KULTURKAMPF

Right Wingers Claim Rap Music Is Dead Thanks to … Elon’s USAID Cuts

Nikki McCann Ramirez
Fri, July 31, 2026

ROLLING STONE



Ella Langley's mournful country ballad "Choosin' Texas" has broken record after record, sitting atop national and international charts for weeks in a row. The Rolling Stone pick for song of the summer is an easy earworm about love, loss, and the Lone Star State, but some on the right are hearing their own favorite tune: a global conspiracy.

No, the fever swamps of the right are not taking the stance that Langley is a nepo baby, or industry plant, or inflating her streams, — that would be too straightforward. Instead, over the past few weeks, some of the most prominent figures on the cultural right have spread conspiracies claiming that Langley's breakout hit was able to reach such heights because Elon Musk and DOGE defunded the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The conspiracy asserts that somehow, with its roughly $40 billion annual pre-Musk budget, USAID had been propping up the American rap industry, to the detriment of other, more "American" genres. They claim that by eliminating USAID — the now defunct international humanitarian aid agency — DOGE opened the doors for "American" country artists to once again top the charts — as if rap music is not one of the most quintessentially American cultural creations in the nation's history.

Their evidence? Well, the timing of the DOGE cuts coincides with a resurgence of country music's popularity on streaming charts. Maybe this seems plausible if you squint real hard, ignore actual streaming data, and also common sense. There's also a very blatant element of racism undergirding the whole thing.

In May, far-right social media poster and would-be musician Steve Frassen put out a call to his followers on social media. "ATTENTION PROUD WHITES:Everyone who hated rap in the 1990's and 2000's is VINDICATED," he wrote. "Rap isn't music.It's government PISS that was funded by USAID to dumb down Middle America. Take a victory lap, proud Whites who didn't fall for it!"

Within weeks, the claim made it onto the podcast of the perpetually credulous Joe Rogan, who spread it to his millions of listeners. "There's some people that believe that gangsta rap when it came about in the 1980s [… was popularized by] some faction, the government, some faction, some intelligence agencies wanting to create more crime," Rogan said — referencing older, also debunked conspiracies.

"People are pointing out that right now is like one of the rare times where no rap music is on the charts, and they're saying, 'Well, how does this coincide with USAID [being defunded]?' Was USAID like actively promoting rap music?" he went on. "Was that one of the reasons why rap music was so possible? Popular? Is that real? That can't be real."

Rogan's engagement with the conspiracy, which up until that point had been contained to the more extreme cesspools of social media, brought it to the front door of the right-wing creator economy.

Podcaster Tim Pool told his listeners in late July that "Maybe it was the USAID."

"Rap music just vanished from the Billboard Top 40 for the first time in 35 years. Strange, a couple of months — so this would have been about four months after the shuttering of USAID — rap disappears from the Billboard Hot 100. Interesting," he added.

While Langley has held the top spot for an impressive 40 weeks, the genre has not "disappeared" from the charts for that same amount of time, as some right wingers are claiming. On July 31, Drake, Lil Baby and Young Miami all held spots in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Mac Miller, Ty Dolla $ign, Don Toliver, BabyChiefDoit, and a slew of other artists made the list.

Pool, who seems to be stuck in the perpetually embittered aesthetic of a 2000s Hot Topic teen, went on to suggest that the Black Eyed Peas somehow benefited from this government intervention. "I want you to think about that Oprah performance — the Black Eyed Peas are there — and there's a big crowd, and on camera, it looks like everybody loves this band, and the song is played on the radio, and it's put in the playlists, and you will listen to what they tell you to listen," Pool complained, possibly in reference to a 2009 Oprah show kickoff party.

Click slop creator Benny Johnson claimed on Thursday that "libtards" had no response to Langley and were "in shambles" over Langley's success. To be clear, there is no discernable backlash to Langley or her music, and she has not spoken publicly about her politics.

Johnson described the hit as a song about "loving Texas," an example of the manner in which many of these creators are incapable of actual cultural comprehension and are instead simply regurgitating slightly remixed versions of formulaic culture war skirmishes for clicks.

"We were suppressed and our culture was manipulated and psy-opped by our own tax dollars and intel agencies, and Elon Musk shut it all down with USAID," Johnson said. "Libs have no answer to it. So produce another piece of mumble rap garbage, please, CIA, and tell us that we're going to like it."

He repeatedly emphasized that Langley's song had broken records set by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey, two Black female artists, and added that the "queens of pop music" had been "traded for true American culture."

Country music is absolutely seeing a resurgence in popularity, with artists like Kacey Musgraves, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, and Stella Lefty all scoring major hits. As previously reported by Rolling Stone, R&B and hip-hop still remain the most popular streaming force in the first half of 2026 when taken as a whole, even as other genres gained steam. Latin, K-pop, and other foreign-language artists have also seen exponential growth.

The decline in rap and hip-hop's presence on the charts can at least partially be attributed to a controversial rule change that Billboard made in October of last year. The outlet decided to weigh paid subscription streams more heavily than ad-supported ones, setting the stage for the Hot 100 singles chart to not feature a single rap or hip-hop artist in the top 40 spots for the first time since 1990. In response to the change, YouTube pulled out of its data-sharing agreement with Billboard in December, writing that the new policy "doesn't reflect how fans engage with music today and ignores the massive engagement from fans who don't have a subscription." (Billboard and Rolling Stone are owned by the same company, Penske Media.)

It's far more likely that the genre's chart troubles have more to do with these factors, and broader ups and downs in listening patterns, than the defunding of a government agency focused primarily on health and development aid abroad. But right-wingers are not interested in the nuances of streaming data and genre growth. They see an opportunity to continue fomenting racist, nativist grievances on the back of a young artist who has done nothing to court a position as the right's latest culture war obsession — except perhaps produce a chart-topping single in the genre she loves.


Country Songs Take All Five Slots in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 5 for the First Time in Chart History

Chris Willman
Mon, August 3, 2026

VARIETY



Country music is ruling the roost like never before, at least when it comes specifically to the Billboard Hot 100. For the first time in history, country songs are claiming all five of the top five slots on the Hot 100. That's thanks to Ella Langley and Morgan Wallen, who currently stand at No. 1 on the singles and albums charts, respectively… and to Taylor Swift's return to country for a hit soundtrack… and to newcomer Stella Lefty officially joining the ranks of hitmakers.

To no one's surprise, Langley's "Choosin' Texas," the biggest single of 2026 so far, maintains its No. 1 perch in chart results reported by Billboard on Monday. Wallen's new single, "Been by Now," premieres at No. 2. Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" gets pushed down one spot on this week's chart, now landing at No. 3. In the fourth position is a duet between Langley and Wallen, "I Can't Love You Anymore." And coming in at No. 5 is Lefty's career-making "Boston," down two slots from last week, but still with plenty of room to grow.

So many statistical anomalies are included in this top 5, it's hard to know where to begin, although the aforementioned stat about this congregation of songs establishing a collective chart record is a good place to start.

The headline any other week might be about Langley's ongoing winning streak at the top of the chart. This is the 16th week at No. 1 with "Choosin' Texas," which puts Langley in ever-more-rarefied territory. "Texas" is now tied for a historic fourth place for the number of weeks spent at No. 1. The three singles it is tied with for that sweet 16 number are Wallen's "Last Night," Mariah Carey's and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" and the Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee/Justin Bieber monster "Despacito."

So, what are the next thresholds for "Choosin' Texas" to cross? If Langley holds on to No. 1 for just one more week — which is a highly likely prospect — then she will still be in fourth place on the all-time streak chart, just no longer tied for it. The next tier for her would be meeting or surpassing the two songs that are tied for second, at 19 weeks each — Shaboozey's "A Bar Song (Tipsy)" and Lil Nas X and Billy Ray Cyrus' "Old Town Road." If she gets to 20 weeks at No. 1, she will hold the record for the most weeks for a non-holiday song. Then, the final frontier would be whether she could beat Mariah Carey's annual perennial "All I Want for Christmas," which, at 22 nonconsecutive weeks, is a tough one for anyone to beat. Tagging on seven more weeks to the current 16 to claim the all-time record sounds impossible, but the song has surpassed so many expectations already that it might be foolish to bet against it.

Looking at the top 10 for this week, country has six out of those 10, since Langley's second-most-popular track, "Be Her" is in at No. 9.

The non-country songs rounding the top 10 this week are Tame Impala and Jennie's "Dracula" at No. 6, Olivia Dean's "So Easy (To Fall in Love)" at No. 7, Ariana Grande's "Hate That I Made You Love Me" at No. 8 and Dean's "Man I Need" at No. 10.

Dean having two songs in the top 10 and Langley having three (one of them a Wallen collaboration) may provide a glimpse of what the Grammy competition holds in store a few months from now. Voters in the four general categories have turned up their noses at country contenders for years, but Langley will provide the true test of whether the Recording Academy can really keep snubbing country or whether her dominance will mean it's time to cry uncle.

As Europe migration debate rages, Bologna businessman's death highlights human cost

By Claudia Cristoferi
Mon, August 3, 2026 

REUTERS

People march behind a banner calling for justice for Moroccan businessman Abderrahim Fakir during a demonstration in Bologna, Italy, July 26, 2026. REUTERS/Michele Lapini

BOLOGNA, Italy, Aug 4 (Reuters) - When tens of thousands of would-be migrants crossed from Morocco into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta last week, Italy's right-wing prime minister Giorgia Meloni promptly said she would suspend a free-movement accord with Spain, even though Ceuta is excluded from the pact.

And when a distressed Moroccan businessman who feared repatriation despite having lived in Italy ‌for 36 years died after being stopped by police two weeks ago in Bologna, with viral footage showing two officers sitting on him to restrain him, the government jumped to the law ‌enforcers' defence.

Right-wing media depicted the man as another disorderly migrant causing trouble, highlighting drug convictions in his youth, while opposition politicians accused the government of racism and condoning police brutality.

What few did, in public at least, was ask who Abderrahim Fakir really was, and what might ​have caused his distress – something that sociologists and refugee agencies say reduces an immigration debate sweeping Europe to a caricature that prevents a more constructive response.

POLITICS AND 'DEHUMANISATION'

"The political agenda of many politicians requires the dehumanisation of migrants," said Maurizio Ambrosini, who teaches the sociology of migration at Milan's Statale University.

"If we don't see them as people in flesh and blood but as an abstract phenomenon, it becomes easier to tackle the issue without too much fuss or human considerations."

In the months before his death on July 19, Fakir, the 42-year-old owner of a small metalworking firm, appeared to those around him much as he always had: warm, sociable and quick to smile.

Yet underneath, he was trying to hold ‌together a carefully built life that seemed to be slipping inexorably out of ⁠control.

Videos shot by neighbours that day showed two police officers pinning him to the ground face-down, helped by a resident, and remaining on him for several minutes as he cried for help.

They had responded to reports of a man roaming around, yelling incoherently, kicking garage doors and banging on a car with its driver inside.

The next day, after ⁠the videos showing Fakir's last moments had circulated online, Bologna's centre-left mayor Matteo Lepore called a rally to demand accountability and in support of his family.

It drew thousands of peaceful citizens but turned violent when a small group marched towards police headquarters, hurling objects and injuring dozens of officers.

Government supporters demanded the mayor resign, the opposition blamed Meloni's tough law-and-order policies - and Fakir himself faded quickly from the picture.

AWAITING RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION AND AUTOPSY

But whatever the results of a pending autopsy, and investigations ​into ​the officers who subdued him and four Red Cross volunteers who looked on before trying to revive him, Fakir was nothing ​like any politician's caricature of an immigrant.

Interviews with his relatives, lawyer and friends reveal ‌a man trying to keep up appearances while struggling with problems in the business he had built and the extra stress of fearing expulsion to Morocco, having lived in Italy almost all his life.

His older sister Khadija said he had recently grown withdrawn and often skipped family gatherings, but no one suspected how anxious he was inside.

"He wanted to protect us. He would call to ask how I was and how the children were doing, and say everything was fine," she told Reuters.

Barbara Spinelli, Fakir's lawyer, had been helping him try to regain an Italian residence permit he had relinquished due to an extended stay in Morocco after his mother died in 2021.

"We were very close to resolving his situation, but in June the judge assigned to his case was suddenly transferred," Spinelli said. "He panicked, even though I reassured him it would soon be resolved."

At around the same ‌time, immigration authorities summoned Fakir, requesting verification of his status despite a court order allowing him provisionally to remain in Italy.

"He ​was terrified of being sent back to Morocco," Spinelli said.

WARNING SIGNS OF DISTRESS

On June 12, police found Fakir wandering, confused, in Castello ​d'Argile outside Bologna. The incident ended without complications, mayor Alessandro Erriquez told state-owned broadcaster RAI.

A few days ​later, he showed up at a Bologna hospital with a self-inflicted injury and asked for psychiatric help, family lawyer Fabio Anselmo said. Records of the incident described him as ‌depressed, but calm - a poor signal of the internal turmoil that would shortly burst ​into the open.

Fakir had come to Italy from Morocco ​at the age of six, and had lived in Bologna since 1995. Friends described him as outgoing and rooted in the local community.

"He was lively, always present in class, and was a great football player," said Riccardo, a former schoolmate who declined to give his surname.

After two convictions for drug offences committed as a teenager, Fakir had a series of jobs before setting up his own firms, ​first in logistics and most recently his metalworking business, which was facing difficulties.

Having ‌to lay off eight of his 12 employees had distressed him, his lawyer Spinelli said, yet Fakir hid his anguish from his family.

"He was always joking," recalled his 23-year-old niece Yossra. "His ​nieces and nephews were like his own children."

Unlike Yossra, Fakir's sister Khadija had been unable to watch the videos of her brother's final moments.

"My family trusts the Italian justice system and ​the police," she said. "We expect the truth to emerge."

(Writing by Claudia Cristoferi; editing by Gavin Jones and Kevin Liffey)

Monoskop.org

https://monoskop.org/images/9/95/Hardt_Michael_Negri_Antonio_Empire.pdf

EMPIRE - Monoskop 

4.3 The Multitude against Empire. 393. Notes. 415. Index. 473. Page 11. PREFACE. Empire is materializing before our very eyes. Over the past several decades, as ...

Rebels-library.org

http://rebels-library.org/files/multitude.pdf

MULTITUDE - Rebel Studies Library 

Page 1. MULTITUDE. WAR AND DEMOCRACY. IN THE AGE OF EMPIRE. MICHAEL HARDT ... Empire calls on war for its legitimation, the multitude calls on democracy as its ...

Newleftreview.org

https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii120/articles/empire-twenty-years-on.pdf

EMPIRE, TWENTY YEARS ON | New Left Review 

Just as today's. Empire was formed in response to the insurgencies of the multitudes from below, so too, potentially, it could fall to them, as long as those.

India's 'cockroach' protesters have wounds consistent with pellet-gun fire, say experts

Geeta Pandey - BBC Correspondent, Delhi
Mon, August 3, 2026 


The face and body of Sahil Lochab, who appeared with opposition leader Rahul Gandhi at a press conference, are peppered with tiny holes [Congress Party]

Independent ballistic experts have told the BBC that injuries sustained by some Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) supporters during last week's protest in the Indian capital were caused by pellet guns.

Warning: This story contains images some might find distressing

Central Delhi witnessed overwhelming violence on 20 July when tens of thousands of protesters tried to march to the parliament to seek education reforms and the resignation of the education minister.

Police and paramilitary personnel were seen brutally attacking the crowds with wooden sticks, batons and tear gas. Delhi Police said 60 protesters and 118 of their personnel were injured. CJP said the number of injured protesters was a lot higher than the official count.

In the days following the crackdown, the government has not confirmed media reports that pellet guns were used on protesters.

But the BBC has been able to confirm at least four cases where protesters have been treated at hospitals for wounds that experts say are caused by pellet guns.

Shotguns designed for bird hunting are sometimes referred to as pellet guns. They fire cartridges, known as "birdshot", containing 200 to 400 small metal pellets. When used against crowds, the pellets spread out in a wide arc, striking people indiscriminately. These guns are banned in several countries.

We have spoken to two of the injured men who believe they were hit by pellet guns fired by security forces. We have also shown photographs and videos of them and a third man to two independent armament and forensic experts. A senior official at a hospital has confirmed a fourth man who also received treatment for pellet wounds.

The experts say the dozens of tiny round punctures are tell-tale signs of injuries caused by birdshot.

"The injuries depicted are definitely from a pellet gun," UK-based ballistics forensic scientist Philip Boyce told the BBC, adding that the weapon used is "a 12-gauge pump-action shotgun".

"These pellet injuries can actually be quite devastating, especially at close range. The injuries I see [in Delhi] are not at close range, they're at least 50 feet. But they can actually still be devastating and potentially life-threatening even from 100 feet," he said.

NR Jenzen-Jones, director of Armament Research Services (ARES) in UK, told the BBC that "images and video from the protests show the police using shotguns for crowd control" and photos of "injuries are strongly consistent with the use of birdshot".

"While shotguns are a common tool in the less-lethal arsenals of many states, Indian law enforcement agencies have a long history of employing shotgun cartridges loaded with small lead pellets - known as 'birdshot' - in crowd-control scenarios. When loaded with birdshot cartridges, shotguns are sometimes referred to as 'pellet guns'," he added.

"But these pellets are not safe. They can result in life-changing or, occasionally, life-threatening injuries. They also pepper the body with toxic lead, which can sometimes be difficult to remove safely," he said.

That's why many countries have either banned them or restricted their usage. In the UK, Boyce says the guns are widely used for shooting birds and they're fairly freely available. But, he's "not aware" of any instance when they've been used for crowd control.

Shaikh Irshad Mansoori said scans showed he had more than 40 pellets in his body [Shaikh Irshad Mansoori]

In Indian-administered Kashmir - where pellet guns have been used since 2010 - official data, compiled by Human Rights Watch, shows they have injured several thousand people, killed at least 17 and blinded dozens.

If it's confirmed that the forces used pellet guns in Delhi, this would be the first time that India would have used them on its citizens in its capital city.

Two of the young men we spoke to told us they were injured in Connaught Place - a major hub near parliament - after 4pm local time on 20 July.

Mohit (name changed) said when he saw a security personnel aim his gun at him, he turned around and began running in the opposite direction.

"Two-three seconds later, I felt a burning sensation on my right arm and back," the 28-year-old journalist told the BBC.

Mohit said he kept running as a searing pain coursed through his body until he reached a café, bought a bottle of water and washed his wounds. "That's when I saw the tiny circular holes on my arm and upper back. I was completely freaked out."

An X-ray taken at Safdarjung hospital, where he was treated for his wounds, shows tiny objects embedded in his arm and upper torso. Medical records that he has shared with the BBC show he has 26 pellet wounds on his right elbow and four on his upper right back. The notes include a diagram showing where the objects are lodged in his body.

Mohit said the doctors told him that surgery could worsen his situation, but he worries about the damage "they can do in future since they remain lodged in my body or whether the ugly scars would ever go away".

"But after seeing photos of other victims who've been hit in the face, I'm feeling fortunate," he says.

Shaikh Irshad Mansoori, who works at a Gurugram-based firm, was not so fortunate.

He was walking from Connaught Place to Jantar Mantar, the main CJP protest venue, when "the police and RAF [Rapid Action Force, a paramilitary force] personnel began beating the crowd with sticks and firing tear gas, causing a stampede-like situation and panic".

"I was with a group of protesters and we were raising slogans when an RAF personnel pointed his gun at us. We didn't think he would fire, but then I suddenly heard a cracking sound nearby and pellets hit me on my left eyebrow and my chin."

Some protesters tried to stem his bleeding with items of clothing, hailed a passing vehicle and took him to Lady Hardinge hospital.

He said scans showed he had more than 40 pellets in his body, including three embedded deep in his neck, left eye muscle and under his nose that doctors told him needed to be taken out.

"Surgeons next morning removed seven pellets, but they had to leave the one in the neck as it was too risky to be taken out. They told me it's now part of your body. They've assured me that it would not cause any danger in future."

More than 10 days later, Irshad says he's "still in some pain".

A senior hospital official told the BBC that Irshad's injuries were caused by "pellet-type small particles", but would not say whether they were fired from a gun. "That's for the forensics to say once they've examined these pellets," they said.

When the first claims of pellet gun use emerged last week, Delhi police called it "completely false and misleading". They said they did not even possess pellet guns.

Since then, Indian media has reported that the shots were fired by the RAF, which reports to the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The BBC has reached out to CRPF chief Gyanendra Pratap Singh and also sent him questions on email. He's yet to respond.

A 28-year-old journalist, who did not want to be named, has shared his photos and X-ray with the BBC [User generated]

On Wednesday, government minister Jitendra Singh said in parliament that no "bullets" were fired and only tear gas was used. But he did not comment on the use of pellet guns.

He was responding to allegations by Rahul Gandhi, Congress party MP and leader of the opposition in the lower house, who demanded that Home Minister Amit Shah be sacked since both the Delhi police and CRPF report to Shah.

Last Saturday, Gandhi addressed a press conference accompanied by Sahil Lochab, a 19-year-old Delhi University student, who may lose an eye to pellet injuries.

One side of Sahil's face and the back of his right arm are peppered with tiny holes. Gandhi lifted his T-shirt to reveal dozens more wounds on his underarm and body.

In a video chat with Gandhi and in media interviews, Sahil said he supported the CJP protest, which centred around the issue of repeated paper leaks of key exams, because he wrote an exam to join the police force last year which was cancelled because of the same issue.

He had gone to the protest with three friends but got separated in the chaos when police charged the crowd with batons. He was shot while marching towards the security forces with other protesters.

"I couldn't see who fired the pellet gun but it came from the side where the forces were," he said. "My right eye was swollen so much that it felt it had popped out of my face, I couldn't raise my right arm. I was bleeding profusely and some of the protesters took me to the hospital."

His family, he told Gandhi, had tried to dissuade him from going to the protest, but "I couldn't stop myself".

"I want justice. Whoever did this to me doesn't deserve to be in power," he said.

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Clarification - 1 August: This story was updated to remove a reference to shotguns - or pellet guns - being widely used in the UK to shoot birds of prey, which is illegal.


'What was my fault?': How India's exam paper leak ended young lives

Soutik Biswas - BBC India correspondent
Mon, August 3, 2026 


Three days before his rescheduled exam, 17-year-old Kahaan Patel took his life [Reuters]


Three days before he was due to sit India's rescheduled medical entrance examination, 17-year-old Kahaan Patel jumped from the sixth floor of his family's apartment building in the western city of Ahmedabad.

When his family entered his bedroom after his death in the early hours of 18 June, it looked as though he might return at any moment.

His laptop was still open. Text books, notebooks, pens and markers lay scattered across his bed and study table. He was wearing his headphones when he jumped. In one corner stood his electric guitar, plugged into an amplifier. On the shelves were Harry Potter novels, a book on Elon Musk, a collection of Goosebumps horror novels and board games. There was a trophy for "consistent academic performance".



"The only thing missing," his father, Prashant Patel, says quietly, "was Kahaan."


Kahaan was one of at least 21 students who died by suicide, allegedly upset after this year's National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was cancelled because of a question paper leak, forcing nearly two million candidates to take the examination again.

Their deaths became the emotional core of an extraordinary youth uprising that spilled onto the streets of Delhi in July, where thousands demanded accountability for repeated exam failures. After days of protests led by the satirical Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), education minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned.

But behind the politics were families like Kahaan's – left trying to understand how an examination scandal had become a matter of life and death.

For Prashant Patel, the story begins not with his son's death but with a dream.

After scoring well in school leaving exams, Kahaan announced that he wanted to become a doctor. There were no doctors in the family. His parents reorganised their lives around that ambition.

Prashant Patel moved his family to Ahmedabad so that his son could go to a better school and prepare for his exam [Reuters]

They moved from Surat, a diamond and textile hub, to Ahmedabad, Gujarat's largest city, so Kahaan could attend a better school and prepare seriously. His father, a lawyer, bought a flat close to both the high court and Kahaan's school, commuting between the two cities while Kahaan lived with his mother Veena and younger brother Rihaan.

"He took that decision himself," his father says. "We only supported him."

Kahaan wasn't the sort of teenager consumed only by textbooks.

He played football for his school team, devoured Harry Potter and Percy Jackson novels, loved science-fiction films and spent hours teaching himself hard-rock guitar riffs. He had recently secured a US visitor visa and was excited about returning to Disneyland after the exam, revisiting a place he had first seen on a family holiday 12 years earlier.

He had already tasted success.

After the 2024 paper leak, he took NEET as a practice attempt. His performance convinced both him and his teachers that he was on track.

On 3 May, he emerged from the exam convinced he had done enough and called his father.

"Daddy, I am so happy. I am feeling free, relaxed. I'm going for dinner with my friends. I'm enjoying."

After scoring well in school leaving exams, Kahaan announced that he wanted to become a doctor [BBC]

Prashant Patel remembers telling him: "This is your time. Enjoy."

Then came news that the paper had been leaked.

His parents tried to shield him from the reports, but it was impossible. Friends from his coaching classes were already discussing them. He rushed back from a farmhouse holiday with friends, scrambling to retrieve the notes and textbooks he had already given to younger students in case he had to sit the exam again.

Within days the government announced a retest.

"That was when he became angry," his father recalls.

"He kept asking me: 'Is this a system? Is this how it works? What is my fault? What is the fault of students who gave the exam honestly? Why is the government taking it so casually?'"

His father tried to reassure him. "I told him, 'This is the system. What can we do?'"

Now he wonders whether his words sounded like comfort or resignation.

"Maybe he was disappointed. Maybe he was suffering inside."

Nothing suggested a crisis.

On the evening of 17 June, the day before he died, Kahaan chatted cheerfully with his grandfather, who had just landed in Melbourne to be with his daughter, on a video call. Kahaan asked him to bring back Puma football boots, Levi's jeans and jackets.

Later that evening, he spoke to his father. As the call ended, his father offered one final reassurance: "I told him, 'You proved yourself once. You don't have to prove yourself again.'"

Babita Kumar holds a photograph of her brother, Pradeep Kumar, who took his own life before the NEET retest [Reuters]

Hours later, he was dead.

Only afterwards did friends tell his father how deeply the examination scandal had unsettled him.

"He kept asking why the people responsible couldn't take the right decisions," his father says. "He used to say, 'Is this a joke for our ministers to conduct examinations like this?'"

Kahaan's family was not alone in asking those questions.

Some 770km away, in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, another family was trying to understand an equally unimaginable loss.

Pradeep Kumar was 23.

His father, Rajesh Kumar, is a small farmer in a village where Pradeep was the only student preparing for NEET.

Rajesh, 45, had left school as a child. His wife had never been to school. Becoming a doctor would have made Pradeep one of the first in the family to climb into the professional middle class.

"He would tell me, 'I want to serve people so much that they will remember me,'" Rajesh says.

To finance that dream, he sold land and borrowed more than a million rupees ($10,480; £7,804) from a bank. Coaching in Sikar, one of India's biggest hubs for entrance exam coaching, cost a fortune.

Rajesh Kumar sold land and took a bank loan to finance his son, Pradeep's, education. [Reuters]

In 2022, Pradeep moved to Sikar for coaching, sharing a rented room with his older sister, Babita Kumari who was preparing for police recruitment exams. Two NEET attempts steadily improved his rank, bringing a government medical college within reach.

Then came his third attempt in May this year. The paper was leaked, the examination was scrapped and a retest ordered – meaning Pradeep would have had to sit NEET for a fourth time.

By then, his life was a relentless 16-hour cycle: up at 4.30am, coaching, self-study until 9pm, sleep, and repeat. Everything else was stripped away.

Pradeep refused to own even a mobile phone.

"I'll buy one after I'm selected," he would tell his father. "Phones distract me."

His only indulgence was a collection of about 10 inexpensive wristwatches, bought from roadside shops on trips between Sikar and home.

After sitting the exam on 3 May, he emerged smiling.

"This time my selection is guaranteed," he told his father.

The family planned to leave Sikar, return to their village and celebrate. Instead, the paper leak surfaced.

"We'll have to prepare again," Pradeep told his father stoically.

On the morning of 15 May, Rajesh did what he had done almost every day for four years. He sent milk and homemade curd to Sikar on the morning bus.

Pradeep phoned to say it had arrived.

Pradeep Kumar's only indulgence was a collection of inexpensive wristwatches, bought from roadside shops [Reuters]

He bought fresh okra from a roadside vendor and told his sister, "Go and have your bath. When you come back, we'll cook."

When she returned half an hour later, the room was locked. In the time she had been away, her brother had taken his own life.

"He never told me anything," Rajesh says. "He seemed happy."

His voice hardens when he speaks about the leak.

"I sold my land to educate him. Those who have money buy question papers. Those who study honestly are left behind."

Then he says something that has consumed him ever since.

"The government snatched away my son. If the paper had not leaked, Pradeep would be alive today. He would have been celebrating."

Kahaand and Pradeep came from different Indias.

One was the son of a lawyer who split his week between two cities. The other was the son of a farmer who mortgaged his future for his child's education. One dreamed of Disneyland after NEET. The other postponed buying a mobile phone until he became a doctor.

Yet both fathers are left asking the same question: how did children who believed they had earned their future lose faith in the very system meant to reward them?



Prashant Patel (left) joined the students' protest in Delhi after his son's death [BBC]

For weeks after Kahaan's funeral, Prashant Patel struggled to emerge from grief.

What finally drew him out was the students. He travelled to Delhi twice to join their protests in July.

"I wasn't there for compensation," he says. "I wanted accountability."

Weeks of protests forced education minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation on 25 July. The government expressed sympathy for the families of students who died by suicide and promised "maximum compensation in accordance with the rules and regulations".

But for Prashant Patel, the real legacy of the movement lay elsewhere.

He had watched students return to the streets after police action on 20 July.

"I wanted to thank them because they had become Kahaan's voice. If these children can come back after being beaten and still fight for justice," he says, "that gives me strength."

His son never found that voice.

"Kahaan didn't speak out," he says. "Instead, he took his own life."

He pauses.

"The other children spoke."

Then he says the words he wishes every parent – and every government – would hear.

"Our duty is to hear the voices of the young before they fall silent."

'The damage is enormous': Ukraine grapples with record-breaking Russian strikes

DAVID BRENNAN
Mon, August 3, 2026
AP

'The damage is enormous': Ukraine grapples with record-breaking Russian strikes

Russia set new wartime records for the rate and scale of its missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in July, according to data published by the Ukrainian air force and analyzed by ABC News, as the Ukrainian government accelerated its efforts to patch well-publicized gaps in its aerial defensive umbrella.

Across July, Russia launched a total of 381 missiles of all types into Ukraine, the air force in Kyiv said, at a rate of just over 12 per day -- setting new wartime records for the overall number and rate of missiles launched into the country.

The data also indicated that missiles have become a more prominent element of Russia's nightly -- and sometimes also daytime -- combined strikes, which are largely comprised of drones. In July, though, the proportion of Russian missiles in the overall munition count increased to a record high of just over 7%, according to Ukrainian air force data analyzed by ABC News.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, his top officials and military commanders have been clear on Kyiv's struggle to intercept Russian missiles, particularly of the ballistic variety, which fly at speeds and attack at angles that make it more difficult to shoot them down.

Gleb Garanich/Reuters - PHOTO: An explosion is seen in Kyiv, Ukraine, during a Russian missile and drone strike, on July 19, 2026.

Ukrainian Air Force - PHOTO: Russian missiles launched into Ukraine by month

In July, the Ukrainian air force reported a Russian missile failure rate -- including munitions that were intercepted, suppressed or failed to reach their targets -- of around 58%. For ballistic missiles -- including Iskander-M and S-400 missiles, which the air force often groups together in its after action reports -- the failure rate was around 28%.

Ukraine's air force publishes daily tallies of Russian drone and missile strikes, including information as to how many munitions were intercepted and how many penetrated air defenses. The air force includes a wide range of missile types in its count, sometimes including the "Banderol" low-cost cruise missile.

Moscow publishes only the number of Ukrainian drones and other projectiles it claims to have intercepted.

ABC News cannot independently verify the data released by either Ukraine or Russia. It is possible that both Kyiv and Moscow may seek to exaggerate the effectiveness of their air defenses, or to amplify the attacks against them.

Neither side provides detailed data on the number of munitions used in their own attacks. Both Kyiv and Moscow routinely describe their targets as military, energy or industrial sites and both accuse the other of intentionally attacking civilian targets.

Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters - PHOTO: A firefighting helicopter drops water over the site of a Russian missile strike in Kyiv region, Ukraine, on July 19, 2026.

Ballistic cat and mouse

The U.S.-made Patriot surface-to-air missile system has become Ukraine's prime defense against such munitions, but a global shortage of interceptor missiles -- exacerbated by the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran -- and President Donald Trump's decision to wind down U.S. aid to Kyiv has put severe strain on Ukrainian defenses, officials said.

Kyiv is also working to produce its own homegrown interceptor missile -- the Freyja -- and collaborating with European partners to use it in a shared anti-ballistic missile shield. Kyiv is targeting early 2027 for a Freyja prototype, officials have said.

Two sit-downs with Trump this month initially produced good news for Kyiv. During warm bilateral meetings with Zelenskyy at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, and later at the White House, Trump said he would give Ukraine permission to produce Patriot interceptors on Ukrainian soil.

Kacper Pempel/Reuters - PHOTO: This file photo shows a man looking at a Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) model made by Lockheed Martin at an international military fair in Kielce, Poland, on Sept. 7, 2017.More

Ukraine scales up drone attacks in Moscow, across Russia to record highs, data shows

Zelenskyy described the decision as a "historic political agreement," but warned later that there could be no immediate fix.

After visiting the White House for talks in late July, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was seeking the delivery of another 300 Patriot interceptor missiles to bolster its defenses before next winter.

Trump declined to provide any new missiles and even walked back his commitment to providing Ukraine a Patriot production license. "We have not agreed to that. We're talking about it, but it's a hard thing to give away that kind of technology," the president said during a Cabinet meeting at Camp David last week.

The Patriot is Ukraine's most potent weapon in its ongoing cat-and-mouse game with Russia, analysts say, in which both sides are constantly adapting to gain an edge over the other.

Russian missiles have been seen employing defensive measures, like deploying flares just before impact to misdirect interceptor missiles, and Moscow routinely changes its directions and timings of attack, Olha Polishchuk of the ACLED conflict monitoring organization told ABC News.

Anadolu Agency via Getty Images - PHOTO: This file photo shows an Iskander-M missile launcher during the International Military-Technical Forum "Army 2022" at Kubinka military training ground in Moscow, Russia, on August 17, 2022.More

But Moscow is facing its own logistical pressures as it expands its long-range attacks, according to Ukrainian Air Force spokesperson Yuriy Ihnat. He said last month that some of Russia's ballistic missiles were launched into Ukraine just weeks after coming off the factory production line, perhaps indicating that Russia's stockpiles are dwindling.

In June, Ukraine's military intelligence said that Russian forces could launch up to 100 ballistic missiles each month without exhausting its stockpiles. In July, Ukraine's air force said Russia launched at least 126 such missiles, which may represent an unsustainable tempo if Kyiv's estimates prove correct.

Russia's use of a North Korean ballistic missile in strikes in late July might also indicate its production pressures, Ukrainian officials said.

"Now, Russia sees that it's effective, it exploits it as much as possible," Polishchuk said of Moscow's ballistic strikes. "But it will have to stop at some point to again accumulate those missiles, to then again launch similar attacks. Until Ukraine becomes effective in intercepting them, which will likely take a while."
'Every day people die'

Through Ukraine's hot summer, the human toll of Russia's long-range attacks is mounting.

Through July, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the Ukrainian capital was hit by 11 combined missile and drone attacks, killing at least 56 people and wounding another 220 people.

Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: People examine a crater from Russian ballistic missile near children's clinic following strikes in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on August 1, 2026.

The last week of July saw Ukrainian cities suffer two major missile attacks, in which at least 17 people were killed. After a deadly attack on July 31, Zelenskyy wrote on X, "Only one ballistic missile was intercepted, simply because there are no interceptors for the Patriot systems."

When the missiles do come, Polishchuk said, air raid sirens and SMS alerts give residents only two to four minutes of warning, "Not enough time to get to a shelter," she said. Civilians have no indication of where the missile may land, she added, given that Russian missiles regularly strike residential buildings as well as infrastructure and military targets.

"There is very little incoming noise, and then 'boom,'" Ivan Stupak, a military analyst and a former officer in the Security Service of Ukraine, told ABC News from Kyiv. The short warning time causes "enormous stress," he added, recalling that the last missile attack on the capital came at 1:30 a.m. local time and "caught me off guard."

"Then you are trying to find your clothes and jump in the shelter," Stupak said.

Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: First responders operate at a residential building partially destroyed as a result of Russian missile strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on July 30, 2026.More

Serhiy Kiral, the deputy mayor of Lviv, told ABC News that the damage wrought by a ballistic missile strike is "enormous." Last week's impact caused tens of millions of Ukrainian hryvnias in damages, Kiral said, saw dozens of people placed in temporary housing and prompted some 500 people to request aid from government support centers.

Even for those who escape death or injury, Kiral said, homes and businesses can be "erased" in seconds and the subsequent psychological trauma can prove a years-long challenge.

The United Nations' monitoring mission in Ukraine said last month that it was seeing a "disturbing escalation" in the nature of Russian attacks. June, it said, was the deadliest month for civilians in the country since the opening months of the war in early 2022, with at least 293 civilians killed and 1,990 others injured.

Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images - PHOTO: Workers carry the body of a resident outside a damaged residential building following a Russian missile strike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on July 8, 2026

The mission said that the increase was largely driven by long-range Russian attacks.

Residents of Kherson -- a southern Ukrainian city which sits along the Dnipro River, which since late 2022 has served as the front line in the southern theater -- are under constant fire, one humanitarian volunteer there told ABC News.

The city "is truly in hell," Natalia Sergienko, director of the Kherson Power of the South public organization, said, "The city is almost daily subjected to artillery shelling, guided bomb strikes and drone attacks." Drones pose a particular threat, Sergienko said, routinely attacking civilians, cars and humanitarian transport vehicles.

"Every day people die from enemy shells. It is impossible to live for years under constant shelling, hearing explosions, losing acquaintances, seeing human pain and remaining the same as before," she said.

State Emergency Service Of Ukraine via Reuters - PHOTO: Firefighters work at the site of a poultry farm which was hit by a Russian airstrike on in the town of Chornobaivka, in Ukraine's Kherson region, in this handout picture released on July 4, 2026

Russia Intensifies Attacks on Civilian Shipping in Ukrainian Ports

Tugboat in Ukraine was set on fire by a Russian attack (Ministry of Reconstruction)

Published Aug 3, 2026 5:23 PM by The Maritime Executive

The Ministry of Reconstruction, Infrastructure, and Transport of Ukraine asserts that Russia is now trying to intimidate international shipowners and undermine confidence in the safety of civilian shipping. It emphasized that the intensity of the enemy attacks on Ukraine’s port infrastructure continues to increase while highlighting that the Russians are now attacking ships multiple times even if they have already been damaged.

The border guard reported on Monday, August 3, that a civilian tugboat was targeted. The vessel was struck by a Shahed drone, which resulted in a fire. The border guard and others rushed to the aid of the vessel. They released photos of the tug engulfed in flames, but did not say which port it was in.

Separately, the acting head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration, Georgy Reshetilov, reported a series of attacks on the port and civilian vessels. Mykolaiv has been targeted recently, with reports of at least one vessel that has been stuck in the port since the start of the war being struck.

 

Tugboat on fire after being hit by a drone (Border Guard)

 

Reshetilov said on Sunday, August 2, the port was hit by two Shahed drones. Port infrastructure and two vessels were damaged. Then, on Monday, in a rare daylight attack, three more vessels were damaged in Mykolaiv. 

The Ministry emphasized that the attacks are now spanning from the Greater Odesa region to also include ports on the Danube. It said ten people were injured by the recent Russian shelling.

It highlighted that there have been five attacks already in August as evidence of the increasing intensity. It said three of the attacks targeted civilian ships in the ports, while two others struck ships in the sea corridor. 

It reported that the Russians are “systematically attacking civilian ships,” saying this is now including ships previously damaged and no longer carrying out cargo operations. It said these ships have been repeatedly hit at the dock or in the anchorages. It is said that the purpose is clearly to intimidate shipowners. 

During July, it reports there were a total of 67 attacks on seaport facilities. A total of 35 vessels were attacked in Ukrainian ports, and another 22 vessels were underway in the sea corridor.

Another detainee dies at controversial NYC-area ICE facility

Michael Loria, 

USA TODAY
Mon, August 3, 2026 


Another detainee has died at a controversial U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center outside New York City, the man's family announced Monday, Aug. 3.

Edwin Lopez Cornejo, a New Jersey resident detained on June 18 by immigration enforcement officers, died on Aug. 1 at Delaney Hall in Newark, his mother Maria Cornejo said in an emotional video posted to Facebook. Cornejo attributed the death of her son to him not receiving diabetes medications he required while in custody.

Cornejo said her son lived in the United States for nearly 20 years. She described him as hardworking and a good father to her granddaughter. According to family, Lopez Cornejo had a work permit.

"An excellent son," she said, "and I lost him to the hands of immigration authorities."

Lopez Cornejo's death comes as a record number of people have died in ICE custody amid the Trump administration's aggressive push for mass deportations. An earlier detainee at Delaney Hall died in December 2025.

Several deaths have been attributed to poor medical treatment. ICE has denied any accusations of poor treatment, even as witnesses in numerous lawsuits and news reports contradict official accounts of detainee treatment.

The Newark detention center is among ICE facilities where conditions have reportedly been poor, sparking hunger strikes and unrest inside the facility, and mass protests outside of it.


ICE agents detain a protester outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

An ICE agent points his taser at protestors outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

ICE agents use a chemical irritant as they clash with protestors outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

Newark Police block the road leading to the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

Protestors link arms as they face off with ICE agents outside of the federal immigration center at Delaney Hall, where ICE is housing detained immigrants, on May 28, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. The ongoing protests, which became tense over the holiday weekend, come amid reports of a hunger strike by detainees. (Adam Gray, Getty Images)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents use batons to forcibly push protesters back outside Delaney Hall on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Newark. Some of the detainees are currently hunger striking against alleged poor conditions inside the facility. Protesters were attempting to block vehicles from entering or exiting the facility. (Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents use mace to forcibly push protesters and members of the press back outside Delaney Hall on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Newark. Some of the detainees are currently hunger striking against alleged poor conditions inside the facility. Protesters were attempting to block vehicles from entering or exiting the facility. (Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com)

What does DHS say?

The Department of Homeland Security in a statement to USA TODAY denied accusations of medical neglect in the case of Lopez Cornejo.

"While in custody, Lopez-Cornejo received proper medical care and was seen by medical professionals," an agency spokesperson said in a statement. "ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in custody reside in safe, secure and humane environments. Comprehensive medical care is provided from the moment individuals arrive and throughout their stay."

According to DHS, detainees receive a comprehensive health screening within 12 hours of booking and a full evaluation within 14 days.

DHS did not comment on claims from Lopez Cornejo's family that he had a work permit.

GEO Group, the company that runs the detention center, declined to comment.
What did his family say?

Lopez Cornejo's mother, in an emotional interview posted to Facebook, described her son as a hardworking father to her granddaughter.

She said her son was on his way to work when he was arrested by ICE. She said she learned of her son's death from the hospital where he was brought after he had already died.

The two last spoke Thursday, July 30, said Cornejo, adding her son spoke of being unwell and plans to get medical care though it was unclear when that would happen.

"That's one of the reasons for his death, I think, because of neglect, that they didn't give him the medications he had to take," she said.

Cornejo lamented that her son never got to see his 12-year-old daughter again before he died.

Daughter left 'an orphan'

Sebastiana Cornejo, Lopez Cornejo's aunt, slammed immigration authorities for leaving her niece an orphan.

"We ask them to stop these deportations, that they're separating families, kids they're leaving as orphans, without anyone's protection," the man's aunt said. "Who's going to protect them? Kids who are born American citizens. Why? Why are they detaining so many hardworking people? Even if we're immigrants we haven't hurt anyone, we came here to work, not to hurt anyone."
Family calls for justice

Lopez Cornejo's surviving family members, including his mother, aunt and brother all spoke publicly about their loss in an interview posted to Facebook. The group spoke behind blue medical masks but used their full names in a rare move among people who have lost loved ones to ICE.

According to the family, speaking up is about seeking justice for Lopez Cornejo and anyone in a similar situation.

"I know this pain that's gotten me, hasn't only gotten me, but many people in this country have felt these pains, but unfortunately in this recent case it's me because I lost my son," said Maria Cornejo, her voice breaking down. "And if justice isn't done, they're going to continue doing this, and we don't know how many more people we'll lose in this country."