Lionesses of Syria

From Mail Online:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has recruited an army of women to guard checkpoints and carry out security checks in an attempt to plug the holes left by defections and casualties in his dwindling army.

Up to 500 women have been drafted into the new paramilitary force known as the 'Lionesses for National Defence.' 

They have been in trained at a boot camp in Wadi al-Dahab in the Syrian city of Homs.

They form part of the recently formed 10,000-strong National Defence Force (NDF), a key part of Assad's counter insurgency strategy, as the president desperately tries to regain control of the country's towns and cities.

Decked out in army fatigues and armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles, the women have also been seen guarding areas of Homs where the majority of locals are known to support the government's regime.

Golan Women Adhere to Syrian Identity

From Day Press News:

During a meeting with Chairwoman of the General Women Union Majida Kutait, the women from the delegation of the people of the occupied Syrian Golan affirmed their adherence to their Syrian identity and their belonging to the motherland Syria, saying that the Golan will be liberated soon and that the Syrian flag will be hoisted over all its soil.

The women expressed pride in Syria's national and patriotic stance, stressing that the occupation will not undermine their determination to resist it, and that this determination is bolstered by the support provided by Syria to the people of the occupied Golan.

The women called on the international community to assume serious stances and pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to cease their hostile practices and comply with resolutions of international legitimacy and withdraw from the occupied Golan.

Kawkab al-Sabah Dayeh

From the Daily Star:

Syrian President Bashar Assad reshuffled the government on Thursday, appointing six new ministers and creating a new Environment Ministry headed by a woman, the official SANA news agency reported.

A woman, Kawkab al-Sabah Dayeh, was appointed minister of state for the environment.