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A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

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Gulf states call for Arab League meeting on Syria

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DUBAI | Thu Oct 13, 2011 4:51pm EDT

DUBAI (Reuters) - Gulf Arab states on Thursday called for an immediate meeting of Arab League states to discuss the "dire" situation in Syria, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) said in a statement.

They said the meeting be should held at foreign ministers' level and discuss the humanitarian situation in Syria, and study ways "to stop the bloodshed and machine of violence," they said.

The GCC is a loose political and economic alliance of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain.

(Reporting by Martina Fuchs; editing by Andrew Roche)
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