SHAFAQNA

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Bare-breasted activists staged rallies in front of mosques and Tunisian embassies across Europe Thursday against what they called an Islamist crackdown on Arab women’s rights.

Protesters from the Ukrainian women’s power group Femen held “International Topless Jihad Day” in capitals such as Berlin, Kiev and Paris and painted their torsos with slogans including “Bare breasts against Islamism.”

“We’re free, we’re naked, it’s our right, it’s our body, it’s our rules, and nobody can use religion, and some other holy things, to abuse women, to oppress them,” Femen member Alexandra Shevchenko said at a small demonstration in front of a Berlin mosque amid temperatures near the freezing point.

“And we’ll fight against them. And our boobs will be stronger than their stones.”

The rallies targeted, in particular, the case of a Tunisian activist calling herself Amina Tyler who sparked a scandal last month when she posted pictures of herself online with the words “My body belongs to me” and “F*** your morals” emblazoned across her naked chest.

Supporters fear she could face criminal prosecution.

Police in Kiev detained two young activists with “Free Amina” on their exposed chests immediately after their arrival in front of the city’s sole mosque.

Around two dozen topless feminists in Paris whose bodies were tagged with “no Islamists” and “no sharia” tried to approach the Tunisian embassy but were deterred by police as they emerged from the subway, an AFP photographer said.

And in Brussels a small group of women stripped to the waist gathered in front of the Grand Mosque shouting “F*** your morals” and “Free Amina,” while three protested briefly outside the Tunisian consulate in Milan.

Tunisia was once seen as one of the Arab world’s most progressive countries on women’s rights.

But NGOs have accused the Islamist party Ennahda, which came to power after the revolution that overthrew Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s regime in 2011, of seeking to roll back women’s rights.

They say those rights must be enshrined in a new constitution expected this year.

The Femen group has been making headlines since 2010 for headline-grabbing feminist, pro-democracy and anti-corruption protests.- www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: AL Arabiya

SHAFAQNA (Shia International News Association) – Scientists from the Imperial College London were able to develop an ultra-sensitive sensor that will allow doctors to detect the early stages of diseases with their naked eye. The newly developed sensor, which is still a prototype, is reportedly ten times more sensitive than the current methods today. This allows doctors to detect the onset of diseases such as prostate cancer and other virus infections, and even HIV.

Essentially, the sensor works by analyzing serum, a protein-rich liquid that separates when blood coagulates. Positive and negative reactions can then be viewed easily by the naked eye. The scientists believe that the new sensor will greatly help other countries without the necessary equipment and technology to treat its patients. So far the sensor was able to detect a biomarker called p24 in blood samples, which actually indicates HIV. In another series of tests conducted, the sensor was also able to detect a biomarker called Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), which is an indicator for Prostate Cancer.

“We have developed a test that we hope will enable previously undetectable HIV infections and indicators of cancer to be picked up, which would mean people could be treated sooner. We also believe that this test could be significantly cheaper to administer, which could pave the way for more widespread use of HIV testing in poorer parts of the world,” said Dr. Roberto de la Rica of Imperial College London.— www.shafaqna.com/English

Source: Ubergizmo