Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Cultural Faux Pas

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

A kiss is just a kiss ... unless you're the president of Iran.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of the ultra-conservative Islamic country that last week rounded up hundreds of women for not properly covering up, is accused of indecency for publicly embracing and kissing the hand of a former schoolteacher.

Ahmadinejad was photographed and filmed bowing to kiss the elderly woman's gloved hand and hugging her at a ceremony Tuesday ahead of Iran's teacher's day, prompting charges of indecency by the influential and hard-line Islamic newspaper Hezbollah.

NM Lecture on the future of China by Charlie Bergman

Lecture on the future of China: Charles Bergman will talk about “China’s Ascent: Peaceful Rising or Trouble Ahead?” at the next Community Academy Lecture at Albuquerque Academy. The talk will be presented in the Simms Library Wednesday, 6:30-7:45 p.m. Admission will cost $15. For details on the talk or Bergman, go to this website. Questions to Marlene Sigel at (505) 828-3316 or sigel@aa.edu.