Indonesia women's groups reject law on 'improper' way to sit on motorcycles


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JAKARTA // Rights groups urged the Indonesian government today to block a proposed law banning women from sitting astride motorcycles in Aceh province, where the position is deemed "improper".

The mayor of Lhokseumawe city in Aceh, where Sharia is enforced, circulated a letter yesterday explaining the obligation for women to sit side-saddle was "to avoid immoral acts".

"Adult women who are riding on the back of a motorbike ... cannot straddle unless in an emergency," mayor Suaidi Yahya's letter read, adding that the ban included women straddling female drivers.

The official explained last week that women sitting astride motorcycles would "provoke the male driver" and that it would be against Islamic law.

The letter also proposed banning men and women from hugging and holding hands while on vehicles, and banning tight or scanty clothing in public.

The move comes after leaders from Aceh, the country's only province ruled by Sharia law, drafted a series of new bills including banning women from wearing tight trousers, stoning adulterers and flogging homosexuals.

Local women's rights activists have rejected the proposed ban "because it completely ignores the safety principles for driving," said Roslina Rasyid from Indonesian Women's Association for Justice legal aid in Lhokseumawe.

"Sitting astride guarantees better safety, and I'm sure most people can only side-saddle for 15 minutes. What if the person is overweight and causes an imbalance? It could cause an accident," she added.

National Commission on Violence Against Women activist Andy Yentriyani said the policy was "part of discriminative policies on women in this country in the name of religion and morality".

But the central government said it could not review the straddling ban because it was not yet formalised as a bylaw and did not include punishments.

Local media reported the interior minister saying he would review the bylaw if it passed.

But the ministry's regional autonomy director-general Djohermansyah Djohan, who would oversee any revision, said: "We'll just leave it to people of Aceh to decide whether to accept it or not."

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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The%20specs
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Key findings
  • Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
  • Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase. 
  • People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”. 
  • Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better. 
  • But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.
Disability on screen

Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues

24: Legacy — PTSD;

Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound

Taken and This Is Us — cancer

Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)

Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg

Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety

Switched at Birth — deafness

One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy

Dragons — double amputee

New Zealand T20 squad

New Zealand T20 squad: Tim Southee (captain), Finn Allen, Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wicketkeeper), Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi, Will Young 

Bharatanatyam

A ancient classical dance from the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Intricate footwork and expressions are used to denote spiritual stories and ideas.

Scores in brief:

  • New Medical Centre 129-5 in 17 overs bt Zayed Cricket Academy 125-6 in 20 overs.
  • William Hare Abu Dhabi Gymkhana 188-8 in 20 overs bt One Stop Tourism 184-8 in 20 overs
  • Alubond Tigers 138-7 in 20 overs bt United Bank Limited 132-7 in 20 overs
  • Multiplex 142-6 in 17 overs bt Xconcepts Automobili 140 all out in 20 overs
The currency conundrum

Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”

Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.

This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.

TECH%20SPECS%3A%20APPLE%20WATCH%20SE%20(second%20generation)
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Labour dispute

The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.


- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law 

Brief scores:

Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first

Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)

Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15

Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)

Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League quarter-final second leg:

Juventus 1 Ajax 2

Ajax advance 3-2 on aggregate

Countries recognising Palestine

France, UK, Canada, Australia, Portugal, Belgium, Malta, Luxembourg, San Marino and Andorra