The perils of hashing in Kuwait

Forget about dodging the landmines, it seems that one of the hares has trouble evading eager locals whilst setting the run for the Hash. As reported in the Arab Times...

Woman detained: Police recently detained a Canadian woman for four hours for allegedly possessing heroin and released her after apologizing for their mistake, reports Al-Anba daily. Records indicate, the woman was arrested after an unidentified Kuwaiti man informed the Operations Department of the Interior Ministry that a blonde woman jogging along the main road in Riqqa had thrown some white powder every 50 metres.

The white powder in question is flour, which is used here to set the run. If you're unfamiliar with the running club with a drinking problem, you can find more info here.

An all-women industrial city?

Meanwhile in the Magic Kingdom, we hear that Saudi authorities are planning an all women industrial city…

Saudi plans women's city
Published: 13 June 2004, Gulf Daily News

RIYADH: Saudi authorities have approved the establishment of an all-women industrial city that will host training centres and employ approximately 10,000 women at more than 80 factories, the city's main investor said yesterday.
Hessa Aloun, who runs an investment company and is also a member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, said that a Chinese and a Malaysian company have already signed agreements to start training programmes that will kick off in early 2005.
"I wanted to have a place where there would be training centres for women, next to factories and companies - a fully-fledged industrial city for women," said Aloun.
The city will be built about 10km from the centre of the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

I'm all for equality of the sexes, but this is plainly a stupid idea. What is Aloun thinking of? Another large-scale sweatshop for Asian female labour? Surely, Aloun's not thinking that Saudi women want to, or will be allowed to, work?

Dame Silvia in Kuwait

Dame Silvia Cartwright (NZ's Governor General is the Queen's representative in NZ for those unfamiliar with NZ’s political set-up), was in Kuwait for 3 days after attending Reagan's funeral in Washington. Thankfully, I managed to get an invite to a reception at Bayan Palace to meet Dame Silvia. Very nice lady… My darling wife even made a point of filling Dame Silvia in on the fact that slavery is alive and kicking in Kuwait…, but I didn’t expect that this subject would make it into Dame Silvia’s subsequent speeches. She did get a write up in the local rag though.

Kuwait Times 15th June 2004
Cartwright praises Kuwaiti women

KUWAIT: Governor General of New Zealand, Silvia Cartwright, emphasised in two separate press interviews yesterday that Kuwaiti women are capable of playing their role in all domains. Interviewed by Al-Rai Al-Aam daily, Cartwright indicated that Kuwaiti women could occupy important ruling posts like the women in her country since Kuwaiti women are well-educated and are ready to fully participate in public affairs. She noted that the aim of her visit is to boost the distinctive friendly bilateral relations between Kuwait and New Zealand. She added that she had hoped to visit Kuwait for a long time. She also hopes that this visit will further develop bilateral relations. Cartwright praised the talks she held in Kuwait, saying they were very useful because they covered the trade exchange, what her country could offer the region and how New Zealand could cooperate with Kuwait in the future. Meanwhile, the New Zealand official told Al-Anbaa daily that her country hopes that peace and stability would be achieved in Iraq and that New Zealand asks for UN participation in spreading peace in Iraq. She pointed out that groups from New Zealand are carrying out humanitarian missions in Basra, like providing water and food although her country is not a member in the international coalition in Iraq. Cartwright clarified that New Zealand has a neutral stance towards the international disputes, such as the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. She praised and supported the international reform initiatives in the Middle East as they guarantee the democracy, hoping that the countries of the region seriously consider the reform.

So let's see if this message helps in a country where women don't have the opportunity to vote.