1 They are voting for members of a parliment that has no real powers at all. The country is ruled by the Emir He appoints the Prime Minister. So this election is like a practice election. Which is actually probably a good thing as there are 7 times as many Islamists as liberals in the Parliment. Here is awikipedia link about Kuwait. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait/Government

2 3 gets you 5 that the majority of them are pro-isalmofascism, anyway.

3 In other news - about two weeks ago they hung a man in the sports arena for possession of alcohol. A case of beer in Kuwait City is sold on the black market for $150.00 USD. But don't get caught with it.

4 Freedom marches on!

5 Does anyone remember Christian Amanpour's interview in Kuwait after its liberation during the first Gulf War? She was trying to make a point that now finally Kuwait can embrace democracy and women's rights. Spoke with a man who was walking on the beach in KC with a gaggle of his wives. Christian was waxing poetic about how in the pre-war days the women would've been tagging along behind the man dutifully, but how now post-war they were empowered and the man had left them walk ahead of him. She was somewhat chagrined when the man pointed out that the wives were actually walking ahead of him to look for mines that might still be strewn about on the beach...

6 Kuwait ends sufferage women can now vote great news

7 Turns out none of the female candidates run and I saw a comment pointing out some shortcomings in the election adn that's OK. But it's at least some progress.

8 Progress? There's still not a pub to be found in the country, mate. How does that equate to progress?

9 Hard to argue with logic like that!

10 witch NEWS YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT CONCERNING HUNGING THAT GUY ? COULD YOU GIVE US A LINK OR Reference. THANX SEBASTIAN.

11 Islam and Muslims have long been accused of mistreating women. Whether it is by Orientalists, or the "average Joe" or Josephine relying on the media barrage of awful stereotypes to formulate his or her opinion. Muslim men are perceived as violent, cruel and barbaric towards women in general, but especially towards their own wives, daughters and sisters. The fact is that such disgusting behavior does occur in the Muslim world, for many of the same reasons it occurs in the United States: a cycle of abuse in the family, socio-economic factors and jealousy. However, what could be said to distinguish women's mistreatment in the Muslim world is the general lack of Islamic education amongst men and women about day-to-day matters, including the roles and rights of women. Mistreatment and abuse of women, and wives in particular is condemned by Islam. Consider the following Hadith narrated by Abu Huraira in Tirmidhi: the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said,"The one most perfect in his faith is he whose conduct is best and the best amongst you is he who behaves best towards his wife." Now consider the following the statistics about how many women are treated in the United States, taken from the 1995 National Crime Victimization Survey of the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Domestic Violence Hotline Fact Sheet and Statistics HOW MANY ABUSED WOMEN ARE THERE IN THE U.S.? Women age 12 or older annually sustained almost 5 million violent victimizations in 1992 and 1993. Women and girls ages 12 and up annually reported about 500,000 rapes and sexual assaults, almost 500,000 robberies, and about 3.8 million assaults. WHO ARE THE ABUSERS In 29% of all violence against women by a lone offender, the perpetrator was an intimate (husband,ex-husband, boyfriend or ex-boyfriend). Women annually reported about 500,000 rapes and sexual assaults Friends or acquaintances of the victims committed over half of these rapes or sexual assaults. Strangers were responsible for about 1 in 5. HONOR KILLINGS IN AMERICA? Of the 5328 women murdered in 1990, FBI data indicate that about half or more of them by a husband or boyfriend. VIOLENCE AMONG COUPLES A minimum of 16 % of American couples experienced an assault during the year they were asked about it, and about 40% of these involved severely violent acts, such as kicking, biting, punching, choking, and attacks with weapons. A 1993 national poll found that 34% of adults in the United States report having witnessed a man beating his wife or girlfriend and that 14% of women report that a husband or boyfriend has been violent with them. THE PHYSICAL DAMAGE CAUSED TO WOMEN AND CHILDREN BY ABUSE During the last decade, domestic violence has been identified as one of the major causes of emergency room visits by women. From 20% to 30% of the women who are seen by emergency room physicians exhibit at least one or more symptoms of physical abuse. 10% of the victims were pregnant at the time of abuse. 10% reported that their children had also been abused by the batterer. THE ECONOMIC FACTOR IN WOMEN'S ABUSE *Women aged 19 to 29 and women in families with incomes below $10,000 were more likely than other women to be victims of violence by an intimate. Sources: 1995 National Crime Victimization Survey of the U.S. Department of Justice. You can order this Special Report (NCJ-15434 "Violence Against Women: Estimates from the Redesigned Survey August 1995" by calling the Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse, 800-732-3277and the National Domestic Violence Hotline Fact Sheet and Statistics.

12 So that's all the same as when in Pakistan some "leader of the community" hands some girl off to be raped to achive "justice". Note that all your data comes from us prosecuting those who violate womens rights. Show me the same prosecution statistics for say Egypt or Yemen or Pakistan. Dream on alisssssssssssssssssss

13 JohnRyan The elections referred to were for seats in the Kuwait Municipality ( not Parliament ) that were vacated due to recent changes in ministerial positions ( when the new Amir took his position). These are first steps towards women entering the political arena and as a Kuwaiti, I'm pleased that this is finally happening. Oyster I would like to see a reference to that bit of news; it sounds pretty far fetched to me. Kuwait is formally a dry country, yes. But I have never heard of anyone being hung in a sports stadium for possession of alcohol. There is a fair amount of law and order in this country RangerRuss That reference to women walking ahead of men in the aftermath of the first Gulf War was a joke that circulated here. I did not know that Christiane Amanpour was the originator of that joke. Gaggle of wives? Please people. Educate yourselves about the Middle East and read. Polygamy is allowed in Islam but not every man is married to several women in Kuwait. And they certainly don't trail behind them.