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Mood: How the Lounge team is feeling this week

From curtain coming down on a celebrated tennis career to one of the worst seen riots in national capital’s history, the Lounge team takes on the biggest updates of the week

Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova decided to hang up her boots this week.
Five-time Grand Slam winner Maria Sharapova decided to hang up her boots this week. (Photo: Getty Images)

Celebrating Sharapova

Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova announced her retirement on 26 February. The 32-year-old has won five Grand Slam titles and 36 titles in total. Her 2004 Wimbledon victory over Serena Williams, at age 17, remains the highlight of her career. The low point came when Sharapova was suspended from tennis after failing a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open. She returned to action in 2017, but managed to win just one WTA title. Defeats to lesser-ranked players and a recurring shoulder injury blighted her recent performances and a first-round defeat to Donna Vekic in the 2020 Australian Open was the last straw. —NS

Delhi witnessed one of the worst riots in decades
Delhi witnessed one of the worst riots in decades

Delhi burning

Earlier this month, the people of Delhi were congratulating themselves on re-electing a city government on the basis of issues like electricity, water, health care and education. And yet, from 23-25 February, the city’s north-east areas were convulsed in one of the worst riots seen in the Capital in recent decades. The police proved ineffective as mobs went on the rampage through the mixed neighbourhoods on either side of the Jaffrabad main road. This is a part of Delhi that is home to a huge number of working-class people who live in appalling conditions. On the back of incendiary speeches, alleged targeted arson and violence hit the boroughs, and predominantly poor people had to pay the price once again. The Delhi high court has hauled up the Delhi police for its response, and investigations will no doubt follow. —BB

Harvey Weinstein (R)
Harvey Weinstein (R) (Photo: Getty Images)

Time’s up for Weinstein

Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is now prisoner No.06581138Z—an inmate of the prison ward at Bellevue Hospital Center, New York. His journey from stardom to jail took years—and the incredible courage of scores of women who came forward, often at grave personal risk, with accounts of his sexual misdemeanours. Last week, a jury found Weinstein guilty of two of the five counts he was charged with, including one of third-degree rape. He potentially faces 25 years in prison, and another 28 years if he is convicted in a forthcoming criminal case in Los Angeles. While Weinstein was cleared of the most serious count of predatory sexual assault, the ruling still signals a turning point in the #MeToo movement.—SG

There are now more than 82,000 cases of Coronavirus worldwide.
There are now more than 82,000 cases of Coronavirus worldwide. (Photo: Getty Images)

A wildlife ban is not the cure

China’s recent ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals in light of the coronavirus outbreak comes too late. While there is no confirmation on the origin of the virus yet, scientists suspect it jumped from animals to humans. Endangered species like pangolins, porcupines and peacocks are often bred in thousands of wildlife farms across China, given the demand for freshly slaughtered meat in the country. Ever since the early cases that originated in Wuhan, Hubei, more than 2,700 people have succumbed to the virus in China. There are now more than 82,000 cases of the virus worldwide. —NS

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