Attention: We need your help!

It’s been two months since we set out on this excellent journey—and we’ve been growing ever since. A big reason: your personal recommendation! That loving support has been priceless in keeping splainer alive and well. 

But as a boot-strapped baby startup, we need to keep up the momentum—more so in these difficult times. So pretty please: tell everyone you know about splainer! Share your love with friends & fam, on your social media handles and WhatsApp groups. Be sure to copy/paste that unique referral link at the bottom of your daily email (or at the bottom of your account page at the top right). Just so we can send you that thank you gift! 🙏❤️️ (More on that in our FAQ)

A riot in Bangalore

• Two police stations and the residence of a Congress MLA became the target of an angry 4,000-plus Muslim mob. 
• The trigger: a Facebook post by the nephew of the MLA that was allegedly derogatory to the Prophet Muhammad. 
• The police first used tear gas and lathis to disperse the crowd—and then fired shots which left three dead. 
• The nephew and 145 rioters have been arrested. Under the scanner: a local Muslim group called Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI). 
• The state government says the attack was an “organized way to create unrest."
• The MLA, R. Akhanda Srinivasa Murthy, issued an appeal: “We’re all brothers. Whatever crime has been committed, let the law teach them a lesson… I appeal to our Muslim brothers and everyone else to maintain peace.”
• Reuters has the overview. The News Minute has a detailed timeline of the riot. Indian Express has the politics.
• Silver lining: 100 Muslim residents formed a human chain to protect a Hanuman temple from the mob. See clip below.

A Kamala Harris update

• Within hours, President Trump tore into Joe Biden’s newly selected running mate—calling her “nasty” four times in a row (watch the clip here). New York Times explains why Harris crystallizes Trump’s ‘woman problem’. 
• Biden and Harris also made their first joint appearance. CNN has that story.
• But iPhone’s auto-correct still hasn't caught up with US politics. It tries to replace Kamala with ‘Kampala’—the capital of Uganda. 
• Related read: NBC News on why progressives are anxious about Harris. The Atlantic explains why Biden picked her.
• In South Asian origin-related problems: CNN offered a guide to correctly pronouncing ‘Comma-la’. 
• Also see: A Fox News host having a meltdown because someone tried to correct his pronunciation. More fun: this campaign video that has kids teaching Americans how to say it right.

The global pandemic: A quick update

• The Gamaleya National Centre—which developed the dubious Russian vaccine—claims that it plans to hold Phase 3 trials and start “mass production” in India. But members of the government’s Covid taskforce say they have no clue what the Russians are on about: “This vaccine has not even undergone Phase 3; this vaccine is not even mentioned in the World Health Organisation’s inventory of (candidate) vaccines against Covid-19.”
• A global survey released by the International Labour Organisation says that 50% of young people between the ages of 18 and 29 are at risk for anxiety and depression due to the pandemic. Mental well-being is lowest for young women and the younger end of that age group. Also: 38% are uncertain of their future career prospects, and 42% reported a sharp drop in their income.
• The picture in rural India is increasingly grim. As disease spreads through the countryside, residents are increasingly tired of social distancing—and are abandoning face masks.
• In related news: A local survey of slum dwellers in Uttar Pradesh shows that 95% are willing to be vaccinated—but only 36% are willing to pay for it.
• Meanwhile in China, a 68-year-old woman has tested positive six months after she recovered from the disease. The upside: Chinese virologists claim that reinfected patients are not infectious. Point to note: her close contacts were not infected.

Twitter gives more control over trolls

You can now decide who can reply to your tweets—limiting it to those who follow you or the people you choose to tag in your tweet. The rest of the janata can still view, RT or ‘like’ the tweets. The end result: You will now be trolled on RTs rather than your own TL. Verge has the story. See the vid below for a guide.

McDonald’s is suing its former CEO

Stephen Easterbrook was ousted last year for having inappropriate relationships with employees. Now the company is suing to recover the $42 million in stocks they paid out as part of his severance package. The reason: They claim to have found new and more damning evidence of his crimes:

“That evidence consisted of dozens of nude, partially nude, or sexually explicit photographs and videos of various women, including photographs of these Company employees, that Easterbrook had sent as attachments to messages from his Company email account to his personal email account.”

Apple is very angry at a ‘pear’

The global giant is suing a five-person startup called Prepear because their company logo is… a pear?! Apparently, this isn’t the first time: 

“Before attacking us, Apple has opposed dozens of other trademark applications filed by small businesses with fruit-related logos. Many of those were changed or abandoned. Most small businesses can't afford the tens of thousands of dollars it would take to fight Apple."

Making all this crazier: Prepear is an app for cooking recipes. See the shocking similarity below 🙄 :