Fundraiser for Milwaukee mother deported by Trump to Laos

The family of a Milwaukee woman who was deported to Laos by the Trump administration earlier this month is raising funds to bring her back home to her five children.

Ma Yang, a 37-year-old Hmong-American, has been living in a government facility near the Laotian capital of Vientiane since arriving in the Southeast Asian country in the first week of March.

Yang claims to have never been to Laos or known anyone from the small landlocked Southeast Asian country, nestled between Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam and a world away geographically, culturally and linguistically from the United States’ midwest.

Her longtime partner, Michael Bub, has launched a GoFundMe to bring Yang in what he described to be a “beloved mother, daughter, sister and fiancée back home where she belongs”.

Yang was born in a refugee camp in Thailand but gained legal status as a permanent US resident until she pleaded guilty to cannabis-related charges and served 30 months in a federal prison. Having taken a plea deal mistakenly believing that her green card would not be at risk, she is now one of the “millions and millions” of people Donald Trump pledged to kick out of America during his re-election campaign.

Activists supporting Yang’s family in Milwaukee said Yang was “shaken” by the deportation and the prospect of starting her life from scratch in a new country but was “doing OK for the most part”.

Mr Bub in a post on the fundraising website said Milwaukee is the only home Yang has ever known after arriving in the US at eight months old. “She built her life in Milwaukee, working hard as a nail technician and receptionist while raising five children, ages 6 to 22,” he wrote, adding that she recently welcomed her first grandchild.

He added that Yang’s 12 siblings were all born in the US after her parents fled the Vietnam war. “…the fact that she was born in a refugee camp made her a victim of ‘stupid’ birth circumstances”.

Mr Bub added that the financial burden has been “overwhelming” and the family was raising money to cover her legal fees to “fight for her return home, her health care and medical expenses”.

Yang has been living in Laos for the past weeks without any direct legal representation, The Independent has learned. According to immigration lawyer Jath Shao, even if is successful in overturning her deportation through the US legal system, she would most likely not be allowed back until at least the 2040s.

Yang told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the Trump administration had “sent me back to die.” “How do I rent, or buy, or anything, with no papers?” Yang said. “I’m a nobody right now.”

It is not immediately clear why Laos accepted Yang’s deportation despite her not being from the country.

The Laos national assembly is in the process of debating changes to the constitution to formally recognise the Lao diaspora, thereby strengthening ties with those who have acquired foreign citizenship after leaving the country during historical migrations. Though still at the draft stage, it could offer Yang a route to documentation in Laos at least.

Bollywood film that sparked tension around an 18th century Mughal tomb

A Bollywood film that portrays the capture and execution of an Indian warrior king by a 17th century Mughal ruler has fuelled street protests and demands from right-wing groups to demolish the emperor’s tomb.

Authorities tightened security around the tomb of Aurangzeb Alamgir in the western Indian state of Maharashtra after right-wing groups threatened to raze the monument.

There was widespread violence in the western city of Nagpur following rumours of a holy book being desecrated. A curfew was imposed in several areas of the city, with orders lasting for six days in some parts after angry mobs set vehicles on fire, pelted stones, and clashed with the police.

Police reportedly used tear gas to disperse the mob. At least 70 people were injured, including 34 police personnel. Nearly 40 vehicles were set on fire during the riots. Police said they had detained nearly 100 and filed charges against 1,200 people.

A week after the riots, authorities demolished the two-storey house of Fahim Khan, an advocate for minority rights, whom they accuse of being the mastermind. Civic authorities alleged unauthorised construction as the reason behind the demolition, however, this reflects a broader pattern of so-called “bulldozer justice” in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governed states where authorities have been accused of using demolitions as an extrajudicial form of punishment.

Khan has also been booked for sedition and accused of making speeches and provocative videos on social media platforms.

“My government will not rest until those responsible for attacking the police are found and dealt with sternly,” said Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

Fadnavis held Chhaava responsible for the violence in Nagpur. “This violent incident and riots seem to be pre-planned,” he said during a speech in the legislative assembly. “Chhaava has ignited people’s anger against Aurangzeb,” said and added that “everyone must keep Maharashtra peaceful”.

“After the release of the film Chhaava, the views of many people on the Mughal emperor have turned extreme, as seen in social media posts,” local authorities said in a statement on 15 March.

Chhaava portrays the life and times of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, who was the second ruler of the Indian Maratha empire and the eldest son of the 17th-century Indian warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Shivaji is revered in western India as a Hindu ruler who fought the Mughals and established a Maratha kingdom. “Chhaava” is a Marathi-language word which means lion’s cub.

Right-wing groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal threatened to demolish the tomb in Khuldabad town in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district (formally known as Aurangabad) as they claim it is a reminder of “centuries of oppression, atrocities, and slavery” of Hindus during the Muslim emperor’s rule.

The groups threatened a “Babri-like” repeat if the tomb is not razed, referring to the demolition of the Babri Masjid (mosque) in Ayodhya in 1992 which sparked nationwide religious riots, killing more than 3,000 people in a decades-long dispute that fuelled Hindu-Muslim tensions in the country.

The groups, according to the news outlet India Today, pledged “karseva” if the government does not act on their demands. “Karseva” is a Sanskrit word which means voluntarily offering services for religious causes. In 1992, several religious volunteers called “karsevaks” were responsible for demolishing the Babri mosque.

The right-wing groups had earlier announced a statewide protest on Monday to demand the removal of the tomb, following which police deployed additional forces around the tomb and restricted entry to prevent any unrest.

Chhaava, directed by Laxman Utekar, was released in February, and was successful at the box office. It portrayed the captivity, torture and execution of Shivaji’s son. But many called the film out for its “clumsy grip on history” and leaving “no room for complexity”.

“Chhaava does have the laudable goal of setting the historical record straight about Sambhaji as a great warrior and administrator against biased accounts. But it becomes harmful national-level propaganda when it is fixated on the good Hindu versus the bad Muslim binary, skips some incontrovertible facts, and is in complete sync with the ruling party’s ideology,” wrote Nissim Mannathukkaren, chair of Dalhousie University’s department of international development studies, in The Hindu.

It also sparked extreme reactions among audiences. A fan in Nagpur rode a horse to the theatre to imitate the Hindu king, while in Gujarat, a man vandalised a cinema screen in anger over a scene depicting the torture of Sambhaji.

Two Indian politicians – Nitesh Rane and Navneet Rana – called for the tomb’s removal. Fadnavis has backed the proposal but stressed that any action must follow legal procedures, as the historical site is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Aurangzeb, the sixth Mughal emperor, ruled from 1658 until his death in 1707 and was engaged in a prolonged war with the Marathas in present-day Maharashtra.

During a press meet, Kishor Chavan, a coordinator for the VHP in western Maharashtra, said: “Aurangzeb’s cruelty is well-documented – he imprisoned his own father, executed his brothers, and ordered the destruction of Hindu temples. The existence of his tomb only serves to glorify his atrocities, and the Maharashtra government must act immediately to remove it. If government fails to remove it, we will do it by holding ‘karseva’, like we observed during the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.”

The Ram Janmabhoomi movement was a Hindu nationalist campaign pushing for the construction of a temple (dedicated to the Hindu deity Ram) at the site of the mosque in Ayodhya, leading to the demolition of the Babri mosque and the eventual building of the Ram temple that Hindu nationalist prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated in January 2024.

The tensions in Maharashtra over Aurangzeb’s tomb come amid controversy over the state Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi’s remarks about the Mughal emperor, which led to his suspension from the state assembly until 26 March and multiple police complaints against him.

“Wrong things are being said about Aurangzeb. He constructed a lot of temples for Hindus. He even got one of his soldiers trampled by elephants when he wanted to marry a Hindu priest’s daughter. As a mark of their gratitude, they constructed a mosque for Muslims. History has been distorted,” Mr Azmi remarked earlier this month.

It led to Maharashtra deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde demanding an apology from Mr Azmi and saying that he should be tried for treason.

Opposition Congress MP Kalyan Kale accused political groups of deliberately stoking controversy over Aurangzeb’s tomb to polarise voters ahead of the legislative council by-elections. He called it a strategic move to raise communal issues for electoral gain.

“The tomb has been there for years. Many are seeing it now only because elections are around.”

“If they want to remove the grave of Aurangzeb, then what about various structures built by the Mughals across India?” Imtiaz Jaleel, a former member of parliament, was quoted as saying by The Hindustan Times.

Controversies surrounding Aurangzeb aren’t exactly new – prime minister Narendra Modi has referenced the long-dead Mughal emperor in his speeches in the past. “Aurangzeb severed many heads, but he could not shake our faith,” Mr Modi had said in 2022 during an event at the Mughal-era Red Fort in the capital Delhi.

In May 2022, the ASI temporarily barred public visits to the site following threats of vandalism from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a regional party. The MNS had called for the tomb’s destruction, leading to increased security measures and a five-day closure.

In 2023, another AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi’s visit to Aurangzeb’s tomb sparked a political controversy, and was also met with increased security at the site.

Iqbal rushed to hospital after suffering heart attack during match

Tamim Iqbal, the former Bangladesh captain, suffered a heart attack while fielding during a game and remains in hospital after an emergency medical procedure.

The opening batter was playing for Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League when he experienced chest pains.

The 36-year-old, his nation’s second-leading Test run scorer, originally left the ground in his own car to receive initial treatment, before returning to the ground.

His condition then deteriorated and Iqbal was rushed to hospital, according to reports, where he underwent emergency angioplasty.

An official medical bulletin from doctors in Dhaka said: “He returned to us in a critical condition. We can call it a heart attack, and we subsequently did an angiogram and angioplasty to remove the blockage.

“The medical procedure has gone smoothly. He is currently under observation. The swift coordination between the medical staff at BKSP and the hospital ensured Tamim was treated quickly.”

Iqbal made 25 international hundreds, registering a ton in all three international formats, and memorably smashed a brilliant 103 against England at Lord’s in 2010.

He retired from international cricket for a second time in January after 391 appearances in a Bangladesh shirt.

The left-hander also briefly represented Nottinghamshire and Essex in county cricket.

South Korean court reinstates prime minister Han Duck Soo as leader

South Korea‘s Constitutional Court reinstated prime minister Han Duck Soo as the acting president after overturning his impeachment on Monday.

Mr Han had taken over as the acting leader from president Yoon Suk Yeol after he was impeached over his short-lived declaration of martial law last December, which plunged Asia’s fourth-largest economy into a political crisis.

Mr Han initially lasted less than two weeks in the post before being impeached and suspended on 27 December after clashing with the opposition-led parliament over his alleged involvement in martial law and refusal to appoint more justices to the Constitutional Court.

Following his reinstatement, Mr Han thanked the court for what he called a “wise” decision. “We will work together to prepare and implement responses to global changes, and to ensure that South Korea continues to develop well in the era of great geopolitical transformation,” he told reporters.

The acting leader added that he would focus on the “most urgent matters”, including a fast-changing global trade environment, in an apparent reference to the Donald Trump administration’s aggressive tariffs policy.

Five of the eight justices at the Constitutional Court said the impeachment motion was valid, but there were not enough grounds to impeach Mr Han as he did not violate the constitution or the law.

Two justices ruled that the impeachment motion against Mr Han, who was acting president at the time, was invalid from the start as two-thirds of lawmakers in parliament did not pass it. One justice upheld his impeachment.

The 75-year-old prime minister had served in leadership positions for more than three decades under five presidents, both conservative and liberal. Mr Han had been seen as a rare example of an official whose varied career transcended party lines in a nation sharply divided by partisan rhetoric.

Mr Han attended the only hearing in the case on 19 February, where he denied any role in the martial law episode and called for the court to dismiss the impeachment.

The country’s first martial law decree in nearly 40 years ended just after six hours on 3 December when the National Assembly voted to withdraw it. Members of the assembly jumped over fences and broke through lines of armed soldiers who were preventing lawmakers from entering the building.

The court has yet to rule on Mr Yoon’s impeachment, who remains suspended from his duties under insurrection charges. If the court upholds Mr Yoon’s impeachment, South Korea must hold a presidential election. If it rules for him, he will be restored to office and regain his presidential powers.

“Today’s verdict will give hope to Yoon’s supporters for a similar fate and hope for Yoon’s opponents for his ouster,” said Duyeon Kim, a senior analyst at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. “But it’s too soon to predict the court’s verdict on Yoon because the specific details of both cases and allegations are different,” she told the Associated Press.

Ms Kim said the the reinstatement of Han, a career bureaucrat, will bring more stability to South Korea compared to when his powers as acting president were suspended.

Earlier this month, Mr Yoon left a detention centre in capital Seoul after prosecutors decided not to appeal a court decision to cancel his arrest warrant. Mr Yoon, the first South Korean president to be arrested while in office, was taken into custody on 15 January on charges of rebellion in connection with his martial law decree, a charge that carries the death penalty or a life sentence if he is convicted.

South Korean family of three goes missing on trip to Grand Canyon

Three members of a South Korean family who were travelling in the US have been missing for 10 days after they began their road trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, police said.

Jiyeon Lee, 33, her mother Taehee Kim, 59, and aunt Junghee Kim, 54, were on vacation and travelling from the Grand Canyon to Las Vegas on 13 March in a rental vehicle, according to the Arizona police.

Their white BMW car was last seen on the Interstate 40 westbound at around 3.27pm on 13 March, the same day when a large multi-vehicle collision happened on the interstate during a winter storm, police said.

However, it is not known if the family was involved in the accident.

Two people died in a major pileup involving more than 22 vehicles, including 13 passenger vehicles, in Williams, Arizona. A total of 36 drivers and passengers were affected.

Some of the cars involved in the crash caught fire and were burned beyond recognition, making it difficult for authorities to identify them.

Authorities have been working to identify possible human remains from the crash and “meticulously examine the vehicles and related evidence”, the police said.

“It was our concern that because of the weather conditions on that day and that major accident, their GPS may have rerouted them,” Coconino County Sheriff’s Office in Flagstaff, Arizona told affiliate station Fox 10.

“And if you’ve ever traveled up in northern Arizona, when you get rerouted, sometimes GPS will reroute you out into a forest service road without knowing that weather conditions are harsh.”

The three women were to fly out of the US on 17 March, sheriff’s office spokesperson Jon Paxton said to AZ Family. However, their family became concerned after there was no communication from them and they missed their flight from the San Francisco International Airport.

“We have visitors from all over the world that come here, but yeah, it is a little unusual to have three go missing at the same time,” he said.

The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles said they have dispatched their consul to the area and working with the police to locate the missing nationals.

“Anyone who has had contact with this family since [13 March] or has knowledge of their whereabouts is requested to contact CCSO with any information,” the missing persons flyer stated.

It added: “If you have information about the above missing family, please contact Coconino County Sheriff’s Office: 928-774-4523 or 1-800-338-7888. Silent Witness: 928-774-6111.”

‘This is why I believe the Covid lab theory and it could happen again’

Five years ago today, Britain woke up to a world few had ever experienced. People were ordered to stay at home, permitted to leave for essential purposes only, such as buying food or for medical reasons. Laws were passed that prevented them from travelling outside their local areas and all “non-essential” high street businesses were closed. By May 2020, people were permitted to leave home for outdoor recreation (beyond exercise) and a month later, they were permitted to meet outside in groups of up to six.

The world was in the grip of a global pandemic which would take the lives of nearly two million people by the end of that first year. And it was under these circumstances in early 2020 that I became notorious for raising the possibility of a laboratory origin of Covid-19. But five years on, the origin of the Sars-CoV-2 virus which was first detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and went on to infect the populations of 229 countries and territories, taking over seven million lives, is still fiercely disputed.

At the time, I was a little-known early-career scientist (a postdoc) at the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard. The backlash I experienced for raising this was disproportionate and personally targeted. I was called everything from a “race traitor” to a conspiracy theorist. It was as if the slightest sign of deviation from the official scientific consensus that the virus had come from sick animals in a wet market had to be slammed down and made an example of.

Collaborators of the Wuhan scientists accused me of seeking attention by riding the waves of wild conspiracy theories. But it didn’t make sense for me to do that. No sane scientist would have sought the type of attention I received. I was simply stating the fact that a laboratory origin was plausible, no matter how likely or unlikely.

As I looked into the available evidence relevant to the origin of the virus, I continued to point out instances where Chinese scientists had not been honest or forthcoming. The harassment by fellow scientists grew. Some reached out to my employer to get me fired or disciplined – terminating a postdoc was an easy thing to do. Thankfully, I kept my job.

In 2021, I accepted science writer Matt Ridley’s invitation to write a book together laying out the clear arguments and evidence for both a natural and laboratory origin of Covid. At the time, I was terrified of what might happen if we wrote such a controversial book. It would provoke the Chinese government that had successfully squashed a children’s book in Germany just for linking the pandemic to China and threatened publishers with filing criminal charges. I knew that it would also offend many scientific leaders and influencers.

For months, I had been a lightning rod for the lab leak hypothesis. My family members and friends feared for my safety and advised me to change my name if I ever wanted to travel back to Asia. But, ultimately, I felt that someone had to tell the story of how the pandemic might have started and highlight the contributions of the few heroic scientists, journalists and sleuths who had dared to push back against the prevailing narrative. I believed it was important for me as a scientist to step up, despite the risks.

Our book, VIRAL: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19, was published at the end of 2021 and updated in 2022. I felt immense pride for having completed the book in under a year. We had worked on it literally day and night since Matt Ridley and I lived in different time zones, and I wrote obsessively into the early mornings – knowing that angry virologists would descend on us once the book was published (and they did).

Our argument for the lab leak hypothesis is as follows: the scientists in Wuhan were doing exactly what they said they were doing. To study viruses that might pose a threat to humans, they collected tens of thousands of samples from bats, wild animals, and even sick villagers or wildlife traders. In 2013, they discovered a novel lineage of Sars-like viruses from a mine in Yunnan province where workers had sickened and died from a mysterious respiratory infection. The scientists grew novel coronaviruses in the lab, experimenting with and genetically engineering them in ways that sometimes enhanced their ability to infect human cells and jump across species. Their work with live viruses was conducted at low biosafety, shocking even their close collaborators.

The year before the pandemic, the Wuhan scientists and their US partners planned to insert a unique feature called a furin cleavage site into novel Sars-like viruses. Of hundreds of Sars-like viruses known today, only Sars-CoV-2 possesses this special feature, which is what makes it a pandemic pathogen.

Despite the efforts of numerous research groups to find evidence for the origin of the virus in the wildlife trade, there have been no signs of an infected animal source or any evidence that such viruses circulate in Wuhan markets or its supply chain.

In 2019, a virus matching the 2018 experiments by Wuhan-US scientists, well adapted for spreading in humans and other animals, appeared abruptly in Wuhan and none of the other thousands of large population centres in the region not even two years after they concocted this plan, leaving no trace along its thousand-mile journey from the bat caves where Wuhan scientists frequently collected such viruses.

Influential scientists were advocates for risky research where viruses are enhanced in laboratories. Years before Covid-19, they said such “gain-of-function” research was a risk worth taking. When the virus spilled out of Wuhan, home to the largest novel Sars-like virus laboratory in the world, many of these leading scientists privately speculated that the Wuhan lab had conducted dangerous experiments at low biosafety.

Yet, instead of coming out to the public with: “Yes, the novel coronavirus might have escaped from a laboratory by accident. As responsible scientists, we will investigate and hold our colleagues accountable. And, even if the virus did emerge naturally, the fact that it could have come from a lab means we must implement measures to prevent catastrophic research accidents”, they did the opposite.

These leading names organised and co-signed prominent letters for public consumption, ruling out and condemning suggestions of a laboratory origin as conspiracy theories.

Our book was meticulously fact-checked and has more than 300 references so that readers can look into the evidence surrounding the origin of the pandemic.

I received a great deal of fan mail, including from several virologists at top institutions who could not speak out publicly about the origin of the virus out of fear of retaliation and ostracisation by their peers. VIRAL had broken past the blockade at scientific journals and popular media, which continued to push the idea that Covid had come from the Wuhan market and that the case was closed.

Since VIRAL was published, the case for a laboratory origin of Covid-19 has only become stronger. Last year, I worked with The New York Times to visually present the case for a lab leak hypothesis. The opinion piece was fact-checked and reviewed for accuracy by experts on this topic.

It was published on the day that the US Congress questioned Dr Anthony Fauci, who had been the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022, on whether his institute had supported risky virus experiments at the Wuhan laboratory suspected of causing the pandemic.

I had half-expected my article for The New York Times to be ignored. I thought that people were by then bored of talking and hearing about the pandemic. I was completely taken by surprise by the overwhelming response to the piece, which racked up 1,597 comments in a day, occupied the cover of the Sunday Opinion print, and was praised by many respected journalists and scientists. Sean Spicer, a former White House press secretary, tweeted, “Someone at [The New York Times] is probably getting fired for publishing this.”

As far as I know, no one at The New York Times has been fired for publishing the piece. In fact, a growing number of experts now publicly favour the lab leak hypothesis. In January, the CIA released the assessment they had made under the Biden administration favouring a laboratory origin of the virus, albeit with low confidence. They join the US Department of Energy and FBI, who also assessed a laboratory origin with low and moderate confidence, respectively. These are arguably the three US intelligence agencies with the strongest scientific expertise.

More recently, news broke that the German foreign intelligence service, the BND, has long held that Covid likely originated in a laboratory. Its latest assessment based on public and non-public information was made with a certainty of 80-95 per cent. The recent head of Germany’s Robert Koch Institute, a federal agency tasked with disease control and prevention, also believes a laboratory origin to be more likely. There are rumours that the UK government will also adjust its position on the issue to back the lab leak hypothesis.

A common question I get is how it feels to be vindicated. I am relieved that efforts to cast the lab leak hypothesis as a conspiracy theory have ultimately failed (although the personal attacks from virologists continue). And I am deeply grateful to the wonderful and brave scientists, journalists, advocates, and sleuths with whom I crossed paths during the search for the origin of Covid-19. There were many points in this journey where I felt close to breaking down and it was only through their support that I managed to stay positive.

However, I am also depressed that many scientific leaders continue to insist that there is no evidence for the lab leak hypothesis and therefore no need for a significant reform of oversight over pathogen research with the power to upend civilisation.

The outcome of their refusal to acknowledge a plausible laboratory origin of Covid has meant that zero new measures have been put in place to prevent future catastrophic lab leaks. Five years since the pandemic began, biosafety standards are not stronger, clearer, or enforceable even within the US, not to mention globally. This month, two prominent virologists sounded the alarm that their Wuhan counterparts continue to work with potentially dangerous pathogens at inadequate biosafety.

The prestigious scientific journal that published the experiments said it was up to each research institute to set their own rules and so they did not violate journal policy. Still, no independent entity, even within the US, has been tasked with tracking, regulating, and investigating research with the potential to cause pandemics. There is no systematic tracking of the pathogens discovered, created, and enhanced in laboratories.

The legal consequences for the creation of pandemic pathogens and their accidental or deliberate release remain unclear. Contrast this with the response from atomic scientists who founded the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1945 to inform the public about the consequences of nuclear weapons, and the creation of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Congress in 1974.

After publishing VIRAL, I approached the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the end of 2021 to suggest the convening of an international, cross-disciplinary taskforce to generate new recommendations for research with pandemic risk. I offered to bow out before the taskforce was even assembled, worried that my reputation would cast a shadow on this important work.

However, the Bulletin insisted that I stay and be part of the project. The taskforce was half constituted of virologists and infectious diseases experts from around the world. And some of my favourite people were virologists! Our recommendations were published last year, emphasising common-sense, bare-minimum measures that should have been enacted by any rational, functioning government and yet still have not.

Leading members of the scientific community were advocates and funders of risky pathogen research for many years. Asking them to acknowledge that Covid likely resulted from a laboratory accident in Wuhan is tantamount to demanding a confession that they were wrong and that the cost of being wrong was millions of human lives and global disruption.

One well-known virologist said in February 2020, “If it turned out to be true [that the pandemic virus was a lab construct], that would bother the hell out of me, not just because of people dying and so forth, but it’s kind of an indictment of the field, right?”

Investigators close case on actor’s suicide that shocked India

India’s federal investigative agency has officially concluded its probe into the death of Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput, determining that no external influence led to his suicide.

The closure report, submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) after an extensive probe, clears all individuals implicated in the case, including the late actor’s former partner, Rhea Chakraborty, and her family.

Rajput, 34, was found dead at his residence in Mumbai’s Bandra district on 14 June 2020. His death sparked nationwide debate, speculation and media frenzy, with various theories emerging regarding potential foul play.

His father, KK Singh, lodged a complaint with Bihar Police, accusing Ms Chakraborty of abetment to suicide, financial misconduct, and emotional distress. Ms Chakraborty denied the allegations, later filing a counter-complaint against Rajput’s family.

Initially handled as an accidental death by Mumbai Police, the case was transferred to the CBI in August 2020 following a Supreme Court directive. The agency conducted an exhaustive inquiry, incorporating forensic assessments, electronic evidence analysis, and multiple witness testimonies before concluding there was no criminal element in the case.

CBI officials confirmed that their investigation did not uncover any coercion or external pressure leading to Rajput’s death. The forensic examination carried out by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) corroborated the conclusion of suicide, effectively dismissing murder theories that had gained traction in media discussions.

The report exonerated Ms Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty, and her parents, who had been accused in the case. “The CBI’s findings validate that the allegations against Rhea were unfounded,” said her lawyer, Satish Maneshinde. “She endured significant hardship, including a month in jail, due to baseless accusations.”

Rajput’s death triggered a media storm, with television networks and social media platforms amplifying unverified conspiracy theories. His demise reignited discussions in India about mental health, the pressures of celebrity life, and the impact of media trials on public perception.

The case took a dramatic turn when Ms Chakraborty and her brother were arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on allegations of procuring drugs for the late actor.

However, the Bombay High Court later ruled that there was no substantial evidence of her financing or facilitating drug consumption, granting her bail.

Her lawyer criticised the media’s role in sensationalising the case. “During the pandemic, a captive audience was fed misinformation, leading to the persecution of innocent individuals,” Advocate Maneshinde remarked. “Hopefully, this case serves as a lesson against media trials.”

With the closure report now submitted, the Bandra magistrate court is set to review it on 8 April. If accepted, the case will be formally closed.

In a related decision, the Supreme Court had previously upheld the Bombay High Court’s move to revoke a lookout notice issued against Ms Chakraborty and her family. The apex court criticised the CBI’s petition against this cancellation, labelling it as unwarranted given the high-profile nature of the case.

Showik Chakraborty, responding to the CBI’s conclusions, shared a social media post saying, “Satyamev Jayate” (Truth Prevails), expressing relief over the agency’s final decision.

Rajput, known for his dynamic performances, made his Bollywood debut with Kai Po Che! in 2013 and gained widespread recognition for his roles in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Kedarnath, and Chhichhore. His final film, Dil Bechara, released posthumously, was embraced by fans mourning his loss.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

Fears for health of British couple held by Taliban as ‘trial delayed’

The family of a British couple, in their 70s, last seen chained to a group of Taliban prisoners say they fear for their health after their trial is delayed.

Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, in central Afghanistan, in February.

On Saturday the couple were presented in chains to hear their charges before their trial was cancelled “at the last minute” when their judge was changed.

Supporters describe the conditions in a Kabul maximum-security prison they are being held in as “brutal” and likened to “what I imagine hell is like.”

The couple, who married in Afghanistan in 1970, are hoping to get a “fair” court appearance early next week.

Their daughter, Sarah Entwistle, said they had been kept away from each other by their prison guards.

“Mum’s health is rapidly deteriorating, and she is collapsing due to malnutrition. She and the other women are provided only one meal a day, while the men receive three,” Ms Entwistle told The Guardian.

“Dad’s health is also still declining, and he’s experiencing tremors in his head and left arm.”

Their daughter added the couple “spent four hours sitting on the floor, chained to other prisoners, before being returned to the prison.

“At the last minute, they were informed that they would not be seen by the judge. The guards indicated that a different judge would now be handling the case, and we continue to hope they will receive a fair hearing in the coming week.”

Mrs Reynolds needed help to climb the four staircases required to sit in front of the judge, she added.

“There are still no charges against them, and no evidence of any crime has been submitted. We are, of course, devastated by this delay. It makes little sense, especially given that the Taliban have repeatedly stated that this situation is due to misunderstandings, and that they will be released ‘soon’.”

It came after they were taken to court in chains on Thursday where Mrs Reynolds “looked frail and found it hard to stand”.

They were all cuffed by their hands and feet and whilst they could finally see each other they were not allowed to talk.

Supporters said their interrogator strongly attacked them in court, but has since “proved to be an honourable man”, who reported that there was “no evidence of any crime committed”. This prompted hopes they could be quickly released.

The couple have lived in Afghanistan for over 18 years, and became Afghan citizens, calling the country “home”. When the Taliban took over in 2021 they refused to leave, saying they “couldn’t leave the country and the people they love, in their darkest hour”.

The couple was arrested last month along with an American friend, Faye Hall, who had rented a plane to travel with them, their organisation Rebuild’s employees said. An Afghan translator, Juya, working with them was also arrested.

They were moved to a maximum security prison after being separated. Mr Reynolds is in immense pain after he was beaten and shackled by the Taliban, according to his family.

“His health has significantly deteriorated. We hear he now has a chest infection; a double eye infection, and serious digestive issues due to poor nutrition. Without immediate access to necessary medication, his life is in serious danger,” his daughter said.

“Again, we ask the Taliban to release Dad, Mum, Faye, and the interpreter as a gesture of goodwill during this season of Ramadan,” their daughter said in an previous appeal to the Taliban.