Parties clash over communal issues in increasingly charged campaign amid concerns unseasonably hot weather affecting voter numbers

India has held the second phase of the world’s biggest election, with prime minister Narendra Modi and his rivals hurling accusations of religious discrimination and threats to democracy amid flagging voter turnout.

Almost 1 billion people are eligible to vote in the seven-phase general election that began on 19 April and concludes on 1 June, with votes set to be counted on 4 June.

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Warnings of dangerous temperatures across parts of Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh and India as hottest months of the year are made worse by El Niño

Millions of people across South and Southeast Asia are facing sweltering temperatures, with unusually hot weather forcing schools to close and threatening public health.

Thousands of schools across the Philippines, including in the capital region Metro Manila, have suspended in-person classes. Half of the country’s 82 provinces are experiencing drought, and nearly 31 others are facing dry spells or dry conditions, according to the UN, which has called for greater support to help the country prepare for similar weather events in the future. The country’s upcoming harvest will probably be below average, the UN said.

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Muslims worry Modi’s party will rely on familiar tactics of drawing on religious divisions as it battles Congress to to retain seats in Karnataka

The sun scorched the carpeted car park at Mudipu Junction outside Mangalore in Karnataka state as volunteers arranged rows of red plastic chairs and placed mounds of biryani and fruit on the table for a public iftar , the moment Muslims break their fast during Ramadan.

But this was no ordinary iftar. India is in the midst of a general election during which prime minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are seeking a third term, and factionalism is rife.

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And They Lived … Ever After is a south Asian book of reworked European classics written by women with disabilities

A deaf Snow White, a blind Cinderella, a neurodivergent ugly duckling and a wheelchair-using Rapunzel: classic European fairytales have been reimagined in a new anthropology of stories written by south Asian women with disabilities.

“ When disabled people don’t see themselves in the world, it tells us that we don’t deserve to exist, that these stories are not for us, that stories of love and friendship are not for us, and certainly not happy endings,” says Nidhi Ashok Goyal, the founder of Rising Flame, a feminist disability rights group that has produced the book, called And They Lived … Ever After.

“I can’t. There is no ramp from the room to the garden.”

“We will find a way. I can carry you down,” says the prince.

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Indian voters ought to think hard about giving Narendra Modi another popular mandate

The world’s largest elections begin this weekend in India, amid claims that the race to lead the country has already been won . If Narendra Modi were to secure a third term with a big parliamentary majority, his achievement would match that of the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru . Whatever the outcome, the loser has been Indian democracy. Unlike Mr Nehru, who anonymously criticised his own leadership , Mr Modi has little time for his opponents.

Democracies run best when there is a contest of ideas and equal treatment of citizens in everyday administration. These are in short supply in Modi’s India. The main opposition Congress party found its bank accounts frozen . It can’t be a coincidence that all the leading Indian politicians arrested by enforcement and tax authorities belong to the opposition and none to the ruling party. Weaponising India’s prosecutorial apparatus seems unnecessary, as Mr Modi can massively outspend his rivals. Since 2018, Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party has received about £1.25bn from wealthy donors, more than all other political parties combined.

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Two men from Bishnoi gang, whose leader has threatened to kill Salman Khan, arrested over Mumbai shooting

Two members of a criminal gang have been arrested by Indian police for firing at the home of the Bollywood actor Salman Khan in retaliation for the star’s killing of two antelopes.

The Bishnoi gang, accused of several murders and extortion rackets, hails from a wider desert-based religious sect that considers the species to be the reincarnation of their guru.

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A region known as ‘God’s land’ offers a glimpse of the future if Indian prime minister’s BJP party retains its power

For centuries it has been known as the “land of the gods”. Stretching high up into the Himalayas, the Indian state of Uttarakhand is home to tens of thousands of Hindu temples and some of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage sites.

Yet as Hindu nationalism has become the dominant political force in India under prime minister Narendra Modi over the past decade, the government is accused of weaponising Uttarakhand’s sacred status for politics, making the state a “laboratory” for some of the most extreme rightwing policies and rhetoric targeting the Muslim minority.

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His cult-like status is likely to hand him victory in the coming elections, but at democracy’s loss

Suddenly, everyone loves India. But it’s an affair, not a marriage. Whether it lasts depends on the consequences of this week’s watershed election. At stake are the credibility of Indian democracy and, potentially, the country’s future as a cohesive unitary state.

Courting India as a counterweight to China, the US is ardently pursuing a deeper security relationship. The EU hankers after a free trade pact. Countries ranging from Australia to Norway to the UAE have already forged bespoke deals .

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Clubs in the west hope partnerships with the Indian Super League can let them trade knowhow for fan engagement

A south Indian Idli Sambar mixed with Norfolk mustard was on the menu when Norwich City and Chennaiyin FC announced a strategic partnership last week. The Canaries are the latest European club to head to the subcontinent in search of fans, revenue and, eventually perhaps, talent. If India has overtaken China as the world’s most populous country, it is also increasingly seen as the place to be in football.

The big clubs are still active in China but operating there was far from simple even before the pandemic helped to produce a more inward-looking and insular business environment. It can be hard for European officials to get to grips with a lack of transparency, the language and a completely different social media model as well as concerns over corruption. Chinese companies and business people got heavily involved in European football for a while but there have been few attempts to go the other way – Sheffield United’s ownership of Chengdu Blades , starting in 2006, had its moments but did not last long.

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