Around the World In 5 is a recurring weekly series spotlighting news concerning women across five different countries. This week’s edition spans July 01 to July 07.
Nigeria
Abdulmalim Zubairu, the representative for Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, has sponsored the marriages of 105 orphan girls whose parents were killed by bandits in Zamfara State.
During the marriage ceremony, Zubairu explained that a committee of Ulamas and five women from the constituency was formed to oversee the program.
He stated that the criteria for the marriage were that the beneficiaries had to be orphans due to insecurity, and they must be virgins, not widows.
Afghanistan
The United Nations (UN) is under fire for holding talks with Taliban officials in Doha without including Afghan civil society, meaning no Afghan women were present. Envoys from around twenty-five countries and regional organizations attended the meetings, insisting that these discussions did not signal formal recognition of the Taliban as Afghanistan’s leaders.
The talks focused on narcotics and the private sector. The Taliban insisted that human rights, including women’s rights, were not discussed, claiming these issues should be handled internally according to Islamic law.
India
The death toll from the stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in northern India has risen to 121, with a police report indicating that the crowd was more than triple the allowed capacity.
Most of the victims were women, according to Prashant Kumar, the director-general of police in Uttar Pradesh. The incident occurred on Tuesday in Hathras district. Among the dead were 112 women and seven children. Another senior police officer, Shalabh Mathur, reported that over 80 people injured in the stampede were admitted to hospitals.
The United States of America
Miki Sudo, a dental hygiene student from Florida, has claimed her 10th title at the annual Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. Sudo ate 51 hot dogs in 10 minutes on Thursday in New York City, setting a new world record for women.
The 38-year-old defending champion surpassed her previous record of 39 1/2 hot dogs from last year. She defeated 13 competitors, including 28-year-old Mayoi Ebihara of Japan, who finished second with 37 hot dogs. Ebihara was also the runner-up in 2023.
Japan
On July 7, Tokyo residents will elect a new governor, with incumbent Yuriko Koike facing opposition from Renho. Both are prominent women in Japan’s male-dominated political sphere.
Japan has never had a female prime minister, and most lawmakers are men. However, Tokyo, home to a tenth of the national population and a fifth of the economy, has been governed since 2016 by former television anchor Yuriko Koike, 71.
Although once considered a potential future prime minister, Koike, a former defense and environment minister, is now primarily focused on winning a third term. Polls suggest that the media-savvy conservative is likely to secure another term in the metropolis of 14 million people.
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