Mexico, Nigeria, North Korea,

Today's three stories you should know.

Jun 03, 2024

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Barry.

Mexico

Mexico has its first woman president. Leftist Claudia Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old physicist and former mayor of Mexico city, won in a landslide, garnering between 58% and 60% of the vote and beating her nearest rival by about 30 percentage points. But what will having a female leader mean for women in a country famous for its “macho” culture, and grappling with urgent gender-related issues, including femicide and a gender employment gap? Well, according to some, Sheinbaum’s victory - beyond its clear symbolism - may not mean much at all. Context today published an interesting piece speaking to feminist activists.

Nigeria

Huge strikes by Nigeria’s biggest trade union federations have shut down the national power grid and grounded flights across the country as a long-running row over the introduction of a new minimum wage continues. Electricity and aviation unions said they had instructed their members to withdraw their services indefinitely, while oil unions also threatened to halt production. It is the fourth major strike since President Bola Tinubu took office last year and embarked on a series of wide-ranging and controversial economic reforms.

North Korea

North Korea has promised to stop floating balloons filled with trash into South Korea but not in time to stop the South suspending a 2018 military agreement in retaliation. The North said it sent the balloons over the border - filled with cigarette butts, batteries, scraps of cloth and even faeces - to make a point, given South Korean activists regularly send leaflets into the North via balloon that are critical of the government in Pyongyang. The North called the balloons “sincere gifts” while the South’s government shot back that the tactic was “low-class”.