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creasingly anxious at the prospect of her younger nieces abandoning their full-length black robes in favor of Western attire that seems to be everywhere she goes.
• But it wasn't until the 23-year-old marketing worker came face to face with two scantily-clad female foreigners at one of the many luxury shopping malls in the United Arab Emirates that she decided to take action.
• "While going to a mall, I saw two ladies wearing ... I can't say even shorts. It was underwear," said al-Muhairi, whose black abaya -- a long garment worn by conservative Gulf women -- is offset by a gold Versace watch and egg-shell blue handbag.
• "Really, they were not shorts," she said. "I was standing and thinking: 'Why is this continuing? Why is it in the mall? I see families. I see kids around.'"
• Failing to persuade the mall to intervene, al-Muhairi and another Emirati woman, Hanan al-Rayes, took to Twitter to air their concerns in May.
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• By a razor-thin margin, the largest Presbyterian group in the United States rejected a proposal Thursday to divest from three companies that do business with Israel. Pro-Palestinian advocates vowed to try again.
• The Presbyterian General Assembly voted 333-331, with two abstentions, to reject the divestment plan. A second vote instead affirmed a policy of investment in support of peace in Israel and the Palestinian territories. That proposal passed by a much wider margin, 369-290 with eight abstentions.
• The votes came after days of discussion and more than two hours of floor debate at the meeting of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Pittsburgh. The policymaking body will meet again on Friday, but there is little chance the divestment plan could be revived.
• Divestment advocates said the targeted companies -- Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Motorola -- profit from the occupation by providing bulldozers, surveillance technology and other products to the Israeli military.
• Major Jewish groups from across the political spectrum had lobbied furiously against the measure, including the liberal-leaning pro-Israel groups Americans for Peace Now and J Street. The American Jewish Committee, a public policy group, said the proposal demonized Israel and threatened Christian-Jewish relations.
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