The first lawsuits challenging the legality of US President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration began rolling in on Friday, and lawmakers say more are likely to follow. 

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington came out the gate first with a lawsuit alleging that the Department of Justice failed to provide documents concerning the president’s legal authority to invoke emergency powers over a border wall.

“Americans deserve to know the true basis for President Trump’s unprecedented decision to enact emergency powers to pay for a border wall,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement. “We’re suing because the government has so far failed to produce the requested documents or provide an explanation for their delay.” 

The announcement came the same day Trump confirmed he will use the declaration to divert about $3.6 billion the Defense Department had allocated for construction projects and $2.5 billion earmarked for counterdrug activities in order to fund his long-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border ― a project Congress refused to fully fund in the spending bill it passed Thursday.

The American Civil Liberties Union announced Friday that it will file a lawsuit early next week arguing that Trump cannot legally use the emergency declaration to evade those funding limits imposed by Congress.

“The Constitution assigns Congress the power of the purse, and no prior president has ever tried to use emergency powers to fund a chosen project — particularly a permanent, large-scale domestic project such as this — against congressional will,” Dror Ladin, staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement. “This is obviously improper.”

Other lawsuits are likely to follow. In a press conference on Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Attorney General Xavier Becerra said they are planning to sue after reviewing the declaration.

“Donald Trump, we’ll see you in court,” the governor said.

Becerra said they are “working closely with several other states that feel the same way,” hinting at a multistate legal effort.

Democrats in Congress have also signaled they’re ready to go to court. Soon after Trump’s announcement Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) issued a joint statement, saying, “Congress will defend our constitutional authorities in the Congress, in the Courts, and in the public, using every remedy available.”

Plenty of past presidents have declared national emergencies ― something Trump has cited to normalize his plans ― but it’s unprecedented for a president to declare one as a means of bypassing Congress to pay for a project lawmakers won’t endorse.

NEW DELHI/ISLAMABAD — India slammed Pakistan on Friday for stating that it had no role in the Pulwama attack carried out by Pakistan-based terror group JeM, saying Islamabad could not claim that it was unaware of the presence of terror groups on its soil as the links of such outfits to the country were there for everyone to see.

In a tit-for-tat move, Pakistan summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad on Friday and lodged a protest against India’s allegation of its role in the Pulwama terror attack.

Hitting back at Pakistan, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: “JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack. The organisation and its leadership are located in Pakistan.”

The Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and other terror groups had welcomed the news of the attack and those groups were also based in Pakistan, he asserted.

“Pakistan cannot claim that it is unaware of their presence and their activities. They have not taken any action against these groups despite international demands, especially against groups and individuals proscribed by the UN and other countries,” Kumar said.

The links to Pakistan were clear and evident for all to see, he added.

Pakistani ministers had shared the same podium with UN-proscribed terrorists, Kumar said.

He asserted that the neighbouring country’s demand for an investigation was “preposterous” when there was a video of the suicide bomber declaring himself a member of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

There were also other audio-visual and print material linking JeM to the terror attack, the MEA spokesperson said.

“We have, therefore, no doubt that the claim is firmly established,” he added.

There was no constructive approach from Pakistan on its relations with India, Kumar said.

“What we have noticed however, are claims to offer dialogue on one hand, while sponsoring and sheltering terrorists and terrorist organisations such as JeM on the other,” he added.

India demands that Pakistan should take immediate and verifiable action against terrorists and terror groups operating from territories under its control to create a conducive atmosphere in the region, free of terror, Kumar said.

The JeM has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead and five critically wounded.

The summoning of the Indian deputy high commissioner by Pakistan came after India, earlier in the day, summoned the Pakistani High Commissioner to India, Sohail Mahmood, and issued a very strong demarche over the killing of the CRPF men.

Pakistan must take “immediate and verifiable action” against JeM and it must immediately stop any groups or individuals associated with terrorism operating from its territories, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale told the envoy.

Though Pakistan’s Foreign Office has not issued any statement, sources said it summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner and rejected the “baseless allegations made by India” against Pakistan on the Pulwama attack.

A short video clip of the Indian diplomat leaving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad was also circulating on social media platforms.

Meanwhile, in a tweet, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal said Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua briefed the ambassadors of the US, Russia, France, the UK and China on the Pulwama attack on Friday and rejected India’s allegations.

Following the terror strike, India withdrew the “most-favoured nation” status to Pakistan on Friday, a move which would enable it to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stood revoked.

India had granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in 1996, but the neighbouring country is yet to reciprocate.

According to sources, Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria has also been called to Delhi for consultations in the wake of the horrific attack.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said in an interview that his country would take action against anyone if India shared evidence.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton told his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Friday that the United States supports India’s right to self-defence after the two discussed the Pulwama attack, which has claimed the lives of at least 40 CRPF soldiers. 

Bolton telephoned Doval on Friday morning to express his condolences and offered the US’ full support to India in confronting terrorism. 

“I told Ajit Doval today that we support India’s right to self-defence. I have spoken to him twice, including this morning... and expressed US’ condolences over the terrorist attack,” Bolton told PTI.

In a stern message to Pakistan, the White House has also asked Islamabad to “immediately end” its “support” to all terror groups and not to provide “safe haven” to them, as the US condemned the Pulwama terror attack.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the terror attack.

“The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders had said in statement on Thursday.

 (With PTI inputs)

JAMMU/LUCKNOW/PATNA — Massive protests and candlelight marches were held on Friday in different parts of the country against the Pulwama terror attack which claimed the lives of 40 CRPF personnel, while curfew was imposed in Jammu city following violence during demonstrations there.

Raising slogans against Pakistan and terrorists, protesters defied curfew to take out rallies and police had to resort to cane charge at Residency Road, Kachi Chawani and Dogra hall areas in Jammu.

The protesters burnt tyres and placed barricades on several roads. Five vehicles were set afire in Gujjar Nagar area, while there were also reports of stone pelting.

Demonstrations were held in Purani Mundi, Rehari, Shaktinagar, Pacca Danga, Janipur, Gandhinagar, Bakshinagar, Muthi, Talal Tilloo and Satwari in Jammu city where Army conducted flag marches in sensitive areas.

The grief and outrage over the terror attack spilled onto the streets as families of the slain soldiers, hailing from different states, waited for their coffins.

Emotions ran high as protesters converged at India Gate and Jantar Mantar in national capital to express solidarity with the families of the martyrs. Activists of different political parties, social groups and trader outfits joined common people during demonstrations in Lucknow and others state capitals.

In UP, demonstrations were held in Bareilly, Azamgarh, Mau, Meerut, Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Shahjahanpur, reports reaching here said.

In Gorakhpur, Samajwadi party workers burnt a Pakistani flag and an effigy of Prime Minister Imran Khan and raised slogans against the neighbouring country.

A large number of youths blocked Chapra- Gorakhpur track in Deoria demanding that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath visit the family of the local youth martyred in the attack and raised slogans against Pakistan.

In Bihar, which lost Sanjay Kumar Sinha and Ratan Kumar Thakur in the attack, hundreds of protesters, including students gathered at the Kargil Chowk in state capital Patna demanding firm action those responsible for the attack.

Protesters burnt tyres on national highway NH 28 A in Motihari, resulting in disruption of vehicular traffic.

Protests were held in Assam by members of Sadou Assam Goria Moriya Yuva Chatra Parishad, a minority students’ organisation, All Bodo Minority Students Union, ABVP, Krishak Shramik Unayan Parishad and Hindu Jagran Manch.

People lit oil lamps across the state in memory of the martyrs.

Protesters burnt effigies of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which claimed responsibility for the attack, and flags of the neighbouring country.

The terror attack also triggered angry protests at several places in Punjab, which lost four jawans, and Haryana. Schoolchildren also took out marches in some areas.

“How many sacrifices will our soldiers have to make? This needs to stop,” said Jagtar Singh, who was part of one such march in Kurukshetra.

Gujarat Congress organised a candle march at Sabarmati Ashram to pay respects to the slain soldiers. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal also held protests in different parts of the states this evening.

Protests were also held in Maharashtra. People gathered in Begumpura area in Aurangabad and burnt a Pakistani flag.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg explosives into their bus.

A day after it was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Vande Bharat Express, billed as India’s fastest train, broke down on Saturday.

The train, also known as Train 18, was returning from Varanasi after its inaugural run and broke down about 200 km from the capital, reported NDTV.

It resumed service around 8.15 am, after a halt of about three hours, the report added. 

According to railway officials, quoted by News18, the train began making a “weird noise” early on Saturday morning after which the breaks of one of the coaches jammed.

The officials said that one of the possible reasons for the snag was the train hitting a cow on the tracks, the report added.

Its first commercial run is scheduled for Sunday. The Vande Bharat Express will operate on five days in a week, except on Monday and Thursday.

You’ve probably heard of menopause, commonly known as the point at which a person’s menstrual cycle stops for good. But it might surprise you that many symptoms that occur during menopause actually begin a lot earlier, during a phase called perimenopause.

Perimenopause refers to the time period when people start noticing inconsistency in their menstrual cycle, up until menopause actually begins. Menopause technically starts when someone has gone 12 months without a period. According to Nanette Santoro, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Colorado and a menopause researcher, “the transition is marked by either a seven day or more increase in variability in your cycle length, or a skipped menstrual period.”

This isn’t to be confused with the word premenopause, which you may have heard tossed around before. That refers to the time up until a person starts experiencing menopausal symptoms (so basically now, if you’re a person who gets a period), said Alyssa Dweck, author and New York-based gynecologist practicing for over 20 years.

Given that all the terminology, symptoms and timing can make an already confusing er, period, even more complicated, HuffPost chatted with experts on all things perimenopause to make it a little more clear. Here’s what you should know about when it can happen, what to expect and how to alleviate any annoying issues:

When does perimenopause start?

While there’s no way to pin down the exact age someone experiences perimenopause, Santoro said the average individual begins their transition with a skipped period or a “noticeable difference in variability” of their menstrual cycle in their 40s. By the time someone is 49, they may have gone approximately 60 days without a menstrual period. By 51 or 52, they are typically menopausal.

Santoro noted that some people can start experiencing perimenopause as early as their 30s. However, this isn’t incredibly common. According to Dweck, people experiencing missed periods in their mid- or late-thirties should more likely test for pregnancy or another condition, like a thyroid abnormality, than jump straight to perimenopause as a culprit. (And even if your unpredictable periods are due to perimenopause, Dweck still advised using contraception if you’re not trying to to get pregnant.)

The length of perimenopause varies, with the average lasting a few years. For some people, it can last up to a decade.

What are the symptoms of perimenopause?

Beyond period irregularity, a whole host of other symptoms accompany perimenopause, which are pretty similar to those most people typically associate with menopause. These can ramp up in severity the closer you get to the point where your menstrual cycle stops completely, Santoro said.

One of the most often discussed issues is hot flashes, AKA “the overwhelming and very rapid onset of heat that moves its way up to your face and head, during which you will start to perspire like crazy,” Dweck said. When they occur at night, they’re often referred to as night sweats.

There’s also mood fluctuation. During perimenopause, people will likely start to notice some irritability, anxiety and depression.

“Women are at risk to have their first lifetime episode of major depression when they’re perimenopausal,” Santoro said, which was a symptom she discovered during her research. “And about 15 to 25 percent of women will report an increase in what we call depressive symptoms.”

Finally, both experts said people can expect worsening sleep and increased vaginal dryness. Part of the sleep interruptions can be attributed to waking up during hot flashes, according to Santoro, but another culprit is hormone fluctuation (the hormone changes also cause the vaginal dryness). Until perimenopause, the hormones estrogen and progesterone cue your regular menstrual cycle. After, they become erratic and trigger the period irregularity and other symptoms, Dweck explained.

What factors affect perimenopause?

If you’re hoping for a bit of insight into what your perimenopause experience might be like, both Dweck and Santoro suggested looking at your family history, since genetics play a role. Lifestyle is also a factor.

“If your mom had an early menopause, and your lifestyle is similar to hers, it’s very likely you will go through a very similar scenario,” Dweck said, adding that smoking is an important lifestyle factor to consider, because smokers “notoriously go through earlier menopause.”

Weight and ethnicity can also play a role. Santoro said that being overweight is associated with more severe hot flashes, and that according to her research, black individuals tend to have the longest lasting and most severe hot flashes. Asian Americans have shorter and less severe hot flashes, and white individuals fall somewhere in the middle, she said.

So, what can you do about all of this?

If this all sounds inevitable and overwhelming, there’s hope. Perimenopause and menopause can have a big impact on your life, but there’s a lot to be gained from having open and honest conversations with your health care provider to discuss treatment options.

For starters, it may be a good time to start considering lifestyle decisions, like increasing your exercise and consulting a nutritionist, Dweck said. It goes without saying, but you’ll probably want to quit smoking for a number of reasons. You can also learn to avoid or limit triggers for hot flashes, which Dweck said include alcohol, particularly red wine, caffeine and stress.

Hormone therapy is another route, Santoro added, although there are some risks and side-effects associated with it. This is essentially putting the hormones you’ve lost — estrogen and progesterone — back into your body, which helps with just about every perimenopausal symptom.

If hormone therapy isn’t an option for you because, for instance, you’ve had certain cancers or are prone to blood clots, FDA-approved medications are available on the market to fight hot flashes. Santoro also said a lot of research on hot flash prevention is ongoing. One clinician, she said, is even working on an experimental drug that blocks the brain receptors responsible for hot flashes altogether.

As Dweck and Santoro make clear, there’s a lot you can do to make this transition way less uncomfortable. Talking about it is the first step.

WASHINGTON — The US on Friday asked Pakistan to freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets of the UNSC-designated terrorist networks and their leaders.

It also said it fully supports actions to prevent the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad from conducting future attacks.

Pakistan-based JeM has claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday that left at least 40 CRPF soldiers dead and five others critically wounded.

A State Department spokesperson told PTI, “Pakistan outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammed in 2002. However, the group still operates in Pakistan. The US designated JeM as a foreign terrorist organization in December 2001, and we fully support actions to prevent them from conducting future attacks.”

In addition, the UNSC designated JeM on its 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List in 2001, the official noted.

“We expect Pakistan to uphold its responsibilities pursuant to UN Security Council resolutions to deny safe haven and support for terrorists and to freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of individuals and entities on the UNSC 1267 sanctions list,” the spokesperson said in response to a question.

The official, however, did not divulge if the US has taken up the issue with the Pakistani leadership directly after the Pulwama terrorist attack.

In various statements and on social media, the Trump administration has asked Pakistan to deny safe haven and end support to terrorist organisations.

The spokesperson also refrained from making any comment over China blocking India’s move to designate Jaish chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Our views on Masood Azhar and Jaish-e-Mohammed are well known. The JeM has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and is a threat to regional stability, the spokesperson said.

“UN Sanctions Committee deliberations are confidential, and as such we do not comment on specific matters,” the official said.

The all-party meeting convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to brief political parties about the attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama is underway. 

Singh, according to Hindustan Times, is expected to brief all-party leaders about the terror attack and the emergent security situation.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba had briefed the Home Minister ahead of the meeting, according to News18.

The meeting is being attended by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien of the TMC, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, D Raja of the CPI, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP among others.

The decision to convene the all-party meeting was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

Earlier, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely said the all-party meeting would be convened to brief political parties on the incident so that the nation speaks in one voice on the issue.

The CCS was held to discuss the security scenario in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama attack and the possible steps to be taken against the perpetrators of the gruesome act.

Forty CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammad suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama.

(With PTI inputs)

No one ever said that balancing a romantic relationship with the other relationships in your life was easy, especially at first. But figuring out a way to invest in your partner and the other important people in your life is so, so worth it.

In the early stages of dating, it’s normal to spend a lot of time with your partner as you’re getting to know each other better and enjoying the honeymoon phase of the relationship. But if your romantic relationship is eating up all of your time and energy, leaving nothing for your friendships, then it might be time to pause and evaluate why there’s such an imbalance. 

“It’s far too easy to immerse your energy and time into your significant other and neglect your friendships,” marriage and family therapist Andrea Wachter told HuffPost. “While it is very common to have a shift in your availability, and it is a challenge to navigate another person in your life, it is essential to continue to feed and water our friendships in order for them to thrive.”

Below, therapists share the signs that your relationship vs. friendship priorities are out of whack. 

1. You often cancel plans with your friends to spend more time with your partner. 

“As with most things, balance is the key to healthy relationships. If you find that you have been frequently canceling plans with friends to spend time with your S.O. instead, you are potentially causing harm to both your friendships and your relationship. Your friends may be hurt and resentful, and later, you may feel resentful of the time you invested in your relationship at the cost of your friendships.” — Anna Poss, therapist 

2. You learn your friends’ big news — a new job, an engagement, a professional milestone — on social media instead of hearing it from them directly. 

“Normally you would know if your friends got a new job, went away for a weekend or started a new relationship. If you are finding out these big events first on social media, perhaps your relationship has impacted how connected you are to your friends.” — Marie Land, psychologist

3. When you’re with your friends, all you talk about is your relationship.

“It’s very common to get excited about your relationship and want to talk about it with your friends. A lot. However, it’s important that this does not become the only, or even main, topic of conversation. Make sure you talk about other aspects of your life, too. Also, make sure to regularly ask about your friends’ lives as well. And when you respond to what they share, keep the focus on them and what they shared about themselves before bringing it back to you.” — Wachter

4. Even when you’re not talking about your relationship, thoughts about it are all-consuming, making it tough to be present with your friends.

“You should be able to follow a conversation and be genuinely interested in what’s going on with your friends. If you can’t focus on things your friend says that would normally interest you, then your romantic relationship might be getting in the way.” — Land

5. Your partner tries to convince you not to spend time with your friends or family, which could be an early sign of an abusive relationship.

“While it is completely normal to find yourself spending the time you normally would with friends to focus on a romantic relationship, what isn’t normal or healthy is a partner who encourages you to give these relationships up. A romantic partner trying to isolate you or end your relationships with family and friends is a red flag and early sign of an abusive relationship. Abusers can be skilled manipulators and they can be subtle in their attempts, even making it feel like it is your idea to spend less time with others.” — Poss

6. Your partner is jealous of the close bond you have with your friends. 

“A lot of people think it’s normal for a romantic partner to be a little jealous of friendships that take you away from them. But it’s not. Not at all. People are multifaceted and complex. They need lots of relationships to fill their many complexities. You need family, friends, co-workers, people who share your same hobbies, and romantic partners. If your significant other is jealous of any of these relationships, then it’s getting in the way. And depending on the severity, it can even be a symptom of a controlling relationship.” — Aaron Anderson, marriage and family therapist

7. Your friends avoid hanging out with you when you’re with your S.O. and rarely invite him or her to join group activities. 

“If you’re finding that your friends don’t want to hang out with you when you’re with your significant other, it’s either because they don’t like them or they don’t like you when you’re with them. This could be because you’re different when you’re around your significant other and they don’t like the person you become. If this is the case, you have some soul searching to do to ask yourself why you change so much. It could also be because your friends just don’t like your significant other. Either way, it’s messing with your friendships.

If you get told a lot that your plus-one is not allowed, then there may be a reason for that. If your friends call you but don’t invite your significant other, it means that your relationship is interfering with your friendships. Ideally, your significant other would fit in pretty well with your friends ― most of them, anyway. And everyone would feel welcome together. If this just isn’t happening, you may find yourself having to choose friendships or this romance sooner or later.” ― Anderson

It may take another century for the world to fully understand the cultural impact of that British pop group innocuously named ‘The Beatles’. It is still hard to fathom all the ways in which the four young men – John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr – who last performed together on a rooftop in January 1969, created a splash whose ripples continue to be felt.

Reams of scholarly articles have been devoted to their influence on fashion, live performances (they were the first to stage a large stadium concert), recording techniques, or the album format, but they also managed to trigger movements in social and political arenas far from the shores of Liverpool. Books about them could easily fill a library, but two recent additions to that vast body of work stand out for their simplicity and lack of pretension.

The first, titled The Beatles In Comics, is exactly what it promises to be — a graphic adaptation of a story so well known that one’s first reaction is probably, ‘Does this need to exist?’ The answer is, yes, it does. What it does is split the biography into chapters — Mister Epstein, George’s Martin’s Wager, The Man Who Refused To Sign The Beatles, The Beginning Of Beatlemania, etc. — and hand over artistic duties to different illustrators, from Anne-Sophie Servantie and Amandine Puntous to Julien Lamanda, Ben Lebègue and Victor Giménez. It also intersperses the tale with archival photographs (the legendary club Indra in Hamburg, for instance) and pithy commentary, while effectively condensing the band’s history, from the tentative relationship between John and Paul in 1957 to the members who were replaced, their touring years, conquering the world and eventual implosion after little over a decade.

There are also pages dedicated to what each member did after the split, and trivia that should amuse even hardcore fans. Did you know, for example, that McCartney broke a tooth in a moped accident in 1966, and it shows in the promotional films for Rain and Paperback Writer? Or that the Pope pardoned Lennon for the infamous declaration “We’re more popular than Jesus” only in 2011, describing it as the “boast of a young working-class Englishman faced with unexpected success”? Or that the 1966 tour in Japan required the largest security force ever seen in the 20th century for a group or artist, with 35,000 civil servants mobilised? It all makes for a satisfying snack for children as well as adults.

Another title with the capacity to satisfy both demographics is Yellow Submarine, an authorized graphic novel adaptation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the film, by Bill Morrison, Nathan Kane, and Aditya Bidikar. The story of The Beatles versus the Blue Meanies is well-known, but don’t let that dissuade you from picking this up. Set in Pepperland, the band is recruited by the Captain of the Yellow Submarine to help him free Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band from Chief Blue Meanie and his music-hating thugs. One can almost taste the LSD that must have inspired the Four to come up with the plot, and it is a testament to their talented collaborators and timeless music that this naive morality tale works at all.

As a companion piece to the animation, it works magnificently, faithfully replicating the pop-art surrealism that has proven to be so enduring, decades after that kind of psychedelia was last in vogue. Morrison does have a handicap, in the form of an inability to incorporate the songs that breathe life into the film, but substitutes them with stunning colours and word balloons recreating the sense of wide-eyed wonder that permeates every frame of the original. Looming large over these pages is the shadow of late German illustrator Heinz Edelmann, whose art direction gave the film its visual language. The most remarkable thing about Yellow Submarine is that it came into being only because The Beatles had to fulfil a contractual obligation in 1968.

There have been all kinds of graphic novels devoted to the Liverpudlians over the years, some straightforward biographies like Angus Allan’s The Beatles, others like Arne Bellstorf’s Baby’s in Black: Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles. Where Vivek Tiwary’s The Fifth Beatle focused on the role of manager Brian Epstein, Mauri Kunnas’s Beatles With An A: Birth of a Band takes a quirky look at some of the more colourful anecdotes surrounding them. The Beatles in Comic Strips by Enzo Gentile and Fabio Schiavo collects around 200 cartoon strips dedicated to Beatlemania, while Carol Tyler’s Fab4 Mania: A Beatles Obsession and the Concert of a Lifetime touchingly chronicles the author’s teenage fandom and account of her experience at a performance in Chicago.

Explaining why The Beatles continue to endure is like trying to justify why Shakespeare is still performed. The music, like those plays, work in mysterious ways to teach us something about ourselves. For that reason alone, more of these books deserve to be written, irrespective of the categories they happen to fall into.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said security forces have been given “full freedom” to punish perpetrators of the Pulwama attack. He was speaking at a public rally in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal.  

Saying that the sacrifices of the jawans will not be in vain, the Prime Minister said that no matter where the leaders of terror organisations hide, they will be punished.

Modi had also given a stern warning to Pakistan on Friday and declared those responsible will pay a “very heavy price”.

He had said the “blood of the people is boiling”, adding the terror outfits and those aiding and abetting them have made a “big mistake”.

“A befitting reply will be given to the perpetrators of the heinous attack and their patrons,” Modi had asserted, a day after the bomber rammed his vehicle laden with explosives into a CRPF bus in a convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The

Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack.  

“Security forces have been given complete freedom, the blood of the people is boiling...Our neighbouring country, which has been isolated internationally is in a state of illusion, thinks such terror attacks can destabilise us, but their plans will not materialise,” Modi said.

Asserting that the sacrifices of CRPF soldiers will “not go in vain”, he said, “Security forces have been given permission to take decisions about the timing, place and nature of their response... This is an India of new convention and policy,”

(With PTI inputs)

NEW DELHI — Political parties on Saturday put up a united face and expressed India’s determination to fight terrorism following the Pulwama terror attack, underlining their solidarity with security forces for defending the country’s unity and integrity.

A meeting of all political parties, including the BJP and the Congress, passed a resolution condemning the terror attack and support being given to it from across the border.

The resolution did not name Pakistan but asserted that India has been facing the menace of the cross-border terrorism which of late, it added, is being actively encouraged by forces from the neighbouring country.

“India has displayed both firmness and resilience in dealing with these challenges. The entire nation speaks in one voice to express its determination to fight these challenges. Today, we stand united in solidarity with our security forces in fighting terrorism and in defending the unity and integrity of India,” it said.

The meeting convened by Home Minister Rajnath Singh was attended by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma and Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Derek O’Brien of the TMC, Sanjay Raut of the Shiv Sena, Jithendra Reddy of the TRS, D Raja of the CPI, Farooq Abdullah of the National Conference, Ram Vilas Paswan of the LJP among others.

The parties were briefed about the attack in Pulwama in South Kashmir and the steps being taken by the government so far, a Home Ministry official said.

Naresh Gujral of the Akali Dal, Upendra Kushwaha of the RLSP and Jai Prakash Narayan Yadav are among others who are attending the meeting.

MUZAFFARPUR — A court has directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry against Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and two senior bureaucrats in connection with the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal.

The special POCSO court passed the order on Friday on an application filed by an accused, Ashwani, a self-styled medical practitioner who allegedly used to inject the home’s inmates with sedatives before they were subject to sexual abuse.

Ashwani had alleged in his petition that the CBI was “suppressing facts” in course of the investigation which would come to light if the roles of “former DM, Muzaffarpur, Dharmendra Singh, senior IAS officer Atul Kumar Singh, former divisional commissioner of Muzaffarpur and currently principal secretary, the Social Welfare Department, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar” were probed.

POCSO judge Manoj Kumar directed the CBI to conduct an inquiry against the aforementioned people.

The trial in the high-profile case was transferred vide order dated 7 February to the Special POCSO court at Saket in Delhi where hearing is likely to commence from next week, CBI sources said.

JAMMU — The curfew in Jammu city continued for the second day Saturday and the Army staged flag marches in sensitive localities, a day after violence was reported during protests against the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 security men were killed, officials said.

They said the University of Jammu postponed all examinations scheduled for the day and mobile Internet services remained suspended across Jammu region.

Srinagar-bound vehicles stranded on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway due to a landslide in Ramban were allowed to move forward amid tight security arrangements.

“The curfew is being implemented strictly and there is no report of any untoward incident from anywhere,” Deputy Inspector General of Police, Jammu-Samba-Kathua range, Vivek Gupta told PTI.

Deputy Commissioner (Jammu) Ramesh Kumar said authorities were monitoring the situation and a decision to relax the curfew, which was imposed Friday, would be taken later in the day.

The Army was conducting flag marches in sensitive localities of the city on Saturday, the officials said.

A defence spokesperson said the Army on Saturday deployed nine more security columns with air support to help the administration to maintain law and order in the entire city. Nine Internal Security Columns (ISCs) of the Army were deployed on Friday.

The city was rocked by massive anti-Pakistan protests during a general strike called by Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI). The people took to the streets to denounce the attack and also held candlelight rallies to pay tributes to the jawans.

Nine people, including some policemen, were injured in stone-pelting incidents on Friday and a number of vehicle were torched and damaged.

The JCCI termed the violence “unfortunate” and said, “We shall not allow miscreants to disturb the brotherhood and peace in Jammu where all the religions have coexisted.” It said the bandh would not be extended.

Spokesperson of the Jammu university Vinay Thusoo said that all examinations, theory and practical, to be conducted on Saturday were postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

He said fresh dates would be notified later.

Inspector General of Police, (Jammu) MK Sinha appealed to the people not to play into the hands of anti-national elements who want to disturb the societal harmony.

A police official said high-speed mobile data services were barred in Jammu region, while the BSNL broadband service was functioning normally.

Jim Carrey described US President Donald Trump’s birth as “the real State of Emergency” in the caption of a new cartoon that he shared online Friday.

“Definitely not human,” the actor-comedian-artist added about his artistic reimagining of the president being born at the Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in Queens, New York, in 1946.

Carrey shared the latest in his long line of anti-Trump pieces just hours after the president’s declaration of a national emergency to pay for his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.

The “Kidding” star has most-recently jabbed Trump over energy issues, climate change and for presiding over the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.

China on Saturday sent a condolence message to India and expressed shock over the Pulwama terror attack, according to reports.

However, The Indian Express reported that the message made no mention of either Pakistan or Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the terror group which has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in Jammu and Kashmir.

The report further said that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a letter to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, conveyed deep sympathies to the families of the 40 CRPF jawans killed in the attack. 

Wang Yi, according to NDTV, also stressed that terrorism is the common enemy of mankind and that the “Chinese side resolutely opposes and strongly condemns all forms of terrorism”. 

“Countries in the region should enhance cooperation, jointly address the threat of terrorism and maintain regional peace and security,” Wang Yi said in the message, according to NDTV.

China had on Friday also expressed deep “shock” over the Pulwama terror attack but did not give an assurance to India that it will back New Delhi’s appeal to list the UN-proscribed Pakistan-based terror group’s chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

“China has noted the reports of suicide terrorist attack. We are deeply shocked by this attack. We express deep condolences and sympathy to the injured and bereaved families,” spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Geng Shuang had told a media briefing.

“We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all forms of terrorism. We hope relevant regional countries will cooperate to cope with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold regional peace and stability,” Geng said.

Without directly referring to India’s persistent demand to declare Azhar as a global terrorist, Geng said JeM has already been included in the sanctions list of the UN committee.

When asked about China’s stand on the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, he said: “As for the issue of listing, I could tell you that the 1267 Committee of Security Council has a clear stipulation on the listing and procedure of the terrorist organisations”.

“JeM has been included in the Security Council terrorism sanctions list. China will continue to handle the relevant sanctions issue in a constructive and responsible manner,” Geng said in an apparent reference to External Affairs Ministry’s appeal to all members of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

India has slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama attack with Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar saying, “JeM has claimed responsibility for the attack. The organisation and its leadership are located in Pakistan.”

The links to Pakistan were clear and evident for all to see, he added.

Cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu is being dropped from the TV show The Kapil Sharma Show following uproar over his remarks in the wake of Pulwama attack, according to media reports.

A source told The Indian Express that Sidhu’s remarks have not been taken kindly by most. The channel and the show were getting dragged into the unwanted controversy, the source further said. 

Meanwhile, NDTV quoted a source as saying that he will be replaced by Archana Puran Singh. However, there is no official confirmation yet. 

The actor has also rubbished the reports of replacing Sidhu.

“No one has offered me the show saying I would be replacing Sidhu. There is no truth of me replacing him. I have not got any call from the channel and the team. No one has contacted me yet,” Singh told PTI.

“I did shoot for the show on February 9 and 13, but that’s it,” she added.

While condemning the “cowardly” attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, the Punjab Cabinet minister had on Friday asked whether an entire nation can be blamed for a handful of people.

Sidhu had posed, “For a handful of people, can you blame the entire nation and can you blame an individual?”

(With PTI inputs)

There was a time when, after an initial blip, my uterus did its job so well I could set my monthly calendar by it. So when I found out that cancerous cells had decided to start a family on my endometrial wall, the first feeling I had to process was a sense of betrayal that this faithful friend had let me down.

It was not like I was a stranger to hospitals. Before my diagnosis, I had undergone an operation to deal with a slipped disc and was on a first-name basis with psoriasis. But whenever I felt an urge to wallow in my sorrows, I always managed to comfort myself with the reminder that  things could be worse.

I was completely taken aback when, one Saturday in January 2014, my biopsy report came back positive. I had thought the heavy bleeding was because I was in the ‘pre-menopause’ stage and had subjected myself to the test only because of my inconvenient ‘family history’ and more than that, to make my gynecologist happy. Well, I barely got any time to worry before being informed that I had a virulent form of cancer,fortunately at Stage 1.

Around that time, I came across this sentence from Louise Hay’s You Can Heal Your Life: “Our thoughts and vibrations attract disease and cancer is just a manifestation of festering thoughts.” That got me started on this tireless game of observing my thoughts and trying healing affirmations. My monkey mind jumps from one thought to the other, so you can see how trying to get rid of pessimistic thoughts became a full-time occupation.

And what about the scenario outside my monkey mind? Cancer is a lonely battle, and it can be made worse when ‘ringside cheerleaders’ dole out well-meaning advice and gift books and forward videos without thinking much about it.

“Patients don’t want to open up about their battles with cancer,” said Ritu Sharma, who manages the emotional support group of the Indian Cancer Society, “Not because they feel the need to keep it under wraps but to avoid too many suggestions and advice from others.”

And as many survivors would vouch, there is no dearth of helpful suggestions; many of these are about how changing your diet can cure cancer—’a bushelful of turmeric’, says one. ‘A spadeful of lemons,’ proclaims another.

I use turmeric liberally and have been drinking sugarless lemon tea for years, so I just felt even more cheated when I heard these. A booklet I read during that time helpfully informed me that I had not allowed “the flow of energy to certain areas of my body, namely the uterus”, hence letting cancerous cells fester. In a nutshell, my carelessness had attracted cancer.

After my surgery, I religiously expanded my diet to include a rainbow of fruits, managed not to turn up my nose at wheatgrass, picked the choicest green tea leaves and went through the process of studiously acquiring a taste for green tea. And my cheerful attitude could give even the most gregarious New Year’s Eve party emcee a run for their money.

Most of the advice I’ve mentioned above falls into the harmless category, but this is not always the case.  Attributing the illness to ‘bad karma’ or ‘questioning lifestyle choices’ borders on cruelty to the one already suffering.

“Sometimes, patients who are reeling under the side-effects of chemo get lured by suggestions of herbs or alternate medication which claim no side effects. It is far better to use these alternative medicines in addition to their current line of treatment after keeping their doctors informed. We have had way too many cases where patients have come to get allopathic treatment after the cancer has significantly advanced. This is because they tried other treatments and when the pain got unbearable they came to hospitals but by then in most cases it is too late,” said Sharma.

No two cancers are the same, even if they may have attacked the same organ. Even the reaction varies from patient to patient. I have had people coming up to me saying that I was lucky to have it in an organ that can be removed… well, maybe so, but to claim that I am lucky is stretching it a bit too far.

A visitor told me that getting cancer today is not as bad as it used to be because there are many more treatment options. That may be true, but is not the best sentiment to share with someone grappling with the side-effects of radiation.

Alpa Dharamshi, a multilingual counsellor who runs the counselling centre Pehechaan tells her patients and caregivers not to entertain visitors who speak about negative topics such as death. “Keeping ignorance at bay is necessary for your own mental and emotional stability. Friends and family who have a positive attitude and who make the patient cheerful, happy and positive are far more preferable,” she said.

So did I only encounter unwittingly offensive people during my journey? Not at all. I have had people lighting a candle for me,  calling me to share some gossip from work or visiting me to just hand over a few books. You can help a cancer survivor in a number of ways, not just by giving suggestions where the onus is on the beleaguered patient .

Mohan Phani recalls how, when his wife had to be operated on at a government hospital, their friends were of invaluable help.

“I maintained an Excel sheet to monitor the time slots that I couldn’t manage. I threw open the challenge to our friends and had an instant response. They chose their convenient slots and the working ones would spend the designated hours in my wife’s room with their computer and work from there. We owe them a lot,” he said.

Few cancer survivors can react like tennis great Arthur Ashe, who contracted HIV after a blood transfusion. He once wrote that when people inquired whether he ever asks ‘Why me?’, he thought that he should ask the same question when confronted with his blessings as well.

Many of us ordinary souls fighting cancer, this far-from-ordinary disease, don’t want to hear how lucky we are or how brave we have been when the disease never comes with the preamble, “Are you strong enough to handle me?”  We definitely would like to hear, “Can I be of any help?”

Chandrika R Krishnan is a freelance writer and behavioural skills facilitator.

A Kashmiri student spent Friday hiding in the room he rents in Ambala, Haryana. The 18-year-old switched off the light and prayed that no one would break down his door, drag him into the street and thrash him. 

“I have never been so scared in all my life,” the teenager from Anantnag told HuffPost India over the phone. 

The Kashmiri student went into hiding one day after a 19-year-old Kashmiri, Adil Ahmed Dar, rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into a convoy of security personnel, killing 49 soldiers in Pulwama district. 

In a country where the weekly passing of one or two Indian soldiers scarcely registers with its citizenry, it took 49 deaths for people to notice the devastating loss of life that is persisting in the conflict-ravaged region. And then Chitresh Singh Bisht, a major in the army, was killed while defusing an improvised explosive device in Jammu on Saturday. 

With emotions running high in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, the Kashmiri student’s landlord told him not to step outside. A few hours later, he saw a video in which the sarpanch of Mullana — the locality where he and other Kashmiri students live on rent — was calling on landlords to evict all Kashmiri students. 

Soon after watching the video, the student heard that two Kashmiris were beaten up in his locality. His friend, he said, forwarded him a text message that instructed Kashmiris to leave within 24 hours. 

The student left Ambala on Saturday afternoon and reached his friend’s house in Chandigarh in the evening. 

 The BSc (Bachelor of Science) student, who left Kashmir for the first time in September last year, told HuffPost India that he isn’t sure whether he will return to complete his education. 

“My life is more precious than a degree,” he said. 

In the three days that have passed since one of the deadliest attacks against Indian security forces in decades, Kashmiris living in different parts of India have been intimidated, threatened and attacked by locals and right-wing activists.

While authorities have failed to put an end to the threats and intimidation, students have either locked themselves in their hostel rooms or fled their college campuses. 

Some, like the BSc student in Ambala, want to head to Kashmir, but they don’t know how to make their way back.

There are reports of some making it as far as Jammu, where they are stuck either due to the weather or the curfew imposed by the state government. They cannot find transport to get to Kashmir by road. Some are staying with friends, while others have hunkered down in makeshift shelters in cities like Chandigarh and Jammu. 

While the authorities have imposed a curfew following violent protests in Jammu, incidents of mob violence and stone pelting have persisted. 

The BSc student, who has left Haryana, said, “I’ve told my parents that I’m okay. There is nothing else I can do except to wait,” he said. 

Leave, empty out

At least eight students across colleges in Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been either suspended or expelled for allegedly expressing contrarian and “offensive” views on the Pulwama attacks. One student in Bangalore, who allegedly praised the suicide bomber on Whatsapp, has been booked for sedition.  

In Ambala, Naresh Kumar, a local sarpanch, admitted that he called on landlords in the locality of Mullana to expel Kashmiris.

In a video that was widely circulated among Kashmiri students in Mullana, a man is heard saying, “All young Kashmiri men and women, who are living on rent in Mullana, should be thrown out of your homes within 24 hours.... if you do not expel them in 24 hours, the panchayat and the entire village will give dharna in front of the houses inhabited by these students.”

The man also says that anyone who does not expel Kashmiris within 24 hours will be declared a “traitor of the village.” Another man in the crowd says, “Desh ka gaddar” (traitor of the country).

It is unclear how many students have been thrown out of their accommodation in Mullana, but locals estimate between 100 to 150. HuffPost India cannot confirm this figure.  While some have moved to the hostel of the Maharishi Markandeshwar (MM) college, where they study, others have left Ambala. 

In Patna, men armed with sticks and rods, shouted “Kashmiris wapas jao” and “Bharat Mata ki jai” as they entered a local market.  “Close the shop, close the shop,” the men are heard shouting in a video that captures the incident.

 “Close it immediately. It should empty out within 24 hours,” they shout.  

When a woman asks them to stop throwing the wares of the Kashmiri shopkeepers, a man says, “44 died yesterday because of them. If it was someone from your family then you would understand.” 

The Times of Indiareported that Kashmiri carpet sellers have shuttered eight shops at the Kashmiri Bazaar in Patna and four shopkeepers were thrashed by the goons. 

“At least 30 to 40 bike borne youths armed with bamboo sticks and other blunt objects barged inside the market and started attacking us,” Bashir Ahmed Wani, a carpet seller told TOI. They forcibly asked us to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’ while hurling non stop abuses at us.”

On the run

The Punjab branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Students Organization, which has set up a shelter in Chandigarh, was accommodating 50 Kashmiri students as of Sunday morning. 

Khawaja Itrat, who is in charge of operations in Chandigarh, told that HuffPost India that 150 students have been evacuated from Dehradun. “Dehradun is the worst. Students were locked in their room for three days. They were having to go to the toilet in polythene bags,” he said.

A 20-year-old student of the Combined Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Dehradun said that members of the Bajrang Dal had reached where Kashmiri students were living and and threatened their landlords. 

“They were coming to our rooms and telling us to leave,” the student, who hails from Baramulla, told HuffPost India from the shelter. “We put locks outside our houses for three days. We did not switch on the light. We did not even remove the curtains for a minute. We did not go outside to get food,” he said. 

The student added, “No Kashmiri is safe in Dehradun.”

Vikas Verma, Bajrang Dal’s convenor in Uttarakhand, told TOI, “We will ensure that no Kashmiri Muslim studies or stays here.”

Stuck in hostels 

Speaking with HuffPost India on Saturday, a Kashmiri student said that she was sitting in the dark at the girl’s hostel of the Dolphin Institute in Dehradun. 

“The lights are off. A lot of people have come and surrounded the hostel,” the 24-year-old geology student said. “There are 15 to 20 girls. We just want to get home safely.” 

At this point, the phone got disconnected and HuffPost India could not reach the geology student in Dehradun. 

Shehla Rashid, a Kashmiri political activist, who is coordinating efforts to reach Kashmiri students facing threats and intimidation, told HuffPost India that the Uttarakhand police had reached the women students. When Rashid tweeted about the plight of the students, Uttarakhand police dismissed her claims in a counter tweet.  The police added, “Initially there was an allegation that Kashmiri students raised pro Pakistan slogans,” inadvertently adding to the unrest facing the students.

Rashid said, “The Uttarakhand Police is protecting the victims and I’m personally in touch with the girls. The claims of the police on social media are misleading. Why would they put up a helpline and protect the girls if all is well?”

Noting that Bajrang Dal’s Verma had gone on the record about harassing Kashmiris, Rashid asked why the police was not arresting him. 

At the Maharishi Markandeshwar (MM) college in Ambala, a Kashmiri student, who is studying to be a pharmacist, said that he had locked his hostel room and he was only stepping out for his meals.

The 30 to 40 Kashmiri students inside the hostel, he said, went to the mess together. 

“You can feel the tension even in the mess. People who were speaking with us before are no longer speaking with us,” he said. “They are not even looking at us. They look the other side.”

The 21-year-old student said that it was impossible for them to leave for Kashmir  because they could not risk leaving the hostel and stepping into the city. The student said that Kashmiris were not even risking the few kilometers they had to walk to get to their classes.

“We are not going to class. We cannot risk stepping out. Anything could happen,” he said. 

 At the Aligarh Muslim University in Uttar Pradesh, a Kashmiri student has been suspended for a “highly objectionable” tweet about the attack in Pulwama, and booked for “promoting enmity” under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). 

On Saturday, the administration of AMU issued a notice, advising all resident Kashmiri students to “stay in the Hall” and refrain from leaving the university campus. 

A PhD student, who hails from Pulwama, told HuffPost India that Kashmiri students were afraid to leave the campus.

While talking about the 19-year-old suicide bomber, who was beaten and humiliated by security forces three years ago, the 26-year-old student said that many Kashmiris experienced mistreatment by the police and the army in Kashmir, but “nothing justified” the attack on the Indian soldiers. 

The student also said there was no space left to express a “different” opinion on the Kashmir conflict and Kashmiri students were “sick” of the backlash against them.  

“We are from a conflict area. No one understands death better than us. We know how it feels to lose a father, a brother, a son. We can never celebrate death,” he said. 

Editor’s note: The names of students have been concealed to protect them from backlash. This report was updated with Shehla Rashid’s response to the Uttarakhand police’s tweet.

You’re never too old to play with Barbie ― especially when you’ve been waiting 37 years for one you can see yourself in.

Jessica Jewett is a Georgia-based author and artist who was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita and uses a wheelchair. When she learned this week through Instagram that the iconic doll brand is expanding and diversifying its offerings to include a Barbie with a prosthetic limb and a Barbie who uses a wheelchair, she had an emotional reaction.

“It just took me back to being 5, 6, 7 years old, asking my mom and grandma why there aren’t dolls that look like me,” she told HuffPost. “I used to ask all the time why Barbie’s parent company Mattel couldn’t make a wheelchair for the doll.”

It’s a long time coming for Jewett, who wrote on Twitter Tuesday that this was the toy she “needed as a little girl.” Growing up in the ’80s, she has no memory of seeing herself represented in dolls and toys like her friends did.

“I would just start making up my own thing instead, which is probably why I became a writer,” she said. “I ended up having to make up my own stories that had nothing to do with me, because there was nothing like me out there.”

That lack of representation and accessibility followed Jewett into other aspects of her life, as well. At her elementary school, the special education classrooms were in a back room, where she said the teachers were more like babysitters than actual teachers.

“I used to sort of have this feeling from a really young age that I was different, but not understanding why that difference was something to be hidden,” she said. She went from shy kid to child advocate at just 12 years old, when her middle school refused to build an entrance ramp for her to use.

“My mom and I said, ‘You have summer break to fix this building to come up with the law, otherwise we’re coming back with television cameras and the public can decide what you should do,’” she said. “I realized that it worked and made a difference ― I was the first disabled student in my middle school, and the other disabled students who came after me came because I took a stand and said this had to change.”

Accessibility remains a pressing issue in many parts of the U.S. ― which is one reason Jewett was so excited to see that Mattel will now also offer a ramp that is compatible with the doll’s famous DreamHouse set.

“The fact that Barbie actually thought, ‘Hey, we need to bring a ramp into this so kids can put her wheelchair in their DreamHouse’ is extremely important, because it extends the need for accessibility beyond the person ― it extends it to real-life settings through the imagination of a child playing with this toy,” she said. “They’re going to see this ramp and then see it in real life, and understand what it’s for and why it’s important.” 

Jewett praised Mattel for doing something she said would have meant “everything” to her as a little girl. And while there is still a long way to go when it comes to representation, Jewett has a few ideas on how to continue advancing this kind of inclusive messaging. It starts, she says, with what we see on television. 

“There really needs to be more actors with disabilities in commercials,” she said. “Not children who are able-bodied pretending to have a disability, but children with disabilities. So the kids watching at home will see them and start to normalize our experiences from a very young age. It needs to be visually impactful from a very young age.”

The new Barbie dolls, some of which include features like a new braided hair texture and a greater diversity of body types, will be available in June. To learn more about Jewett, including how she creates beautiful artwork using her mouth, head to her website.