Farewell, Fauja Singh: The Indian marathon man

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

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Farewell, Fauja Singh: The Indian marathon man

The world’s oldest marathon runner was killed at the age of 114 in a hit-and-run incident in Punjab’s Jalandhar district earlier this week. Amritpal Singh Dhillon—a 26-year-old man who lives in Canada—has been identified as the driver and arrested. The tragedy brought overdue attention to the extraordinary story of Fauja Singh.

Meet Fauja Singh: Born in 1911 in a village near Jalandhar, Singh was a bullied child often mocked for his weak legs. He led a quiet life as a farmer until his wife passed away. Singh then moved to London in 1992 to live with his eldest son. After a second loss—the death of his son in India—Singh discovered an unusual form of therapy:

Back in the UK, Singh was overtaken by grief. One day, during a visit to the local gurdwara in Ilford, he met a group of older men who went on regular runs. That's where he also met Harmander Singh, who later became his coach and his journey as a runner began.

A stellar 13-year career: The 89-year-old Singh went on to complete nine full marathons between 2000 and 2013 until his retirement—setting records across age categories. In 2011, he became the first person aged 100 to finish a full marathon. But he was never recognised by the Guinness World Records—because Singh didn’t have a birth certificate.

A fun bit of trivia: He also captained a relay team in the 2009 Edinburgh marathon called ‘Sikhs in the City’—which would later become the name of his running club and charity.

The end: finally came on a road near Singh's birth village of Beas Pind. He was hit by the car while crossing the road. The ironic part: He could have survived if the driver hadn’t fled the scene—and taken him to the hospital. That said, Fauja Singh had a good, long run. And he will always be remembered for it.

Reading list: Indian Express and BBC News have more on the case. The Observer had profiled Fauja and his ‘Sikhs in the City’ teammates back in 2009.

The great deportation: Iran kicks out millions of Afghans

Over 1.4 million Afghans have fled or have been deported from Iran since the start of the year. More than 500,000 have been kicked out in just the last month. It is part of a sweeping crackdown on undocumented immigrants—far greater than anything Trump could cook up.

The backstory: Iran has the world’s largest refugee population—over 95% of whom are Afghans. UN data puts the total number at 4 million. Iran claims it is closer to 6 million, spiralling due to civil war and Taliban’s return to power. Afghan refugees are not illegal as such. They are allowed to live and work in 10 of Iran’s 31 provinces—though in mostly low-paying jobs.

A new policy: At the start of the year, Tehran declared its intention to reduce the number of Afghan refugees—citing an economic crisis and shortage of natural resources. In March, the deportation policy became official—undocumented Afghans had until July 6 to leave the country of their own accord.

A brutal escalation: The monthlong war with Israel resulted in a shocking escalation. Tehran’s excuse: Afghans have been working as spies for Israel and the US:

Abolfazl Hajizadegan, a sociologist in Tehran, said Iran’s government was using Afghans as scapegoats to deflect blame for intelligence failures that enabled Israel to infiltrate widely within Iran. “Mixing Afghan deportations with the Iran-Israel conflict underscores the regime’s reluctance to acknowledge its security and intelligence shortcomings,” Mr. Hajizadegan said.

The smear campaign has been used to justify brutal sweeps:

Security forces have raided work places and neighborhoods, stopped cars at checkpoints set up throughout big cities, and detained scores of Afghans before sending them to overcrowded deportation centers in sweltering heat.

Even Afghans with residency certificates are being rounded up en masse—with the state TV flaunting footage of security officials chasing refugees down open fields. Below is an image from the border crossing:

Wait, there is more: There is also daily persecution unleashed by espionage charges:

Afghans have been beaten or attacked with knives; faced harassment from landlords and employers who are also withholding their deposits or wages; and have been turned away from banks, bakeries, pharmacies, schools and hospitals.

Point to remember: Pakistan has been similarly deporting Afghans en masse since 2023—blaming them for terrorist attacks in the country. Even today, 600-800 families are being sent back every day. As with Iran, these are refugees who have lived and worked in the country for decades. Many have, in fact, been born there (See: our Big Story).

The big picture: Afghans are truly the victims of history. They have been occupied by the Russians—which made them the frontline for the proxy wars of the Cold War. Then came the Taliban, US occupation—and the Taliban again—resulting in crippling global sanctions. The result:

A recent UNDP report shows 70% of Afghans live at subsistence level, and the country is grappling with severe drought and a deteriorating human rights situation, especially for women and girls.

The women and girls will face a far greater hell in a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan—losing their right to study and work: “No more evening walks. No more jobs at the supermarket. No more hopes for school.”

Reading list: New York Times has the overview of the deportations as well as a series of interviews with deported Afghan women. CNN has more on the numbers. Our Big Story and the more recent BBC News report explain what is happening in Pakistan.

Discovered: The world’s oldest matrilineal society

New research has unearthed a 4000-year-old community in China—called Fujia, where women were the source of family lines and inheritance—not men. It is the oldest known matrilineal society—not to be confused with ‘matriarchal’ societies where power rests with women.

The evidence: Scientists found that people buried in the same cemetery also shared a single maternal ancestor—across ten generations and 250 years. A second cemetery showed the same pattern, but with a different maternal ancestor.

They found that the pair of cemeteries was organised around two matrilineal clans, where most people, regardless of sex, were buried according to lineages on their mothers’ side.

The Y-chromosome data (which traces paternal lines) also showed that men married into a matrilineal group, while women remained with their birth family.

Why this matters: This is the first bit of archaeological proof that confirms the thesis that many early societies were matrilineal. This map shows you how common they were:

What’s also interesting:

Compared with other regional centers, Fujia showed lower wealth, less social stratification, and a lower population density. These factors align with characteristics commonly associated with matrilineal organizations... “These findings lend support to the hypothesis that early matrilineal systems could emerge and persist in communities without strong mechanisms for wealth accumulation.”

Some view this as confirmation that patrilineal societies became more common when wealth—and therefore inherited wealth—became core to how communities were organised.

Reading list: Artnet and South China Morning Post have the best reporting on the study that’s been published on Nature, which can be found here.

Pesticides disrupt the social lives of fish

We all know pesticides disrupt ecosystems and kill local fauna—be it by poisoning the soil or the groundwater—and ultimately our rivers and oceans. High concentrations often lead to mass deaths of fish. But a new study shows the damage is more sweeping and subtle:

Overall, the chemical pesticides make fish less sociable and interactive. They spend less time gathering in groups, become less protective of their territory, and make fewer attempts to mate.

Mating patterns have shown the greatest disruption:

Courtship was the most severely impacted behaviour — the process fish use to find and attract mates. This is particularly alarming because successful courtship is essential for healthy fish populations and ecosystem stability.

The Conversation has more on the findings.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Fresh off Nvidia’s return to China, CEO Jensen Huang is already lobbying for the country to get access to better AI chips—not just what he calls the company’s “fourth-best.”
Apple is pumping $500 million into a rare earths mining company in the US to cut its dependence on China and bring more of its iPhone production closer to home.
In a first, Google says its AI agent ‘Big Sleep’ blocked a cyberattack before it even began—marking a major shift in how we might fight hacks going forward.
In an unusual move, Elon Musk’s SpaceX helped rival Amazon by launching 24 of its Kuiper internet satellites into orbit early Wednesday from Florida.
A security researcher has found a flaw in Gmail’s AI summaries that could let hackers slip in harmful links—putting nearly 2 billion users at risk.

sports & entertainment

An Iranian newspaper has published a full-page tribute to ‘Sholay’ ahead of the film’s 50th anniversary.
James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ is driving a surge in dog adoptions, with interest in rescue pups spiking over 500%—all thanks to Krypto, the not-so-well-trained but lovable superdog in the film.
Yash Raj Films’ new romantic drama ‘Saiyaara’ has broken pre-sale records for a debutant film in India, with over 45,000 tickets sold in just 24 hours.

health & environment

A restaurant in northern China is drawing backlash after offering customers the chance to cuddle lion cubs during a pricey afternoon tea.
Eight babies have been born in the UK using a new technique that combines DNA from three people to help mothers avoid passing on rare and deadly genetic diseases.
India may have hit the mark of 50% non-fossil fuel power capacity, but clean energy still makes up less than 30% of the electricity actually being used.
Following the deaths of two leopards in April, Goa’s forest department has asked the Wildlife Institute of India for some help.

meanwhile, in the world

At least 20 Palestinians were killed in a deadly crush at a food distribution site in southern Gaza after guards reportedly used tear gas or pepper spray on desperate crowds.
Israel bombed Syria’s defence ministry in Damascus twice on Wednesday, stepping into fierce fighting between the Syrian army and Druze fighters—marking yet another instance of Tel Aviv striking targets far beyond its borders.
Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a good read on how Iran, through trial and error, managed to punch holes in Israel’s high-tech missile defense during their recent 12-day war.
A former NYPD commissioner has filed a federal lawsuit accusing New York City Mayor Eric Adams and top police officials of running what he calls a “criminal enterprise”—the fifth such lawsuit in two weeks to allege deep corruption inside the force.
The US has deported a group of migrants to Eswatini, days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for sending people to third countries without hearing their claims of possible harm they could face.
Thai police have arrested a woman, known as “Ms Golf,” who allegedly had sex with monks and then blackmailed them using photos and videos.
The Guardian has an interesting read on how Seoul is fighting a growing loneliness crisis with “mind convenience stores” that offer everything from instant noodles and foot spas to on-site counsellors.
Days after a Russian woman and her two daughters were found living in a cave in Karnataka’s Gokarna, her Israeli ex-husband has come forward seeking shared custody, saying he lost touch with them after they left Goa.
Paranormal investigator and US Army veteran Dan Rivera died suddenly in his Gettysburg hotel room while on tour with the ‘haunted’ Annabelle doll.

meanwhile, in India

Air India says it found no issues with the fuel switch locks on its Boeing 787s after the aviation regulator ordered checks earlier this week—following AAIB’s preliminary investigation into the AI171 crash.
Investigators are looking into possible electrical and software faults that may have caused the fuel switches on the Air India flight to shut off on their own just seconds after take-off.
The push to install video cameras inside airplane cockpits is back in focus now as well, with some saying there’s a strong case for using them to track pilot actions alongside voice and data recorders.
A new Kantar study says many urban Indian men—especially Gen Z—feel ads still box them into old-school stereotypes and want to be seen as more emotionally open and involved at home.
A schoolteacher in Bareilly has been booked after a video showed him urging students to choose education over blind faith—remarks that many online saw as criticism of the ongoing Kanwar Yatra, sparking a Hindutva backlash.

Four things to see

One: This viral bodycam video shows an Indian woman being arrested for allegedly shoplifting $1,300 worth of merch from Target. A store employee claimed that the accused spent seven hours inside the store in Illinois—before trying to walk out the door with a cart filled with items. It has become an example of ‘Indians Behaving Badly’ overseas. The entire interrogation is here—or you can see an excerpt below. (Hindustan Times)

Two: The paid version of Elon Musk’s pet AI—SuperGrok—now offers two ‘companions’. One is a red panda named Bad Rudi who “insults users with graphic or vulgar language and asks them to join a gang with the goal of creating chaos.” The other is “a flirty Japanese anime character named Ani who offers to make users’ lives ‘sexier’.” Oh look, the Musk theory of free speech in action! You can see the potty-mouthed Bad Rudi below.

And this is NSFW Ani. (NBC News)

Three: HBO’s Harry Potter reboot unveiled the first look for two major characters—Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid. Fans hate it. They’ve been trolling the images—calling them AI-generated and “unnatural”. (Indian Express)

Four: The American hip-hop duo Clipse—Pusha T and Malice—dropped a very cool music video for their new song ‘Chains & Whips’. It features Kendrick Lamar and is produced by Pharrell Williams. (Hypebeast)