Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined this week by Krishn Kaushik of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and independent journalist Sowmiya Ashok.

They talk about the ongoing protests in China against severe Covid restrictions and how the communist regime is responding to them. Sowmiya, who has reported from China, explains why the mere act of people showing up to protest in that country is “brave and a big deal”. 

Gautam Adani’s takeover of NDTV is another subject of discussion. Krishn explains why the billionaire’s purchase of the TV network isn’t “just another business deal, but a pure power move”. Abhinandan says he is surprised by “how this NDTV takeover is making so much noise”, adding, “I did not expect that.”

They also discuss Nadav Lapid’s searing criticism of Bollywood film The Kashmir Files, its inclusion at Goa’s International Film Festival of India, and why the Israeli filmmaker’s remarks outraged India’s primetime TV anchors. Another point of discussion this week is the controversy over former German football player and coach Jurgen Klinsmann’s allegedly racist comments about the Iranian team’s tactics at the Fifa World Cup in Qatar.

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Hafta letters: Iran protests, climate change stories on NL, nickel mining