Cleric says remark on chastity belts for women was 'a joke'
Kuala Lumpur: A prominent Malaysia cleric said his comments that women should wear chastity belts to prevent rape and incest was a joke gone wrong, as rights groups and a top government minister blasted his remarks in news reports yesterday. "Joke only. It was not seriously meant," Abu Hassan Din Al Hafiz said, according to the New Straits Times. The prominent religious leader from Malaysia's conservative north said earlier this week that women should "wear protection" to "safeguard them from sex maniacs", reports said.
Poverty threshold figures disputed
Manila: The daily 310 peso (Dh23.67) the government says a Filipino family of six living in Metro Manila requires, is not enough to sustain an "economically decent" lifestyle, the think-tank Ibon Foundation said. Ibon argues that the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) determined annual per capita poverty threshold in Metro Manila as of 2005 "is clearly not enough for a family to sustain any kind of decent existence".
42 candidates disqualified
Manila: Forty-two senatorial candidates have been disqualified from running in the May 14 polls for not meeting the requirements set by the Comelec. Lawyer Josslyn de Mesa of the Comelec's law department said most of these candidates lacked proof that they could mount an election campaign across the nation.
