Friday Briefing: A brutal reality for women in India

August 23, 2024

	By Justin Porter

Good morning. We’re covering the latest on a brutal killing in India and a case of a new version of mpox in Thailand.

Plus, a look back at the movies of 1999.

A young woman holds a sign with red handprints and #standforjustice surrounded by other protesters.

A vigil for the murdered woman in Guwahati, India, on Saturday. Anupam Nath/Associated Press

A brutal reality for women in India

The Supreme Court of India this week took up the case of the ghastly rape and murder of a trainee doctor in a Kolkata hospital earlier this month. The case has convulsed the nation and led to doctor strikes and large street protests.

Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud identified a number of breakdowns in the official response to the murder of the woman, whose name may not be published under Indian law. The court also set up a national task force to recommend safety measures to protect medics, who are often subject to violence and abuse.

The police have arrested a 33-year-old man who was a volunteer at a police post at the hospital. Three senior officials there were removed from their posts.

Context: India, by many measures, remains one of the world’s most unsafe places for women. Rape and domestic violence are relatively common, and conviction rates are low. The case of the trainee doctor comes 12 years after a physiotherapy student died after being gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi, leading to national outrage.

Related: The sugar industry is facing pressure to improve oversight after a Times investigation found that women in India work in debt bondage and are coerced into getting hysterectomies.

A man sits a microphone gesturing with one hand. The words “Department of Disease Control” are written on the wall behind him.

Thailand is stepping up controls on travelers returning from places known to have mpox outbreaks. Narong Sangnak/EPA, via Shutterstock

Thailand confirms its first case of a deadlier Mpox

Thai health officials have confirmed a case of the version of mpox that prompted the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

The infected person is a 66-year-old European man who worked in an African country with an ongoing outbreak. Officials did not specify which country. The man, who has a home in Thailand, was not reported to have severe symptoms.

It’s the second time that the new and deadlier version of the virus has been found outside Africa. Coupled with the earlier case, discovered in Sweden last week, the announcement in Thailand is likely to stir concerns that the virus is spreading more widely. The outbreak previously had been concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Details: The new version of the virus has a death rate of 3 percent, much higher than the 0.2 percent death rate observed in a 2022 outbreak.

🇺🇸 U.S. ELECTION 2024

The presidential election is less than 80 days away. This is what we’re watching.

Kamala Harris speaks into a wireless microphone during a rally. She is wearing a black shirt under a royal blue blazer with an American flag lapel pin.

Erin Schaff/The New York Times

The Democratic convention’s final, biggest night

The Democratic National Convention will conclude Thursday night in the U.S., with Vice President Kamala Harris taking the stage to formally accept her party’s nomination to be president. This is a high-profile (and high-stakes) moment for her to speak directly to the nation about her vision for her presidency.

Gaza politics: The United Automobile Workers, a powerful labor union that is supporting Harris, has backed an effort to feature a Pro-Palestinian speaker to address the human cost of Israel’s war in Gaza. Democrat officials had earlier denied a similar request, but the union’s muscle could boost the chances it will happen.

Here’s what else to expect.

Previous Democratic leaders tried to capture the party’s imagination. But Harris may be more focused on what can be done now rather than what could be.
Harris’s tax plan would aim for $5 trillion in increases over the next decade, drawn from the wealthiest Americans and corporations.
Donald Trump spoke glowingly of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. amid reports that Kennedy would end his troubled campaign and was considering endorsing the former president.
A hip-hop mash-up of years-old, anti-Trump comments by JD Vance, Trump’s running mate, is spreading widely on TikTok.

Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us and we’ll find the answers.

Stay up-to-date: Live coverage | Poll tracker | The “Run-Up” podcast | On Politics newsletter

MORE TOP NEWS

A statue with part of its head blown off stands in front of a damaged building.

A statue of Vladimir Lenin in Sudzha, Russia, after the Ukrainian counteroffensive. Yan Dobronosov/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Russia: Negative feelings about President Vladimir Putin have appeared to increase across the country since Ukraine’s incursion, according to an attitude tracking firm.
Middle East: Thousands of Palestinian civilians were forced to flee this week, after the Israeli military ordered evacuations from neighborhoods in Khan Younis and parts of central Gaza.
Italy: The body of the British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch was among those recovered by Italian divers, confirming that he was killed when a violent storm struck his yacht earlier this week.
Canada: Rail freight traffic came to a standstill as the country’s two main rail companies locked out about 10,000 employees amid a labor dispute.
Pakistan: The authorities arrested a man for spreading fake news that helped set off violent riots in Britain following a deadly stabbing attack last month.
Guatemala: The police arrested seven people in connection with a June 2022 human smuggling operation that caused the deaths of 53 people.

Arts and Culture

Movies: A new trailer for Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” was pulled after using fake quotes from major critics to promote the film.
Climate art: It’s often heavy-handed and full of protest. But two sculptors are taking a softer approach.
Festivals: The Sarajevo Film Festival, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, has become the premier movie industry event in the Balkan region.

Sports

Michael Zheng, a tennis player, with an intense expression and an orange shirt. He holds his racket in a position of readiness.

Michael Zheng at the U.S. Open qualifying match. Jeenah Moon for The New York Times

U.S. Open: There are 32 unclaimed spots in the tournament, and the math is as brutal as it is simple: Win three matches, and you’re in.
CrossFit: An athlete died this week at the CrossFit Games. What does it mean for the exercise craze?
Nippon Professional Baseball: Players in the Japanese baseball league are pushing for changes that would allow them to join major league baseball sooner.

MORNING READ

Penguins walk on snow in a single-file line under a rainbow-colored inflatable arch.

The penguins Sphen, right, and Magic at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium. SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium

Sphen, a gentoo penguin whose partnership with Magic, another male penguin at a Sydney aquarium, made them international queer icons, has died at 11.

Gentoo penguins often take a while to pick a mate, but Sphen and Magic courted each other immediately with songs and gifts of pebbles. They fostered and hatched a neglected egg. The aquarium said that it took Magic to see Sphen after he died, and he started singing. The rest of the colony joined in.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Altered states: Psychedelic drugs may provide a window into what it’s like to have a near-death experience.
A veggie in demand: In Iceland, the TikTok cucumber craze has created a nationwide cucumber shortage.
A video game dynamo: Xalavier Nelson Jr. is behind some delightfully weird games, including an organ-trading simulator and a Lynchian neo-noir.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A photo collage shows various stars from 1999 including, clockwise from bottom left, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Pierce Brosnan, Julia Roberts, Eddie Murphy, Toni Collette and Haley Joel Osment.

Illustration by Tala Safie; Photos: MGM; Sony Pictures; Touchstone Pictures; Spyglass Entertainment Group; Jon Farmer/Touchstone Pictures; Merie W. Wallace/Warner Bros.

The best year for movies, especially for a critic

Our critic Wesley Morris looks back on 1999, a year of cinematic abundance that overwhelmed him as a 23-year-old critic.

It was the year of “The Sixth Sense,” “The Blair Witch Project” and “American Beauty,” which went on to win the Oscar for best picture. “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” and “The Matrix” also came out, along with existential identity crackups like “Fight Club,” crass hits like “American Pie” and one of Wesley’s favorites, “The Thomas Crowne Affair.”

“It was the last most-exciting period for American moviegoing,” Wesley writes. “It was the last most-exciting time to write about the movies.” Read his essay.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A white plate filled with rice, black beans and a red, saucy dish with green olives and tomatoes.

David Malosh for The New York Times

Cook: Picadillo, a Caribbean and Latin American favorite, is made simple with a slow cooker in this recipe.

Train: Here’s how to exercise during menopause.

Explore: John Liu, who covers China and Taiwan, has queued up these books, movies and albums.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all of our games here.

Have a good weekend, and I’ll see you on Monday. — Justin

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