We have to say, we didn’t see it coming: Unlike so many political marriages which have been marred by scandal as of late, the union of Schwarzenegger, 63, and Shriver, 55, seemed rock solid. Sure, they were always somewhat of an odd couple—he the Republican bodybuilder-turned movie star, she the brainy Democrat member of the Kennedy dynasty—but in the quarter-century they spent together, they seem to have weathered it all, from multiple election campaigns to sexual misconduct allegations to state budget crises to parental deaths, all the while raising four kids. This was a pair who earned their frequent power couple designation in spades, not unlike that other longtime political duo who surprised the world with their splitlast year.
According to their statement, the two are living apart living apart “while we work on the future of our relationship” (the Los Angeles Times reports that Shriver moved out of their Brentwood mansion a few weeks ago, just months after Schwarzenegger finished serving two terms as Governor). It was not immediately clear whether they would be filing for divorce.
"INewly discovered documents indicate that the British government concealed how often it administered so-called "virginity tests" to female immigrants hoping to enter the country in the 1970s on marriage visas.
The documents, unearthed by legal researchers Marinella Marmo and Evan Smith from Australia's Flinders University, showed that the tests – meant to prove that women coming into Britain to marry were virgins – had been administered more than 80 times. Although the tests first drew condemnation in the late 1970s, the extent to which the practice had taken place was not clear until now. The British government had previously acknowledged only two cases, both done at Heathrow Airport.
"We were shocked to see not one case, but many," Marmo said Monday.The government acknowledged that the documents were valid, but a spokesman for the U.K. Border Agency declined to address the larger number of cases reported by Marmo and Smith.
"These practices occurred 30 years ago and were clearly wrong," he said. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy, said Britain's policies now protect the rights of immigrants.Marmo and Smith's research began in 2008 and was first published Monday in the Guardian newspaper.The results show that 73 women underwent the tests in New Delhi and nine in Bombay at British embassies between 1976 and 1979. The alleged reason was to weed out bogus immigration claims.
The researchers said the discrepancy between their findings and the official tally makes it clear that the government, fearful of damaging its international reputation, had deliberately concealed the scale of the practice.The documents "are quite revealing about the extent of abuse within the immigration system at the time," Smith said. "There were a lot of machinations to deny or limit what was made public about these cases, which lends credence to the idea that they knew it was something bad, that it was a gross violation of human rights."
The files, letters and exchanges – some typed, some handwritten, often with scribbles in the margins – contained telling references to a broader agenda to limit immigration, Marmo said, pointing to one note that read: "Let us not pretend we're not discriminating."The researchers believe the government could issue a more assertive apology.
"We cannot change the past, but at least we can set the record straight and we can look each other in the face and tell the truth," Marmo said. "Say it happened. Say you're sorry." still do not know what I am going to do," Eman al-Obeidy told CNN in an exclusive interview. But at least now, she has escaped from Libya.Al-Obeidy made international headlines in March, after she ran into a hotel full of journalists in Tripoli, and told reporters that 15 of Gaddafi's men had beaten and raped her. After she was dragged from the hotel by Libyan officials, journalists pressed for answers as campaigns rose up across the world to "free al-Obeidy."
In an audio interview with Anderson Cooper last month, al-Obeidy described how she was abducted at a government checkpoint and held for days. She said that she was bound, beaten, had alcohol poured over her eyes, and was gang raped repeatedly. She said one of the soldiers sodomized her with his Kalishnikov. A government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, said the men accused by al-Obeidy planned to sue her.
On Thursday, al-Obeidy fled Libya and crossed into Tunisia with the help of a defecting military officer and his family. According to CNN, al-Obeidy left Tripoli in a military car, hidden under a head cover. Although the car was stopped at various checkpoints, al-Obeidy crossed the Dahibah border disguised "in the local manner" and using a refugee document. European diplomats reportedly escorted her to Tunis. While she has called relatives in Egypt, she has yet to hear back from them. CNN reports:
Al-Obeidy's mother learned about her daughter's escape after seeing news reports on TV, her father told CNN from the family's hometown of Tobruk, Libya. Atiq Al-Obeidy said that his wife then called him, and both parents were overjoyed.Atiq Al-Obeidy admitted he was "not optimistic" that his daughter would be able to safely leave Libya, thinking forces loyal to Gadhafi "would do the worst to her, given his past."I am extremely delighted, and I will be looking forward to more information about how she was able to escape," the woman's father said.
In the meantime, Eman al-Obeidy says she continues to fear for her life, and is hoping to receive protection from a Western government.
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