Radio Free Afghanistan: "Many of the 328 women competing for seats in the lower house of Afghanistan's national parliament, the People's Council (Wolesi Jirga), have faced death threats from gunmen who want to deny women any role in the country's political system. Candidate Hawa Alam Nuristani was shot four times on 14 September while campaigning in her eastern province of Nuristan. She had recently spoken to RFE/RL about death threats against her. Female candidates from other provinces also told RFE/RL they have received daily death threats in the run-up to national and provincial voting on 18 September. But they are determined to stay in the race."

USATODAY.com - Women taking a swing at softball: "The Iraqi Baseball Union currently counts four female softball teams competing against one another in Baghdad and six in outside provinces, says Ismael Khalil Ismael, the union's founder.

The union has had men's baseball teams for nearly 10 years, Ismael says."

World | Reuters.co.in: "KABUL (Reuters) - Four years ago Shukria Barakzai was running a secret school for girls in her Kabul home, risking severe punishment from the Taliban's religious police.

Today, she is running for parliament, competing against men, including her own husband, in Afghanistan's first legislative elections since 1969.

Barakzai says she is not afraid of men who think she and other Afghan women should step back into the shadows of a very conservative male-dominated society.

'That's our message, we're not afraid of you, listen to us. We will fight for our rights. You can't remove us,' she told Reuters in an interview."