In other news from Afghanistan, a new law has gone into effect that allows a husband to starve his wife if she refuses to have sex. The law also prohibits women from working without their husband’s permission. Critics of the bill have accused President Karzai of selling out Afghan women for the sake of support from conservative Shiites in this week’s election. The bill also grants guardianship of children exclusively to their fathers and grandfathers, and it effectively allows a rapist to avoid prosecution by paying “blood money” to a girl who was injured when he raped her.