Netflix is not always known for its restraint in the documentary genre, but with its outstanding recent film Grenfell: Uncovered, and now Attack on London: Hunting the 7/7 Bombers, it appears to be finding a new maturity and seriousness in the field. There have been plenty of recent documentaries on the subject of the attacks and the sprawling investigation that followed – no surprise, given that it is the 20th anniversary this week – but there is still real depth to be found here.
Over four parts, this thorough series unravels the initial attacks on the London transport system, which killed 52 people and injured more than 700, then follows that febrile month into the failed bombings of 21 July, and then the police shooting of the innocent Jean Charles de Menezes, a day later. The first 25 minutes or so simply recount those first attacks, compiling the story using phone pictures, news footage, occasional reconstructions, the infamous photographs of the injured pouring out of tube stations and accounts from survivors and the families of victims. Though it is by now a familiar story, this evokes the fear, confusion and panic of that day in heart-racing detail.
Jean Charles de Menezes, who was shot dead by police, after being mistaken for a suspect. Photograph: Courtesy of Netflix
In those details, it is unsparing and frequently horrifying. Daniel Biddle lost his legs in the explosion at Edgware Road. His memory of locking eyes with the man who would shortly detonate the bomb in his bag is chilling, and his account of his fight to survive is as gripping as it is brutal. Others talk about the chaos, the noise, the screaming. One woman, who had managed to jump on the 30 bus near Tavistock Square in all of the transport disarray, recounts getting a text from her boyfriend at the time, saying: “You were right, they were bombs.” She had just put her phone back in her pocket after reading it, she says, when the bus exploded.
Those attacks led to the largest criminal investigation ever seen in the UK, which is the primary focus of all four episodes. These were the first suicide bombings to take place on British soil, and police did not know, immediately, that the bombers had also blown themselves up. The revelation about how they came to suspect this – from evidence gathered in one of the tube carriages – is gruesome and fascinating. Explosives expert Cliff Todd talks of material and techniques he had never seen before, and the work that went into tracking down those responsible – and attempting to prevent further attacks – is astonishing in its scale and reach.
This is not simply a police procedural – and that strengthens it greatly. It is impressively comprehensive, taking in the political and media climate of the time. There are interviews with Eliza Manningham-Buller, then director general of MI5, as well as the former prime minister Tony Blair. It even puts the crucial question to Blair: did the invasion of Iraq in 2003 lead directly to these attacks in Britain? His answer is politician-like and broad, but at least it asks the question, and offers context to attacks that did not happen in a vacuum.
Another survivor, Mustafa Kurtuldu, recalls his experience of being on the tube near Aldgate when his train was blown up. When he was finally removed from the carriage and taken out of the station, police searched his bag. There is footage of an appearance on GMTV, just days later, when the presenter asks him how he feels about the attacks, “as a Muslim”. When the investigation moves to Beeston, in Leeds – where two of the four attackers were from – a youth worker in the Muslim community talks about the realisation that, as after 9/11, he would be asked, once more, to apologise for the actions of extremists.
The third episode deals with the failed attacks on 21 July. There are eyewitness accounts of the explosions that went wrong – chilling and eerie, in their own way – the subsequent hunt for the four men who escaped is, again, astonishing in its scope. The next day, the 27-year-old Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was on his way to work when he was described as behaving in an “edgy” manner by police who had mistakenly identified him as a suspect. He was shot dead. One of the officers who pulled the trigger speaks here, his identity disguised.
Again, the strength of Attack on London is in the details. When officers finally caught up with Yassin Omar – who had attempted to blow up Warren Street and had fled to Birmingham disguised in a burqa – he was standing in a bath with a backpack on. Fittingly, though, this does not end with the attackers, but with the survivors and their relatives. It strikes a careful balance throughout.
Freddie Mercury’s performance with Queen at Live Aid in 1985 is often seen as the crowning glory of one of the greatest showmen the world has ever seen.
But he still needed some very clear instructions from Bob Geldof, the festival’s organiser, before going out on stage. “Don’t get clever,” the Boomtown Rats frontman told him, according to fellow Queen members Roger Taylor and Brian May. “Just play the hits – you have 17 minutes.”
Twenty years after Live Aid, Queen’s six-song performance was voted the world’s greatest rock gig. During the short set, Mercury had 72,000 people clapping as one. Speaking to the Radio Times, Taylor, the band’s drummer, said: “During Radio Ga Ga, it did seem that the whole stadium was in unison. But then I looked up during We Are the Champions, and the crowd looked like a whole field of wheat swaying.”
The performance might never have happened, too, if it were not for the persuasive powers of May, Queen’s lead guitarist. “We weren’t touring or playing, and it seemed like a crazy idea, this talk of having 50 bands on the same bill,” May said. “I said to Freddie: ‘If we wake up on the day after this Live Aid show and we haven’t been there, we’re going to be pretty sad.’ He said: ‘Oh, fuck it, we’ll do it.’”
Mercury was told by Geldof to focus on playing Queen’s hits. Photograph: Brook Lapping/BB/Band Aid Trust
He added: “It was one of the few moments in anyone’s life that you know you’re doing something for all the right reasons.”
The singer was not the only one who wasn’t immediately convinced that Queen should even play that day. It has previously been reported that Geldof was reluctant too.
Speaking to Mojo magazine earlier this month, the promoter Harvey Goldsmith said he and Geldof were working together on the lineup. “Being the producer, I understood how slots work and who went where. I was also dealing with the technical side: we were doing two shows [London and Philadelphia] and had to stay strictly to time because of the satellite.
“I thought about it, and said for the late afternoon slot the perfect act would be Queen. Bob said: ‘No, they’ve peaked. I don’t think they should play! I said to Bob, I really think they’ll be perfect to go on in that 5.30, 6 o’clock type slot – knowing Freddie as I did, I knew they’d really make a show of it.
It’s a hot June lunchtime at remote stand 572 at Heathrow Terminal 5, and I’m waiting on the tarmac for British Airways flight 343 to arrive from Nice. I’m here to see a “turn”, as it’s known in aviation jargon; in layman’s terms it’s a turnaround, the process that deals with an arriving aircraft, unloading it and getting it ready to go back out again.
It’s 1.30pm, and the Airbus A320neo is late. It was due to arrive at 1.10pm, but despite the flight information having flashed up on a digital information board, it has disappeared again. After a quick look at Flightradar24, a plane tracking site, I realise the aircraft has performed a go-around — an aborted landing, perfectly normal — to avoid coming too close to another plane on the runway. At 1.48pm, it inches onto the stand and turns off its engines.
So far, so ordinary. BA343 is just one of about 650 planes that land at Europe’s busiest airport each day. But the cool thing here is that it’s the first time a BA turnaround has been performed using only zero-emission equipment: buses that run on vegetable oil; baggage tugs, which look like little golf buggies, running on lithium batteries; and electric-powered steps to get passengers off. It might not sound like much, and if you’re disembarking chances are you won’t even notice. But the goal of this new hardware is to make the whole process more efficient and reduce delays for passengers. It’s part of a wider multibillion-pound transformation of the airline.
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This summer is predicted to be exceptionally busy, according to figures from the aviation data agency Cirium, with a record number of passengers forecast to go on holiday. Almost 52 million of us will travel between June 1 and August 31, up from 51 million last summer. There is also some nervousness about air-traffic control delays due to hot weather or strikes. Eurocontrol, which runs European air traffic control, said in April that in the first four months of the year European air traffic was up by 5 per cent compared with the same period in 2024, with delays also up by the same amount. Add to that a pile-on over British Airways’ revamped loyalty scheme, the Club, and you can see why the flag carrier might be nervous.
Last year BA announced a £7 billion transformation programme, with money funnelled into new cabins in state-of-the-art aircraft such as the Airbus A320neo and sustainable initiatives, such as the carbon-neutral hardware out on the airfield. The airline has also invested £100m in “gamechanging’ and “integral” AI forecasting tools — essentially what the BA boss Sean Doyle calls “devising a better way of working on the ground at Heathrow” — which, when put into practice, will ultimately mean fewer delays and cancellations for passengers. The results so far are promising: in the first three months of 2025, 86 per cent of BA flights left on time from London Heathrow, the highest on record; in 2008 it was 46 per cent.
I went to Heathrow to find out more and see how BA is using machine learning to improve the passenger experience. I’m getting an exclusive look at the airport’s revamped Air Operations Control Centre (AOCC), the eyes and ears of BA’s operation at Heathrow; as well BA’s Integrated Operations Control (IOC) at its Waterside headquarters, to the northwest of the airport.
One of the new tools at the AOCC is Mission Control, a giant interface beamed onto a giant screen in the control centre. It shows real-time tracking of each BA plane on the ground at Heathrow (blue shows arriving aircraft, flashing yellow shows planes about to depart) and how many connecting passengers are on board. I can see flight BA453 arrive from Ibiza and BA115 depart to New York. A screen tracking New York JFK has been configured too. London-New York is the busiest international route in the world; after the British capital it’s BA’s largest international destination.
Mission Control is also a big part of BA’s IOC at its Waterside headquarters, where staff monitor up to 900 daily BA flights across the network. The real-time data from the interface ensures that staff can track the aircraft and make on-the-go decisions about where aircraft need to go.
I sit down with Ben Lang, who looks after BA’s schedule, planning where to use its more than 280 jets. He showed me the Pathfinder planning tool, which uses thousands of pieces of historical data to make the flight plans, pulling in information about delays, air-traffic control restrictions and aircraft capacity. For example, Lang explains, if flights from Paris are always delayed by ten minutes, Pathfinder will allocate an extra ten minutes to the turnaround process; and if there’s a big sporting event happening, bigger jets will be deployed to cope with demand.
I also get a look at Runway, another AI forecasting tool that kicks in when disruptive events such as storms, strikes and — particularly relevant at the moment — blocked airspaces threaten to throw passengers off course. Using masses of data, it can allocate the most efficient aircraft for a particular flight, making what it calls a “swap”. For example, during Storm Eowyn in January, Runway swapped out smaller aircraft that would typically fly to Glasgow and Edinburgh for larger planes to stop passengers getting stranded in Scotland. At the top of Lang’s screen, it says the tool has improved the number of on-time flights by 1.1 per cent over the past five days by making 233 of these swaps.
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Elsewhere in the IOC there’s AI-powered Flight Watch, which shows flight routes, closed sections of airspace and particularly nasty bouts of turbulence as well as other weather events; it can also communicate directly with air-traffic control towers, which helps teams to reroute flights through less-delayed airspace. More than 3,500 minutes of flight time were recently saved in one day, Richard Treeves, head of the IOC, told me. A new AI crew app launched earlier this month, automating the manual task of rostering the right staff onto the right aircraft. Everything is designed to make the operation run more smoothly and crucially reduce delays and cancellations for passengers.
“We’re now entering one of our busiest periods of the year and will be flying millions of customers around the world throughout July and August,” René de Groot, BA’s chief operating officer, says. “The new technology we’ve introduced has been a real gamechanger, allowing us to make more informed decisions based on vast amounts of data. We have even more in the pipeline — including new apps for our operational colleagues — and we’re in a much better place to deliver a smooth travel experience this summer and beyond.”
Back on the tarmac, I can see for myself how Mission Control has alerted flight teams, showing them that it was better to change the aircraft to quash the potential delay. The late arrival of BA343 means it’s too late to be turned around for its planned 2pm departure to Milan. It’s instead bound for Amsterdam, now departing at 2.30pm — not even 45 minutes after it arrived. I watch as bags are loaded and passengers arrive to board. No one will notice the work that went on behind the scenes — but that’s the point; the important thing is that everyone gets from A to B on time.
Do you think the changes will make a difference this summer? Let us know in the comments below
For the first time, the extreme variability in dengue fever has been linked to a biological mechanism, potentially opening doors to new treatments and vaccines for the most common mosquito-borne disease worldwide. The study was published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, UPMC and Instituto Aggeu Magalhães in Brazil.
Cases of dengue fever, commonly known as “breakbone fever” for the excruciating joint pain that is the hallmark of the disease, have been rising around the world in recent years. More than half the global population is at risk.
There’s an urgent need for better prevention and treatment for this global threat. Dengue outbreaks can quickly overwhelm local hospitals.”
Priscila Castanha, Ph.D., MPH, lead author, assistant professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at Pitt’s School of Public Health
The course of the disease varies widely from person to person. Some are asymptomatic; others experience dengue’s painful flu-like symptoms and then recover within days or weeks. “But 5% have serious bleeding, shock and organ failure-they can be critically ill within two days,” said senior author Simon Barratt-Boyes, Ph.D., professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at Pitt Public Health and immunology at Pitt School of Medicine.
For decades, epidemiologic studies have documented a puzzling phenomenon: In countries with ethnically diverse populations-like Brazil, Colombia, Haiti and Cuba-people of African ancestry tend to have milder cases of dengue, while people of European ancestry have more severe disease. But no one could explain why.
In this study, the team used a model they developed with samples of human skin that had been donated by individuals who had undergone elective skin-reduction surgeries after profound weight loss. The participants consented to contributing their tissues to this study.
“We used skin because it is an immunologic organ and the body’s first line of defense against dengue infection,” said Barratt-Boyes. When maintained in culture under proper conditions, the tissue samples used in this model can survive and carry out their normal immune functions for days, providing a unique opportunity for scientific study, he added, “because the skin is where the story begins with all mosquito-borne diseases.”
The study focused on samples from individuals who had self-identified as having European or African ancestry. First, the researchers objectively measured the ancestral geographic origins written into the skin samples’ DNA by analyzing genetic markers known as single nucleotide polymorphisms. The team then injected each sample with dengue virus, observed the samples’ subsequent immune responses over a 24-hour period and compared them.
The team found that the inflammatory response was much greater in skin from people with higher proportions of European ancestry. And unfortunately, in severe dengue, this immune response is prone to “friendly fire.” The virus infects inflammatory cells, actually recruiting them to spread the infection instead of fighting it off. This dynamic is believed to be what is so damaging to blood vessels and organs in severe cases of dengue fever.
In the samples from donors of European ancestry, the team saw this friendly fire in action as myeloid cells mobilized to confront the virus, then themselves became infected. The turncoat cells then moved out of the skin and spread out into the dish-similar to how they would spread within the body, traveling through the bloodstream and into lymph nodes.
The team further showed that the problem was not the skin itself-it was indeed the inflammatory response. In the samples from individuals with higher proportions of African ancestry, the researchers added inflammatory molecules called cytokines, and the friendly fire ensued. Then, when the team blocked the inflammation within those same samples, the virus’s rate of infection in the cells plummeted.
“It makes sense that, in parts of the world where ancient populations were exposed to deadly mosquito-borne viruses-like the one that causes yellow fever, which is related todengue viruses and has been around for a very long time-those with a limited inflammatory response had an advantage,” said Barratt-Boyes. “They then passed that advantage down to their descendants.” Ancient Europeans’ descendants, however, lack that ancestral exposure and the evolutionary adaptation it made possible.
The authors hope that, eventually, the mechanism they’ve identified could be exploited for precision medicine approaches to things like risk assessment, triage in an outbreak, therapies and vaccines. In future studies, they hope to describe this mechanism in further detail, including which specific gene variants contribute to protection from severe dengue. The current study’s broader analysis of geographic ancestry could be an important first step to that end.
“Ancestry does affect biology. Evolution has made its mark on everyone’s DNA,” said Castanha.
Other authors on the study are Michelle M. Martí, M.S., Parichat Duangkhae, Ph.D., Jocelyn M. Taddonio, M.S., Kristine L. Cooper, M.S., Megan Wallace, M.S., Gwenddolen Kettenburg, M.S., Geza Erdos, Ph.D., Hasitha Chavva, M.S., Aleena Alex, M.S., Pharm. D., J. Peter Rubin, M.D., Simon C. Watkins, Ph.D., Louis D. Falo, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., and Jeremy J. Martinson, Ph.D., all of Pitt; and Ernesto T. A. Marquesa, M.D., Ph.D., of Pitt and Instituto Aggeu Magalhães.
This research was supported by Pitt, the Institute for Precision Medicine, the Richard K Mellon Foundation for Pediatric Research and the National Cancer Institute (P30CA047904).
Source:
Journal reference:
Castanha, P. M. S., et al. (2025). Genetic ancestry shapes dengue virus infection in human skin explants. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2502793122.
“It’s no longer a question of if we will have a heatwave, but how many are we going to experience this year and how long will they last,” said Marisol Yglesias Gonzalez, technical officer for climate change and health at the WHO in Bonn.
As for how many people could be at risk, Pierre Masselot, a statistician at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, told POLITICO this heatwave could cause more than 4,500 excess deaths between June 30 and July 3. The countries likely to experience the highest excess death rates are Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Luxembourg, he said. “The worst days will likely be [Tuesday] and Wednesday.”
Heat claims more than 175,000 lives across the WHO’s Europe region — spanning from Iceland to Russia — each year. A major study co-authored by Masselot and published in January, which covered 854 European cities, warned that deaths from heat would rise sharply if significant climate adaptation is not prioritized.
The WHO on Monday echoed that climate change, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, means heatwaves will become more frequent, dangerous and intense, leading to more serious illness and death.
Almost two-thirds of Spanish towns have been slapped with health risk warnings, including 804 at the highest alert level, according to data from the Aemet national weather agency. A spokesperson stated that intense heat is expected across the country until July 3. Meanwhile, heat alerts are also in place in France, Italy, Portugal and Greece.
Southern Europe is in the midst of a soaring heatwave with temperatures reaching up to 46 degrees Celsius in Spain’s Huelva region — a new national record for June. | Toni Albir/EPA
The Greek government has also issued warnings about air pollution from wildfires that have ripped through coastal towns near Athens. Meanwhile, more than 50,000 people have been evacuated in Turkey, primarily due to a fire near Izmir.
Every year, tens of thousands of people with signs of Parkinson’s disease go unnoticed until the incurable neurodegenerative condition has already progressed.
Motor symptoms, such as tremors or rigidity, often emerge only after significant neurological damage has occurred. By the time patients are diagnosed, more than half of their dopamine-producing neurons may already be lost. This kind of diagnostic delay can limit treatment options and slow progress on early-stage interventions. While there are existing tests to detect biomarkers of Parkinson’s, including cell loss in the brain and inflammatory markers in blood, they typically require access to specialists and costly equipment at major medical centers, which may be out of reach for many.
Led by Jun Chen, an associate professor of bioengineering at the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering, researchers have developed a seemingly simple yet effective tool: a smart, self-powered magnetoelastic pen that could help detect early signs of Parkinson’s by analyzing a person’s handwriting.
The highly sensitive diagnostic pen, described in a UCLA-led study and published as a cover story in the June issue of Nature Chemical Engineering, features a soft, silicon magnetoelastic tip and ferrofluid ink – a special liquid containing tiny magnetic particles. When the pen’s tip is pressed against a surface or moved in the air, the pen converts both on-surface and in-air writing motions into high-fidelity, quantifiable signals through a coil of conductive yarn wrapped around the pen’s barrel. Although not intended for writing, the pen is self-powered leveraging changes in the magnetic properties of its tip and the dynamic flow of the ferrofluid ink to generate data.
To test the pen’s diagnostic potential, the team conducted a pilot study with 16 participants, three of whom had Parkinson’s disease. The pen recorded detailed handwriting signals, which were then analyzed by a neural network trained to detect motor patterns associated with the disease. The model was able to distinguish participants with Parkinson’s from healthy individuals with an average accuracy of 96.22%.
Detection of subtle motor symptoms unnoticeable to the naked eye is critical for early intervention in Parkinson’s disease. Our diagnostic pen presents an affordable, reliable and accessible tool that is sensitive enough to pick up subtle movements and can be used across large populations and in resource-limited areas.”
Jun Chen, study’s corresponding author
The researchers anticipate that this pen could transform early detection of Parkinson’s and other neurodegenerative conditions. Rather than waiting for symptoms to become disruptive, primary care physicians or geriatric specialists could administer a quick handwriting test during routine visits and use the data to inform earlier referrals or treatment.
Wei Wang, a professor who holds the Leonard Kleinrock Term Chair in Computer Science, and Song Li, a chancellor’s professor in bioengineering, are also authors on the paper. Other authors include graduate students Guorui Chen, Zhaoqi Duan, Kamryn Scott and Xun Zhao; research scientists Zeyang Liu; and postdoctoral scholars Trinny Tat and Yihao Zhou – all members of Chen’s Bioelectronics Research Group. They were joined by graduate student Junkai Zhang, who is advised by Wang. Chen is also a member of the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA.
The study was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the American Heart Association, the Science Hub for Humanity and Artificial Intelligence at UCLA, UCLA Samueli and a Caltech/UCLA joint NIH grant.
Source:
University of California – Los Angeles
Journal reference:
Chen, G., et al. (2025). Neural network-assisted personalized handwriting analysis for Parkinson’s disease diagnostics. Nature Chemical Engineering. doi.org/10.1038/s44286-025-00219-5.
ISLAMABAD: While the capital police have devised a security plan for Muharram, 13 points have been identified as potential trouble spots with a history of tension in the past.
The points included Burma Town, Alipur, Noorpur Shahn, Shah Allah Ditta, Imambargah Musa Kazim, Imambargah Qadeemi Talha Syedan, Darbar Shah Mubarak, Darbar Sakhi Mehmood, Ali Masjid G-7 and Imambargah Qadeemi Dhoke Mohri.
Police officers said as part of security, organisers of processions will be asked not to accept Niaz or any kind of drink for distribution amongst the participants without prior checking. There had been incidents in which poison was mixed in Niaz by saboteurs in the past.
Police officials said 88 processions were taken out from Muharram 1 to 10 – 20 from Muharram 11 to 20, 18 from Muharram 21 to 29/30 and 55 in Safar. Out of the total, 16 are placed in category A, 93 in B and 72 in C.
About 31 processions are also scheduled to be taken out without getting no-objection certificates. Besides, 27 new processions will be held first time this year.
About 956 majalis are also scheduled to be held; 681 from Muharram 1 to 10, 95 from 11 to 20 and 31 from 21 to 29/30 and 158 in Safar.
Police will be deployed in three tiers as part of the security plan. The first tier will be deployed at 200 yards from a procession’s front.
On the request of the police, the district administration has banned the entry of 17 firebrand Ulema belonging to different schools of thought in the capital for two months. Besides, the administration has also restricted seven Ulema from delivering speeches and sermons at any public and religious gathering in Islamabad for two months.
Police along with magistrates will inspect mosques and seminaries and will ensure that no stranger is allowed to stay on the premises without due verification and their particulars incorporated in their registers.
The routes of processions will be cleared by Bomb Disposal Squad of Special Branch.
The squad will also carry out checking of vehicles through their special gadgets at different places.
Special Branch will collect and communicate information concerning terrorism/sabotage. It will also make arrangements for recording of speeches and sermons in mosques and majalis.
Security Division will make arrangements at all key points, foreign installations, diplomatic enclave and high security zone. All guest houses, hotels will maintain a proper record of all visitors.
Counter Terrorism Department will depute police in plainclothes at shrines, including Bari Imam, Golra Sharif and Sain Boota Sarkar. Traffic police will make diversions and parking arrangements.
Police will check pillion riders especially youngsters and record their details, especially around Imambargahs.
A flag march involving all forces and district administration will be held on Muharram 6 and 8.
New Delhi, India — When models sashayed down the ramp at Milan Fashion Week last week, Harish Kurade looked at them on his smartphone in awe, sitting in his village in southern Maharashtra state, more than 7,000km (4,350 miles) away.
Models were showcasing a new line of open-toe leather sandals, designed by Prada, the iconic luxury fashion house. However, in India, the visuals raised a furore among artisans and politicians after the Italian giant failed to credit the ancient Maharashtra roots of its latest design.
“They [Prada] stole and replicated our crafty work, but we are really happy,” said Kurade in a chirpy tone. “Today, the world’s eyes are on our Kolhapuri ‘chappals’ [Hindi for sandals].” Kolhapur is a city in Maharashtra after which the sandals are named.
After facing backlash, Prada acknowledged that its new sandal designs “are inspired by traditional Indian handcrafted footwear, with a centuries-old heritage”, in a letter to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce.
While Kurade is chuffed about the centuries-old sandal-making craft from his village potentially gaining global exposure, other artisans, politicians and activists are wary of cultural appropriation and financial exploitation by Prada.
So, what is the controversy about? And what are artisans in Kolhapur saying about Prada? Can it change anything for the workers behind the original sandals?
What did Prada step into?
Prada showcased the classic T-strapped leather flats at the Spring/Summer 2026 menswear collection at Milan Fashion Week.
In its show notes, the Italian brand described the new range of footwear only as “leather sandals”. The notes made no mention of any Indian connection, despite its uncanny resemblance to Kolhapuri sandals, which are wildly popular across India and often worn on special occasions, such as weddings and festivals, along with traditional Indian clothing.
Outraged, a delegation of Kolhapuri sandals manufacturers met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday last week to register their protest.
Showing his support for the delegation is Dhananjay Mahadik, a member of parliament from the state’s Kolhapur district, belonging to the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Mahadik told reporters that the sandal makers and their supporters are in the process of filing a lawsuit in the Bombay High Court against Prada.
Mahadik also wrote to Fadnavis, drawing “urgent attention to a serious infringement on Maharashtra’s cultural identity and artisan rights”, and called on him to “protect the cultural heritage of Maharashtra”.
In his letter, he noted that the sandals are reportedly priced at approximately $1,400 a pair. By contrast, the authentic Kolhapuri sandals can be found in local markets for about $12.
A model walks the runway during the Prada collection show at Milan Fashion Week’s menswear spring and summer show, on June 22, 2025, in Milan [Piero Cruciatti/AFP]
How has Prada responded?
The Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (MACCIA) also wrote to Patrizio Bertelli, the chairperson of Prada’s Board of Directors, about the concerns of sandal makers.
Two days later, the company responded, acknowledging that the design was inspired by the centuries-old Indian sandals. “We deeply recognise the cultural significance of such Indian craftsmanship. Please note that, for now, the entire collection is currently at an early stage of design development, and none of the pieces are confirmed to be produced or commercialised,” Prada said.
The company added that it remains “committed to responsible design practices, fostering cultural engagement, and opening a dialogue for a meaningful exchange with local Indian artisan communities, as we have done in the past in other collections to ensure the rightful recognition of their craft.
“Prada strives to pay homage and recognise the value of such specialised craftspeople that represent an unrivalled standard of excellence and heritage.”
Srihita Vanguri, a fashion entrepreneur from the city of Hyderabad, said that Prada’s actions were “disappointing but not surprising”.
“Luxury brands have a long history of borrowing design elements from traditional crafts without giving due credit – until there’s a backlash,” she told Al Jazeera. “This is cultural appropriation if it stops at inspiration without attribution or benefit-sharing.”
Kolhapuris, which the sandals are also known as, are not just a design, she insisted. They carry the legacy of centuries of craft communities in Maharashtra and the neighbouring state of Karnataka. “Ignoring that context erases real people and livelihoods,” she added.
What about artisans of Kolhapur?
Kolhapur, nestled in southwestern Maharashtra, is a city steeped in royal heritage, spiritual significance and artisanal pride. Beyond its crafts, Kolhapur is also home to several revered Hindu temples and a rich culinary legacy – its food is spicy.
Its famed sandals date back to the 12th century, with more than 20,000 local families still involved in this craft.
The family of Kurade, who was happy about Prada showcasing the sandals, lives on the outskirts of Kolhapur, and has been in this business for more than 100 years.
But he said the business has taken a beating in recent years. “In India, people don’t really understand this craft or want to put money in this any more. If an international brand comes, steals it and showcases it on global platforms, maybe that is good for us,” he told Al Jazeera.
He said that craftsmen like those in his family “still stand where they were years ago”.
“We have the craft and the capacity to move ahead, but the government has not supported us,” the 40-year-old said.
Rather, Kurade said, politics has made things worse.
Since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu majoritarian government came to power in New Delhi, cows have transformed from just symbols of reverence into a flashpoint for religious identity and social conflict. Cow protection, once largely cultural, has become violent, with vigilantes hunting down Dalits and Muslims, the communities that mostly transport cows and buffaloes to trading markets where they are bought for slaughter.
That has disrupted a reliable supply of cow and buffalo hides, which are then tanned with vegetables to make Kolhapuri chappals.
“The original hide we use for quality is restricted in several states because of politics around cows,” said Kurade. “The supply has touched new lows due to politics on cows – and we have been suffering because it has become really expensive for us to keep doing it with the same quality.”
Craftsmen like Kurade believe that if they can make the sandals cheaper and more accessible, “people will wear this because it is what people have loved for centuries”.
Still, Kurade said, while Prada can try and imitate Kolhapuri aesthetics, it cannot replicate the intricate hand-woven design patterns, mastered by the Dalit community in southern Maharashtra and some parts of bordering Karnataka. Dalits are traditionally the most marginalised segment of India’s complex caste hierarchy.
“The authentic design is something which is rare and unique,” he said. “Even shops in Kolhapur city may not have them.”
The real designs, Kurade said, are still made in villages by using centuries-old craft.
But because of the challenge of sourcing quality hides, and faced with an increasingly digital marketplace that artisans are unfamiliar with, Dalit sandal makers need help, he said.
“People who know markets, who can sell it ahead, are the ones cashing in on this. Poor villagers like us cannot run a website; we do not have the marketing knowledge,” he said.
“The government should look into this, to bridge this gap – it is their duty to look into this. The benefits never reached the real makers from the Dalit groups.”
Kolhapuri sandals are on display at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025 [Adnan Abidi/Reuters]
Has it happened before?
Since 2019, after sustained advocacy by artisan groups, India has protected Kolhapuri sandals under its Geographical Indications of Goods Act (1999), preventing commercial use of the term “Kolhapuri Chappal” by unauthorised producers. But this protection is limited within national borders.
Prada has previously faced significant criticism over alleged cultural appropriation, most notably in 2018 when it released the “Pradamalia” collection – keychains and figurines that resembled racist caricatures with exaggerated red lips, drawing immediate comparisons with blackface imagery. After the backlash, Prada pulled the products from stores and issued a public apology.
Prada has also been criticised for store displays that have evoked racial stereotypes, as well as for its use of animal-based luxury materials like ostrich and exotic leathers, which have drawn criticism from environmental and labour rights groups.
But Prada is not alone.
In 2019, Christian Dior drew criticism for incorporating elements inspired by the traditional attire of Mexican horsewomen in its Cruise collection, without formal acknowledgement or collaboration.
In 2015, French designer Isabel Marant came under fire in Mexico for marketing a blouse that closely mirrored the traditional embroidery patterns of the Mixe community in Oaxaca, sparking accusations of cultural appropriation.
Rather than apologise, Vanguri, the fashion entrepreneur, said that the “real respect would be Prada co-creating a capsule collection with Kolhapuri artisan clusters – giving them fair design credit, profit share, and global visibility”.
“Structurally, they could commit to long-term partnerships with craft cooperatives or even fund capacity-building and design innovation for these communities,” she said.
The Courts (Remote Hearing) Ordinance (Cap. 654) came into effect on 28 March 2025, authorising and broadening the use of remote hearings, particularly for shorter and non-trial criminal proceedings, by establishing a comprehensive legal framework for conducting remote hearings across all levels of courts and tribunals.
Jennifer Wu, an expert in TMT and commercial disputes at Pinsent Masons, said: “As remote hearings become more common, adaptability and technological proficiencies are no longer optional — they are essential skills for modern legal practice. Legal practitioners must be prepared to operate flexibility on digital platforms and be comfortable with all virtual courtroom etiquette in order to meet the tech-driven advancements in the legal system.”
A remote hearing is a court proceeding ordered by the court to be conducted via a remote medium, such as telephone or live audio-visual link. The ordinance allows remote hearings for civil cases and non-trial criminal proceedings, such as pre-trial reviews and case management conferences.
When determining whether to order a remote hearing, the court must take into account several factors, including the nature, complexity and urgency of the case, the type of evidence involved, the views of the parties, the ability of the parties to engage with and follow the proceeding, any impairments or special circumstances affecting the parties, the fair and efficient resolution of the matter and other relevant factors.
“These considerations ensure that remote hearings are used appropriately and do not compromise the fairness or integrity of the judicial process,” Wu said.
Courts will ensure public access to public remote hearings through, for example, issuing directions on live broadcast. The ordinance also introduces new offences of unauthorised recording, publishing and broadcasting of both physical and remote hearings to safeguard the integrity of proceedings.
If there are concerns about the reliability of any remote testimony, the court may amend or revoke the remote hearing order and require in-person attendance.
Wu said: “Effective preparation is crucial to ensure smooth and efficient remote hearings. Parties are encouraged to liaise with the court on logistics, address technical questions, and do equipment test runs prior to the hearing.”
“Legal practitioners and participants preparing for remote hearings should ensure that all required hardware such as video conferencing (VC) units, laptops, display monitors, cameras, speakers and microphone function properly and that they connect to the remote website of the court’s VC system well before the scheduled hearing time to address any connectivity or technical issues,” she said.
“Choose a quiet, well-lit and private location free from interruptions to create a professional and distraction-free setting, and do not share any VC links on public forums or with individuals who do not need to be present. Avoid using public Wi-Fi to ensure secure connections.”
Educating those needing to attend the remote hearings on the process, providing clear instructions on how to log in, explaining the technology involved and preparing them for what to expect during the hearing and how to give evidence virtually are also important steps to ensure smooth running of hearings in the virtual space, according to Wu.
