"Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself." That was the name of a Facebook group created by a group of Saudi Arabian women in order to protest their country's ban on female drivers. For this, Manal al-Sherif, one of the campaign's founders, was arrested the Saturday before last by Saudi authorities:

Authorities detained a Saudi woman on Saturday after she launched a campaign against the driving ban for women in the ultra-conservative kingdom and posted a videotape of herself behind the wheel to encourage others to copy her. Manal al-Sherif and a group of other women have started a Facebook page called "Teach me how to drive so I can protect myself", which urges authorities to lift the driving ban.

Al Jazeera's report on the issue can be seen here. Last Thursday, al-Sherif's detention was apparently extended by another ten days, and one Saudi cleric, Sheik Ghazi al-Shemri, has even said that al-Sherif "should be flogged in the women's marketplace as a model and a lesson," for having the audacity to feel like she should operate a vehicle without a man. Another Saudi Arabian woman...More >>