Saudi men arrested for 'flirting'

Relations between the sexes outside marriage is against the law

Prosecutors in Saudi Arabia have begun investigating 57 young men who were arrested on Thursday for flirting with girls at shopping centres in Mecca.

The men are accused of wearing indecent clothes, playing loud music and dancing in order to attract the attention of girls, the Saudi Gazette reported.

They were arrested following a request of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.

The mutaween enforce Saudi Arabia's conservative brand of Islam, Wahhabism.

Earlier in the month, the authorities enforced a ban on the sale of red roses and other symbols used in many countries to mark Valentine's Day.

The ban is partly because of the connection with a "pagan Christian holiday", and also because the festival itself is seen as encouraging relations between the sexes outside marriage, punishable by law in the kingdom.

The Prosecution and Investigation Commission said it had received reports of such "bad" behaviour by 57 young men at a number of shopping centres in the holy city of Mecca, the Saudi Gazette said.

The guardians of some of the men defended their actions, however, saying they would regularly get together at the weekend to have fun without ever violating laws governing the segregation of the sexes, it added.
Original here

School Bus Fight

US-Mexico 'virtual fence' ready

Mr Chertoff said the system has already helped catch smugglers

A high-technology system to control the US-Mexico border with cameras and radar instead of a physical fence has gained government approval, US officials say.

The $20m 'virtual fence' already covers 28 miles (48km) of the border between Arizona state and Mexico.

The system has already helped catch smugglers, and would be deployed elsewhere, said US Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

But he said plans to complete 770 miles (1,130km) of physical fence remain.

"I have personally witnessed the value of this system," said Mr Chertoff.

"I have spoken directly to the border patrol agents... who have seen it produce actual results in terms of identifying and allowing the apprehension of people who are illegally smuggling across the border."

Unmanned towers

Built by Boeing, the virtual fence is part of a strategy to stop illegal immigrants as well as drug-smugglers attempt to pass into the US on foot or in vehicles.

Its technology - including 100-ft (30-metre) unmanned surveillance towers equipped with sophisticated sensor devices - is capable of distinguishing people from cattle at a distance of about 10 miles (16km).

The virtual fence targets illegal immigrants and drug smugglers

The system's cameras and radars are powerful enough to determine whether people are carrying backpacks that may contain weapons or drugs.

The US government plans to extend the technology to other areas of the Arizona border, as well as sections of Texas, possibly within months.

In a televised debate in Texas on Thursday, both Democratic party presidential candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, said high-technology surveillance could lessen the need for a physical barrier.

A highly charged political issue, immigration has been at the forefront of this year's presidential campaign.

Plans for the physical barrier covering about a third of the US-Mexico border have drawn fierce criticism.

Original here