Foreign News
Indian women protest against child marriage mass arrests in Assam
BBC reported that hundreds of women are protesting in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam after their male relatives were arrested as part of a crackdown on child marriage.
State police have arrested more than 2,400 people since Friday.
This includes husbands and relatives of alleged child brides, as well as priests who officiated the marriages.
Opposition leaders have called the drive a “farce”, alleging it disproportionately targets Muslims.
But Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma says that his government’s “war” is against child marriage and doesn’t target one community.
It is illegal for girls under the age of 18 to marry in India, but the practice still continues in many parts, mainly due to patriarchal traditions and poverty.
According to government data, more than two out of 10 girls are married before the age of 18.
India’s parliament is considering a bill that could increase the minimum age of marriage for women to 21 years.
BBC reported that Pope Francis has joked that he is “still alive” as he left hospital in Rome after a three-day stay.
Pope Francis was admitted to Gemelli Hospital on Wednesday with breathing difficulties, and later diagnosed with bronchitis.The Vatican had earlier said the pontiff would be released on Saturday if his latest test results allowed it.
The Pope, 86, was pictured smiling and waving from a car that drove him from the hospital.
Aljazeera quoting police and rescue officials has reported that a stampede at a Ramadan food distribution centre in Pakistan’s southern city of Karachi has killed at least 11 people, all women and children.
Several people were also injured in Friday’s incident, which happened when hundreds of people panicked and started pushing each other to collect food outside a factory. Some of them fell into a nearby drain, police official Mughees Hashmi said.
At least 24 injured people have been taken to hospital after a “devastating” tornado hit Little Rock, Arkansas, according to the city’s mayor.
The twister churned through the state’s capital city on Friday, flipping cars, smashing roofs and toppling trees. Several blocks have been heavily damaged, according to aerial footage posted by the Weather Channel.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard after what she described as “significant damage” in central Arkansas.
Nearly 90 million people in 15 US states are under threat from an “explosive” storm system. A state of emergency has also been declared in Missouri and two tornados were reported in Iowa.
Golf ball-sized hail fell in Illinois, damaging car windows.
(BBC)
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