🌏 Hawaii's Worst Wildfire Kills More Than 100, Nepalese Girl Dies After Being Banished To Period Shed And More

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• 🌏 This Week’s Top Stories
• ⚽️ Top Women’s World Cup Stories
• 👩 Women To Know
• 🙌 Good News For Your Week

Since Aug. 8, three wildfires have ravaged Hawaii’s West Maui, killing at least 99 people as the desperate search continues.

The death toll is expected to climb further as the rescue team, aided by 20 cadaver dogs, has combed through only 25% of the charred area, making it the deadliest wildfire in more than a century of US history.

The blazes have obliterated over 2,200 structures and 2,100 acres of land, including much of Lahaina, a tourist favorite that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

This catastrophe stands as Hawaii’s most devastating natural disaster since the 1960 tsunami, which took 61 lives.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green has pledged an investigation into the emergency response, as residents pointed out that the sirens placed around the island remained silent at the time of crisis while power and cellular outages also hindered other forms of warning.

Also Happening Around The World

🇮🇳 Two men who raped, murdered and hung two Indian sisters from a tree have been jailed for life.

🇪🇸 Massive wildfires are raging “out of control” on Spain’s Tenerife, forcing thousands of people to flee.

🌏 The Swimming World Cup has introduced an “open” category for trans swimmers.

Women's soccer has come a long way, with this year's Women's World Cup pulling in record viewers and record crowds.

Stadium fans reached almost two million, a roughly 46% increase in attendance than the previous record from 2015.

The England vs. Spain final was estimated to have reached almost two billion viewers globally, according to FIFA chief women's football officer Sarai Brennan.

Despite recents gains in growth and popularity, women's soccer is still notoriously overshadowed by men's soccer, marred by significantly lower levels of funding and visibility.

In fact there are still many soccer fans who consider women's soccer as "not on the same level" or "less exciting to watch" compared to men's games.

However, if we take a look at the numbers, it's clear that women’s achievements in soccer are just as great as men’s.

Many World Cup feats and records set by men have actually already been achieved or surpassed by one or more women players.

So let's dive in and give credit where credit is due.

More Women’s World Cup Stories

🇪🇸 Spain beat England 1-0 to win the Women’s World Cup for the first time.

🇪🇸 After Spain’s win, the country’s football president kissed a woman player on the lips, and people are furious.

🇦🇺 🇳🇿 In case you missed it, here are 8 amazing moments from the 2023 Women’s World Cup.

Women are demanding justice for a 16-year-old girl in Nepal that died after she was banished to a shed because she was on her period.

Anita Chand died in Baitadi district on Wednesday Aug. 9 after she was bitten by a snake when she was sleeping in the shed.

The practice, known as chhaupadi, originates from a Hindu superstition that periods carry a curse and girls and women become “impure” when they are menstruating.

As a result, during their periods, women and girls are banned from participating in daily activities and banished to a “period hut” outside of the house, where they must stay for the duration.

They are expected to survive on meager diets because of the belief that they would curse any animals or plants they interact with.

Despite the social isolation, they are still expected to work, often in the fields, during their periods.

Women who just gave birth are also considered “impure” and banished as part of the practice.

Chhaupadi was outlawed in Nepal in 2005 but still happens in rural towns due to social pressure and stigma around women’s health.

Chand is the first reported death from chhaupadi since 2019, when a 21-year-old woman suffocated to death after she lit a fire to stay warm in the stone hut.

This is one of the most common causes of death from chhaupadi, as the huts usually lack proper windows and doors, leading to poor ventilation and people inhaling the smoke from lighting fires.

The huts – usually made of wood or stone – are poorly constructed, leaving people vulnerable to snakes, wild animals and potentially life-threatening weather conditions.

Local police are now investigating Chand’s death, although her family have denied that Chand was on her period when she died.

More Women You Should Know About

🇮🇩 Miss Indonesia has been canceled after several contestants said they were sexually harassed.

🌏 Trans women were banned from women’s chess competitions, sparking a controversy.

Earlier last month, 488 golden retrievers from all around the world gathered in Scotland for their five yearly meeting.

The golden retrievers met up at the ruins of Guisachan House – their ancestral home – in the Scottish Highlands.

There, they left their humans to the sidelines and took took part in a group photo to commemorate the anniversary of the creation of their breed in 1868.

This year's gathering marked the 155th anniversary of the breed, which was first raised by a Scottish Lord at the site.

The Guisachan Gathering, which ran from July 10 to July 14, this year was the sixth gathering of golden retrievers and also the biggest since it started in 2001.

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