Yemeni women burn veils in protest

Hundreds of Yemeni women set fire to traditional female veils today in protest at the government’s brutal crackdown against the country’s popular uprising, as overnight clashes in the capital and another city killed 25 people, officials said.

In the capital, Sanaa, the women spread a black cloth across a main street and threw their full-body veils, known as makrama, onto a pile, sprayed it with oil and set it alight. As the flames rose, they chanted: “Who protects Yemeni women from the crimes of the thugs?”