This Week in Explainers: Is Saudi Arabia’s Miss Universe debut a step forward for its women?

It’s Easter Sunday! Christians across the world are celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Today also marks the end of March. Before we turn the page to April, we have to look at some pretty big stories that unfolded across the world this week.

Saudi Arabia, in a historic first, will participate in the Miss Universe pageant this year. It is a major milestone for the ultra-conservative kingdom which has traditionally put curbs on women’s rights and dictated their dress codes.

In the United States, Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge came tumbling down as a cargo ship rammed into it, presumably killing six construction workers. We will take a detailed look at what happened.

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The US also witnessed another headline-grabbing development as a court announced the sentence of the disgraced ‘Crypto King’ Sam Bankman-Fried. His downfall began with the dramatic collapse of his now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX in 2022. More on this later.

Here’s all this and more in our weekly roundup of stories from across the globe.

1. Saudi Arabia’s model Rumy Alqahtani announced she will participate in this year’s Miss Universe contest. This is the Islamic country’s debut in the global beauty pageant, which is another example of how it has been opening up to the world.

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Alqahtani’s participation has also highlighted how women’s rights have seen a positive shift in recent years in the Muslim country. While Saudi Arabia has brought several social and economic reforms under its Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, popularly known as MBS, the kingdom’s male guardianship system continues to exist. Read our story on whether women’s lives have actually improved in the Islamic country in recent years.

2. The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the water within seconds as the 985-foot-long Dali cargo ship struck one of its supports at nearly 15 kilometres per hour. Eight construction workers were repairing the bridge when it collapsed. While two were rescued soon after, the remains of two others were found later and the remaining four are presumed dead. It later came to light that all 22 crew members on the Singapore-flagged container ship were Indians, who issued a mayday moments before the collapse.

The operators warned the ship lost power and propulsion. The crew’s quick action helped save lives. Read our explainer to find out how.

3. Sam Bankman-Fried’s luck has run out since the collapse of his FTX. This week, a US judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers and investors of his now-bankrupt crypto firm. However, he might not serve the entire sentence as his lawyers plan to appeal the verdict.

His former partner and ex-CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, played a big role in his fraud trial as she was the star witness who testified against him. Here’s our story about what she said and how the Crypto King’s world crashed two years back.

4. A worrying United Nations report found that the world wasted over one billion (100 crore) meals each day in 2022. This comes at a time when 783 million (78.3 crore) people go hungry worldwide. “Food waste is a global tragedy. Millions will go hungry today as food is wasted across the world. Not only is this a major development issue, but the impacts of such unnecessary waste are causing substantial costs to the climate and nature,” Inger Andersen, Executive Director of UNEP, said.

The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report pointed out how food waste fuels climate change and how it is not just a “rich world” problem. Read our story here to know more.

5. Last weekend, Russia witnessed its deadliest attack in years. Hundreds of people died and hundreds were injured after four khaki-clad men armed with automatic weapons opened fire at the auditorium in Crocus City Hall in Moscow on 22 March night.

An affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took responsibility for the brutal attack, a claim that Russia was hesitant to accept. Moscow blamed Ukraine and the West for the tragedy, a charge vehemently rejected by Kyiv. But why will the Islamic State target Russia? Here’s our report explaining IS’ intentions behind the attack.

6. Rumours and speculations finally came to an end after Catherine, Prince William’s wife and Princess of Wales, announced last weekend that she was diagnosed with cancer. While the 42-year-old did not reveal the type of cancer or its stage, her video drew sympathy and wishes from across the world.

Kate, as she is popularly known, said she has started chemotherapy and is in the “early stages of that treatment”. Her public revelation put an end to Kategate, the chaos over the British princess’ absence since her abdominal surgery and the photo editing row.

Before Kate, Hollywood actor Olivia Munn revealed earlier this month that she was diagnosed with breast cancer last year and had four surgeries in the past 10 months. These incidents have brought to focus on how cancer cases have been rising in people below the age of 50, especially in wealthy countries. Here’s our report on the same.

7. ‘Ozempic Babies’ are trending on social media. Women who took the weight-loss drug, Ozempic, are claiming that it boosted fertility and they were able to get pregnant. “I got pregnant on Ozempic & was on the pill! Baby boy is due in June,” a person commented on a TikTok.

Several similar claims were made by other users on the short-video platform, Reddit, and other social media sites. But how true is this? Do weight-loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy really increase fertility? Read our report to find out.

You are all caught up for the week. Now go and enjoy Easter Sunday. If you like our work and want to keep a tab on our Explainers, you can bookmark this page.