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The song 'Oo Antava' from film Pushpa that was dubbed into Hindi from Telugu sparked a conversation around sexism last year Bollywood, India's hugely po[CENSORED]r Hindi film industry, is often described as a man's world. It's something that's been talked about for a long time, but now a new study shows just how little gender equality there is - both on and off screen. The $2.1bn (£1.5bn) industry produces hundreds of films every year and has a massive following among Indians globally. The sway the films and the stars have on their fans' imagination cannot be overstated. But over the years, many Bollywood films have been criticised for being regressive, promoting misogyny and gender biases. In a first of its kind study, researchers from Tiss (Tata Institute of Social Sciences) in Mumbai attempted to quantify just how severe the stranglehold of patriarchy on Hindi cinema is. They selected 25 of the biggest box-office hits from 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, and 10 women-centric films between 2012 and 2019 - the period was chosen to see if there were any changes in the narrative following the 2012 gang-rape of a female student on a bus in Delhi, the resulting uproar over the crime and the introduction of tough new laws to deal with crimes against women. The list of hits included War, Kabir Singh, Mission Mangal, Dabangg3, Housefull4 and Article 15 and the women-centric films included Raazi, Queen, Lipstick Under My Burkha and Margarita with a Straw, among others. The researchers studied nearly 2,000 on-screen characters to see the types of occupation actors played and analysed the films over several parameters such as sexual stereotyping, consent and intimacy and harassment. They counted the number of LGBTQ+ and disabled characters and how they were portrayed, and studied how many women worked off-screen on these films. They have concluded that though women-centric films give some reason for optimism, the box-office hits continue to be sexist and regressive and women and queer representation remains abysmal in them. For instance, 72% of characters in the films that were analysed were played by men, 26% by women and 2% by queer actors. A majority of the film audience is believed to be male in India Prof Lakshmi Lingam, the project lead for the study, says "the big bucks are riding on all big men in Bollywood" and the filmmakers say "a very strong female character won't work with the audiences". "There's very little attempt to do something different because patriarchal norms colour people's idea of a story or narrative and they come to believe that this is what can give them money," she told the BBC. So, she says, they stick to the "formula". "The protagonist has to be male from the upper caste, the female lead has to be thin and beautiful. She has to be coy and demure who expresses consent through gestures rather than words, but wears sexually revealing clothing and has to be somewhat modern to allow for her to be in a pre-marital relationship which is a transgression." Why Shah Rukh Khan's comeback film is a big deal AI shows Bollywood obsession with fair skin and sons The jobs on screen are also imagined through a narrow gender lens - Prof Lingam says although "42% female leads were employed in these films - [way higher than India's real employment figures of 25.1%] - they were in very stereotypical professions". "Nine in 10 men were in decision-making roles playing army officers, policemen, politicians and crime lords; women mostly played doctors and nurses, teachers and journalists and only one in 10 were in decision making roles," she says. The portrayal of the LGBTQ+ characters, the study shows, remains hugely problematic - they were never in a decision-making role and often a butt of sexist jokes. The disabled fared equally poorly -making up only 0.5% of all characters and most were used as tropes to invoke sympathy or as comic relief. "Filmmakers say it's the reality they're showing. But there is so much other reality that they do not show. They swing between reality and fantasy to justify being like this," Prof Lingam says. The depiction of women and queergender in the industry, she adds, must change because "real life is also dictated by what we see in cinema". "In India, where families and schools rarely teach about sex education and consent, all our responses are influenced by books and cinema," she says, adding that it's a problem when a film like Kabir Singh shows the male lead stalking and harassing the heroine to woo her. "It normalises toxic masculinity. so when a woman is stalked or harassed on the street, everyone says it happens. And there is rarely any pushback." Link : Click

The race to devour dumplings has led people to over-order, resulting in wastage, authorities say China is investigating a restaurant over a dumpling-eating contest that allegedly flouts anti-food waste laws. Those who finish 108 spicy dumplings at the fastest time win a free meal and the title "King of the Big Stomach". But the viral challenge has "misled" people into ordering excessively, resulting in wastage, authorities say. China enacted laws in 2021 to tackle what leader Xi Jinping described as a "shocking and distressing" squandering of food. Two years on however, people are still adjusting to the regulations. After all, China is a country where hosts offering more food than their guests can stomach is regarded as a form of hospitality. At least 34 million tonnes of food are wasted in Chinese restaurants every year, according to a 2020 survey conducted by China's national legislature. The eatery in Sichuan province is one of several under investigation for violating the laws. A hotel in Fujian province is also being investigated over a contest last March that challenged participants to finish a 3kg burger in 30 minutes. Eateries that "induce or mislead customers to order excessively to cause obvious waste" can be fined. Businesses can also collect a waste disposal fee from customers who leave large amounts of leftovers on their plates. China also banned the livestreaming of binge eating and competitive eating. Many online accounts that feature such eaters have been shut down. Some Chinese internet users have criticised the authorities' recent investigations on restaurants as an overreach. "Why is this an issue policed by the government? Must it be?" a user wrote on China's micro-blogging platform Weibo. "It would be better for the authorities to pay greater attention to food safety issues," another wrote on video-sharing app Douyin. Several local authorities and individual eateries have also laid down their own policies to support the crusade against wasted food. For example, the Wuhan Catering Industry Association urges restaurants in the city to follow a system where groups must order one dish less than the number of diners. Some restaurants even weigh customers before their meals to determine how much food they should be given. Link : Click

Rahul Gandhi lost his seat in parliament a day after his conviction on 23 March The Gujarat high court has dismissed Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi's appeal seeking a stay on his conviction in a criminal defamation case. Mr Gandhi was sentenced to two years in jail in March for his 2019 comments about Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surname at an election rally. He was disqualified as an MP following his sentencing. On Friday, the Congress party said Mr Gandhi would appeal against the order in the Supreme Court. Mr Gandhi will not be arrested until he has exhausted all legal appeals as his arrest was put on hold. Friday's decision is being seen as a setback for the Congress leader as it means he cannot contest national elections due next year. While dismissing his appeal, the Gujarat high court said Mr Gandhi's conviction was "just and proper". Addressing a press conference later in the day, party leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the case was "a matter of free speech and expression". These complaints have been filed by the workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he said. "The aim of this government is to control the freedom of expression," he said. "That is why the law of defamation has been misused." Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said Mr Gandhi was "fighting for truth" and would continue this fight. Mr Gandhi lost his seat in parliament a day after his conviction on 23 March due to a Supreme Court order which says that a lawmaker convicted in a crime and sentenced to two or more years in jail is disqualified with immediate effect. Gandhi sentenced to jail for Modi 'thieves' remark Rahul Gandhi loses MP status after conviction The party criticised Mr Gandhi's conviction and accused the governing BJP of political vendetta. The BJP denied this, saying that due judicial process was followed in the case. The defamation case against Mr Gandhi, brought by BJP lawmaker Purnesh Modi, revolved around comments Mr Gandhi made in Karnataka state in 2019 during an election rally. "Why do all these thieves have Modi as their surname? Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, Narendra Modi," he said. Nirav Modi is a fugitive Indian diamond tycoon while Lalit Modi is a former chief of the Indian Premier League who has been banned for life by the country's cricket board. In his complaint, Purnesh Modi alleged that the comments had defamed the entire Modi community. However, Mr Gandhi said that he made the comment to highlight corruption and it was not directed against any community. A lower court had granted Mr Gandhi bail to appeal against his conviction, but it's the stay or suspension of his conviction that's crucial to reinstating him as an MP. Link : Click

Josko Gvardiol scored against Manchester City in the Champions League this season Gvardiol, who is 6ft 1in tall, is a left-sided central defender, and City feel he could feature in a back three or in a four-man defence. With Guardiola's management it is hard to always gauge what might happen. Gvardiol is primarily a centre-back, who has also played at left-back on occasion. John Stones, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji were considered to be central defenders too - but Ake and Akanji played some of last season at full-back and Stones ended the campaign in a hybrid midfield role. Gvardiol's statistics in the Bundesliga last season are comparable to City's current centre-back contingent. His passing accuracy is slightly lower, but he made more interventions and won possession more often. How Gvardiol and City defenders compared last season in the league (per 90 minutes) Gvardiol Laporte Stones Akanji Ake Dias Touches 100.5 95.3 83.3 88.9 95.5 102.1 Passes 88.7 85.8 73.6 79.6 81.8 93.4 Passing accuracy 89.3% 93.1% 93.3% 93.3% 91.1% 92.7% Interceptions 1.4 0.3 0.4 0.6 1 0.8 Possession won 6.9 5 4.4 5.4 4.6 4.5 Tackles 1 1 1.1 1.4 1.3 1 In Europe's top five leagues, only four defenders touched the ball more times per 90 minutes than Gvardiol. City's Ruben Dias topped the list, while Benjamin Pavard, Jordi Alba and Dayot Upamecano - from Guardiola's old teams Bayern Munich and Barcelona - were also above Gvardiol. One of Gvardiol's five goals for Leipzig was a header against City in the Champions League last 16 first leg this year. "He's fast, intense, dynamic, really good at changing directions and really good at transitioning from attack and defence and vice versa," said Baba. "He's a really good, agile defender and his strength is in passing while he's in possession - even under pressure he still finds solutions to play it forward. "John Stones has been pushed into more of a midfielder - I can see that happening with Gvardiol too. "It's kind of a no-brainer why someone like Pep Guardiola would want him. He really is a dream prospect at his young age." Who is Gvardiol and is he a proven winner? Gvardiol played for Dinamo Zagreb at Manchester City in the Uefa Youth League in October 2019 The defender already has four years of first-team experience with Dinamo Zagreb and Leipzig and has won a domestic cup in each of the past three seasons - in 2021 in Croatia and in the 2022 and 2023 German Cups. He was very close to joining Marcelo Bielsa's Leeds United in 2020 but moved to Leipzig instead. "Gvardiol is the best central defender in the world. He's so mature. The way he plays, with the grace he controls the ball, it's amazing," said Croatia boss Zlatko Dalic last year. Gvardiol helped Croatia reach the World Cup semi-finals and scored in their third-place play-off win over Morocco. Only three players at the World Cup played more successful passes than Gvardiol's 463. City's Rodri led the way. Gvardiol ranked sixth for touches of the ball (612). Gvardiol made more clearances than any other player in Qatar with 37, and he was joint second, level with recent City target Declan Rice, for interceptions with 11. He also ranked fifth for headed clearances (14). Link // Click

Experts say this is the first time an Indian court has formally recognised the contribution of a housewife to the husband's income An Indian court's recent verdict that significantly expands the rights of homemakers over their husband's property has been hailed as a positive sign by women's rights advocates. On 21 June, the Madras high court - in the southern state of Tamil Nadu - passed a verdict in a domestic dispute case that allowed a housewife equal share in her husband's property. Experts say this is the first time an Indian court has formally recognised the contribution of a housewife to the husband's income. They, however, point out that the verdict is not binding on other states unless the country's Supreme Court rules along similar lines in future. What was the case about? It involved a couple from Tamil Nadu who'd married in 1965. After 1982, the husband moved to Saudi Arabia for a job. His wife, who stayed back in India and had no income of her own, bought several assets - real estate and jewellery - using the money the husband sent home. On his return to India in 1994, the man alleged that his wife was trying to claim sole ownership over all their properties. He also claimed she was hiding her gold jewellery and wanted to sell an asset by giving the power of attorney to a person with whom she was allegedly having an affair. The dispute covered five assets. Four were properties bought in the woman's name, including a house and land. The fifth tranche comprised gold bars, jewellery and sarees gifted by the man to his wife. In 1995, the man filed a case before a trial court to claim ownership over all five assets - including the gifts he had given her which belonged to her. He claimed that all the assets were bought with his money and the woman only held them on his behalf as a trustee. In 2007, he died and his children took up the claim. What did the court say? In its verdict, the court said that the wife had contributed equally towards acquiring family assets by doing domestic chores. It said that the "contribution made by either the husband by earning or the wife by serving and looking after the family and children" would mean that "both are entitled equally to whatever they earned by their joint effort". It did not matter in whose name the property was bought - the spouse who looked and cared after the family would be entitled to an equal share in them. The court also held that the woman's domestic labour contributed indirectly to earning the money that enabled the purchase of the assets and that her work allowed the husband to be gainfully employed. The court said that a woman's work allowed the husband to be gainfully employed The wife works for 24 hours in various roles, including that of a chef, a "home doctor" and a "home economist", the court said. In the absence of the homemaker's duties, the husband would have to pay for the services these roles provided. "By performing these skills, a wife makes the home a comfortable environment and her contribution towards the family, and certainly it is not a valueless job, but it is a job doing for 24 hours without holidays, which cannot be less equated with that of the job of an earning husband who works only for 8 hours," the court noted. The court added that when a woman gave up her job after marriage, it often led to an "unwarrantable hardship" where she did not own any assets. While there was no law that directly or indirectly recognised a housewife's contribution, the court said that there was no law barring judges from recognising it. Women lead Indian families as men migrate The court used this reasoning to rule that three of the five assets equally belonged to the husband and wife. Regarding the fourth asset, the court held that the wife was the sole owner since she bought it by pledging the jewellery she got at the time of her marriage, which was her sole property under Hindu law. As for the fifth tranche - the gifts - the husband had also claimed ownership of them saying that he "had not bought the same on his own volition but only… to fulfil her [wife's] wishes". The court rejected this argument. Women lead Indian families as men migrate. Link || Click

Bud Light's response to public anger was widely seen as bungled In a viral video, Instagram influencer Bri Teresi takes aim at cans of Bud Light, using a semi-automatic rifle to express her dislike for the beer. "Go woke, go broke," Ms Teresi warns before opening fire on the cans. Ms Teresi had taken her cue from the country singer Kid Rock, who weeks earlier produced a video of him shooting Bud Light cans with a submachine gun. The protests are part of a conservative reaction to the brand's seeming support for transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who had shown off a personalised can of the beer in a social media post sponsored by the company. Bud Light, made by Anheuser-Busch, is now one of the latest US companies caught up in America's culture wars, joining a long list that has included Disney, the National Football League, Nike, Target and fast-food chain Chick-fil-A. "Clearly, consumers have had it with corporate America trying to push values down on the people they supposedly are serving," said Will Hind, the executive director of Consumers' Research, a firm that has spearheaded campaigns targeting American Airlines and Levi's. "People now act fairly swiftly when they see companies going 'woke' in ways that are noxious." Boycotts can be found on both sides of the political spectrum. Brands including sports apparel firm Under Armour and food company Goya faced backlash after their respective CEOs spoke out in support of former President Donald Trump. Whether or not these campaigns are effective, however, is up for debate. In Bud Light's case, it was unseated from its position as the best-selling beer in the US, with sales in the month leading up to 3 June down by nearly 25%. An analysis released by JP Morgan in May projected that Anheuser-Busch's earnings for the year would drop 26%, with sales not recovering fully until the 2024 fiscal year. Originally a slang term denoting awareness of social injustice and inequity, the word "woke" is used by right-wing Republicans as a pejorative umbrella that covers a variety of topics, from climate change to support for minorities. Evan Nierman, a PR crisis manager and author of a book entitled The Cancel Culture Curse, told the BBC that similar boycotts had had "devastating" financial impacts on US companies. "The immediate financial impacts of boycotts are self-evident," he said. "They could produce even greater losses when you calculate long-term damage to their reputation and loss of loyal consumers." Surveys suggest that Americans put considerable stock in a brand's stance on issues. One survey released by PR and marketing agency Method Communications in April suggests that 67% of Americans say their purchases are affected by a brand's stance, while 42% say they have stopped shopping with a particular brand because of its position on an issue. More than one-third of respondents say they pay attention to a firm's views on social issues. Some brands, experts say, face temporary losses only to emerge in a better position, championed by their supporters. Among them is Nike, which in 2018 saw detractors burning shoes and destroying other products in response to the company's support for quarterback Colin Kaepernick's racial justice protests. More recently, it angered some Americans with a campaign to promote leggings and sports bras using Dylan Mulvaney, the same activist at the heart of the Bud Light controversy. "There were all kinds of bonfires that erupted about Nike for their stance. But it stuck to its guns, and you know what? Sales went up," said Tony D'Angelo, a public relations professor at Syracuse University. "They made a commitment, and while that might disqualify them from some customers and some markets, it carved out a position for them in others," he added. While sales initially dipped in 2018, they rapidly bounced back. Within 12 months, stock prices were up over 60%. The company ended its most recent fiscal year with gross profits of $22bn (£17bn) - a nearly 3% year-on-year increase. Nike continued to support NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick despite a public backlash from some Americans. According to experts, the key factor that could ultimately determine how a brand weathers a woke-related boycott is how they respond to the initial fall-out. Bud Light, for example, came under intense criticism for its response to the Dylan Mulvaney controversy. After remaining silent on the issue for several days, CEO Brendan Whitworth said in a statement that the firm "never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people". "We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer," the statement added. The response was widely seen as a blunder by experts in brand strategy and crisis communications. Mr D'Angelo characterised the brand's response as "waffling". "You have to make a commitment," he said. "If you waffle, then people are going to rightly question what they really stand for. That's exactly the position that you don't want to be." Mr D'Angelo's comments were echoed by Jordan McCauley, a member of Atlanta's LGBTQ+ community and founder of CelebrityPR, a firm that works with brands. "Brands need to pick a position and stick to it. What hurt Bud Light was they seemed to flip-flop," he said. "If they really supported Dylan Mulvaney, they would have stood up for her... to everyone who protested. But they backed down. Both sides then see this as two-faced and inauthentic." When asked by the BBC for comment on the boycott and its response, an Anheuser-Busch spokesperson said only that "for the year", Bud Light remains the top beer brand in the US in volume and dollar sales. Observers believe that boycotts of brands or firms are likely to increase in the coming years, partly as a result of the debate over "woke" ideology playing a key part in the upcoming 2024 US election. Mr Nierman said the country was likely to experience a "boycott fever". "We absolutely should expect to see more campaigns," he said. "They give everyday citizens the power to become activists, and to make a massive collective impact." Link // Click!

Relations between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in recent years The US and China have pledged to stabilise their tense relationship following US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's two-day visit to Beijing. Mr Blinken met China's President Xi Jinping for talks on Monday, restarting high-level communications between the rival superpowers. Mr Xi said they had made progress, while Mr Blinken indicated that both sides were open to further talks. But the top US diplomat made clear that there remained major differences. "I stressed that... sustained communication at senior levels is the best way to responsibly manage differences and ensure that competition does not veer into conflict," Mr Blinken told reporters after the 35-minute meeting at the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. "I heard the same from my Chinese counterparts," he said. "We both agree on the need to stabilise our relationship." But Mr Blinken, 61, said he was "clear-eyed" about China and there were "many issues on which we profoundly - even vehemently - disagree". Relations between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in the wake of a Trump-era trade war, Beijing's assertive claims over Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon over the US earlier this year. War with US would be unbearable disaster - China The paradise islands caught in the US-China crosshairs Can the US live in Xi Jinping's world? But after the visit by Mr Blinken - the first by a top US diplomat to China in almost five years - Mr Xi suggested relations could be moving in a positive direction. "The two sides have also made progress and reached agreement on some specific issues," he said, in a transcript of his remarks released by the US state department. "This is very good." The meeting with Mr Xi was not originally on Mr Blinken's schedule and was announced just an hour before it took place. It would have been widely viewed as a snub had it not happened, however, especially since Microsoft's co-founder Bill Gates met Mr Xi in Beijing earlier this week. Instead, the Americans will be able to point to the secretary's visit - which also included meetings with China's top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang - as a successful re-engagement with the Chinese government after months of frosty relations. Mr Xi was also sending a message to his own people that his government was reaching out to Washington. He told his visitor that the international community was worried about Sino-US relations, which would matter for "the future destiny of mankind". Mr Blinken agreed it was "absolutely vital" that the two countries continued to communicate. "This is something we're going to keep working on," he said. US President Joe Biden and officials in Washington have said they view the Chinese as rivals and competitors and not adversaries. It is a fine line to walk, however, as the competition - both militarily and economically - heats up. Taiwan is the biggest area of contention between the two countries and the one that has the highest potential of escalating. Mr Wang said it was an issue on which there was "no room to compromise", while Mr Gang called it "the most important issue in China-US relations and the most prominent risk". China sees self-ruled Taiwan as a breakaway province and Mr Xi has indicated that he wishes to bring Taiwan under Beijing's control during his term in office - if necessary, by force. However, Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland with its own constitution and leaders. US President Joe Biden said last year that the US would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack from China, a move condemned by Beijing. But the US has also stressed its One China policy, meaning there is only one Chinese government. "That policy has not changed," Mr Blinken said on Monday. "We do not support Taiwan independence." Link : Here!

Prince William beams accompanied by his children Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Prince George in a portrait released for Father's Day The Prince of Wales has said his children "will definitely be exposed" to homelessness as he prepares to launch a new project on the issue. In a Sunday Times interview, Prince William revealed he wanted them to know "some of us need a helping hand". The prince said he has been thinking about the right time to take them to a homeless shelter, like his mother Princess Diana did with him aged 11. He is set to launch a new five-year project tackling the issue this month. The interview comes as a new portrait of the Prince pictured smiling with his three children has been released by Kensington Palace to mark Father's Day. In his first newspaper interview as Prince of Wales, he told the Sunday Times he had spoke to his children, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte, during the school run about people they could see sitting outside supermarkets. He said: "When I left this morning, one of the things I was thinking was when is the right time to bring George or Charlotte or Louis to a homeless organisation?' "I think when I can balance it with their schooling, they will definitely be exposed to it. On the school run, we talk about what we see. "When we were in London, driving backwards and forwards, we regularly used to see people sitting outside supermarkets and we'd talk about it. "I'd say to the children, 'Why are they there? What's going on?' I think it's in all our interests, it's the right thing to do, to expose the children, at the right stage in the right dialogue, so they have an understanding," he explained. "They [will] grow up knowing that actually, do you know what, some of us are very fortunate, some of us need a little bit of a helping hand, some of us need to do a bit more where we can to help others improve their lives." The prince visited a homeless shelter run by The Passage with his mother and brother in 1993 The prince would be following in the footsteps of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, who took him and his brother in 1993 to visit a London homeless shelter run by the Passage, an organisation of which he is now the patron. Earlier this year he recalled the experience and said: "My mother introduced me to the cause of homelessness from quite a young age, and I'm really glad she did. "I think she would be disappointed that we are still no further on, in terms of tackling homelessness and preventing it, than when she was interested and involved in it." Later this month the prince will launch "a really big project" from his and his wife's charity, the Royal Foundation. He is hoping it will provide "living conditions up and down the country that improve people's lives who need that first rung of the ladder". It will be a new advocacy for the prince who primarily campaigned and spoken up on the issue of mental health in recent years. He says he is particularly concerned about youth homelessness, and part of his project will be about preventing that. The number of 16 to 24-year-olds homeless or at risk of homelessness was 122,000, according to Centrepoint's freedom of information requests to councils. "For me, 122,000 is a figure that's way too high," he said. "We need to get ahead of the curve to stop this becoming more and more fixed." The prince also revealed when asked there are "absolutely" plans for social housing on the Duchy of Cornwall - the estate given to the heir of the throne, which provides him with an income. The royal spoke to the newspaper after opening a homelessness-charity project for young people in work or apprenticeships who need help finding affordable housing. Prince William, who is also patron of homeless charity Centrepoint, previously made headlines sleeping rough in Blackfriars, London, for one night to highlight the plight of homelessness. He has also donned the red tabard worn by Big Issue vendors to sell the magazines in the capital. Link: here!

UFC fighter Conor McGregor has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman after an NBA Finals basketball game in Miami earlier this month. A legal letter outlining allegations, sent to Mr McGregor and seen by BBC News, states the alleged assault took place in a bathroom at Kaseya Center. A lawyer representing Mr McGregor said: "The allegations are false. Mr McGregor will not be intimidated." The City of Miami Police said an investigation had been opened. In a statement, UFC said it was aware of the allegations and was gathering further details. The Miami Heat, which hosted the NBA Finals game, said it was conducting a full investigation. The woman's lawyer, Ariel Mitchell, said her client had been watching game four of the NBA Finals on Friday 9 June before the alleged incident happened. In the legal letter to Mr McGregor, Ms Mitchell alleged the woman was forced into a men's bathroom by security guards from the NBA and Miami Heat before being violently sexually assaulted by Mr McGregor. The letter claimed the woman was able to free herself from the bathroom, but left behind her purse, which she is said to have retrieved after pleading with security guards. It alleges that security for the league, team and arena "aided and abetted" Mr McGregor by trapping and isolating her in the bathroom. In an interview, Ms Mitchell said she had obtained video footage showing part of the alleged incident. A police report relating to the incident was made on Sunday 11 June, the City of Miami Police told BBC News. "This is an open investigation so no additional information can be released at this time," a police department spokeswoman said. Mr McGregor's appearance at the NBA Finals made headlines after the Irish former champion hit the Miami Heat's mascot during half-time, in an apparent stunt for a pain relief spray he was promoting. The person acting as the mascot was taken to a local hospital for treatment after the incident, the Athletic reported. Link : Clickhere!

File photo of a coffin Mourners at the wake of an Ecuadorean woman were startled to discover she was still alive. A hospital doctor in the city of Babahoyo declared Bella Montoya, 76, dead following a suspected stroke. She was placed in a coffin and taken to a funeral parlour, where relatives held a vigil before her planned burial. When, after almost five hours, they opened the coffin to change her clothes ahead of the funeral, the woman gasped for air. "My mum started to move her left hand, to open her eyes, her mouth; she struggled to breathe," her son Gilbert Balberán described the moment he realised his mother was still alive. Video taken by a mourner shows her lying in an open coffin struggling to breathe, while another complains that an ambulance they called has not yet arrived. Minutes later, firefighters arrive and lift Bella Montoya onto a stretcher and take her back to the hospital where she had been declared dead. Her son told Ecuadorean media that she was in intensive care, but was responsive. "My mum is on oxygen, her heart is stable. The doctor pinched her hand and she reacted, they tell me that's good because it means she is reacting little by little," newspaper El Universo quoted him as saying. Mr Balberán said he had taken his mother to hospital at about 09:00 "and at noon a doctor told me [she] died". He said a death certificate had even been issued, stating that she had suffered cardiopulmonary arrest after suffering a stroke. Bella Montoya is not the only person to "come alive" after being officially declared dead. In February, an 82-year-old woman was found to be breathing while lying in a funeral home in New York State. She had been pronounced dead three hours earlier at a nursing home. Dr Stuart Hughes, a senior lecturer in medicine at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge, says such cases are very uncommon but he points out that "death is a process". "Sometimes somebody may look like they're dead but they're not quite dead," Dr Hughes told the BBC. "Careful examination is necessary to confirm death." The consultant in emergency medicine says that if patients don't respond and have no pulse, doctors listen for heart sounds and watch for breathing effort for at least a minute. "If that's all absent then you can say they're dead." But it may be hard even for health professionals to determine that someone has died - for example when bodies are very cold. "The patient in such instances will have an almost imperceptibly slow heart rate and their bodies will have shut down," Dr Hughes says. Some drugs can also slow down body processes, giving the appearance of death, he adds. Such "confounding factors" can happen if the examination is carried out cursory or under time pressure. Ecuador's health ministry has set up a committee to investigate the incident. Link // Click!

Senator Aisha Wahab authored and introduced the SB-403 bill in March A bill introduced to make caste discrimination illegal in California is set to come up for discussion in the state assembly this week. Savita Patel, a California-based independent journalist, speaks to those supporting and opposing the bill becoming a law. Sukhjinder Kaur*, a nurse at a hospital in California, works long and tiring hours serving patients. But whenever it's break time, things become oppressive. She is a Dalit (a community that is placed at the bottom of India's deeply discriminatory caste hierarchy) and says she often faces casteist insults from her South Asian colleagues. Dalit rights activists say scores of caste-oppressed Californians face housing, educational, professional, and social discrimination. In March, Senator Aisha Wahab, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party, authored and introduced the SB-403 bill - legislation that seeks to add caste as a protected category in the state's anti-discrimination laws alongside gender, race, religion and disability. "Nurses from upper castes pass slurs about chamars [a pejorative term for Dalits] being dirty and polluting," says Ms Kaur, who is among those who are in favour of the law. In February, Seattle became the first city in the US - and outside South Asia - to outlaw caste discrimination, generating momentum for the legislation in California. It is being propelled by the same broad multi-faith, inter-caste, multi-racial coalition of over 40 American and international Dalit and human rights activists and organisations, led by California-based Equality Labs. California has a large South Asian diaspora and is home to some of the world's biggest tech companies. Renu Singh (left) has been advocating for the bill at the grassroots level The state is home to more than half of the 500,000-plus Sikh po[CENSORED]tion in the US and gurudwaras (Sikh temples) in California have been mobilising momentum to outlaw caste discrimination. Two of the community's largest advocacy groups - The Sikh Coalition and Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund - support the bill. Among Sikhs, it is the Ravidasia community - the largest Dalit community in the state with approximately 15,000-20,000 members - which is advocating for the bill at grassroots level. Renu Singh, who follows the Ravidasia tradition and is also a women's rights activist, has been urging women to speak about their own experiences of caste discrimination and those they see around them so that lawmakers understand the gravity of the issue. Data from an Equality Lab study shows that one in four caste-oppressed people from the South Asian American diaspora have faced physical and verbal violence; one in three has faced discrimination in education, and two out of three have experienced workplace discrimination. Link : Clickhere!

By Shiona McCallum Technology reporter Apple will improve its autocorrect feature so it stops changing one of the most common swear words to "ducking". Although iPhone users can disable the autocorrect, the keyboard's factory settings on the device change the word automatically. "In those moments where you just want to type a ducking word, well, the keyboard will learn it, too," said software boss Craig Federighi. He announced the development at Apple's developers' conference in California. The autocorrect can helpfully substitute a reasoned replacement for a misspelt word while texting, but it can also unintentionally change the meaning. iPhone users can find themselves annoyed at having to rewrite their own messages - with the term "damn you autocorrect" becoming an acronym, a meme, an Instagram account and even a song. The changes to the function will come as a result of artificial intelligence (AI), in which autocorrect will get better at predicting your next words and phrases by learning the terms that you use regularly, which includes swearing. The AI which makes this happen is called a transformer model. It learns context by tracking relationships in data, like the words in this sentence, using mathematical techniques. Initially flagged in a 2017 paper from Google, transformers are some of the most powerful classes of AI models. Autosuggest - or predictive text - systems are beginning to become more mainstream as the technology behind the AI has accelerated very quickly. The autocorrect change will be part of the iOS 17 operating system upgrades which are expected to be available as a public beta in July, with the general release in September. It should mean that iPadOS 17 also carries the new function. Elsewhere at the developers' conference, Apple unveiled an augmented reality headset, Apple Vision Pro which will retail at $3,499 (£2,849). Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the new headset "seamlessly blends the real world and the virtual world". It will be available early next year in the US and in other countries later in 2024. On Monday, Apple's market valuation reached just under $3 trillion - a new company record. Link : Clickhere!

Even though dowry has been illegal in India since 1961, it continues to thrive As education and job opportunities for men in India have improved over the decades, the prevalence of dowry has increased, a new study has found. Paying and accepting dowry is a centuries-old tradition in South Asia where the bride's parents gift cash, clothes and jewellery to the groom's family. Even though the practice has been illegal in India since 1961, it continues to thrive and leaves women vulnerable to domestic violence and even death. Jeffrey Weaver of University of Southern California and Gaurav Chiplunkar of University of Virginia examined more than 74,000 marriages in India between 1930 and 1999 to examine the evolution of dowry over time. They calculated "net dowry" as the difference between the value of cash and gifts given by the bride's family to the groom or his family and those given by the groom's family to the bride's family. The researchers relied on data from India's Rural Economic and Demographic Survey, a panel survey of households across 17 of India's most populous states. Most Indian marriages are still arranged, and nearly all women marry by their late twenties. Some 90% of the marriages studied until 1999 involved dowry. Dowry payments between 1950 and 1999 amounted to nearly a quarter of trillion dollars. The study found that economic growth perpetuated and boosted the practice of dowry payments, especially from the 1940s to the 1980s, Mr Weaver told me. "Over this period, more men were getting educated and getting better quality jobs, which led to rise in dowry," he says. Nearly all marriages in India are monogamous Less than 1% end in divorce Parents play an important role in choosing the bride/groom - in more than 90% of marriages between 1960 and 2005, parents chose the spouse Over 90% of couples live with the husband's family after marriage More than 85% of women marry someone from outside their own village 78.3% of marriages are within the same district Source: India Human Development Survey, 2005; National Family Health Survey 2006; REDS, 1999 According to the study, the emergence and evolution of dowry can be most effectively understood by considering the changing distribution of groom quality, which correlates with advancements in their education and earnings. (The low participation of women in India's workforce means the presence of more and better jobs for men.) In other words, 'higher quality grooms' - well-educated and having better quality jobs - command higher dowries. As the number of educated grooms in a marriage market increases, there's a decrease in the "dowry premium" that more educated grooms receive, the study found. "Strong economic factors perpetuate dowry. On the bride side, families who refuse to pay dowry for their daughters are left with 'lower quality' grooms. Grooms have a strong economic incentive to accept dowry, particularly if their family has to pay dowry for its own female children or wants to recoup investments in groom's education," write Mr Weaver and Mr Chiplunkar. 'Dowry is an insult to womankind,' says a wall painting in Agra promoting women's rights Is this possibly unique to India? A separate paper by Siwan Anderson of University of British Columbia argues that unlike India, dowry payments showed a decline with increasing wealth in many societies, including Europe. Ms Anderson says that increases in wealth in caste‐based societies like India also led to increases in dowry payments. Mr Weaver and Mr Chiplunkar say that their research finds little evidence for the conventional explanations about the rise of the practice of dowry. One theory is that dowry was practised among upper caste households and spread as lower castes emulated these practices to improve their social mobility. The new study says this is not clear because the practice of dowry began around the same time for both the high and low caste groups. Also, some experts believe that the desire among lower caste women to marry higher caste men drove changes in dowry. Mr Weaver says this view is "incorrect" since there is "so-little cross-caste marriage" - 94% of the marriages studied were of Hindus who married within their broad caste group. So what happens to dowry payments as more women get educated? link : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-65682796

Atal Behari Vajpayee became the prime minister of India thrice - once briefly in 1996 and 1998, and then in 1999 On 26 June 1975, the police arrived at a hostel in India's southern city of Bangalore and arrested Atal Behari Vajpayee, a prominent opposition politician. The previous evening, prime minister Indira Gandhi had imposed a state of Emergency and plunged the nation into an extraordinary crisis. Elections had been suspended, civil rights curbed, the media gagged and critics and opposition politicians rounded up. Gandhi also banned the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological fountainhead of the later-day Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules India today. Vajpayee was then a leader of the Jan Sangh, the right-wing forerunner to the BJP, and a member of the RSS. More than two decades later, he had risen to become India's prime minister - twice briefly in 1996 and 1998, and then a full term, leading a coalition federal government, between 1999 and 2004. Atal Behari Vajpayee: A mercurial moderate Back in the summer of 1975, Vajpayee was facing arrest. He asked a party worker about the "best jail" in the city, and looked "bored, but sat stoically" in the police station. Finally, he spent a month in prison, writing poetry - naming himself a "kaidi kavirai" or the prisoner poet - playing cards and supervising in the kitchen. In July, Vajpayee was flown to Delhi in a special plane, after a botched medical diagnosis. In the capital, he spent time, first in hospital recuperating from a surgery and then at home on parole under the watch of the police. By mid-December, Vajpayee appeared to be despondent. "The sun in the evening of my life has decided to set…Words are devoid of meaning…What was music once is now scattered noise," he wrote in a poem. Vajpayee (second from right) and LK Advani (extreme left) at a RSS meeting in Delhi in 1977 A movement distributing clandestine literature and organising civil disobedience - mainly kept alive by RSS pracharaks or full-time apostles - against the Emergency was already fizzling out. Her advisers were pressuring opposition leaders to sign a "surrender document" so they could negotiate with the government. Vajpayee, according to a riveting new biography of the leader by Abhishek Choudhary, was "shocked there was no mass uprising against the Emergency". What nobody quite reckoned then was that in a year's time Vajpayee would end up playing a pivotal role in cobbling together a one-party opposition to the Congress. The Janata Party - a coalition mainly of four centrist and right wing parties (including the Jan Sangh) - would hand down a sensational drubbing in March 1977 elections to Gandhi's Congress party, its first loss in 30 years after independence. (The prime minister had announced general elections in January and lifted the 20-month Emergency later.) The secret behind India's ruling party's success The Janata Party won 298 of the 542 seats. Most importantly, the Jan Sangh held the foremost position within the coalition, winning 90 seats. Mr Choudhary says Vajpayee could have made the "nominal claim" for the prime minister's job, but at 52 he was too young for the job. (The 78-year Morarji Desai, a spartan and crusty politician, became the prime minister.) The new cabinet included three Jan Sangh members. Vajpayee took office as foreign minister, promising no "immediate or major changes in the country's policy", and an improvement in relations with China. Vajpayee's ascendancy was clear during Janata Party's campaign. The charismatic politician with a flair for oratory was Janata Party's "biggest crowd-puller" after Jayaprakash Narayan or JP, the 72-year-old leader who had united the opposition forces, writes Mr Choudhary. The media described Vajpayee as the Janata's "glamour guy". A campaign poster pronounced him a "pride of the nation". link // Clickhere