Indian author Sushmita Banerjee falls prey to an alleged Taliban attack, a Sudanese woman risks flogging to protest an anti-Taliban law, Coca Cola will empower five million women entrepreneurs by 2020 and Pakistan sees an increase in several forms of extreme violence against women. Read more to find about the latest in women’s news.

The Afghan Taliban has allegedly killed 49-year-old Indian author Sushmita Banerjee outside her home in Paktika province. Banerjee was known for a popular memoir that chronicled her turbulent life as the wife of an Afghan in Kabul under the Taliban regime. Read more here.

Sudan woman risks flogging to protest ‘Taliban’-like law

Amira Osman Hamed faces a possible whipping if convicted at a trial which could come on September 19. Under Sudanese law her hair — and that of all women — is supposed to be covered with a “hijab”. But Hamed, 35, refuses to wear one. Read more here.

A Refreshing investment in women entrepreneurs

The United Nation’s Development Programme estimates that women do 66 percent of the world’s work, but only earn 10 percent of the world’s income. Coca Cola is working to bridge this divide.  Coca Cola’s  initiative will economically empower five million women entrepreneurs by 2020 with access to critical business skills, financial services, and networking opportunities. Read more here.

Violence Against Women

Although the number of reported cases of violence against women has decreased in pakistan, a sharp rise in several forms of extreme violence has been noted.  The fifth annual report “Beyond Denial” for 2012 by the Aurat Foundation reveals alarming rise in extreme violence  in Pakistan. Read more here.

Iran to name first female ambassador: Ministry

Iran plans to appoint a woman ambassador and a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry for the first time in the Islamic republic’s history. Read more here.

Women have dream too

The gender and race equality movements have very similar agendas. What Martin Luther King fought for in the early 1960s is similar to what we are fighting for today – nothing more complex than the ability to fully participate in and contribute to society, without the threat of violence or discrimination. Read more here.

Daredevil women on the frontline in Somalia

We may not mean it literally when we say “I will catch a bullet for you”, but the story is totally different when it is coming from a woman in camouflage trotting an AK47 assault weapon and wearing the glare of a Hollywood movie director. Read more here.

 Son of singing Chinese ‘general’ tried on gang-rape charge

Li Tianyi, the 17-year-old son of a high-ranking member of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), is facing charges of raping a woman in a Beijing hotel with four other young men.The trial is attracting perhaps  attention and anger from the public  because many see him as the product of spoiled aloof parents who have defended their son despite a history of bad behavior. Read more here.