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Women Choosing Polygamous Marriages in Tajikistan as Young Men Flee Poverty

Polygamous marriages have been on the rise in Tajikistan for several years, owing to the growing influence of religion and the enormous exodus of young men overseas. High poverty rates and a difficult labour market have lead to roughly 1 million of Tajikistan’s citizens seeking work outside the nation.
According to World Bank and World Economic Forum data, their remittances constitute a major source of income for many families and account for around 20-30% of the country’s GDP.
This is one of the reasons why many divorced Tajik women appear to support men’s right to numerous marriages: polygamous marriages are mostly sought by high- and middle-income men, and many women perceive this as their only opportunity to obtain financial security for themselves and their children.
Though the state does not recognise polygamous marriages, Sharia law allows Muslim men to have numerous spouses. A mullah consecrates these couplings without the marriage being officially registered with the state.
Polygamy is becoming more common for a number of reasons, according to campaigner and psychologist Firuza Mirzoyeva of the Tajik organisation Public Health and Human Rights. Women are willing to become second, third, or fourth wives in order to have socially acceptable private lives, she claims.
Girls are groomed for marriage in Tajikistan
“There is also a material aspect to it.” For many rural women with no higher education — and some with only a high school diploma — belonging to a male is the only way to survive financially.”
Mirzoyeva, an activist, cited the Khatlon and Sughd regions as instances. Girls are groomed for marriage from a young age, and schooling is deemed “superfluous.”
According to her, many marriages provide women with “stability” and a certain status: “Society has a bad opinion towards unmarried and divorced women and labels them ‘old maids.’ Society does not approve of a woman who is successful and self-sufficient.”
Unhappy marriage to a prosperous business
Amina is from Isfara in the northern Sughd region, but she and her parents relocated to Dushanbe many years ago. Her parents married her off after she graduated ninth grade.
“They selected a husband for me.” “I had no idea what he looked like, but I knew he was two years older than me,” Amina explained. She resided with him at his parents’ home for a few months before he moved to work in Russia.
“At first, he came once a year for a month.” Then he didn’t come at all. Finally, I discovered that he had remarried and was living with his new family. “I then decided to leave him because he no longer wanted me or our children,” Amina explains.
You can only be a second wife
Because she lacked financial means, his parents refused to give her custody of their three children. She still pays them frequent visits. Amina decided to become the third wife of a 46-year-old guy who promised to “lovingly take care” of her and help her get back on her feet.
He purchased her a flat and a car, as well as assisting her in starting her own business. Amina now operates a beauty business as well as a clothing boutique. Her second husband’s support makes her very happy, she says.
Manizha is from the western part of Hisor. She married at the age of 19 and divorced after only four months due to frequent disagreements with her mother-in-law.
“That’s how the traditions go: If you’re divorced, you can only be a second wife.” Fate gives you no other option. “Unfortunately, my family and society no longer accept me,” she explained.
Manizha received offers to become a second or third wife through the Nikah, a traditional Islamic marriage ritual, with the promise of financial support immediately following her divorce.
“At first, I refused because I hadn’t processed the traumatic breakup with my first husband.” But, due to my financial condition and the lack of an apartment, I had to examine the offers’, Manizha stated.
She quickly married the second wife of a local official. “Fortunately, he’s very young, only 27 years old,” she explained.
Considering becoming a second wife
Her new husband visits Manizha three days a week and spends the rest of his time at home with his first wife and two children. According to Manizha, the first wife is aware of the second marriage and is unconcerned.
“I chose to be a second wife; I was not coerced into it.” “Right now, I’m very grateful that there is someone in my life who looks after me,” she remarked. “You can’t go against tradition and culture; I have to accept life as it is and thank Allah for all he has given me.”
‘I have nowhere to go.’
Sitora, who is originally from the Khatlon district, works in Dushanbe, where she rents a room. The 29-year-old was in a relationship that did not last. She now believes that her age will prevent her from being a first wife, so she is considering becoming a second wife.
“My parents will no longer accept me because they have been waiting for me to marry for a long time.” I’m stuck with nowhere to go. My meagre salary will not allow me to rent this room in the long run, especially with prices soaring and salaries being meagre.”
Financial stability for future children
“I’m ready to become a second, third, or fourth wife,” she says, of a higher quality of life and starting a family. Why not if it helps me avoid loneliness and gives financial stability for future children?”
Being a second or third wife, on the other hand, comes with limited rights and the attendant societal shame. Women in these types of partnerships have no legal protections or property rights without the official registration of a marriage.
“If children are born in such a marriage and registered in the father’s name, only they can expect financial support or inheritance,” campaigner Mirzoyeva told DW.
Polygamous marriages are dangerous for women, especially if the husband abandons or dies, because there is no one to care for the woman or her children. “A whole generation of children born from such marriages is tainted with society’s prejudices,” Mirzoyeva explained.
Second marriages are generally seen unfavourably by first wives, who are obliged to put up with them due to their financial dependence on their husbands.
According to Mirzoyeva, Tajik authorities also turn a blind eye to numerous weddings because they believe that countermeasures may lead to an economic abyss for many women.
“If serious efforts were made to change the situation, many women would fall below the poverty line, forcing some into prostitution,” she claimed. “Even if some of them could earn enough money for an independent existence this way, they would not be accepted in society.”
Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim country
Tajikistan is a predominantly Muslim country, and while Islam does allow polygamy under certain conditions, the government of Tajikistan has chosen to regulate marriage and family matters through its legal system. The country has taken steps to emphasize monogamous marriage and discourage polygamy due to various social and cultural factors.
Tajikistan, also known as Tadzhikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. It is formally known as the Republic of Tajikistan, Tajik Tojikiston, or Jumhurii Tojikiston.
It shares borders with Kyrgyzstan on the north, China on the east, Afghanistan on the south, and Uzbekistan on the west and northwest. Tajikistan includes the Gorno-Badakhshan (“Mountain Badakhshan”) autonomous territory, with Khorugh (Khorog) as its capital.
Tajikistan has the lowest land area among the five Central Asian governments, but it has the highest elevation, with more and higher mountains than any other country in the region.
Tajikistan was a constituent (union) republic of the Soviet Union from 1929 until 1991, when it gained independence. Dushanbe is the capital.

News
Trudeau’s Gun Grab Could Cost Taxpayers a Whopping $7 Billion

A recent report indicates that since Trudeau’s announcement of his gun buyback program four years ago, almost none of the banned firearms have been surrendered.
The federal government plans to purchase 2,063 firearm models from retailers following the enactment of Bill C-21, which amends various Acts and introduces certain consequential changes related to firearms. It was granted royal assent on December 15 of last year.
This ban immediately criminalized the actions of federally-licensed firearms owners regarding the purchase, sale, transportation, importation, exportation, or use of hundreds of thousands of rifles and shotguns that were previously legal.
The gun ban focused on what it termed ‘assault-style weapons,’ which are, in reality, traditional semi-automatic rifles and shotguns that have enjoyed popularity among hunters and sport shooters for over a century.
In May 2020, the federal government enacted an Order-in-Council that prohibited 1,500 types of “assault-style” firearms and outlined specific components of the newly banned firearms. Property owners must adhere to the law by October 2023.
Trudeau’s Buyback Hasn’t Happened
“In the announcement regarding the ban, the prime minister stated that the government would seize the prohibited firearms, assuring that their lawful owners would be ‘grandfathered’ or compensated fairly.” “That hasn’t happened,” criminologist Gary Mauser told Rebel News.
Mauser projected expenses ranging from $2.6 billion to $6.7 billion. The figure reflects the compensation costs amounting to $756 million, as outlined by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).
“The projected expenses for gathering the illegal firearms are estimated to range from $1.6 billion to $7 billion.” “This range estimate increases to between $2.647 billion and $7 billion when compensation costs to owners are factored in,” Mauser stated.
Figures requested by Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs concerning firearms prohibited due to the May 1, 2020 Order In Council reveal that $72 million has been allocated to the firearm “buyback” program, yet not a single firearm has been confiscated to date.
In a recent revelation, Public Safety Canada disclosed that the federal government allocated a staggering $41,094,556, as prompted by an order paper question from Conservative Senator Don Plett last September, yet yielded no tangible outcomes.
An internal memo from late 2019 revealed that the Liberals projected their politically motivated harassment would incur a cost of $1.8 billion.
Enforcement efforts Questioned
By December 2023, estimates from TheGunBlog.ca indicate that the Liberals and RCMP had incurred or were responsible for approximately $30 million in personnel expenses related to the enforcement efforts. The union representing the police service previously stated that the effort to confiscate firearms is a “misdirected effort” aimed at ensuring public safety.
“This action diverts crucial personnel, resources, and funding from tackling the more pressing and escalating issue of criminal use of illegal firearms,” stated the National Police Federation (NPF).
The Canadian Sporting Arms & Ammunition Association (CSAAA), representing firearms retailers, has stated it will have “zero involvement” in the confiscation of these firearms. Even Canada Post held back from providing assistance due to safety concerns.
The consultant previously assessed that retailers are sitting on almost $1 billion worth of inventory that cannot be sold or returned to suppliers because of the Order-In-Council.
“Despite the ongoing confusion surrounding the ban, after four years, we ought to be able to address one crucial question.” Has the prohibition enhanced safety for Canadians? Mauser asks.
Illegally Obtained Firearms are the Problem
Statistics Canada reports a 10% increase in firearm-related violent crime between 2020 and 2022, rising from 12,614 incidents to 13,937 incidents. In that timeframe, the incidence of firearm-related violent crime increased from 33.7 incidents per 100,000 population in 2021 to 36.7 incidents the subsequent year.
“This marks the highest rate documented since the collection of comparable data began in 2009,” the criminologist explains.
Supplementary DataData indicates that firearm homicides have risen since 2020. “The issue lies not with lawfully-held firearms,” Mauser stated.
Firearms that have been banned under the Order-in-Council continue to be securely stored in the safes of their lawful owners. The individuals underwent a thorough vetting process by the RCMP and are subject to nightly monitoring to ensure there are no infractions that could pose a risk to public safety.
“The firearms involved in homicides were seldom legally owned weapons wielded by their rightful owners,” Mauser continues. The number of offenses linked to organized crime has surged from 4,810 in 2016 to a staggering 13,056 in 2020.
“If those in power … aim to diminish crime and enhance public safety, they ought to implement strategies that effectively focus on offenders and utilize our limited tax resources judiciously to reach these objectives,” he stated.
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News
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding, But Still Accounting 48% Search Revenue

Google is so closely associated with its key product that its name is a verb that signifies “search.” However, Google’s dominance in that sector is dwindling.
According to eMarketer, Google will lose control of the US search industry for the first time in decades next year.
Google will remain the dominant search player, accounting for 48% of American search advertising revenue. And, remarkably, Google is still increasing its sales in the field, despite being the dominating player in search since the early days of the George W. Bush administration. However, Amazon is growing at a quicker rate.
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
Amazon will hold over a quarter of US search ad dollars next year, rising to 27% by 2026, while Google will fall even more, according to eMarketer.
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the forecast.
Lest you think you’ll have to switch to Bing or Yahoo, this isn’t the end of Google or anything really near.
Google is the fourth-most valued public firm in the world. Its market worth is $2.1 trillion, trailing just Apple, Microsoft, and the AI chip darling Nvidia. It also maintains its dominance in other industries, such as display advertisements, where it dominates alongside Facebook’s parent firm Meta, and video ads on YouTube.
To put those “other” firms in context, each is worth more than Delta Air Lines’ total market value. So, yeah, Google is not going anywhere.
Nonetheless, Google faces numerous dangers to its operations, particularly from antitrust regulators.
On Monday, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled that Google must open up its Google Play Store to competitors, dealing a significant blow to the firm in its long-running battle with Fortnite creator Epic Games. Google announced that it would appeal the verdict.
In August, a federal judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly on search. That verdict could lead to the dissolution of the company’s search operation. Another antitrust lawsuit filed last month accuses Google of abusing its dominance in the online advertising business.
Meanwhile, European regulators have compelled Google to follow tough new standards, which have resulted in multiple $1 billion-plus fines.

Pixa Bay
Google’s Search Dominance Is Unwinding
On top of that, the marketplace is becoming more difficult on its own.
TikTok, the fastest-growing social network, is expanding into the search market. And Amazon has accomplished something few other digital titans have done to date: it has established a habit.
When you want to buy anything, you usually go to Amazon, not Google. Amazon then buys adverts to push companies’ products to the top of your search results, increasing sales and earning Amazon a greater portion of the revenue. According to eMarketer, it is expected to generate $27.8 billion in search revenue in the United States next year, trailing only Google’s $62.9 billion total.
And then there’s AI, the technology that (supposedly) will change everything.
Why search in stilted language for “kendall jenner why bad bunny breakup” or “police moving violation driver rights no stop sign” when you can just ask OpenAI’s ChatGPT, “What’s going on with Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny?” in “I need help fighting a moving violation involving a stop sign that wasn’t visible.” Google is working on exactly this technology with its Gemini product, but its success is far from guaranteed, especially with Apple collaborating with OpenAI and other businesses rapidly joining the market.
A Google spokeswoman referred to a blog post from last week in which the company unveiled ads in its AI overviews (the AI-generated text that appears at the top of search results). It’s Google’s way of expressing its ability to profit on a changing marketplace while retaining its business, even as its consumers steadily transition to ask-and-answer AI and away from search.
Google has long used a single catchphrase to defend itself against opponents who claim it is a monopoly abusing its power: competition is only a click away. Until recently, that seemed comically obtuse. Really? We are going to switch to Bing? Or Duck Duck Go? Give me a break.
But today, it feels more like reality.
Google is in no danger of disappearing. However, every highly dominating company faces some type of reckoning over time. GE, a Dow mainstay for more than a century, was broken up last year and is now a shell of its previous dominance. Sears declared bankruptcy in 2022 and is virtually out of business. US Steel, long the foundation of American manufacturing, is attempting to sell itself to a Japanese corporation.
SOURCE | CNN
News
The Supreme Court Turns Down Biden’s Government Appeal in a Texas Emergency Abortion Matter.

(VOR News) – A ruling that prohibits emergency abortions that contravene the Supreme Court law in the state of Texas, which has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the country, has been upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States Supreme Court upheld this decision.
The justices did not provide any specifics regarding the underlying reasons for their decision to uphold an order from a lower court that declared hospitals cannot be legally obligated to administer abortions if doing so would violate the law in the state of Texas.
Institutions are not required to perform abortions, as stipulated in the decree. The common populace did not investigate any opposing viewpoints. The decision was made just weeks before a presidential election that brought abortion to the forefront of the political agenda.
This decision follows the 2022 Supreme Court ruling that ended abortion nationwide.
In response to a request from the administration of Vice President Joe Biden to overturn the lower court’s decision, the justices expressed their disapproval.
The government contends that hospitals are obligated to perform abortions in compliance with federal legislation when the health or life of an expectant patient is in an exceedingly precarious condition.
This is the case in regions where the procedure is prohibited. The difficulty hospitals in Texas and other states are experiencing in determining whether or not routine care could be in violation of stringent state laws that prohibit abortion has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints concerning pregnant women who are experiencing medical distress being turned away from emergency rooms.
The administration cited the Supreme Court’s ruling in a case that bore a striking resemblance to the one that was presented to it in Idaho at the beginning of the year. The justices took a limited decision in that case to allow the continuation of emergency abortions without interruption while a lawsuit was still being heard.
In contrast, Texas has been a vocal proponent of the injunction’s continued enforcement. Texas has argued that its circumstances are distinct from those of Idaho, as the state does have an exemption for situations that pose a significant hazard to the health of an expectant patient.
According to the state, the discrepancy is the result of this exemption. The state of Idaho had a provision that safeguarded a woman’s life when the issue was first broached; however, it did not include protection for her health.
Certified medical practitioners are not obligated to wait until a woman’s life is in imminent peril before they are legally permitted to perform an abortion, as determined by the state supreme court.
The state of Texas highlighted this to the Supreme Court.
Nevertheless, medical professionals have criticized the Texas statute as being perilously ambiguous, and a medical board has declined to provide a list of all the disorders that are eligible for an exception. Furthermore, the statute has been criticized for its hazardous ambiguity.
For an extended period, termination of pregnancies has been a standard procedure in medical treatment for individuals who have been experiencing significant issues. It is implemented in this manner to prevent catastrophic outcomes, such as sepsis, organ failure, and other severe scenarios.
Nevertheless, medical professionals and hospitals in Texas and other states with strict abortion laws have noted that it is uncertain whether or not these terminations could be in violation of abortion prohibitions that include the possibility of a prison sentence. This is the case in regions where abortion prohibitions are exceedingly restrictive.
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which resulted in restrictions on the rights of women to have abortions in several Republican-ruled states, the Texas case was revisited in 2022.
As per the orders that were disclosed by the administration of Vice President Joe Biden, hospitals are still required to provide abortions in cases that are classified as dire emergency.
As stipulated in a piece of health care legislation, the majority of hospitals are obligated to provide medical assistance to patients who are experiencing medical distress. This is in accordance with the law.
The state of Texas maintained that hospitals should not be obligated to provide abortions throughout the litigation, as doing so would violate the state’s constitutional prohibition on abortions. In its January judgment, the 5th United States Circuit Court of Appeals concurred with the state and acknowledged that the administration had exceeded its authority.
SOURCE: AP
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