Labor Day? Let's be real. The last thing on our minds this weekend is labor rights. Whether we're fortunate enough to have a job or worrying about how to get one in today's economy, we'll focus more on this summer's last hurrah than on the Tuesday- morning-after travails.

Saudi Arabia’s Shura Council passed a bill on July 8, 2009, to improve legal protections for the estimated 1.5 million domestic workers in the country, but the measure still falls short of international standards, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill goes from the Shura Council, an appointed consultative body, to the cabinet, which can make further changes before it is enacted into law.

The European Parliament's new members will soon be in place, some of them without a clear idea of what they can actually achieve there. They need an agenda, one that is pan-European. They should look at the problems that continue to harm and restrict women in Europe.

For an outsider, US politics around choice seem oddly divorced from reality. At its most reductionist, choice in this country means merely that a pregnant woman can choose to buy herself an abortion. In a slightly more expansive line of argument, the cost and conditions related to the medical procedure are considered as limitations to choice. But rarely does the debate critically examine the other aspect of choice: whether actually having a child is viable, financially and professionally.

Saudi Arabia made important commitments on women's rights, on ending the juvenile death penalty and on other human rights issues during its review by the UN Human Rights Council on June 10, 2009 and should now work to carry out these reforms rapidly.

Bahrain’s revision of its restrictive kafala (sponsorship) system will dramatically improve the status of most migrant workers and reduce their risk of exploitation, Human Rights Watch said today. But the protections should be extended to migrant domestic workers, who are especially vulnerable to employer abuse, Human Rights Watch said.

Political parties and candidates in the June parliamentary elections should outline their plans to improve Lebanon's human rights record and promise to enforce the country's obligations under human rights law.

Leading up to Mother's Day, the commercial world would have us believe that flowers and jewelry are the best gift a mother could receive. Yet most mothers I know (including myself) don't need roses or bracelets.