No mountain high enough for my sister: Mirza Ali

KARACHI: 

“No woman needs the support of a man – not even to climb the highest peak of the world,” says Mirza Ali, brother of mountaineer Samina Baig. “I want to let Pakistan know that if I can empower my sister to summit the highest peak of the world, they should also let their women pursue any goal they want to.”

Sharing his thoughts in an exclusive interview with The Express Tribune, during a stopover at the Jinnah International Airport, Mirza elaborated on how he was determined to let his sister climb the mountain without any support.

On May 19, 2013, Samina Baig, 22, became the first Pakistani woman to have ever scaled Mount Everest. Their expedition – ‘First Pakistani Gender Equality Mt Everest (8,848m) Expedition’ – had the primary goal of fostering gender equality and empowering women.

It’s for this very reason that Mirza turned back at 8,600 metres, just 248 metres shy of conquering the summit. This was his way of declaring to the world that women are just as capable as men.

Samina speaks

Greeted at the airport by a swarm of reporters, an elated Samina, dressed in a traditional shalwar kameez, said that her achievements made her ‘very happy’. She added that the entire crew was very supportive and she is proud to have been part of a team that conveyed the message of gender equality.

All the while, Ali stands behind his sister, a gentle smile playing on his face, completely confident with the spotlight being on her instead of on him.

The tale of the trek

The siblings hail from a village called Shimshal in Upper Hunza, which borders China and has a literacy rate of 100%. Located deep in the Karakoram Range, Ali has been climbing mountains for 12 years, and Samina for four.

Ghulam Hussain, a paternal cousin of the siblings and the only family member present to greet them – with a rose in each hand – said Samina comes from a liberal family that not only encourages girls to study, but pushes them to achieve their dreams. He said many girls in Hunza climb mountains and are facilitated by the Shimshal Mountaineering School.

‘On our own’

Ali, who was Samina’s trainer and guide, said his sister received two months of rigorous stamina training before the expedition. The entire mission cost Rs10million, but the duo received no help from the Pakistani government.

Aside from medication, which was provided by Dr Mohammed Amjad of Reeds Pharma, the expenditure was only possible with aid from New Zealand.

Although the siblings expressed remorse over the fact that their own government did not provide them with any assistance to accomplish their mission, they humbly requested the government to now step up and support them.  Ali runs The Youth Outreach Program, through which he aims to empower women to climb mountains.

“Support us,” implored Ali candidly. “Help us empower our women.”

Ladies Don't Wear Heels.

Are high heels really worth it? Most women are in pain in just over an hour and 90% have suffered problems from ill-fitting shoes

• Study found that half of women put up with pain of high heels to look good
• Podiatrists say nearly all foot conditions are caused by poorly fitting shoes

Any woman who wears high heels will be surprised it takes so long...

After one hour, six minutes and 48 seconds heels start to hurt, a survey found.

But for a delicate 20 per cent, dancing shoes start to pinch after just ten minutes.

More than a third of respondents said their feet had been so sore on a night out that they danced shoeless and walked home barefoot.

The statistics come from the College of Podiatry, which surveyed 2,000 British men and women and 60 podiatrists and chiropodists.

Consultant podiatrist Mike O'Neill, from the College of Podiatry, warned that squeezing feet into smaller shoes can cause long-term damage including arthritis, stress fractures, and trapped nerves, which may even require surgery or steroid injections.

 

Mr O'Neill said: 'There's absolutely no doubt women who wear high heels are putting themselves at risk of permanent injury in the name of fashion. Given a choice between a stylish pair of shoes or nice feet, many will go for the stylish shoes.

Victoria Beckham suffers with bunions because of her addiction to super-high heels

'However, the higher the heel, the more they tilt your body forward and the more you have to lean back to compensate. This can put your pelvis out of alignment and cause compression of the spine.

'High heels ram your foot forward, which squishes your toes together and can cause ingrown toe nails, rough areas of skin, blemishes, and calluses.

'And because your toes are squashed, the moisture gets trapped, causing soggy toes, which is a breeding ground for athlete's foot.'

According to the study, one in four have danced bare foot in a club or bar when they could not put up with the pain any longer and a third have been forced to remove their shoes and walk home barefoot because of the discomfort.

Mr O'Neill added: 'Shoes make you walk on the balls of your feet can cause aches and pains, and ultimately, stress fractures.

'They also cause increased wear and tear in the joints and soft tissue, which can cause arthritis.

'Some women also suffer from trapped nerves, which may require surgery or steroid injections to combat the pain.

No pain no gain: Wearing fashionable high heels can lead to debilitating and unsightly conditions such as bunions (pictured, right). High heels have been shown to trigger corns, athlete's foot and ingrown toenails

'Wearing high heels shortens the Achilles tendon dramatically, which causes incredible aches when you then try to wear flats.

TOP 10 FOOT PROBLEMS SUFFERED BY WOMEN

1 Blisters (55%)
2 Cracked heels (45%)
3 Veruccas (28%)
4 Corns (24%)
5 Ingrown toe nails (20%)
5 Athletes foot (20%)
6 Bunions (13%)
7 Joint problems (11%)
8 Excessive foot odour (9%)
9 Arthritis (9%)
10 Muscular problems (8%)

'Any shoes with a heel higher than two inches are a concern. If women want the extra height, they would be better off wearing stacks [such as platforms or wedges].'

The study also discovered that while women typically own 17 pair of shoes, men own just eight.

Only 12 per cent of men admitted to putting up with stylish but uncomfortable shoes

Twice as many women as men report suffering from corns, cracked heels and bunions.

Yet despite these problems, 20 per cent of women refused to seek medical help because they believed their foot complaint was not important.

Finally, results showed that younger women are doing themselves the most harm.The study found that the younger the woman, the higher their heels.

Roughly 20 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 own a pair of six-inch high heeled shoes.This compares with 10 per cent of those aged 25 to 34 and just 3 per cent of 35 to 44 year olds.

Seven MILLION Britons don't brush their teeth regularly - with many going at least two DAYS before they pick up a toothbrush

21% of Britons also forget to floss regularly

25% forget to cover their mouth when coughing and fail to wash their hands after going to the toilet

7.5 million Britons also forget to shower daily

Seven million Britons do not clean their teeth regularly, a new survey has revealed.

One in seven admitted to leaving it two whole days before they picked up a toothbrush and 21 per cent also said they forget to floss.

The study also revealed that 25 per cent of people spread germs by forgetting to cover their mouth when coughing and by forgetting to wash their hands after going to the toilet.

The study, carried out by the British Dental Health Foundation, also showed that people’s attitudes to oral hygiene have not improved in the last two years.

In the previous 2011 study, 28 per cent of Britons admitted not brushing their teeth once in every 24 hour period and one in seven people said they sometimes went more than two days without cleaning their teeth.

But it’s not only oral hygiene habits that slip people’s mind

According to the 2013 study, more than 7.5 million adults in the UK also forget to shower.

Chief Executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, Dr Nigel Carter OBE, said: ‘What surprises me the most is that some of these things are basic hygiene tasks.

‘It is troubling to learn that people still have a poor attitude when it comes to their oral health. 

‘Anyone who regularly skips brushing their teeth morning or night is storing up oral health problems for the future such as tooth decay and gum disease – the biggest cause of tooth loss.

‘Brushing last thing at night removes the deposits which have built up from eating and drinking during the day, as well as removing plaque – the cause of both tooth decay and gum disease. 

‘The last brush of the day also coats the teeth with fluoride, which is not washed away through eating and drinking, and continues to protect the tooth’s surface further during sleep.

‘Flossing is also something that really is not a luxury. 

'Removing food stuck in between your teeth close to gum lines is a really important step to preventing gum disease, and the most effective way of doing this is to use interdental brushes or floss. 

‘Brushing alone only cleans 60 per cent of the tooth's surface, so this is an excellent way of keeping plaque at bay.’

The British Dental Health Foundation recommends that people brush their teeth for two minutes twice a day using fluoride toothpaste, cut down their consumption of sugary food and drink, and visit their dentist regularly.

The findings come after a Sweatband.com survey revealed that only a fifth of women wash their gym kit after every exercise session, compared to a quarter of men.

The study found the most common excuses for re-using workout clothes included saving it for a bigger wash (24 per cent), that they didn’t have enough kit (22 per cent) or that they simply couldn’t be bothered (17 per cent).

Ramadan will be very hot this year: astronomer

A 40-day hot season dubbed “Marbaniat Al Qaid” will begin in the Gulf on Monday and this means the fasting month of Ramadan will be scorching this year, a prominent Saudi astronomer was reported on Sunday as saying.

Khaled al Zuaq said Monday would be the start of “the real hot weather” in the Arabian Peninsula and it will be followed by even a hotter period called “Jumrat Al Qaid”.

“This means Ramadan will start in Jumrat al Qaid, when the summer hot season is at its peak,” he told the Saudi Arabic language daily Sabq.

“Forecasts based on the movement of winds and ocean currents, clouds and evaporation rates confirm that we will witness a very hot and exhausting summer this year and this will coincide with Ramadan.”

'Unknown woman' gifts Merc G55 to man 'expelled' from Saudi for being 'too handsome'

An Emirati asked to leave Saudi Arabia last month for being “too handsome” has received an expensive G55 Mercedes car from an unknown woman, just a month after he hit headlines worldwide following his alleged expulsion from the conservative Gulf Kingdom.

Omar Borkan Gala told a well-known western magazine that he had been gifted the car, worth more than $100,000, to mark his birthday.

“I got a Mercedes G55 for my birthday from a woman I didn’t know,” the race-car enthusiast told the US ‘InTouch’ gossip weekly.

“It came to my place, and I was told, ‘Just sign and take it.’ That’s amazing!”

The magazine said the self-described poet and model, and now an upcoming film star, woke up on his birthday recently with a knock on his door and greeted by a man with keys in his hands and a paper for him to sign on.

“It was one of the most memorable birthday gifts he had received. Omar expressed how happy he was for the offers that have been pouring in since the news of his deportation broke out and has gone viral in the worldwide web,” the report said.

Omar was reportedly enjoying himself at a stand at the annual Saudi Jenadariya Festival in the capital Riyadh, promoting some of his works at the event when religious officials asked the Dubai native to leave and deported him back to the UAE.

He has been making headlines since then and has won the hearts of many women, who have flooded his Facebook page with messages.

Al Gala has not confirmed outright he was deported, but hinted that he was one of three Emirati men who were reportedly forced out of the festival and then deported by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

Newspapers in the world’s top oil exporter said the three were told to leave because the Commission members who were heavily deployed at the Genadariya festival in Riyadh as they feared women could fall for them on the grounds they are too handsome.

Is this the best breakup letter ever? Woman dumps cheating boyfriend by leading him on hunt for all his belongings she's hidden

Breaking up is so very hard to do goes the old Burt Bacharach song, yet the writer of this letter seems to have done rather a good job of compartmentalizing her emotions as she writes to her lover to inform him that it’s all over.

An armchair psychiatrist could have a field day trying to decipher if the jilted lover writing the letter has taken the end of the relationship well or is perhaps overacting to what she has discovered.

What we do know is that when the writer accesses her boyfriend’s Facebook account she notices he has received a message from another girl, called Kelsi.

Sadly we don’t find out what was in that message but clearly it is the last straw for the letter writer who promptly decides she has had it with her boyfriend and decides to end their two-year relationship.

A more typical response to finding out your boyfriend has cheated on you might be simply tell him he is a loser and dump his belongings on the street, but this letter writer has a different idea.

She explains that she has left some of her exes most treasured possessions in a variety of places that once meant so much to their relation. 

So we find out his clothes have been left where they first met, his video games where they first kissed, his television where they first went 'all the way' etc etc.

'Don't worry I didn't break anything!' she writes and depending on your point-of-view this might sound all very reasonable given the circumstances or like the actions of someone displaying all the psychotic tendencies of Glenn Close's infamous bunny boiler character in Fatal Attraction.

'Happy hunting!' she signs off the letter, but I get the impression she doesn't really mean it. 

The letter was posted on Imgur yesterday by Nipplesquirrelham and has already been viewed more than 180,000 times. There are also lots of hilarious comments from Imgur readers including 'I loved the restrained rage' and  'Anyone up for a bet that he only found the T.V.?'

A nation waits with baited breath to find out more about this intriguing couple and not forgetting Kelsi.

Tony Blair says murder of Lee Rigby PROVES 'there is a problem within Islam'

• Ex-PM says 'the ideology behind his murder is profound and dangerous'
• Bold intervention comes of ever of Cameron Commons speech
• Blair urges governments to 'be honest'

Tony Blair today makes his most powerful political intervention since leaving Downing Street by launching an outspoken attack on ‘the problem within Islam’.  

The former Prime Minister addresses the shocking killing of Drummer Lee Rigby in Woolwich by going further than he – or any front-rank British politician – has gone before over the issue of Muslim radicalism.   

Writing in today’s Mail on Sunday, he departs from the usual argument that Islam is a peaceful religion that should not be tainted by the actions of a few extremists.

Instead, Mr Blair urges governments to ‘be honest’ and admit that the problem is more widespread.

‘There is a problem within Islam – from the adherents of an ideology which is a strain within Islam,’ he writes.

‘We have to put it on the table and be honest about it. Of course there are Christian extremists and Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu ones. But I am afraid this strain is not the province of a few extremists. It has at its heart a view about religion and about the interaction between religion and politics that is not compatible with pluralistic, liberal, open-minded societies.’

He adds: ‘At the extreme end of the spectrum are terrorists, but the world view goes deeper and wider than it is comfortable for us to admit. So by and large we don’t admit it.’

Mr Blair’s comments are likely to be seized on by critics who will argue that by leading us into the Iraq War he has helped to swell support for radical Islam around the globe.

The former PM’s remarks come as David Cameron prepares to make a Commons statement about the Woolwich murder tomorrow afternoon.

The statement will come just hours after the first meeting of the Prime Minister’s Tackling Extremism and Radicalisation Task Force (TERFOR) – made up of senior Ministers, MI5, police and moderate religious leaders – tomorrow morning.

Whitehall sources said that it would be a ‘preliminary meeting’ to draw up the agenda for a full meeting within days. The group, which the Muslim Foreign Office Minister Baroness Warsi, will examine new powers to muzzle hate preachers.

Mr Cameron’s Commons speech is also expected to address the situation in Syria.

In his article, Mr Blair, who is trying to establish a Palestinian state through his work as a peace envoy, also addresses the Syrian situation, warning: ‘We are at the beginning of this tragedy .  .  . Syria is in a state of accelerating disintegration.

President Assad is brutally pulverising communities hostile to his regime.’ Mr Blair says that ‘the overwhelming desire of the West is to stay out of it’, which he goes on to describe as ‘completely understandable’.

He suggests that ‘the problem within Islam’ can start to be tackled by ‘educating children about faith here and abroad’.  

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, a former Foreign Secretary and chairman of the Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee, said: ‘Much of what Tony Blair says is sensible.

‘The Islamic terrorists who kill people have the silent support of many more in their community who share their ideology, if not their methods.

‘But even combined, they represent only a small minority of British Muslims, and we must never forget that.

‘However, he appears to be still trying to justify the Iraq War rather than acknowledging that that war provided an unprecedented opportunity for the Sunni and Shia extremists to slaughter so many of their co-religionists.’