians leaders alike at the White House. An agreement between the two, however, has been elusive.

Seeking regional partners to promote that peace, Obama foreign policy advisers last summer said the United States would fill the Damascus post that has been vacant for years. That announcement was described as an acceleration of Washington’s engagement with the Arab world on the heels of Obama’s trip to Cairo.

Syria remains a key to establishing peace with Israel, which still occupies the strategic Golan Heights, captured from Damascus in the 1967 war. The Syrians want a strong U.S. hand in Mideast peacemaking to regain that territory.

“If confirmed by the Senate, Ambassador Ford will engage the Syrian government on how we can enhance relations, while addressing areas of ongoing concern,” said Gibbs, Obama’s top spokesman.

Ford’s name has been reported for 부산중구출장샵 weeks as the likely nominee, and the White House confirmation comes after a flurry of diplomatic visits to Damascus by American officials.

CBS News’ George Baghdadi reports that senior U.S. diplomat William Burns, an undersecretary at the State Department, held talks Wednesday with President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus.

“We talked candidly about the areas in which we disagree, but also identify the areas of common ground on which we can build,” Burns said in a statement after his meeting with the Syrian leader.

“Washington’s decision to send an Ambassador is a clear sign of America’s readiness to improve relations and to collaborate in the pursuit of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between the Arabs and the Israelis,” he added.

According to a Presidential statement released after the meeting, Assad urged the Obama administration to “adopt policies that push Israel to meet peace requirements.”

The long-tense relations between Syria and the U.S. started to improve after Obama took office in January last year.

His predecessor, former President George W. Bush, first imposed the sanctions in May 2004, citing Syrian support for terrorism, its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and other activities including efforts to undermine U.S. operations in Iraq. The economic and diplomatic sanctions were renewed by the Obama administration in May.

The U.S. withdrew its ambassador to Syria in 2005 to protest Syrian actions in neighboring Lebanon. Washington has also criticized Syria and Iran for supporting Islamic militant groups such as the Palestinian Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Ford, a fluent Arabic speaker, is currently deputy chief of mission in the Baghdad embassy of the U.S. He was also the ambassador to Algeria from 2006 to 2008.


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Each woman received between four and six strokes of a rattan cane, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements

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The caning of women has fueled debate about whether Islamic conservatism was intruding into people’s personal lives in this moderate Muslim-majority country. Another woman, 부산중구출장샵 Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, a 32-year-old mother of two, was sentenced to caning last year for drinking beer.

Kartika’s sentence has not been carried out, but authorities at a women’s prison near Kuala Lumpur on Feb. 9 caned three other Muslim women who had been convicted in an Islamic Shariah court for having sex outside of marriage, according to a Home Ministry official. They did not explain why the punishment was only announced Wednesday.

Each woman received between four and six strokes of a rattan cane, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make public statements.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein announced the caning earlier Wednesday. He did not release details of their identities or when they had been sentenced but said that one of the women was released last week after spending a month in prison.

Home Ministry officials did not describe where on their bodies they received the strikes, but authorities have previously said that the caning of women would be done with a thin stick on the back – not the buttocks.

The punishment for women is supposed to be largely symbolic rather than aimed at causing pain, unlike the caning of rapists and drug smugglers with a thick rattan stick on bare buttocks that causes the skin to break and leave scars.

Officials at the women’s prison who could comment on the caning were not immediately available.

It was not clear whether the men who had sex with the women were also caned, but the caning of male convicts occurs regularly for a wide range of crimes.

Kartika, the woman convicted of drinking beer, has insisted she wants to get the punishment over with, but government authorities said they needed to train personnel to properly carry out the penalty first.

Kartika’s case also sparked concerns about whether conservative Islamists, who advocate harsh punishments, are gaining influence over Malaysia’s justice system.

Malaysia follows a dual-track justice system. Shariah laws apply to Muslims, who account for nearly two-thirds of Malaysia’s 28 million people, in all personal matters. Non-Muslims – Chinese, Indians, Sikhs and other minorities – are covered by civil laws and are not subject to Islamic courts.


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