Bollywood star rushed to hospital after shooting himself in the leg

Indian actor Govinda was rushed to a hospital in Mumbai on Tuesday after he suffered an accidental gunshot injury to his leg, fired from his own revolver.

The incident happened early at 4.45am on Tuesday at the actor’s residence in Juhu in Mumbai, the capital of the western state of Maharashtra, while he was checking his licensed revolver. The actor was preparing to leave for Kolkata, in the eastern state of West Bengal, when the gun fell from his hands and misfired, resulting in an injury to his leg.

Govinda was immediately rushed to the Criti Care Hospital.

His manager Shashi Sinha spoke to local news media to clarify that the bullet in Govinda’s leg had been removed, and he was recovering.

“We had a 6am flight to catch for a show in Kolkata and I had reached the airport. Govinda ji was about to leave his residence for the airport when this accident happened,” Sinha said, according to Indian news daily Times of India.

“He was keeping his licensed revolver in the case when it fell from his hand and a bullet got fired which hit his leg. The doctor has removed the bullet and his condition is fine. He is in the hospital right now,” he said.

Police said no complaint has been registered.

Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde said he had spoken to Govinda, and assured him he would have support during his recovery.

“I have personally reached out to Govinda to convey my deep concern about his health condition. On behalf of the government and people of our state, I wish him a speedy and complete recovery. I have assured Govinda that he and his family will receive all necessary support during this challenging time,” Shinde said.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his loved ones. Govinda has been an iconic figure in Indian cinema and has brought joy to millions through his performances. We stand united in hoping for his quick return to good health,” he said.

Mumbai police said they had started investigating what happened and had taken into possession Govinda’s firearm. They added that they will record Govinda’s statement once he is better, and speak to the people present at his residence when the incident occurred.

Govinda released a statement, saying: “Namaste, pranam. I am Govinda. Thanks to your and my parents’ blessings and the grace of my guru, even though I was shot, the bullet has been removed. I thank the doctors here, especially Dr Garwal. Thank you all for your prayers and support.”

Govinda’s daughter Tina Ahuja said: “I’m currently with papa (father) in the ICU. I can’t talk much right now… but I want to assure that papa’s health is much better now. After the bullet injury, papa underwent surgery, and it was successful. All tests have been conducted by doctors, and the reports are good.”

“Papa will remain in the ICU for at least 24 hours. After 24 hours, doctors will decide whether to keep papa in the ICU or not. Doctors are continuously monitoring papa’s condition; there’s no need to worry,” she told Indian news daily The Indian Express.

Govind Arun Ahuja, who goes by his stage name Govinda, debuted in 1986 in the film Love 86, but really found his footing in the 1990s. He became known for his distinctive dance style and comedic timing, and has been in more than 165 Hindi-language films.

In 1999, Govinda placed tenth in BBC’s News Online poll to find the “greatest star of stage or screen”.

In 2004, Govinda joined the Congress party and was elected to the Lok Sabha from Mumbai, but joined the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena party shortly before the elections this year.

Economic anxiety overshadows 75th anniversary of communist China

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) marked the People’s Republic of China’s 75th anniversary in a sombre ceremony as the government battled rising unemployment, economic challenges, and security threats.

The growing financial anxiety has pushed president Xi Jinping and the top members of the CCP to admit to the weakening of the world’s second-largest economy on record for the first time in years. China’s economy weakened further in recent weeks, signaling the need for support as the government ratchets stimulus.

China’s economy, under Communist rule, defied conventional wisdom to grow exponentially until the Covid-19 pandemic. It has since struggled to regain momentum after authorities imposed draconian lockdowns for three years and forced people to stay inside their homes.

The recovery was hindered by a prolonged property slump that led to a spillover effect on other parts of the economy, from construction to sales of home appliances, exacerbated by territorial disputes with neighbours and trading partners.

The economy expanded at a 4.7 per cent pace in the last quarter, slightly below the government’s target of about 5 per cent.

The Communists under Mao Zedong seized power in 1949 amid a civil war with the Nationalists, also known as the KMT, led by Chiang Kai-shek, who shifted their political, economic and military power to the now self-governing island democracy of Taiwan.

It was only after Mao’s death in 1976 that China set off on a new path that unleashed the country’s economic potential and lifted millions out of poverty.

Mr Jinping, also the longest-serving chief of the communist party, addressed “potential dangers” and being “well-prepared” to overcome grave challenges, in what is believed to be a reference to the sputtering economy.

“The road ahead will not be smooth, there will definitely be difficulties and obstacles, and we may encounter major tests such as high winds and rough seas, or even stormy waves” Mr Xi warned on Monday during a banquet on the eve of the anniversary.

“We must be vigilant in times of peace, plan ahead, and rely closely on the entire party, the entire army, and people of all ethnic groups across the country” he said, adding that “no difficulties can stop the Chinese people from moving forward”.

A survey by the Caixin purchasing managers released this week showed new manufacturing orders fell at the fastest pace in two years in September.

An official measure released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed a less drastic decline but marked a fifth straight month of contraction. The purchasing managers index was at 49.8 in September, up from a six-month low of 49.1 in August.

The staggering economy has snatched the purchasing power of Chinese nationals, making them pessimistic and disillusioned about their prospects, BBC reported, citing a survey by American professors Martin Whyte of Harvard University and Scott Rozelle of Stanford University’s Center on China’s Economy.

Beijing last week unveiled a raft of policies, including forced interest rate cuts and lower down payments of homebuyers to boost the economy. Over the weekend, the southern city of Guangzhou lifted all home purchase restrictions, while both Shanghai and Shenzhen revealed plans to ease key buying curbs.

The move would help 50 million households and 150 million people, reducing household interest expenses by an average of about 150bn yuan (£15.7bn) a year, said People’s Bank of China governor Pan Gongsheng.

The stimulus package should help shore activity over the coming months, said Gabriel Ng of Capital Economics said in a report. He noted that trade measures against China, such as higher tariffs on electric vehicles and other goods, also will weigh on the economy.

“In this environment, a meaningful cyclical recovery would require sizeable fiscal stimulus,” he told Reuters.

The Chinese government has tried to clamp down on critics of Beijing’s economic policies and other sources of financial frustration. Prominent economist Zhu Hengpeng disappeared from the public eye after he criticised Mr Jinping’s economic policies in a private group chat.

In July, former Global Times editor and outspoken supporter of the Communist Party, Hu Xijin, abruptly went silent on social media after he shared a controversial assessment of Beijing’s economic strategy.

Other measures undertaken by the Communist Party included blocking accounts of influencers on social media for flaunting their wealth, according to reports.

Beijing stopped releasing unemployment figures between August 2023 and January 2024 when the numbers were at a record high. China’s urban unemployment rate across all age categories rose 5.3 per cent in August, according to official data.

The anniversary also comes as China battles frictions with neighbors including Japan, South Korea and the Philippines over territorial claims and their close relationships with Beijing’s chief rival, the US.

Additional reporting by agencies

Everest gets taller every year – now scientists think they know why

Scientists may finally have an explanation for why Mount Everest is so much taller than the other great Himalayan peaks – and still growing.

Everest is known to be growing by about 2mm a year, and the official figure for its height was last revised upwards by almost a metre in 2020 to 8,848.86m.

The mountain’s growth was previously put down to the shifting of tectonic plates, though this theory did not explain why Everest’s peak is abnormally high compared to others in the range, towering about 250m above the next-tallest peak in the Himalayas. The next three of the world’s tallest peaks – K2, Kangchenjunga, and Lhotse – only differ from each other in height by about 120 metres.

Now researchers from University College London (UCL) have found that erosion from a river network about 75km (47 miles) away from the world’s highest mountain may be contributing to Everest’s growth, as the river carves away a substantial gorge.

This erosion is creating a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon called uplift, which happens when a section of the Earth’s crust loses mass and then “floats” upwards due to intense pressure from the hot liquid mantle below.

The process is not fast, with scientists estimating that Everest has grown by between 15 and 50 metres in the past 89,000 years. But it is still measurable with modern technology, according to the study published on Monday in the journal Nature Geoscience.

“We can see them growing by about 2mm a year using GPS instruments, and now we have a better understanding of what’s driving it,” said Matthew Fox, a co-author of the study from UCL.

While this gradual process leads to only a few millimetres of growth each year, over geological timeframes it can make a significant difference.

In Everest’s case, this process appears to have sped up over the last 89,000 years since the nearby Arun River merged with the adjacent Kosi.

The merging of the two rivers led to more water funnelling through the Kosi River and increasing its erosive power, scientists say. As more land started getting washed away, it gradually triggered an increased rate of uplift for Everest, pushing the mountain’s peaks further up.

“Our research shows that as the nearby river system cuts deeper, the loss of material is causing the mountain to spring further upwards,” study co-author Adam Smith from UCL said.

The Arun River currently runs to the east of Mount Everest, and merges downstream with the larger Kosi river system. Over thousands of years, it has carved out a gorge that has washed away billions of tonnes of earth and sediment.

“The upstream Arun River flows east at high altitude with a flat valley. It then abruptly turns south, dropping in elevation and becoming steeper,” Jin-Gen Dai, another author of the study, said.

“This unique topography, indicative of an unsteady state, likely relates to Everest’s extreme height,” Dr Dai said.

The phenomenon is also affecting the neighbouring peaks of Lhotse and Makalu – the world’s fourth- and fifth-highest peaks – scientists say.

Indian poet rejects US-backed award ‘in solidarity with Palestine’

A poet and author from an Indigenous community in India has refused a US-backed arts award “in solidarity” with Palestinians.

Jacinta Kerketta, 41, has refused the 2024 Room to Read Young Author Award, jointly awarded by USAID and Room to Read India Trust for her children’s poetry collection, Jirhul.

Room to Read India is an international nonprofit working in the areas of early-grade literacy, gender equality, and girls’ education.

“As a poet, I want to show my solidarity with the children, women and victims of Palestine,” she told The Independent.

“I saw that Room to Read India Trust is also associated with Boeing for children’s education,” she said.

In August last year, the then Indian minister of women and child development and minority affairs, Smriti Irani, announced the launch of two initiatives in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, in partnership with Boeing. According to a Boeing India statement, the group was funding Room to Read’s literacy programme, which was to be implemented in 60 primary schools over four years to “nurture independent readers”.

Boeing is said to be a key supplier of weapons to the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and has a longstanding partnership with Israel.

Ms Kerketta said: “When children were being killed in Palestine, Room to Read India Trust in India was collaborating with Boeing for better education of children. And Boeing’s relationship with Israel is linked to arms business.”

“How can the arms business and care for children continue simultaneously when the world of children is being destroyed by the same weapons? Because of these concerns, I have declined to accept this USAID-supported award,” she said.

Ms Kerketta has written to both USAID and the Room to Read India Trust, declining the award and explaining her reasons for doing so.

More than 16,000 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched an all-out assault on the besieged territory on 7 October last year, triggered by Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel.

“The outrageous death of children is almost historically unique. This is an extremely dark place in history,” Bragi Gudbrandsson, vice chairperson of a UN committee said last month. “I don’t think we have seen before a violation that is so massive as we’ve seen in Gaza. These are extremely grave violations that we do not often see,” he said.

Ms Kerketta is a member of Jharkhand’s Oraon Adivasi community. She has authored seven other books, including Ishwar aur Bazar, Jacinta ki Diary, and Land of the Roots.

This is not the first time the Adivasi (Indigenous) writer has rejected an award for ethical reasons, having previously turned down an honour in solidarity with Adivasi struggles in the northeastern state of Manipur. “This is coming at a time when the respect for the life of the tribals of Manipur is ending,” she told Newslaundry at the time.

“The respect for the life of the tribals in central India is disappearing as well, and people from other communities are also being attacked continuously in the global society. My mind remains distressed and I am not feeling any thrill or happiness with this acknowledgement.”

Since May 2023, Manipur has been embroiled in violence between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities, driven by disputes over economic benefits and quotas.

The book Ishwar aur Bazar is dedicated to the Dalit and Adivasi communities of Niyamgiri in Odisha, who have spent over a decade resisting bauxite mining in their region.

“I see many people in India remain silent about the genocide in Palestine. Just as there is hatred for minorities within the country, similarly there is no sympathy for the people of Palestine. As a poet and writer, this also troubles me,” Ms Kerketta told The Independent.

Her poetry collection, Jirhul, aims to raise socio-political awareness among children, drawing from Adivasi culture. It was published earlier this year by Jugnu Prakashan, the publishing arm of Iktara Trust, based in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh.

The Independent has reached out to USAID, Boeing, and Room to Read India for comment.

According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), approximately 705 ethnic groups are classified as Scheduled Tribes in India. In central India, these groups are commonly referred to as Adivasis, a term that means “original inhabitants” or “Indigenous Peoples”.

With an estimated population of 104 million, Adivasis make up about 8.6 per cent of the total population.

At least 23 feared dead after school bus bursts into flames in Bangkok

At least 23 people are feared dead when bus carrying students caught fire in suburban Bangkok on Tuesday.

The bus was carrying 44 passengers from central Uthai Thani province to Bangkok for a school trip when the fire started around noon in Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital, Transport Minister Suriya Jungrungruengkit told reporters at the scene.

The students on the bus were reported to be primary school and young secondary school age.

Interior Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities as they have not finished investigating the scene, but based on the number of survivors, he said 25 people are feared dead.

Videos posted on social media showed the entire bus being engulfed in fire with huge plumes of black smoke pouring out as it was parked on the road.

A rescuer at the scene told Suriya that the fire likely started after one of the tires exploded and the vehicle scraped against a road barrier.

Rescue group Hongsakul Khlong Luang 21 posted on its Facebook page that they found at least 10 bodies on the bus.

Interior minister Anutin Charnvirakul said officials could not yet confirm the number of fatalities because they had not finished investigating the scene. He said the driver survived but appeared to have fled and could not yet be found.

Mr Anutin had earlier said 25 were feared dead, but Piyalak Thinkaew, a rescuer of the Ruamkatanyu Foundation told reporters later that two more survivors had been found, reducing the number of those still missing to 23 – three teachers and 20 students.

Rescuers and officials were able to access the bus hours after the fire was put out.

Mr Piyalak said they were still unable to identify the bodies, most of which were found in the middle and back seats, leading them to assume that the fire had started at the front of the bus.

Thai media reports and rescuers said the bus was heading to Nonthaburi when the fire started around noon in Pathum Thani province, a northern suburb of the capital.

Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra offered her condolences in a post on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, saying the government would take care of medical expenses and compensate the victims’ families.

The patRangsit Hospital, which is located near the scene, said in a news conference that it had admitted three young girls, one of whom suffered burns to the face, mouth and eye.

Cambodia arrests award-winning journalist who exposed trafficking

An award-winning journalist known for his investigative reports on human trafficking has been arrested in Cambodia in a further blow to its press freedoms.

Mech Dara was travelling with his family from the coastal city of Sihanoukville to the capital Phnom Penh when authorities stopped his car and arrested him, the independent Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA) said in a statement.

Mr Dara was handed the Hero Award in 2023 by US secretary of state Antony Blinken for his investigations into massive scam compounds staffed mostly by trafficked workers in Cambodia.

He was arrested after sharing posts on social media about a rock quarry. Local officials claimed on Monday his work was an attempt to foment dissent in the country.

Mr Dara managed to send an SMS to Cambodian human rights group Licadho saying he was being arrested by military police before his phone was seized, spokesperson Am Sam Ath said.

“We knew that he was arrested but we don’t know where he was taken or the reason for his arrest,” Am Sam Ath told AFP, adding that the military police had confirmed Dara’s arrest without revealing the charges.

A family member whom CamboJA did not name said Mr Dara’s car was stopped at a toll booth at the entrance to the expressway to the capital when police arrived in a military vehicle and five other cars.

The relative said the authorities cited an arrest warrant but did not show the document and asked the family members to stay inside the car while they seized Mr Dara’s phone.

A day before his arrest, the journalist had posted two images of an alleged quarry operation at a revered mountain Ba Phnom, which has a Buddhist pagoda, in the southeastern province of Prey Veng.

Prey Veng authorities called the now-deleted images “fake news” and accused him of “wanting to cause social disorder or confusion”, while calling for punishment.

Mr Dara previously worked as a journalist for the Cambodia Daily and the Phnom Penh Post, two formerly thriving English language newspapers forced to shut down under government pressure, and the Voice of Democracy radio station and website, which was closed by the government last year.

“Every newsroom I work in gets silenced,” he told the BBC after then Cambodian leader Hun Sen ordered the closure of Voice of Democracy last year.

Mr Dara is best known for his reports in the past few years about human trafficking connected to online scam operations.

The activity involves tricking people into signing up for what they believe are legitimate jobs in Cambodia, only for them then to be kept in virtual slavery in compounds often housing casinos as well, where they go online to target people around the world.

The US State Department was aware of reports of Mr Dara’s arrest, a spokesperson said, adding: “We are following developments closely with great concern.”

Cambodia has been the location of cyberscams that include “pig butchering”, a term that refers to gaining victims’ trust through dating apps or other sites and steering them toward bogus investments.

The Paris-based group Reporters Without Borders in its latest report ranked Cambodia 151st out of 180 in its international press freedom index.

Ten activists from prominent youth-led environmental group, Mother Nature, were sentenced to between six and eight years in jail on charges of plotting against the government.

North Korea rules out leader-to-leader talks with future US president

North Korea appears to have ruled out the possibility of returning to leader-to-leader diplomacy with the president of the US regardless of who comes to power after elections in November.

The Kim Jong-un regime will never bargain over its “national prestige”, Pyongyang’s envoy to the UN, Song Kim, said at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

The North Korean ambassador reaffirmed the country’s adherence to its nuclear weapons programme in defiance of warnings over growing security threats in the Korean Peninsula.

The remarks further diminished the chances of restarting meaningful nuclear negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang, which have been on hold since the failed summit in Hanoi in February 2019 during the Trump administration.

It comes after a senior North Korean diplomat who defected to South Korea said that Pyongyang could reopen nuclear talks with the US if Donald Trump is re-elected and is working to devise a new negotiating strategy.

“Whoever takes office in the US, we will only deal with the state entity called the US, not the mere administration,” Mr Song said in his address at the UNGA.

“Likewise, any US administration will have to face the DPRK, which is different from what the US used to think,” he said, referring to North Korea by its official name, without elaborating.

The envoy appeared to hint to the incoming US administration to accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state and renounce its efforts to denuclearise the country. Pyongyang has continued to double down on its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes under the Joe Biden administration.

Mr Trump, the Republican presidential candidate seeking a second term in the Oval Office, has previously hailed the relationship with Mr Kim as a key achievement of his presidency. Mr Trump even said the two “fell in love” through their letter exchanges. He also told a rally that Mr Kim would like to see him back in office: “I think he misses me, if you want to know the truth.”

However, the Kim regime has continued to deny that the change of leadership would have any impact on the relationship as Pyongyang has continued to ignore calls from president Biden’s administration for it to re-engage in talks.

Mr Song hit out at the US for inflaming tensions in the Korean Peninsula and claimed that nuclear weapons were “just made and exist to defend ourselves”.

“When it comes to the right to self-defence, a legitimate right of a sovereign state, we will never go back to the point in the far-off past,” Mr Song said.

“When it comes to national prestige, we will never bargain over it with anyone for it was gained through the bloody struggle of the entire Korean people.”

Ri Il Gyu, a North Korean diplomat who made headlines globally by defecting from Cuba to South Korea, told Reuters that Pyongyang’s diplomats were mapping out a strategy should Americans elect Mr Trump over vice president Kamala Harris.

The efforts would be to seek lifting of sanctions on its weapon programmes, eliciting economic aid and removing its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Meet the woman who narrowly missed becoming oldest Miss Universe Korea

South Korean model Choi Soon-hwa on Monday narrowly missed becoming the oldest person to win Miss Universe Korea, competing with a group of 32 women in Seoul at the age of 80.

The competition allows the winner to represent South Korea in November’s Miss Universe competition. Choi was the oldest finalist the pageant has seen.

While Choi lost to 22-year-old fashion school student Han Ariel, she ended up taking home the “best dresser” award.

“Even at this age, I had the courage to grab on to an opportunity and take on a challenge,” Choi told the Associated Press before the pageant.

“I want people to look at me and realize that you can live healthier and find joy in life when you find things you want to do and challenge yourself to achieve that dream,” she said.

Born on 11 October 1943 in Masan, nearly a decade before the Miss Universe pageant was first held in 1952, Choi worked several odd jobs. She has worked as a nurse, a pastor, and even at a textile factory.

She retired at 68, but was forced to go back to work as a caregiver after she lent someone money who conned her out of it. “I was very desperate, I was fully responsible for my children’s destitution,” she said. “The only thing I could do was make money and pay off my debts.”

In 2014, when a patient suggested she try out as a model since she looked like she’d do well, Choi decided to join a modelling school. “Her remark hit me like a ray,” said Choi.

Four years later, Choi, then 75, made her debut as a runway model at Seoul Fashion Week, and has since appeared in editorials in magazines like Harper’s Bazaar and Elle, as well as commercial campaigns for popular brands.

Choi said her age acted more as an advantage rather than a handicap. Born while World War II was still on, and having lived through South Korea’s struggling economy and the Asian Financial Crisis, she believes her resilience was honed through the life she led.

“I was born and raised in a very tough time, and I still have that resilience to fight, to survive my own battles. But the young generation has no idea,” she told The Washington Times. “When I say something sound, like, ‘Be accountable for yourself’, the reaction is, ‘Oh, you are becoming an old dodderer – that sounds hokey.’”

Choi’s personal life too went through many ups and downs. Her husband abandoned her and her two children, leaving her to fend for herself.

“During my years as a single parent of two kids I would wear the same clothes for as long as 20 years,” she said.

“There is something very unique about Choi – she has a quality that is different from anyone else (in her generation), and I thought it goes well with the kind of originality that I strive to achieve when making clothes,” designer Kim Hee-jin said in 2019, after she hired Choi for her 2018 Seoul Fashion Week show.

The Miss Universe Organization, which earlier only allowed applicants between the ages of 18-28, updated their participation criteria to allow all women, irrespective of marital status, as long as they were above 18.

“After seeing that the Miss Universe competition has no age limit, I said I am participating in this. Then my son said, ‘Mother, are you going that far? Okay mother, go for it.’ So, I sent them photos yesterday, and then they said, ‘Our mother is amazing, our grandmother is great.’ So, I feel very good,” she said.

“I want to stun the world, like, ‘How is an 80-year-old lady so healthy? How did she maintain that body? What’s your diet?’” she told CNN. “When you get old, you gain weight… So, I want to show that we can live healthily even when we get old.”

“Becoming a model was like opening a door to a new path for me, so I planned in my mind. I said, ‘I will be successful and work hard’… When my dream came true, I thanked God and kept working hard. It’s so fun and I love it.”

Even though Choi lost the Miss Universe title, she has her eyes set firmly on the prize and her dreams are bigger than a pageant.

“I saw a lot of nice models other than Koreans, and I want to explore and have adventures on global stages,” she said. “That was the idea – a Miss Universe can do this – but I have no worries about losing. I’ll find another opportunity to go global.”