Iraq Welcomes Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nadia Murad

Nadia Murad speaking in Washington after winning the Nobel Peace prize last week. (AFP)
Nadia Murad speaking in Washington after winning the Nobel Peace prize last week. (AFP)
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Iraq Welcomes Nobel Peace Prize Winner Nadia Murad

Nadia Murad speaking in Washington after winning the Nobel Peace prize last week. (AFP)
Nadia Murad speaking in Washington after winning the Nobel Peace prize last week. (AFP)

Iraqi activist Nadia Murad is meeting with her country's president in Baghdad after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for her advocacy on behalf of victims of wartime sexual violence.

Murad, a member of Iraq's Yazidi minority, was among thousands of women and girls who were captured and forced into sexual slavery by ISIS militants in 2014, AP reported.

"There is no meaning to the Nobel prize without the ongoing work for the sake of peace," Murad told group of community leaders and foreign ambassadors at the presidential palace.

She became an activist on behalf of women and girls after escaping and finding refuge in Germany.

According to AP, Murad arrived in Baghdad from Stockholm on Wednesday, and was received by President Barham Salih and other dignitaries.

In her Nobel speech on Tuesday, she called on world leaders to put an end to sexual violence.

She stressed that "the only prize in the world that can restore our dignity is justice and the prosecution of criminals."

President Salih said Murad "embodies the suffering and tragedies Iraqis have gone through in the past and represents the courage and determination to defend rights in the face of the oppressor."



Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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Buyer Splashes Out $1.3 Million for Tokyo New Year Tuna

 The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)
The head of a 276-kilogram bluefin tuna that was auctioned for 207 million Japanese yen (about 1.3 million US dollars), which was bought jointly by sushi restaurant operator Onodera Group and wholesaler Yamayuki, is carried by a sushi chef at an Onodera sushi restaurant after the first tuna auction of the New Year in Tokyo, Japan January 5, 2025. (Reuters)

The top bidder at a Tokyo fish market said they paid $1.3 million for a tuna on Sunday, the second highest price ever paid at an annual prestigious new year auction.

Michelin-starred sushi restauranteurs the Onodera Group said they paid 207 million yen for the 276-kilogram (608 pound) bluefin tuna, roughly the size and weight of a motorbike.

It is the second highest price paid at the opening auction of the year in Tokyo's main fish market since comparable data started being collected in 1999.

The powerful buyers have now paid the top price for five years straight -- winning bragging rights and a lucrative frenzy of media attention in Japan.

"The first tuna is something meant to bring in good fortune," Onodera official Shinji Nagao told reporters after the auction. "Our wish is that people will eat this and have a wonderful year."

The Onodera Group paid 114 million yen for the top tuna last year.

But the highest ever auction price was 333.6 million yen for a 278-kilogram bluefin in 2019, as the fish market was moved from its traditional Tsukiji area to a modern facility in nearby Toyosu.

The record bid was made by self-proclaimed "Tuna King" Kiyoshi Kimura, who operates the Sushi Zanmai national restaurant chain.

During the Covid-19 pandemic the new year tunas commanded only a fraction of their usual top prices, as the public were discouraged from dining out and restaurants had limited operations.