IN: Women in Syria constitute 49.4% of Syria's population, and are active participants not only in everyday life, but also in the socio-political fields. Notable examples are president Assad's chief political and media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, who also held office as Minister of Expatriates from 2002 and 2008, and Hadiya Khalaf Abbas, the officially elected speaker of the People's Council of Syria and the first woman to have held that position. Whatsoever, the Syrian Civil War put a new obstacle on Syrian women, forcing them to face increasing levels of violence, including war rape, and traditional abusive practices such as honor killings which occur in rural areas and areas held by extremist terrorists.

With the Syrian Civil War, the Kurdish populated area in Northern Syria has gained de facto autonomy as the Federation of Northern Syria - Rojava, with the leading political actor being the progressive Democratic Union Party (PYD). Kurdish women have several armed and non-armed organizations in Rojava, and enhancing women's rights is a major focus of the political and societal agenda. Kurdish female fighters in the Women's Protection Units (YPJ) played a key role during the Siege of Kobani and in rescuing Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar, and their achievements have attracted international attention as a rare example of strong female achievement in a region in which women are heavily repressed. The civil laws of Syria are valid in Rojava, as far as they do not conflict with the Constitution of Rojava. One notable example for amendment is personal status law, in Syria still Sharia-based, where Rojava introduced civil law and proclaims absolute equality of women under the law and a ban on forced marriage as well as polygamy was introduced, while underage marriage was outlawed as well. For the first time in Syrian history, civil marriage is being allowed and promoted, a significant move towards a secular open society and intermarriage between people of different religious backgrounds. The legal efforts to reduce cases of underage marriage, polygamy and honor killings are underpinned by comprehensive public awareness campaigns. In every town and village, a women's house is established. These are community centers run by women, providing services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and other forms of harm. These services include counseling, family mediation, legal support, and coordinating safe houses for women and children. Classes on economic independence and social empowerment programs are also held at women's houses. All administrative organs in Rojava are required to have male and female co-chairs, and forty percent of the members of any governing body in Rojava must be female. An estimated 25 percent of the Asayish police force of the Rojava cantons are women, and joining the Asayish is described in international media as a huge act of personal and societal liberation from an extremely patriarchical background, for ethnic Kurdish and ethnic Arab women alike. The PYD's political agenda of "trying to break the honor-based religious and tribal rules that confine women" is controversial in conservative quarters of society.

What else does the PYD do?

OUT:

IN: William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (February 26, 1846 - January 10, 1917) was an American scout, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in his father's hometown in Toronto Township, Ontario, Canada, before the family returned to the Midwest and settled in the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill started working at the age of eleven, after his father's death, and became a rider for the Pony Express at age 14. During the American Civil War, he served the Union from 1863 to the end of the war in 1865.

After his mother recovered, Cody wanted to enlist as a soldier in the Union Army during the American Civil War, but was refused because of his young age. He began working with a freight caravan that delivered supplies to Fort Laramie, in present-day Wyoming. In 1863, at age 17, he enlisted as a teamster with the rank of private in Company H, 7th Kansas Cavalry, and served until discharged in 1865. The next year, Cody married Louisa Frederici. They had four children. Two died young, while the family was living in Rochester, New York. They and a third child are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery, in Rochester. Cody went back to work for the Army in 1868 and was Chief of Scouts for the Third Cavalry during the Plains Wars. Part of the time, he scouted for Indians and fought in 16 battles; at other times, he hunted and killed bison to supply the Army and the Kansas Pacific Railroad. In January 1872, Cody was a scout for the highly publicized hunting expedition of the Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia. Cody was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872 for gallantry as an Army scout in the Indian Wars. It was revoked in 1913, along with medals of many other recipients, when Congress decided to create a hierarchy of military awards to replace the patchwork which had evolved over time. The result was that the Medal of Honor became the highest military decoration, with its award restricted to "officers or enlisted" personnel who demonstrated bravery "above and beyond the call of duty." The law also allowed the government to retroactively change the honor rolls, resulting in civilian scouts who met neither criterion having their awards rescinded. Cody was one of five scouts affected, whose medals were stripped shortly after Cody died in 1917. Cody's relatives objected, and over a number of years they wrote repeatedly to Congress seeking reconsideration. All efforts failed, including a 1988 letter to the US Senate from Cody's grandson. A year later the office of Senator Alan K. Simpson of Wyoming took up the cause. Its brief, which argued for the retroactive elevation of these civilian scouts' status to meet the Medal's standards, persuaded the Army Board for Correction of Military Records to restore their medals. To this day, they are the only honorees who were civilians at the time of their award to regain the Medal of Honor.

Was he well liked?

OUT:
Cody was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1872 for gallantry as an Army scout in the Indian Wars.