- Trump rallies at site of failed assassination: 'Never quit'
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- Is music finally reckoning with #MeToo?
- Fans hail Trump's 'guts' as he returns to site of rally shooting
- Lebanon state media says 'very violent' Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Guardians maul Tigers, miracle Mets rally in MLB series openers
- Lebanon state media says Israeli strikes hit south Beirut
- Miami on track for MLS record points after win in Toronto
- Madrid beat Villarreal but Carvajal suffers knee injury
- Madrid beat Villarreal to move level with Liga leaders Barcelona
- Monaco take top spot in Ligue 1 with win at Rennes
- French rugby player on rape charge whistled but 'serene' on return
- Madrid beat Villarreal to level Liga leaders Barca
- Thuram treble fires Inter past Torino and up to second
- 'Fight': defiant Trump jets in to site of rally shooting
- Toddler among 3 dead in migrant Channel crossings
- Mexico City's new mayor sworn in with pledges on water, housing
- Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary
- Guardians maul Tigers in MLB playoff series opener
- Macron criticises Israel on Gaza, Lebanon operations
- French rugby player whistled but 'serene' on return amid ongoing rape case
- Kovacic stars as Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- Retegui hat-trick fires five-star Atalanta to hammering of Genoa
- Heavyweights Australia, England off to World Cup winning starts
- Visiting UN refugee agency chief decries 'terrible crisis' in Lebanon
- Spinners come to party as England defeat Bangladesh at T20 World Cup
- Search continues for missing in deadly Bosnia floods
- Man City sink Fulham to get title bid back on track
- France's Auradou whistled on Pau return in Perpignan loss amid ongoing rape case
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Arsenal hit back in style after Southampton scare
- Thousands march for Palestinians ahead of Oct 7 anniversary
- Hezbollah heir apparent Safieddine out of contact after strikes
- Liverpool stay top of Premier League as Arsenal, Man City win
- In dank Tour of Emilia, Pogacar shines in rainbow jersey
- DR Congo launches mpox vaccination drive, hoping to curb outbreak
- Trump returns to site of failed assassination
- Careless Leverkusen held to Bundesliga draw
- O'Brien's 'superstar' Kyprios posts landmark win on Arc weekend
- Toddler crushed to death in migrant Channel crossing
- Liverpool suffer Alisson injury blow
- Habosi helps Racing beat Vannes before Auradou's playing return
- Thousands march in London in support of Palestinians, 1 year after Oct 7
- Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
- Schutt, Mooney help Australia beat Sri Lanka in Women's T20 World Cup
- Liverpool extend Premier League lead with win at Palace
- Djokovic 'shakes rust off' to make third round of Shanghai Masters
- 'Imperfect' PSG fighting on all fronts - Luis Enrique
- Struggling Pakistan look to thwart adaptable England
- Child 'trampled to death' in asylum seekers' Channel crossing: minister
Bottom of gender rankings, Iraqi women defy critics to work
Each working morning, oil engineer Safa al-Saeedi dons a safety helmet and heads into a gas complex for another day challenging conservative prejudices by being a professional woman in Iraq.
"Society does not accept that a girl can live outside the family home," said 29-year-old Saeedi, who works in Iraq's southern oil and gas fields around Basra.
Saeedi, one of just 180 women among the 5,000 employees of the Basrah Gas Company, sees herself as a change maker and encourages other women to join the industry.
For many, a single woman working away from home in a male-dominated sector is frowned upon, and it is a hard task for women to break out of the role of wife and mother traditionally assigned to them.
"I often hear them say to me: 'You are almost 30, you will miss the boat! You will end up single,'" said Saeedi. "It makes me laugh, but I do not answer."
The female labour force participation rate in Iraq is "one of the lowest in the world" at 13 per cent, according to a joint report last year by UN Women, the agency working for gender equality, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for West Asia (ESCWA).
- 'Discriminatory' -
The 2021 UN report said surveys had found that "most Iraqis agree that university education is equally important for both sexes".
But it also reported that "attitudes toward equal rights in employment are discriminatory against women".
The World Economic Forum ranked Iraq bottom in women's economic participation and opportunity, and put it 152nd overall out of the 153 nations assessed in its 2020 Global Gender Gap Index.
Saeedi, who graduated in 2014 after studying engineering at university in Basra, was immediately employed by oil giant Shell -- a job that "required spending some nights away from home".
Her mother opposed the job because she was "afraid of what people will say, and that it will affect my reputation and my chances of getting married", Saeedi said. "It was a challenge," she added.
But Saeedi pressed on, rising through the ranks to become a team leader in the Basrah Gas Company, a joint venture majority-owned by the Iraqi government, with Shell and Mitsubishi.
- 'Powerful and brilliant women' -
Her job requires her to live on site for a month at a time, staying in company accommodation. After work, she plays sport, or jogs around the huge gas storage tanks.
On leave, she returns home to Basra -- if she is not indulging in her passion for travel, which has taken her so far to some 30 countries.
"I hope to reach a management position, because you rarely see women in these positions, even though Iraq has many powerful and brilliant women," Saeedi said.
It is a tough path to follow.
"I was initially overwhelmed with fear, because I was in a purely male environment," said chemical engineer Dalal Abdelamir. The 24-year-old works on the same site as Saeedi.
"At the beginning, I thought that I was inferior, that I would never have the required level. I was even worried to ask questions," she said.
"But this job and this position has taught me not to be afraid, not to hesitate and not to fear that I cannot do it, but to believe that I can."
Abdelamir joined the company via a graduate programme which hired 20 men and 10 women.
"We didn't go to Basra University saying we wanted to recruit women," said Malcolm Mayes, managing director of Basrah Gas Company.
"We went there saying we wanted the brightest students".
D.Kaufman--AMWN