- Muslim women break taboos navigating east London's waterways
- Nepal dam-building spree powers electric vehicle boom
- More than 60 dead from storm Helene as rescue, cleanup efforts grow
- Dozens missing, 9 dead in migrant boat wreck off Spanish Canaries
- Death toll from Hurricane John hits eight in Mexico
- Storm Helene's toll rises as rescue and cleanup efforts gain pace
- SpaceX launches mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding as cleanup begins
- SpaceX set to launch mission to return stranded astronauts
- Storm Helene kills 44, threatens more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Boeing strike grinds on as latest talks fail to reach agreement
- Iran 'news' sites, hackers target Trump ahead of US election
- US ports brace for potential dockworkers strike
- Japan's speedy, spotless Shinkansen bullet trains turn 60
- US hurricane deaths rise to 44, fears of more 'catastrophic' flooding
- Global stocks mostly rise, cheering Beijing stimulus
- Europe en route for Moon with new simulator, says astronaut Pesquet
- Fireworks forecast if comet survives risky Sun flypast
- Argentina judge orders dictionary to delete pejorative definition of 'Jewish'
- Global stocks rise on rate hopes, Beijing stimulus
- S.African woman turns 118, among the oldest in the world
- UK clears $4 bn AI partnership between Amazon, Anthropic
- Barca fans barred from Champions League away game over racist banner
- Chinese stocks extend surge, Europe higher on Beijing stimulus
- Pope says Church must 'seek forgiveness' for child sexual abuse
- China caps week of 'bazooka' stimulus for ailing economy with rate cut
- Cuts, cash, credit: China bids to jumpstart flagging economy
- France's debt weighs heavier ahead of budget debate
- Iran treads carefully, backing Hezbollah while avoiding war
- Return to sender: waste stranded at sea stirs toxic dispute
- 'Broken' news industry faces uncertain future
- On remote Greek island, migratory birds offer climate clues
- Taken from mother by nuns, victim seeks answers as pope visits Belgium
- China cuts amount banks hold in reserve to boost lending
- Hong Kong, Shanghai extend surge as China optimism boosts markets
- Vietnam president reiterates support for Cuba during official visit
- Drought reduces Amazon River in Colombia by as much as 90%: report
- Stay or go? Pacific Islanders face climate's grim choice
- Florida bracing for 'unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene
- Poverty rises to over 52 percent in Milei's Argentina
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala Harris
- Champagne houses abuzz over English sparkling wine
- Macron, Trudeau pledge to work for 'decarbonized' economies
- Hurricanes, storms, typhoons... Is September wetter than usual?
- China stimulus, tech optimism boost stock markets
- 'Unsurvivable' Hurricane Helene races towards Florida
- Macron meets Trudeau in Canada as both face political setbacks
- South Korea surges in UN innovation index
- Chloe's see-through look may not be for Kamala
- Floods threaten Niger's historic 'gateway to the desert'
Transgender outcasts turn artists in India
On a giant flyover in the sprawling Indian metropolis of Mumbai, a transgender art collective is trying to change attitudes as radically as it transforms the concrete pillars into brightly coloured murals.
Known as "hijras", individuals identified as male at birth but now part of India's "third gender", have an ambivalent position on the edges of Indian society, respected and feared in turn as some Hindus believe they hold the power to bless or curse.
Denied jobs at most workplaces, many are forced to beg at traffic intersections, where they are a common sight in major cities, or on trains.
Some turn up at family events such as weddings or birth celebrations, or at new houses, to offer blessings in return for money, sometimes threatening to issue curses if denied. Others turn to prostitution, increasing their risk of violence.
The Aravani Art Project hopes to challenge the stigma and marginalisation by showing transgender people as artists in the same public spaces where they beg or face abuse.
At the latest mural site -- one of Mumbai's busiest junctions -- the team painted portraits of local residents, among them two cleaners, a vegetable seller and a policeman.
"It's an opportunity for us to show what talent we have," said transgender woman artist Deepa Kachare.
"We have to beg from people by going to marriage functions, babies' births, shops, trains, and some of us are sex workers to make money as well," she said.
"We go everywhere to beg but we love to work hard and earn money."
The organisation -- whose projects are commissioned by governments, businesses and NGOs -- has brought together dozens of mostly transgender women for street art projects in multiple Indian cities.
"People are very happy to see us working as artists," said Kachare, 26. "Now they think positively when they see us."
- 'We are artists' -
The art collective takes its name from Lord Aravan, a Hindu deity who is "wedded" to hundreds of transgender people every year in a southern Indian festival.
Hinduism has many references to "third genders", such as Shikhandi, a character in the epic Mahabharata, and hijras have assumed different roles in society over the centuries, among them royal servants and harem guardians, according to historians.
But gay sex was criminalised in India during the British colonial period and only legalised by the Supreme Court in 2018.
The transgender community -- believed to number several million -- has fought to end discrimination, but many say they still struggle to be accepted by broader society.
"What's exciting for me is to tell them (transgender artists) that they are capable of doing anything," said woman artist and Aravani co-founder Sadhna Prasad, 29.
"And gender is really something that should be discussed much, much later and what they do and what they want to do in life comes first."
Another transgender woman member of the group, Ayesha Koli, 25 -- who still begs on the streets -- said her pigment-spattered kurta had become a marker of a different kind.
"These days when we wear our 'painting clothes' and go, they ask with curiosity if we paint," she said. "We feel immensely proud in saying 'Yes, we are artists and we paint.'"
J.Bondarev--CPN