Several people have died and others are missing after flash flooding hit parts of central Texas on Friday morning.

Disaster declarations have been issued for the Hill Country and Concho Valley regions.

Rescues and evacuations have been underway since the early morning, but there are warnings of more potential flash flooding to come.

"Even if the rain is light, more flooding can occur in those areas," Acting Governor Dan Patrick said.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the state was providing "all necessary resources to Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt and the entire Texas Hill Country dealing with these devastating floods".

The region is to the north-west of the Texas city of San Antonio.

Pictures show the deep flood waters swamping bridges and fast moving water swirling down roads.

Exactly how many people have died or are missing has not yet been confirmed by authorities.

"Folks, please don't take chances. Stay alert, follow local emergency warnings, and do not drive through flooded roads," Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said.

Kerr County Sheriff's Office said the area had suffered a "catastrophic flooding event" and confirmed that fatalities had been reported.

It told residents near creeks, streams and the Guadalupe River to move to higher ground.

Hamas says it is consulting other Palestinian groups before giving a formal response to the latest proposal for a new Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal put forward by the US.

President Donald Trump said on Friday morning that expected to know within 24 hours whether Hamas has agreed to the plan.

On Tuesday, Trump said Israel had accepted the conditions necessary for a 60-day ceasefire, during which the parties would work to end the 20-month war.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military is continuing to bomb targets across the Gaza Strip.

Local journalists reported hearing explosions and gunfire as Israeli helicopter gunships and artillery struck the southern Khan Younis area on Friday morning.

Overnight, at least 15 Palestinians were killed in strikes on two tents housing displaced people in Khan Younis, the local Nasser hospital said.

The Israeli military has not yet commented on the strikes, but it did say its forces were "operating to dismantle Hamas military capabilities".

In a statement issued early on Friday, Hamas said it was discussing with the leaders of other Palestinian factions the ceasefire proposal that it had received from regional mediators Qatar and Egypt.

Hamas said it would deliver a "final decision" to the mediators once the consultations had ended and then announce it officially.

The proposal is believed to include the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 other hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Fifty hostages are still being held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive.

One of Hamas's key demands is the resumption of unrestricted food and medical aid into Gaza, and the proposal reportedly says sufficient quantities would enter the territory immediately with the involvement of the United Nations and Red Cross.

It is said the plan would also include a phased Israeli military withdrawal from parts of Gaza.

Above all, Hamas wants a guarantee that Israeli air and ground operations will not resume after the end of the 60-day ceasefire.

The proposal is believed to say that negotiations on an end to the war and the release of the remaining hostages would begin on day one.

Donald Trump told reporters early on Friday that he expected to know "over the next 24 hours" whether the proposals would be accepted by Hamas.

The hope then would be the resumption of formal, indirect, talks ahead of a planned visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington next week.

"We sure hope it's a done deal, but I think it's all going to be what Hamas is willing to accept," US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told Israel's Channel 12 TV on Thursday.

"One thing is clear: The president wants it to be over. The prime minister wants it to be over. The American people, the Israeli people, want it to be over."

Netanyahu meanwhile promised to secure the release of all the remaining hostages during a visit to Kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near the Israel-Gaza border where a total of 76 residents were abducted during the Hamas-led attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war.

"I feel a deep commitment, first of all, to ensure the return of all of our hostages, all of them," he said. "We will bring them all back."

He did not, however, commit to ending the war. He has insisted that will not happen until the hostages are freed and Hamas's military and governing capabilities are destroyed.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attack, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

At least 57,130 people have been killed in Gaza since then, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry.

The River Seine in Paris has reopened publicly to swimmers for the first time since 1923 after a century-long ban.

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is viewed as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics, when open water swimmers and triathletes competed in its waters which were specially cleaned for the event.

On Saturday morning at 08:00 local time (07:00 BST) a few dozen swimmers arrived ahead of the opening and dived into the water when they were able to do so.

There are three designated areas for public swimming in the Seine - one near the Eiffel Tower, another close to Notre Dame Cathedral and a third in eastern Paris.

Zones have changing rooms, showers, and beach-style furniture, which allow for up to 300 people to lay out their towels.

Until the end of August, the three swimming sites will be open for free at scheduled times to anyone with a minimum age of 10 or 14 years, depending on the location.

Lifeguards will also be present keeping an eye on those in the river.

• Paris to bring back swimming in Seine after 100 years
• Would you swim in the Seine?

The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future president Jacques Chirac first advocated for its reversal.

Improvements over the last 20 years have already led to a sharp reduction in faecal bacteria entering the river.

For 100 years swimming was banned in the river because of the levels of water pollution that could make people ill.

Ahead of last summer's Olympics more than €1.4bn (£1.2bn; $1.6bn) was invested into cleaning up the Seine.

But, in the lead up to the games there were doubts as to whether the River Seine would be ready for the Olympics after it was revealed it failed water quality tests.

Organisers blamed rainfall for the increased pollution which limited athletes' abilities to train for the triathlon, marathon swimming and paratriathlon.

Last July, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and other members of the Olympic committee went into the Seine to prove that it was safe to swim in.

Australian actor Julian McMahon, famed for roles in popular series like Nip/Tuck and Charmed, has died aged 56.

His wife said the actor passed away in Clearwater, Florida, on Wednesday. He had been diagnosed with cancer.

"Julian loved life. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his work, and he loved his fans. His deepest wish was to bring joy into as many lives as possible," Kelly Paniagua said in a statement carried by Deadline.

McMahon's career took off with the hit supernatural television series Charmed before he gained wider recognition with Nip/Tuck, the medical drama in which he played the role of plastic surgeon Dr Christian Troy.

Running for six seasons from 2003 to 2010, the show earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Co-star Dylan Walsh told Dealine he was "stunned".

"We rode this wave together and I loved him.

"Jules! I know you'd want me to say something to make you smile — all the inside jokes. All those years you had my back, and my god, we laughed. My heart is with you. Rest in peace."

McMahon also played Doctor Doom in two Fantastic Four films in 2005 and 2007 and later appeared in three seasons of FBI: Most Wanted.

Dick Wolf, the producer of FBI: Most Wanted, said McMahon's death was "shocking news".

McMahon was the son of a former Australian prime minister and went on to play an Australian prime minister's role in Netflix's The Residence - one of his recent appearances.

McMahon married three times - the first to Australian singer-actress Dannii Minogue, sister of Kylie Minogue.

One of Sweden's most wanted gang leaders, Ismail Abdo, has been arrested in Turkey, the Swedish prosecutor's office said on Friday.

The dual Swedish-Turkish national has an extensive list of drug-related charges against him according to the global police agency, Interpol.

The 35-year-old, nicknamed The Strawberry, is a well-known leader of the Rumba crime gang in Sweden. He is accused of orchestrating illegal operations from abroad and has been the subject of an Interpol red notice since last year.

Swedish police did not identify him, but confirmed the arrest of a man "suspected of having engaged in serious drug trafficking and inciting serious violent crimes" for many years in Sweden.

He was one of 19 people who were arrested during raids in Turkey, where officers seized more than a tonne of drugs, state broadcaster TRT reported. Exactly where the raids took place has not been revealed.

Arrest warrants were issued for a further 21 suspects, of whom 14 were believed to be abroad and three already in custody on other charges. Four are still at large, TRT added.

Turkish authorities reportedly seized assets worth around 1.5bn Turkish lira (£27.8m; $38m), including 20 vehicles, bank accounts and 51 real estate properties.

Gang violence in Sweden has escalated in recent years, in part because Abdo's former friend, Rawa Majida, is the leader of a rival gang, Foxtrot.

Many people have been killed since their deadly turf war began. It entered a new, violent chapter in 2023 when Abdo's mother was murdered in her home in Uppsala, north of the capital, Stockholm.

The escalation prompted the government to bring in the army to help tackle the surge in gang killings.

In 2024, Turkish police arrested Abdo during a traffic stop, but released him on bail despite the active Interpol red notice against him - a move which drew criticism from Swedish authorities who were seeking to extradite Abdo.

The increase in gang violence that has plagued some of Sweden's biggest cities and spread to quieter suburbs and towns has shattered its reputation as a safe and peaceful nation.

Lat year, Sweden's security service, Sapo, accused Iran of recruiting Swedish gang members to carry out attacks on Israeli or Jewish interests. In October, a 13-year-old boy fired shots outside the offices of Israeli tech firm Elbit Systems. Israel's embassies in Sweden and Denmark were also both targeted.

Sweden's centre-right governing coalition, which promised to end the gang crime wave when it was elected in 2022, will see Abdo's capture as a win. However the fact that he is also a Turkish citizen could complicate the extradition process.

An estimated 14,000 people in Sweden are caught up in criminal gangs, according to a police report last year, and a further 48,000 people are said to be connected to them.

The Namibian government has announced a temporary ban on state funerals amid criticism over the rising costs of these burials.

Only President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah has the power to exempt funerals from the moratorium, the government said.

Minister of Information and Communication Technology Emma Theofelus made the announcement following a Cabinet meeting earlier this week.

She said the moratorium would last until April 2026, while a review committee looks into the "criteria and processes associated with bestowing official funerals".

Ms Theofelus told the BBC that a committee consisting of "no more than seven members" would be established to lead the review.

• Sam Nujoma: The revolutionary leader who liberated Namibia
• Namibia's late President Hage Geingob's funeral amid surge in patriotism
• Zambia's presidential feud that even death couldn't end

The government has not said whether the decision was related to mounting criticism of the increasing costs of the numerous state funerals as reported by local media.

The BBC has asked the presidency for comment.

The Windhoek Observer, a privately owned publication, said calls for the moratorium had been made as far back as 2021 when the rising cost of official burials came under scrutiny, especially at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It quoted Prime Minister Elijah Ngurare, who earlier this year revealed that official funerals had cost the government 38.4m Namibian dollars ($2.2m; £1.6m) in the 2024/2025 financial year.

By comparison, only 2.1m Namibian dollars was spent on 23 funerals during the 2022/2023 financial year, according to the news site.

The Observer said the state had spent 30m Namibian dollars just to transport the body of founding President Sam Nujoma around the country ahead of his state funeral in February this year.

Nujoma, who died at the age of 95, led the long fight for independence from South Africa after helping found Namibia's liberation movement, the South West Africa People's Organisation (Swapo), in the 1960s.

After independence, Nujoma became president in 1990 and led the country until 2005.

More BBC stories on Namibia:

• Namibia marks colonial genocide as reparations hang in the balance
• From freedom fighter to Namibia's first female president
• 'I wanted someone to take better care of my son'

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

US President Donald Trump is to sign his landmark policy bill into law, a day after it was narrowly passed by Congress.

The signing event at the White House on Friday afternoon, coinciding with 4 July celebrations, enacts key parts of the Trump agenda including tax cuts, spending boosts for defence and the immigration crackdown.

Trump began his victory lap at an Iowa rally on Thursday night, telling supporters it will unleash economic growth, but he must now convince sceptical Americans as polling suggests many disapprove.

Several members of his own Republican party were opposed because of the impact on rising US debt and Democrats warned the bill would reward the wealthy and punish the poor.

The 870-page package includes:

• extending 2017 tax cuts of Trump's first term
• steep cuts to Medicaid spending, the state-provided healthcare scheme for those on low incomes and the disabled
• new tax breaks on tipped income, overtime and Social Security
• a budget increase of $150bn for defence
• a reduction in Biden-era clean energy tax credits
• $100bn to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)

The bill signing will precede 4 July American Independence Day fireworks and a military picnic attended by the pilots who recently flew into Iran to try to dismantle three nuclear sites.

The celebratory mood follows days of tense negotiations with Republican rebels in Congress and days of cajoling on Capitol Hill, sometimes by the president himself.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries delayed the final vote in the lower chamber of Congress on Thursday by speaking for nearly nine hours.

He called the bill an "extraordinary assault on the healthcare of the American people" and quoted testimony from individuals anxious about its impact.

But his marathon speech only postponed the inevitable. As soon as he sat down, the House moved to a vote.

Only two Republicans went against, joining all 212 Democrats united in opposition. The bill passed by 218 votes to 214.

Earlier this week, the Senate passed the bill but US Vice-President JD Vance was required to cast a tiebreaking vote after three Republicans held out.

• Major win now but political peril awaits
• Fact-checking three key claims about the bill

Hours after the House passed the bill, the president was in a triumphant mood as he took to the stage in Iowa to kick off a years long celebration of 250 years since American independence.

"There could be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago," he told supporters in Des Moines.

"Very simply the One Big, Beautiful Bill will deliver the strongest border on Earth, the strongest economy on Earth [and] the strongest military on Earth."

The White House believes the various tax cuts will help stimulate economic growth, but many experts fear that will not be sufficient to prevent the budget deficit - the difference between spending and tax revenue in any year - from ballooning, adding to the national debt.

Analysis by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) suggests the tax cuts could produce a surplus in the first year but will then cause the deficit to rise sharply.

According to the Tax Policy Center, the tax changes in the bill would benefit wealthier Americans more than those on lower incomes, About 60% of the benefits would go to those making above $217,000 (£158,000), its analysis found.

The BBC spoke to Americans who may see a cut in the subsidies that help them pay for groceries.

Jordan, a father of two, is one of 42 million Americans who benefits from the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) scheme targeted by the bill.

• Americans brace for Trump's welfare cuts
• What is in the bill?

He and his wife get about $700 a month to feed their family of four and the 26-year-old said if this bill reduces what he can claim he would get a second job. "I'm going to make sure that I can do whatever I can to feed my family," he says.

Along with cuts to SNAP, the changes to Medicaid - a programme that covers healthcare for low-income, elderly and disabled Americans - would result in nearly 12 million losing coverage in the next decade, the CBO estimates.

Republicans defend their changes to Medicaid, saying that by toughening up work requirements they are tackling abuse and fraud.

Polling taken before the bill passed in Congress suggests public support is low and dwarfed by numbers opposed. A recent Quinnipiac University survey pointed to only 29% endorsing the legislation, which rose to two-thirds among Republicans.

But knowledge of the bill may be low too. Reuters reported there was little awareness of the legislation among Trump supporters they spoke to at the Iowa rally on Thursday night.

As Donald Trump cheered the passage of his self-styled, and officially named, Big Beautiful Budget Bill through Congress this week, long-sown seeds of doubt about the scale and sustainability of US borrowing from the rest of the world sprouted anew.

Trump's tax-cutting budget bill is expected to add at least $3 trillion (£2.2 trillion) to the US's already eye-watering $37tn (£27tn) debt pile. There is no shortage of critics of the plan, not least Trump's former ally Elon Musk, who has called it a "disgusting abomination".

The growing debt pile leaves some to wonder whether there is a limit to how much the rest of the world will lend Uncle Sam.

Those doubts have been showing up recently in the weaker value of the dollar and the higher interest rate investors are demanding to lend money to America.

It needs to borrow this money to make up the difference between what it earns and what it spends every year.

Since the beginning of this year, the dollar has fallen 10% against the pound and 15% against the euro.

Although US borrowing costs have been steady overall, the difference between the interest rates paid on longer-term loans versus shorter-term loans - what's known as the yield curve - has increased, or steepened, signalling increased doubts about the long-term sustainability of US borrowing.

And that is despite the fact that the US has lowered interest rates more slowly than the EU and the UK, which would normally make the dollar stronger because investors can get higher interest rates on bank deposits.

The founder of the world's biggest hedge fund, Ray Dalio, believes that US borrowing is at a crossroads.

On its current trajectory he estimates the US will soon be spending $10tn a year in loan and interest repayments.

"I am confident that the [US] government's financial condition is at an inflection point because, if this is not dealt with now, the debts will build up to levels where they can't be managed without great trauma," he says.

So what might that trauma look like?

The first option is a drastic reduction in government spending, a big increase in taxes or both.

Ray Dalio suggests that cutting the budget deficit from its current 6% to 3% soon could head off trouble in the future.

Trump's new budget bill did cut some spending, but it also cut taxes more, and so the current political trajectory is going the other way.

Secondly, as in previous crises, the US central bank could print more money and use it to buy up government debt - as we saw after the great financial crisis of 2008.

But that can end up fuelling inflation and inequality as the owners of assets like houses and shares do much better than those who rely on the value of labour.

The third is a straightforward US default. Can't pay won't pay. Given that the "full faith and credit of the US Treasury" underpins the entire global financial system, that would make the great financial crisis look like a picnic.

'Cleanest dirty shirt'

So how likely is any of this?

Right now, mercifully, not very.

But the reasons why are not actually that comforting. The fact is, whether we like it or not, the world has few alternatives to the dollar.

Economist and former bond supremo Mohamed El-Erian told the BBC that many are trying to reduce dollar holdings, "the dollar is overweight and the world knows it, which is why we have seen a rise in gold, the euro and the pound, but it's hard to move at scale so there's really very few places to go".

"The dollar is like your cleanest dirty shirt, you have to keep wearing it."

Nevertheless, the future of the dollar and the world's benchmark asset - US government bonds - is being discussed at the highest levels.

The governor of the Bank of England recently told the BBC that the levels of US debt and the status of the dollar is "very much on [US Treasury] Secretary Bessent's mind. I don't think the dollar is fundamentally under threat at the moment but he is very aware of these issues and I don't think it is something that he underestimates."

Debt of $37tn is an unfathomable number. If you saved a million dollars every day, it would take you 100,000 years to save up that much.

The sensible way to look at debt is as a percentage of a country's income. The US economy produces income of around $25tn a year.

While its debt to income level is much higher than many, it's not as high as Japan or Italy, and it has the benefit of the world's most innovative and wealth creating economy behind it.

At home I have a book called Death of the Dollar by William F Rickenbacker in which he warns of the risks to the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency. It was written in 1968. Mr Rickenbacker is no longer with us - the dollar is.

But it doesn't mean that its status and value is a divine right.

Fifty years ago Arthur Ashe pulled off an amazing feat, upsetting the odds and becoming the first black man to win the Wimbledon Men's final when he beat fellow American Jimmy Connors - but it was not something he wanted to define his life.

His fight to break down barriers around racial discrimination was closer to his heart - and apartheid South Africa became one of his battle grounds.

"I don't want to be remembered in the final analysis for having won Wimbledon... I take applause for having done it, but it's not the most important thing in my life - not even close," he said in a BBC interview a year before his death in 1993.

Nonetheless his Centre Court victory on 5 July 1975 was hailed as one of those spine-tingling sporting moments that stopped everyone in their tracks, whether a tennis fan or not, and it is being commemorated with a special display at the Wimbledon museum.

Ashe was already in his 30s, tall, serene and with a quiet and even-tempered demeanour. Connors, 10 years younger and the defending champion, was an aggressive player and often described as "brattish".

Ashe's achievements and the skills and courage he displayed on the court were certainly matched by his actions off it.

In the early 1970s, South Africa repeatedly refused to issue a visa for him to travel to the country alongside other US players.

The white-minority government there had legalised an extreme system of racial segregation, known as apartheid - or apartness - in 1948.

The authorities said the decision to bar him was based on his "general antagonism" and outspoken remarks about South Africa.

However, in 1973, the government relented and granted Ashe a visa to play in the South African Open, which was one of the top tournaments in the world at the time.

It was Ashe's first visit to South Africa, and although he stipulated he would only play on condition that the stadium be open to both black and white spectators, it sparked anger among anti-apartheid activists in the US and strong opposition from sections of the black community in South Africa.

British journalist and tennis historian Richard Evans, who became a life-long friend of Ashe, was a member of the press corps on that South Africa tour.

He says that Ashe was "painfully aware" of the criticism and the accusation that he was in some way giving legitimacy to the South African government - but he was determined to see for himself how people lived there.

"He felt that he was always being asked about South Africa, but he'd never been. He said: 'How can I comment on a place I don't know? I need to see it and make a judgment. And until I go, I can't do that.'"

Evans recalls that during the tour, the South African writer and poet Don Mattera had organised for Ashe to meet a group of black journalists, but the atmosphere was tense and hostile.

"As I passed someone," Evans told the BBC, "I heard someone say: 'Uncle Tom'" - a slur used to disparage a black person considered servile towards white people.

"And then one or two very vociferous journalists stood up and said: 'Arthur, go home. We don't want you here. You're just making it easier for the government to be able to show that they allow someone like you in.'"

But not all black South Africans were so vehemently opposed to Ashe's presence in the country.

The South African author and academic Mark Mathabane grew up in the Alexandra township - popularly known as Alex - in the north of Johannesburg. Such townships were set up under apartheid on the outskirts of cities for non-white people to live.

He first became aware of Ashe as a boy while accompanying his grandmother to her gardening job at a British family's mansion in a whites-only suburb.

The lady of the house gifted him a September 1968 edition of Life magazine from her collection, and there, on the front cover, was a bespectacled Arthur Ashe at the net.

Mathabane was mesmerised by the image and its cover line "The Icy Elegance of Arthur Ashe" - and he set out to emulate him.

When Ashe went on the 1973 tour, Mathabane had only one mission - to meet Ashe, or at least get close to him.

The opportunity came when Ashe took time off from competing to hold a tennis clinic in Soweto, a southern Johannesburg township.

The 13-year-old Mathabane made the train journey to get there and join scores of other black - and mostly young - people who had turned out to see the tennis star, who they had given the nickname "Sipho".

"He may have been honorary white to white people, but to us black people he was Sipho. It's a Zulu word for gift," Mathabane, now aged 64, told the BBC.

"You know, a gift from God, from the ancestors, meaning that this is very priceless, take care of it. Sipho is here, Sipho from America is here."

The excitement generated at the Soweto clinic was not just contained to that township but had spread across the country, he said.

From rural reservations to shebeens or speakeasies (bars) - wherever black people gathered, they were talking about Ashe's visit.

"For me, he was literally the first free black man I'd ever seen," said Mathabane.

After the 1973 tour, Ashe went back to South Africa a few more times. In early 1976 he helped to establish the Arthur Ashe Soweto Tennis Centre (AASTC) for budding players in the township.

But not long after it opened, the centre was vandalised in the student-led uprisings against the apartheid regime that broke out in June of that year.

It remained neglected and in disrepair for several years before undergoing a major refurbishment in 2007, and was reopened by Ashe's widow Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe.

The complex now has 16 courts, and hosts a library and skills development centre.

The ambition is to produce a tennis star and Grand Slam champion from the township - and legends such as Serena and Venus Williams have since run clinics there.

For Mothobi Seseli and Masodi Xaba, who were once both South African national junior champions and now sit on the AASTC board, the centre goes beyond tennis.

They feel that fundamentally it is about instilling a work ethic that embraces a range of life skills and self-belief.

"We're building young leaders," Ms Xaba, a successful businesswoman, told the BBC.

Mr Seseli, an entrepreneur born and raised in Soweto, agrees that this would be Ashe's vision too: "When I think about what his legacy is, it is believing that we can, at the smallest of scales, move the dial in very big ways."

Ashe was initially inclined to challenge apartheid through conversations and participation, believing that by being visible and winning matches in the country he could undermine the very foundation of the regime.

But his experience within South Africa, and international pressure from the anti-apartheid movement, persuaded him that isolation rather than engagement would be the most effective way to bring about change in South Africa.

He became a powerful advocate and supporter of an international sporting boycott of South Africa, speaking before the United Nations and the US Congress.

In 1983, at a joint press conference set up by the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and UN, he spoke about the aims of the Artists and Athletes Against Apartheid, which he had just co-founded with the American singer Harry Belafonte.

The organisation lobbied for sanctions against the South African government, and at its height had more than 500 members.

Ashe joined many protests and rallies, and when he was arrested outside the South African embassy in Washington DC in 1985, it drew more international attention to the cause and helped to amplify global condemnation of the South African regime.

He was the captain of the US Davis Cup team at the time, and always felt that the arrest cost him his job.

Ashe used his platform to confront social injustice wherever he saw it, not just in Africa and South Africa, but also in the US and Haiti.

He was also an educator on many issues, and specifically HIV/Aids, which he succumbed to, after contracting the disease from a blood transfusion during heart surgery in the early 1980s.

But he had a particular affinity with South Africa's black population living under a repressive regime.

He said that he identified with them because of his upbringing in racially segregated Richmond in the US state of Virginia.

No wonder then that Ashe was one of the key figures that South African anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was keen to meet on a trip to New York, inviting him to a historic townhall gathering in 1990 shortly after his release from 27 years in prison.

The pair met on a few occasions, however Ashe did not live to see Mandela become president of South Africa following the 1994 election, which brought in democratic rule and the dismantling of apartheid.

But like Ashe, Mandela was able to use sport to push for change - by helping unify South Africa - notably during the 1995 Rugby World Cup when he famously wore the Springbok jersey, once a hated symbol of apartheid.

To celebrate this year's anniversary of Ashe's victory, the Wimbledon Championships have an installation in the International Tennis Centre tunnel and a new museum display about him. They are also taking a trailblazer workshop on the road to mark his achievement.

His Wimbledon title was the third of his Grand Slam crowns, having previously won the US and Australian Opens.

But to many people like Mathabane - who in 1978 became the first black South African to earn a tennis scholarship to a US university - Arthur Ashe's legacy was his activism, not his tennis.

"He was literally helping to liberate my mind from those mental chains of self-doubt, of believing the big lie about your inferiority and the fact that you're doomed to repeat the work of your parents as a drudge," he said.

"So that was the magic - because he was showing me possibilities."

You may also be interested in:

• 'I'm not afraid of dying': The pioneering tennis champion who told the world he had Aids
• Arthur Ashe's 1976 interview: 'Fighting the myth'
• 'Growing up black' made Arthur Ashe crave control

Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.

Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica

The Western Indian town of Kolhapur has found itself in an unlikely global spotlight, as thousands of local artisans who hand-craft traditional leather footwear are mounting a collective attack on luxury fashion label Prada for plagiarising their designs without credit.

The rhythmic pounding of the hammer in 58-year-old Sadashiv Sanake's dimly lit workshop bears witness to the hard grind behind handcrafting the iconic Kolhapuri leather sandals.

"I learnt the craft as a child," he tells the BBC. A day's toil goes into making just "eight to 10 pairs" of these sandals he says, that retail at a modest $8-10

Barely 5,000 artisans in Kolhapur are still in the profession – a cottage industry that struggles to compete in a mechanised world, caught in the funk of dismal working conditions and low wages.

It's no surprise then that when Italian luxury brand Prada released a new line of footwear that bore a striking resemblance to the Kolhapuri sandals - but didn't mention the design origins - local artisans were up in arms.

The backlash was swift. Social media was flooded with accusations of cultural appropriation, prompting Prada to issue a statement acknowledging the sandals' roots.

Now local politicians and industry associations have thrown their weight behind the artisans who want better recognition of the craft and its cultural legacy.

Mr Sanake was not aware of Prada's show until the BBC showed him a video of it. When told that that the sandals could retail for hundreds of pounds in luxury markets, he scoffed. "Do they have gold in them?" he asked.

Prada hasn't revealed the price tag but its other sandals retail at between £600 to £1,000 in the UK as per its website.

The earliest records of Kolhapur sandals date back to the 12th Century.

"These sandals were originally crafted by members of the marginalised Charmakar (cobbler) community, also known as chamars," said Kavita Gagrani, a history professor at the New College in Kolhapur.

Chamar is a pejorative caste term used to describe Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) who work with animal hides.

"But in the early 20th Century, the craft flourished when the then ruler of Kolhapur, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj granted royal patronage to this community," Ms Gagrani said.

Today, nearly 100,000 artisans across India are engaged in the trade with an industry worth over $200m, according to the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry & Agriculture (MACCIA), a prominent industry trade group.

Yet, most of them continue to work in unorganised setups under dismal conditions.

"I was never educated. This is all I know, and I earn about $4-5 a day, depending on the number of orders," said 60-year-old Sunita Satpute.

Women like her play a critical role, particularly in engraving fine patterns by hand, but are not compensated fairly for their long hours of labour, she said.

That's why Sunita's children don't want to continue the craft.

A short distance away from her workshop lies Kolhapur's famous chappal gully, or sandal lane, a cluster of storefronts - many of them struggling to stay afloat.

"Leather has become very expensive and has pushed up our costs," said Anil Doipode, one of the first sellers to open a shop here.

Traditionally, artisans would use cow and buffalo hide to make these sandals. But since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power, there have been several reports of vigilantes - self-appointed protesters or activists - cracking down on alleged cow slaughter, sometimes with physical violence. The cow is considered sacred by Hindus.

In 2015, Maharashtra state banned the slaughter of cows and the sale and consumption of beef, forcing artisans to rely on buffalo leather sourced from neighbouring states, pushing up their production costs.

Traditional sellers are also struggling to compete with synthetic copies flooding the market.

"Customers want cheaper sandals and can't always tell the difference," said Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a second-generation Kolhapuri sandal seller.

Industry experts say the controversy highlights the need for a better institutional framework to protect the rights of artisans.

In 2019, the Indian government had awarded Kolhapuri sandals the Geographical Indication (GI) - a mark of authenticity which protects its name and design within India, preventing unauthorised use by outsiders.

Globally, however, there is no binding law that stops other countries or brands from aesthetic imitation.

Aishwarya Sandeep, a Mumbai-based advocate, says that India could raise the issue at the World Trade Organization under its TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement, of which it is a signatory.

But the system is cumbersome, expensive and often lacks enforceability, both in India and abroad, she adds.

Lalit Gandhi, the president of MCCIA, says his organisation is planning to patent the Kolhapuri sandal design, hoping to create a legal precedent for future cases.

But some say real change can only happen when India starts seeing its traditional heritage in a different light.

"It's about ethical recognition. India must push for royalty-sharing and co-branding," says Ritu Beri, a renowned designer. "The more we take pride in our culture, the less we will be exploited."

Of course, this isn't the first time a global fashion brand has been accused of appropriating Indian handicrafts.

Many big labels have featured Indian fabrics and embroidery work with little to no artist collaboration. "Take Chikankari (a delicate hand-embroidery style from the northern Indian city of Lucknow), Ikat (a cloth-dyeing technique), mirror work; they've all been used repeatedly. The artisans remain invisible while brands profit from their inspiration," Ms Beri says.

Mr Gandhi, however, says that Prada's endorsement of Kolhapuri sandals could also be beneficial for artisans.

"Under their label, the value [of Kolhapuri sandals] is going to increase manifold," he says. "But we want some share of that profit to be passed on to artisans for their betterment."

Rohit Balkrishna Gavali, a sandal-seller in Kolhapur, agrees - he has already begun to see the difference.

"The design Prada used wasn't even very popular, but now people are asking for it, with clients from Dubai, the US and Qatar" placing orders, he says.

"Sometimes, controversy can help," he adds. "But it would be nice if it also brought respect and better prices for those keeping this tradition alive."

The issue is unlikely to die down soon.

For now, a plea has been filed in a high court, demanding Prada pay damages and compensation to artisans, along with a court-supervised collaboration between the luxury label and artisan associations.

Prada has told BBC in a statement that it is in talks with the MCCIA on this matter.

Mr Gandhi, its chief, says a meeting between the two sides is going to take place next week.

Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.