Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Millions of people around the world joined protest marches on January 21 to show their support for women’s rights and other causes.
The marches were inspired by the Women’s March, which was held in Washington, D.C., the day after Donald Trump officially became President of the United States. The Women’s March was organized to protest Trump’s policies. Many people believe his policies are a threat to basic rights and freedoms for women and for people of minority religions and races.
The United States has a new president.
Donald Trump was “sworn in” or “inaugurated” last Friday as the country’s 45th president. That means he was officially given the job, and Barack Obama is no longer the president of the United States.
Ikea is a large chain of stores around the world that sells furniture and home accessories.
Recently the company came under fire for removing all of the images of women from the pictures in the Saudi Arabia edition of their catalogue.
In the Ikea catalogue, families are shown using and enjoying Ikea’s products. In the Saudi Arabia version of the book, none of the families show women in them.
In other editions of the catalogue, women are featured in the photos.
The images of women were digitally removed from the pictures in the catalogue. This is known as airbrushing or photoshopping.
Ikea said they shouldn’t have removed the images; they regret having done it.
Ikea prints more than 60 versions of its catalogue and sends them all over the world.
History was made in Saudi Arabia last week when King Abdullah announced that starting in 2015, Saudi Arabian women will be able to vote and to run for office.
It is a big step in a country that does not grant women equal rights to those enjoyed by men.
Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world in which women are banned from driving an automobile.
Last July a woman, identified only as Shema, was found guilty of driving and sentenced to 10 lashes.
(Many women defy the ban by driving in spite of the fact it is not legal in the country. By driving, they are protesting what they feel is an unfair rule.)
Last week, the king surprised the country by stopping the punishment for Shema. She will not have to endure any lashes.
A woman in Saudi Arabia was arrested last Saturday because she put a video on YouTube video of herself driving a car.
She was eventually released.
Manal al-Sharif was protesting the rule in her country that only men can drive. She was filmed by another woman writer who supports women’s rights.
In Saudi Arabia it isn’t clear whether it’s illegal for a woman to drive, or simply a traditional or religious custom. But Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world to ban women drivers. Many people in the country would like to see women driving but it must be approved by the King first.
Because there are strict rules that prohibit men and women from being around each other in public, women cannot take public transport like buses. So they must rely on male relative or chauffeurs to drive them anywhere they need to go.
