They call her "Raging Beauty". In spite of her calm nature and shy smile, she is bad news in the ring. She bounces constantly. Once she starts bobbing and weaving, watch out. She dances in loops, and then, wham, she hits. 
Isra Girgrah was born in Aden on 16th September, 1971. She left with family members for Canada in 1974. That is where her association with boxing started. But the world opened up for her after moving to Atlanta, Georgia in 1994, which she now calls home. There, her journey to stardom began. 

To-date, Isra fought 12 matches, she lost one of them. The only blemish in her record is her duel with the title holder - Christy Martin, at Madison Square Garden in New York on 23rd August, 1997. At the end of the 8 rounds, most fans who voted on the internet thought she had won. So did her manager, Debbie King, and the sports commentators. The judges, however, gave the match to the "coal miner's daughter". The media referred to the match as the best fight in the history of female boxing. 

The event to watch now is a re-match between the two women. It is scheduled for the 13th of March, 1999, again in New York. In a telephone conversation with the Yemen Times, a confident Isra said, "I know what I have to do." 

One of her better performances was on 11th April, 1998. She fight against the Australian Angela Buchanan at the Township Auditorium in Columbia, South Carolina. Isra landed on the Australian almost at will, and sent her to the floor four times before the referee stopped the match and declared a technical knock-out. 

After the game, Isra Girgrah was crowned the International Boxing Federation Women's Champion by IBF president, Robert Lee, Sr., making her the first female champion in the history of the IBF, one of the top male boxing sanctioning bodies in the country. 
There are today three female sanctioning bodies: the International Female Boxers Association (IFBA), the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) and the International Women's Boxing Federation (IWBF). Girgrah ranks number 2 with the IFBA, behind Christy Martin. She ranks third with the IWBF and fourth with the WIBF in the Lightweight Division. 

Raging Beauty also holds the distinguished record of vanquishing her opponents before the 3rd round, often in a brutal knock-out. 

 

The Ministry of Legal Affairs has finished its job. It has prepared drafts for the constitutional amendments being proposed in three broad categories, as follows: 
- Changing the legal status of the Consultative Council to become a full-fledged upper house with legislative powers; 
- Changing the requirements for presidential candidates, by by-passing the screening role of parliament; and 
- A collection of several other amendments that touch on different issues. 
President Ali Abdullah Saleh gave instructions to prepare the drafts as soon as possible, which has been finalized by the government. Parliament is expected to act on this matter in February 1999. 
A 3/4 majority vote is required to pass the amendments. The ruling People's General Congress (PGC) party believes it has the needed votes, especially with a deal in the works with Islah MPs. 
The Republic of Yemen had once before, in 1994, amended the 1992 constitution. 

 

The correspondent of Berliner Zeitung, Sadek Hamaiel, arrested by the authorities on 17th December after having interviewed the four hostages held in Bani Dhabyan, was released on Wednesday, 23rd. He left on Sunday, 27th, without his films or interview cassettes - all confiscated by the authorities. 
The 4 German hostages, kidnapped on 6th December, spent Christmas in captivity. 
Meanwhile, efforts continue to secure their release, but to no avail, so far. 

 

Several Saudi newspapers unleashed their anger last week by running stories critical of the Yemeni regime, including President Ali Abdullah Saleh by name. The Saudi papers' barrage comes following Yemeni media attack on Saudi Arabia. The Saudis accused President Saleh of masterminding the attacks by opposition and 'independent' Yemeni papers. 
"Even though the Yemeni newspapers in question are privately-owned, that is a mere technicality as they operate under presidential patronage. We believe there is official sanction behind the attacks," the Saudis wrote.