Black music queen Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ reinforces her devotion to Black consciousness and country music
Beyoncé hails from Houston, a city with a rich musical interplay of “blues and country and hip-hop,” says Francesca T. Royster, a DePaul University professor and author of Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions.
Not in Jesus’ name: Kenya starts to hand over to relatives bodies of 429 followers of a doomsday cult
The Kenya Human Rights Commission last week said police failed to act on reports that could have prevented the deaths in the remote Shakahola area. Several reports had been filed at police stations by people whose relatives had entered the forested area.
You have heard of ‘Google doesn’t forget’, but you didn’t know it has ‘Eyes’ and ‘Ears’ on even your small talk with your spouse
Other privacy concerns include the following: Tracking of your whereabouts 24/7. In 2022, four attorneys general sued Google for its deceptive practices in collecting location data, as they continue to track location data even after users disable location tracking. By tracking your Google calendar entries, combined with your location data, Google also knows what events you’ve attended, when and for how long.
PM Modi’s government announces start of India’s enactment of citizenship law that excludes Muslims
The National Register of Citizens is part of Modi government’s effort to identify and weed out people it claims came to India illegally. The register has only been implemented in the northeastern state of Assam, and the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party has promised to roll out a similar citizenship verification programme nationwide.
Money talks: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch to marry at 93, days after he was engaged to another woman for two weeks
Previously, he was married to Patricia Booker, an Australian, with whom he had Prudence, and then to Scottish-born journalist Anna Torv, with whom he had Lachlan, James and Elisabeth. These four Murdoch children have the same stake in the family trust and an equal say in what happens to the trust’s voting stock upon Murdoch’s death. He later married Chinese-born Wendi Deng, whom he divorced in 2013 after having two daughters, Grace and Chloe.
UN says number of women circumcised aged between infancy and adolescence rose by 30m to 230m since 2016
The practice, incorrectly believed to control women’s sexuality, can cause serious bleeding and even death. Girls are subjected to the procedure at ages ranging from infancy to adolescence. Long term, it can lead to urinary tract infections, menstrual problems, pain, decreased sexual satisfaction and childbirth complications, as well as depression, low self-esteem and post-traumatic stress disorder.
FGM: United Nations boss Antonio Guterres launches plan to tackle ‘baked-in bias’ in Kenya
The UN chief also launched a plan to boost empowerment of women and girls around the world on Friday, unveiling details at a meeting commemorating International Women’s Day on the theme of investing in women and girls.
How Kenyan activists embarked on mission to end gender-based violence as attacks on women spike
Kenya’s Demographic and Health Survey of 2023 found that more than 11 million women – or 20 per cent of the population – have experienced physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner during their lives, with 2.8 million of those women having experienced this type of violence in the last 12 months.
Ramadhan with a difference: Muslims in Gaza to fast against grim setting of Israeli bombs
Fasting is one of the Five Pillars of Islam, along with the profession of faith, prayer, almsgiving and pilgrimage. Muslims see various meanings and lessons in observing the fast.
No man, No cry: Chinese women eschew hunt for husbands, prefer ‘singledom’ as economy stutters
China’s single population aged over 15 hit a record 239 million in 2021, according to official data. Marriage registrations rebounded slightly last year due to a pandemic backlog after reaching historic lows in 2022. A 2021 Communist Youth League survey of some 2,900 unmarried urban young people found that 44 per cent of women do not plan to marry.
