South Korean actress Park Ji Ah passed away at the age of 52 after suffering a stroke. Her agency confirmed the news, revealing the cause of her death as ischemic stroke. She passed away early in the morning on September 30.

As per Korean media, her close acquaintance was quoted saying, “[Park Jia] recently collapsed due to a cerebral infarction and was battling it in the hospital, but unfortunately, she did not recover and passed away”. 

Her funeral procession will take place on October 2 at 10 am, as per her agency.

Park Ji Ah made her acting debut in 1998. She was popular for her collaboration with filmmaker Kim Ki-duk and appeared in at least five of his works. The actress gained appreciation for her roles in Breath, The Coast Guard and The Glory. 

The Supreme Court on Monday emphasised the divide between religion and politics as it heard petitions over allegations of animal fat in ghee used to make laddoos at Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple.

The court took a dim view of the timing of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu releasing a lab report claiming traces of fish oil, beef tallow, and lard (pig fat) were found in the ghee.

“We expect Gods to be kept away from politics, why did the Chief Minister go to the press?” the court asked.

A Samajwadi Party MLA’s remark in which he said the population of Muslims is increasing and the BJP’s rule will come to an end soon has sparked a political row in Uttar Pradesh.

Mehboob Ali, MLA from Amroha and a former state minister, made the remarks at a public gathering in Bijnor. “Your rule will come to an end. The population of Muslims is increasing. We will come to power. The Mughals ruled for 850 years, they could not… those who are burning the country must note that the people have woken up. They gave a reply in Parliament (polls). And in the coming days, in 2027, you will surely go and we will come,” he is heard saying in a video. The Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are due in 2027.

The Samajwadi Party legislator’s remarks have drawn a sharp response from the BJP.

Subrat Pathak, former MP and BJP general secretary in Uttar Pradesh, said the MLA’s remarks raise questions the Samajwadi Party must answer. “Is this why (Samajwadi Party chief) Akhilesh Yadav is busy dividing Hindus? So that a particular community’s wish is fulfilled?”

The BJP leader said Akhilesh Yadav must remember that the country had changed. “The Hindus have made Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time and Yogi Adityanath the Chief Minister for two terms.”

Samajwadi Party leader Sunil Sajan said the party does not agree with Mehboob Ali’s remark that the BJP will be defeated because the Muslim population has increased. “But it is true that inflation has increased, unemployment has increased, BJP’s corruption has increased, their lies have increased, their politics of hate has increased… the borders are not secure, states are burning and the Prime Minister is silent. So a large population wants to ensure the BJP’s defeat. So the BJP is not here for long,” he said.