YouTube Ban Lifted in Pakistan, for 3 Minutes

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A ban on YouTube, which Pakistan imposed after an anti-Islam video caused riots in much of the Muslim world, was lifted Saturday, only to be reinstated — after three minutes — when it was discovered that blasphemous material was still available on the site.

After months of criticism of the ban, the government decided to allow Pakistanis to have access to YouTube again, saying steps had been taken to ensure that offensive content would not be visible. But those efforts apparently failed, and the authorities quickly backtracked.

The ban was imposed on Sept. 17 following violent protests in response to the video, which was made in the United States and ridiculed the Prophet Muhammad. The government then ordered all telecommunications companies to block Internet material deemed offensive to Muslims and urged people to report such material.

But the ban on YouTube came to be seen as censorship, and a growing number of the estimated 25 million Internet users in the country complained.

“This is purely a naked power play by the government and one that we should resist,” an editorial in The Express Tribune, an English-language daily newspaper in Karachi, Pakistan, said Friday. “This is about controlling our behavior and denying us access to the Internet.”

“We need to make it clear that we do not wish to regress to a dark age when a centralized authority controlled all access to information,” the editorial, observing the 100th day of the ban, went on to say. “Retreating to such an era would essentially mean that we were longer living in a democracy.”

By Friday evening, Rehman Malik, the country’s interior minister, indicated that the ban would be lifted over the weekend. Mr. Malik said firewalls by government technicians were being installed to block pornographic and blasphemous material.

On Saturday, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority directed local Internet service providers to make YouTube accessible. But by the afternoon, Geo, a private television news network that wields immense influence, reported that anti-Islam and blasphemous material was still available on YouTube. The criticism was led by Ansar Abbasi, a right-leaning journalist who often speaks out on morality and religion.

Yielding to the criticism, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf then ordered providers to again block access to the video-sharing site.

The flip-flop drew an immediate rebuke from users and led to a flurry of jokes on Twitter about the government’s dithering and backtracking.

“YouTube is a huge convenience for users, who benefit from it for educational as well as entertainment purposes,” Zubair Kasuri, the editor of Flare, a Karachi-based telecommunications magazine, said in a telephone interview. Mr. Kasuri expressed surprise over the government’s failure to install an effective firewall mechanism despite having months to do so.

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Drone War Spurs Pakistan Militants to Deadly Reprisals

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — They are dead men talking, and they know it. Gulping nervously, the prisoners stare into the video camera, spilling tales of intrigue, betrayal and paid espionage on behalf of the United States. Some speak in trembling voices, a glint of fear in their eyes. Others look resigned. All plead for their lives.

“I am a spy and I took part in four attacks,” said Sidinkay, a young tribesman who said he was paid $350 to help direct C.I.A. drones to their targets in Pakistan’s tribal belt. Sweat glistened on his forehead; he rocked nervously as he spoke. “Stay away from the Americans,” he said in an imploring voice. “Stay away from their dollars.”

Al Qaeda and the Taliban have few defenses against the American drones that endlessly prowl the skies over the bustling militant hubs of North and South Waziristan in northwestern Pakistan, along the Afghan border. C.I.A. missiles killed at least 246 people in 2012, most of them Islamist militants, according to watchdog groups that monitor the strikes. The dead included Abu Yahya al-Libi, the Qaeda ideologue and deputy leader.

Despite the technological superiority of their enemy, however, the militants do possess one powerful countermeasure.

For several years now, militant enforcers have scoured the tribal belt in search of informers who help the C.I.A. find and kill the spy agency’s jihadist quarry. The militants’ technique — often more witch hunt than investigation — follows a well-established pattern. Accused tribesmen are abducted from homes and workplaces at gunpoint and tortured. A sham religious court hears their case, usually declaring them guilty. Then they are forced to speak into a video camera.

The taped confessions, which are later distributed on CD, vary in style and content. But their endings are the same: execution by hanging, beheading or firing squad.

In Sidinkay’s last moments, the camera shows him standing in a dusty field with three other prisoners, all blindfolded, illuminated by car headlights. A volley of shots rings out, and the three others are mowed down. But Sidinkay, apparently untouched, is left standing. For a tragic instant, the accused spy shuffles about, confused. Then fresh shots ring out and he, too, crumples to the ground.

These macabre recordings offer a glimpse into a little-seen side of the drone war in Waziristan, a paranoid shadow conflict between militants and a faceless American enemy in which ordinary Pakistanis have often become unwitting victims.

Outside the tribal belt, the issue of civilian casualties has dominated the debate about American drones. At least 473 noncombatants have been killed by C.I.A.-directed strikes since 2004, according to monitoring groups — a toll frequently highlighted by critics of the drones like the Pakistani politician Imran Khan. Still, strike accuracy seems to be improving: just seven civilian deaths have been confirmed in 2012, down from 68 the previous year, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which has been critical of the Obama administration’s drone campaign.

And civilian lives are threatened by militants, too. As the American campaign has cut deeply into the commands of both the Taliban and Al Qaeda, drone-fearing militants have turned to the local community for reprisals, mounting a concerted campaign of fear and intimidation that has claimed dozens of lives and further stressed the already fragile order of tribal society.

The video messages from accused spies are intended to send a stark message, regardless of whether innocents are among those caught up in the deadly dragnet. The confessions are delivered at gunpoint, and usually follow extensive torture, including hanging from hooks for up to a month, human rights groups say.

“In every civilized society, the penalty for spying is death,” said a senior commander with the Pakistani Taliban, speaking on the condition of anonymity from Waziristan.

Although each of myriad militant factions in Waziristan operates its own death squads, by far the most formidable is the Ittehad-e-Mujahedeen Khorasan, a shadowy group that experts consider to be Al Qaeda’s local counterintelligence wing. Since it emerged in 2009, the group, which is led by Arab and Uzbek militants, has carefully cultivated a sinister image through video theatrics and the ruthless application of violence.

Black-clad Khorasan militants, their faces covered in balaclavas, roam across North Waziristan in jeeps with tinted windows. In one video clip from 2011, Khorasan fighters are seen searching traffic under a cluster of palm trees outside Mir Ali, a notorious militant hub. Then they move into the town center, distributing leaflets to shoppers, before executing three men outside a gas station.

“Spies, your days are numbered because we are carrying out raids,” chants the video soundtrack.

Thought to number dozens of militants, the Khorasan cooperates closely with the Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani, who is based in North Waziristan. A sister organization in Afghanistan has been responsible for 250 assassinations and executions, according to American military intelligence.

Reporting was contributed by Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud from Islamabad; Ismail Khan from Peshawar, Pakistan; Zia ur-Rehman from Karachi, Pakistan; and Scott Shane and Eric Schmitt from Washington.

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Well: Spinach Recipes for Health

Spinach goes well with all kinds of foods. It’s also a green that is easy to find year-round. As Martha Rose Shulman writes in this week’s Recipes for Health:

Spinach has remained a part of my holiday ritual. I love the convenience of bagged spinach, but I prefer the richness of the lush bunches I get at the farmers’ market. I don’t mind stemming and washing it, but if you are pressed for time the bagged spinach is a godsend, especially if you live in a cold climate and don’t have access to farmers’ market spinach in December.

Below are five new ways to add spinach to your meal. And for more spinach recipes, see “Making Spinach the Star of the Meal.”

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Spinach and Millet Timbale With Tomato Sauce
A timbale is a molded custard, somewhat similar to a quiche without a crust.

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Garlic Soup With Spinach
A quick and easy soup that is a great way to use any leftover turkey stock from Thanksgiving.

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Penne With Mushroom Ragout and Spinach
This is a delicious meal no matter what variety of mushrooms you have on hand.

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Spinach Gnocchi
A considerably lighter version of the classic gnocchi made with spinach and ricotta.

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Spinach, Sardine and Rice Gratin
This classic Provençal gratin is a good way to work fish that is high in omega-3s into your diet.

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Well: Spinach Recipes for Health

Spinach goes well with all kinds of foods. It’s also a green that is easy to find year-round. As Martha Rose Shulman writes in this week’s Recipes for Health:

Spinach has remained a part of my holiday ritual. I love the convenience of bagged spinach, but I prefer the richness of the lush bunches I get at the farmers’ market. I don’t mind stemming and washing it, but if you are pressed for time the bagged spinach is a godsend, especially if you live in a cold climate and don’t have access to farmers’ market spinach in December.

Below are five new ways to add spinach to your meal. And for more spinach recipes, see “Making Spinach the Star of the Meal.”

---

Spinach and Millet Timbale With Tomato Sauce
A timbale is a molded custard, somewhat similar to a quiche without a crust.

---

Garlic Soup With Spinach
A quick and easy soup that is a great way to use any leftover turkey stock from Thanksgiving.

---

Penne With Mushroom Ragout and Spinach
This is a delicious meal no matter what variety of mushrooms you have on hand.

---

Spinach Gnocchi
A considerably lighter version of the classic gnocchi made with spinach and ricotta.

---

Spinach, Sardine and Rice Gratin
This classic Provençal gratin is a good way to work fish that is high in omega-3s into your diet.

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India Ink: Delhi Rape Victim's Condition Deteriorates

The Singapore hospital treating the 23-year-old woman who was raped by several men in a moving bus on Dec. 16 in Delhi issued the following statement on Friday:

From Dr. Kevin Loh, chief executive officer, Mount Elizabeth Hospital:

“As of 9pm (Singapore time) on 28 Dec, the patient’s condition has taken a turn for the worse. Her vital signs are deteriorating with signs of severe organ failure. This is despite doctors fighting for her life including putting her on maximum artificial ventilation support, optimal antibiotic doses as well as stimulants which maximise her body’s capability to fight infections.”

“Her family members have been informed that her condition has deteriorated and they are currently by her side to encourage and comfort her.”

“The High Commission of India is with her and her family at this critical time. Our medical team continues to provide all possible treatment and care.”

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DealBook: Hedge Fund Seeks Ouster of SandRidge Energy's Board

A New York hedge fund filed papers with federal securities regulators on Wednesday seeking to oust the board at SandRidge Energy, the latest salvo in its continuing campaign against the struggling Oklahoma City oil and gas company.

The hedge fund, TPG-Axon Capital Management, which owns nearly 7 percent of SandRidge’s shares, submitted so-called consent solicitation documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, offering up its own slate of directors to replace the current board.

SandRidge has come under pressure by TPG-Axon and another large hedge fund, Mount Kellett Capital Management, which have attacked the company over what they called an onerous debt load, reckless spending and incoherent business strategy.

TPG-Axon’s securities filing came two days after it sent a blistering letter to SandRidge’s board, demanding that it investigate whether Tom L. Ward, SandRidge’s chief executive, and his son had engaged in self-dealing and had directly competed with the company.

“It is our understanding that Mr. Ward and his son, Trent Ward, actively compete with the company, and in addition, have also engaged in repeated transactions in which they ‘front-run’ the company,” Dinakar Singh, chief executive of TPG-Axon, wrote in the letter. “It is astonishing that the C.E.O. of a company would engage in behavior that directly competes with his shareholders’ interests for his own personal benefit.”

The letter accuses the Wards of acquiring mineral rights and then leasing those rights to SandRidge for a profit. In securities filings this year, SandRidge said it had bought interests in mineral rights from an entity owned by Ward family trusts.

A spokesman for SandRidge, Greg Dewey, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

SandRidge’s shares are down more than 75 percent since its 2007 initial public offering and more than 90 percent since its peak in June 2008. The stock was flat in Wednesday’s session, closing at $6.26.

TPG-Axon’s S.E.C. filing was made in conjunction with a lawsuit filed on Monday in the Delaware Court of Chancery. The lawsuit challenges a move by SandRidge to shorten the time that shareholders have to vote on changing the company’s bylaws and replacing the board with TPG-Axon’s slate.

“Sadly, we are not surprised that Tom Ward and the board of directors have resorted to shameful tricks to try and confuse shareholders and shorten the period of time in which they have to vote,” Mr. Singh said in a statement. “The actions Tom and the board have taken over the past several weeks reek of desperation and clearly illustrate their complete disregard for shareholder interests and transparency.”

The solicitation by TPG-Axon will be sent in early January to SandRidge shareholders, who would then have up to 60 days to consent to the fund’s proposal to elect a new board, which would include Mr. Singh.

Much of TPG-Axon’s criticism has been aimed at Mr. Ward. Mr. Ward started SandRidge in 2006 after leaving Chesapeake Energy, a much larger Oklahoma oil-and-gas concern that he co-founded and has had its own share of corporate governance issues in recent years. He is a part-owner of the Oklahoma City Thunder professional basketball franchise along with Aubrey McClendon, a co-founder of Chesapeake and its chief executive.

Mr. Ward’s total compensation in 2011 was $25 million, representing about half of the company’s earnings that year. SandRidge bestows numerous perks upon Mr. Ward, including the unlimited use of the company’s four corporate jets.

A version of this article appeared in print on 12/27/2012, on page B3 of the NewYork edition with the headline: In Escalation of Attack, Hedge Fund Seeks Ouster of SandRidge Energy’s Board.

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Well: Where Have All the Primary Care Doctors Gone?

More and more, my family and friends are asking for my help in finding a primary care doctor. That they would be having trouble finding one doesn’t surprise me. We’ve all been reading warnings about an impending doctor shortage for several years now.

What is alarming to me is that there are no sure-fire solutions in place that will bail us all out in time.

In the United States, we are now short approximately 9,000 primary care doctors. These are the general internists, family doctors, geriatricians and general pediatricians, the doctors responsible for diagnosing new illnesses, managing chronic ones, advocating preventive care and protecting wellness. And health care leaders predict that that deficit will worsen dramatically in the next 15 years. Specialties like general surgery, neurosurgery and emergency medicine will also become critically understaffed; but primary care will be hardest hit, with a shortfall of more than 65,000 doctors.

While the demands from a growing and aging population and an influx of 40 million patients newly covered by insurance are considered the main drivers of this crisis, there is no shortage of issues on the physician supply side.

For starters, only 2 percent of all medical students in a recent study expressed interest in practicing primary care as a general internist. Most continue to flock to subspecialty fields like dermatology, anesthesiology, radiology and ophthalmology.

And once trained, primary care practitioners are particularly vulnerable to burnout and more likely to leave clinical practice than doctors in subspecialties like cardiology or gastroenterology.

It’s like the patient is bleeding faster than we can transfuse.

Experts have proposed several solutions to the doctor shortage. But for many worried patients and doctors, the best answer is seemingly the most obvious one: churn out more young doctors and funnel them into residency programs that train for primary care.

Unfortunately, according to a new study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, it’s not that obvious.

Researchers asked more than 50,000 doctors training in internal medicine about their career plans. As expected, the majority of these young doctors planned on becoming subspecialists.

What the researchers discovered, however, was that over the course of their training, almost half the young doctors who began wanting to become primary care doctors changed their minds, most deciding to pursue a subspecialty career instead. And by the time the three-year residency was finished, those numbers dwindled even further, with only one out of five indicating that they wanted to become primary care physicians.

Some of the young doctors surveyed were enrolled in a traditional training “track,” which centers on inpatient and subspecialty care. But even a majority of those who pursued a primary care track, developed in the 1970s to encourage more doctors to choose primary care and which concentrates on medical work done in outpatient clinics, doctors’ offices and other ambulatory settings, were planning to become subspecialists by the end of their training.

“The environment is such that even the primary care track training programs don’t have a fighting chance,” said lead author Dr. Colin P. West, an associate professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and associate program director of the internal medicine residency training program.

Much of the problem lies in what general practitioners have to look forward to. General practitioners work as many hours as, or more, than their subspecialty colleagues. Yet they have among the lowest reimbursement rates. They also shoulder disproportionate responsibility for the bureaucratic aspects of patient care, spending more time and money obtaining treatment authorization from insurance companies, navigating insurers’ ever changing drug formularies and filling out health and disability forms. “All the paperwork,” Dr. West said, “interferes with the patient-doctor relationship that drew them to general medicine in the first place and pushes trainees away from primary care unless they are remarkably committed to its goals.”

But it is this subset of committed young doctors — the one in five who still planned on a career in general medicine at the completion of their training — that may help to provide the answer to the current primary care shortage. In this study, most were female, enrolled in primary care track programs and graduates of American.medical schools. Dr. West believes that understanding more about what attracted them to primary care, and why they remained committed, could help “make the entire field more attractive to more young doctors,” he said.

“If we go with the simplistic view that opening more medical schools and more training slots will give us more primary care doctors, we may get a few more, but we’re mostly going to end up with more subspecialists,” Dr. West said. “And even the few additional primary care internal medicine doctors will not do much to address the shortage.”

“The residents are voting with their feet,” he added. “And they are telling us something really important.”

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Creating the Ultimate Housework Workout

Robert Wright for The New York Times

Chris Ely, an English butler, and Carol Johnson, a fitness instructor at Crunch NYC, perfecting a houseworkout.

CAN housework help you live longer? A New York Times blog post by Gretchen Reynolds last month cited research linking vigorous activity, including housework, and longevity. The study, which tracked the death rates of British civil servants, was the latest in a flurry of scientific reports crediting domestic chores with health benefits like a lowered risk for breast and colon cancers. In one piquant study published in 2009, researchers found that couples who spent more hours on housework had sex more frequently (with each other) though presumably not while vacuuming. (The report did not specify.)

Intrigued by science that merged the efforts of a Martha with the results of an Arnold (a buffer buffer?), this reporter challenged a household expert and a fitness authority to create the ultimate housework workout — a houseworkout — in her East Village apartment. Perhaps she could add a few years to her own life while learning some fancy new moves for her Swiffer. Christopher Ely, once a footman at Buckingham Palace, and Brooke Astor’s longtime butler, was appointed cleaner-in-chief. Mr. Ely is a man who approaches what the professionals call household management with the range and depth of an Oxford don. Although he is working on his memoirs (he described his book as a room-by-room primer with anecdotes from his years in service), he was happy enough to put his writing aside for an afternoon. His collaborator was Carol Johnson, a dancer and fitness instructor who develops classes at Crunch NYC, including those based on Broadway musicals like “Legally Blonde” and “Rock of Ages.”

Mr. Ely arrived first, beautifully dressed in dark gray wool pants, a black suit coat and a crisp white shirt with silver cuff links. He cleans house in a white shirt? “I know how to clean it,” he countered, meaning the shirt. When Ms. Johnson appeared (in black spandex and a ruffly white chiffon blouse, which she switched out for a Crunch T-shirt), theory, method and materials were discussed.

“If you’re dreading the laundry,” Ms. Johnson said, “why not create a space where it’s actually fun to do by putting on some music?” If fitness is defined by cardio health, she added, it will be a challenge to create housework that leaves you slightly out of breath. “I’m thinking interval training,” she said. As it happens, one trend in exercise has been workouts that are inspired by real-world chores, or what Rob Morea, a high-end Manhattan trainer, described the other day as “mimicking hard labor activities.” In his NoHo studio, Mr. Morea has clients simulate the actions of construction workers hefting cement bags over their shoulders (Mr. Morea uses sand bags) or pushing a wheelbarrow or chopping wood.

Mr. Ely averred that service — extreme housekeeping — is physically demanding, with sore feet and bad knees the least of its debilitating byproducts. Mr. Ely still suffers from an injury he incurred while carrying a poodle to its mistress over icy front steps in Washington When the inevitable occurred, and Mr. Ely wiped out, he threw the dog to his employer before falling hard on his backside. And the right equipment matters: After two weeks’ employ in an Upper East Side penthouse, he was handed a pair of Reeboks by his new boss, the better to withstand the apartment’s wall-to-wall granite floors. (For cleaning, Mr. Ely wears slippers, deck shoes or socks.)

Mr. Ely, whose talents and expertise are wide-ranging (he can stock a wine cellar, do the flowers, set a silver service, iron like a maestro and clean gutters, as he did once or twice at Holly Hill, Mrs. Astor’s Westchester estate), is a minimalist when it comes to materials. He favors any simple dish detergent as a multipurpose cleaner, along with a little vinegar, for glass, and not much else. “Dish detergent is designed for cutting grease; there’s nothing better,” he said. He’s anti-ammonia, anti-bleach. He said bleach destroys fabric, particularly anything with elastic in it. “Knickers and bleach are a terrible combination,” he said. “I had a boss who thought he had skin cancer. His entire trunk had turned red and itchy.” It seems his underpants were being washed in bleach. (Collective wince.) “It’s horrible stuff.”

As for tools, he likes a cobweb cleaner — this reporter had bought Oxo’s extendable duster, which has a fluffy orange cotton duster that snaps onto a sort of wand, but Mr. Ely prefers the kind that looks like a round chimney brush. (If you live in a house, he also suggests leaving the cobwebs by the front and back doors, so the spiders can eat any mosquitoes coming or going.) Choose a mop with microfiber fronds (he suggested the O Cedar brand) because it dries quickly and doesn’t smell. And a sturdy vacuum. Also, stacks of microfiber cloths or a terry cloth towel ripped up.

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Marvell Ordered to Pay $1.17 Billion in Patent Case

Carnegie Mellon University said it was awarded $1.17 billion by a federal jury in Pittsburgh on Wednesday in a unanimous verdict that found the Marvell Technology Group had sold billions of semiconductors using technology developed at the university without a license.

The award is one of the largest in a patent infringement case, and comes after a $1 billion verdict awarded to Apple this summer over its smartphone design.

Carnegie claimed that Marvell had infringed on a pair of patents relating to fundamental technology for increasing the accuracy with which hard drive circuits read data from high-speed magnetic disks.

The patents were developed by José Moura, a professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering, and Aleksandar Kavcic, a former Ph.D. student now a professor at the University of Hawaii. Their work was supported by Carnegie’s Data Storage Systems Center, a university research organization.

During the trial, Marvell argued that it had not used the university’s technology and that those patents were invalid because similar systems had been developed elsewhere before the university filed for its patents. A company spokesman said Marvell would seek lower damages from the judge in post-trial hearings, which are scheduled for May, and might appeal the ruling otherwise.

Patent infringement lawsuits have become a big issue in recent years as the pace of innovation and competition speeds up and technology firms increasingly seek to shield their products behind patents. As the number of technology patents filed in the United States has risen rapidly in the last decade, so have patent-related lawsuits. Recent cases have involved Microsoft, Motorola, Research in Motion, Visto, Google and many others.

In August, Apple won a $1 billion infringement judgment against Samsung over iPhone design patents. Since then, the companies have argued over the size of the verdict and how the jury reached its conclusion. Samsung has argued the figure is excessive, while Apple has sought a court injunction to bar Samsung from selling various products that the jury found infringed on its patents.

Since the jury found the infringement by Marvell had been “willful,” meaning the company knew it was using the patented technology, the judge can award up to three times the verdict amount, according to a statement by K&L Gates, the law firm representing Carnegie Mellon.

The case was tried before Judge Nora Barry Fischer of United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Marvell ships more than one billion chips a year to a variety of electronics manufacturers, including Panasonic, Sony and Dell.

After Wednesday’s verdict, Marvell’s share price dropped 10.3 percent, to $7.40 on the Nasdaq, valuing the company at about $4 billion.

The university said the verdict was a victory for academic research and collaboration. “Protection of the discoveries of our faculty and students is very important to us,” the university said in a statement.

“The university’s singular success, particularly over the past 40 years, has been achieved in large measure through collaboration with industry. We value those relationships greatly.”

Carnegie Mellon was represented by Douglas B. Greenswag and Patrick J. McElhinny of K&L Gates.

Marvell was represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.

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Iran Raises Level of Islamic Law Enforcement

The call to prayer, a five-times-a-day ritual for strict adherents to Islam, is reaching new heights in Iran.

Under a directive announced Wednesday by Iran’s Civil Aviation Organization, all aircraft will be prohibited from flying across the country during the Adhan, or call to prayer, when many devout Muslims pause to face toward Mecca and pray. The directive also requires that planes scheduled for takeoff in Iran will now have to wait at least 30 minutes until after the day’s first call to prayer, before sunrise, known as Al-Fajr.

Hamid Reza Pahlevani, the head of the aviation organization, was quoted as telling the Iranian Students’ News Agency that the directive was meant to give air travelers the time “to carry out their religious duties.”

The directive appeared to be part of a strengthened effort in Iran to enforce obedience to orthodox Islamic codes of conduct in all manner of life. Ali Taheri, a spokesman for Parliament’s cultural committee, was quoted by Reuters as saying that in addition to the new restrictions on aircraft flights, serious attention will be given to observing the strict Islamic dress code for women working at airports or airline companies. The code requires women to cover their hair and wear loosely fitting clothes that will cloak their figures.

It was unclear, however, how Iranian aviation officials intended to resolve possible scheduling complications created by the call-to-prayer flight restrictions. The Civil Aviation Organization directive also did not explain whether flights in midair would be forced to land or be rerouted in order to satisfy the requirement that no aircraft fly during the call to prayer.

According to Islamicfinder.org, which provides information on daily call-to-prayer times worldwide, they vary significantly in Iran. In Tehran, for example, they are at 5:38 a.m., 12:03 p.m., 2:40 p.m., 4:58 p.m. and 6:23 p.m. In the holy city of Qom, they are 5:42 a.m., 12:08 p.m., 2:45 p.m., 5:03 p.m. and 6:28 p.m.

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