Mick Hartley

From the Middle East Times:

Lama and Dima Hattab are 26-year-old Jordanian twins with adventure in their souls. Experienced marathon runners, the women have turned to mountains – and now have Everest firmly in their sights.

Their aim is to become the first Arab women to conquer a series of the world’s highest peaks starting in June of this year, with Everest itself the hoped-for summit of their achievement in March 2009…

“We’re determined to change attitudes in the Middle East, where people doubt the ability of women to endure the same physical challenges as men,” one twin said.

Dima cited the Wadi Rum marathon in their native Jordan as an example.

The three-day event is run across 168 kilometers of awesome desert, which inspired Lawrence of Arabia to write his classic Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

“When we took part, many people made fun of us and said things like ‘But what are you doing out here in the desert? Go home to your parents,’” Dima said.

“Hearing such comments made us very sad. We had hoped that people would applaud us for taking part, rather than the other way round.”

And:

A prosecutor has charged a Jordanian man with murdering his daughter for “honor” after forcing her to undergo an abortion for a pregnancy out of wedlock, the Jordan Times reported Tuesday.

The criminal prosecutor charged the 68-year-old suspect with premeditated murder after he shot dead his 26-year-old daughter Monday “for reasons related to family honor,” the daily said.

The victim was shot six times in the head and the neck and when police arrived at their home, the suspect “fired several rounds in the air, saying he was celebrating the killing of his daughter,” one official said.

“I have cleared the family’s name and cleansed my honor,” the official quoted the suspect as saying, the newspaper said…

The victim was the seventh woman reportedly murdered in a so-called “honor crime” in conservative Muslim Jordan since January, the daily said.