Rafa roars at the French open
Rafael Nadal demolished Novak Djokovic to win his 13th French Open title. The score: 6-0, 6-2, 7-5. The Guardian offers an entertaining recap comparing the players to “two old pugs.” Also: see Rafa’s winning moment below:
Also making history: 19-year-old Iga Swiatek who won her first Grand Slam title—and became the first Polish player to do so. Tennis.com has that story. Roland-Garros (which hosts the tournament) tweeted these lovely pics of Swiatek celebrating her win in truly French style:
Trump's not-so-glorious return
The US President is now claiming that he is miraculously Covid-free, tweeting: "A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can't get it (immune), and can't give it. Very nice to know!!!" Twitter promptly slapped a warning label, saying the tweet "violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to Covid-19."
Point to note: The White House doctors have declared that the president is no longer infectious—but refuse to say when Trump tested negative. And yeah, he is getting ready to hold public rallies this week.
Not inspiring confidence: Trump’s bizarre interview with Fox News over the weekend where he said this:
"California is gonna have to ration water. You wanna know why? Because they send millions of gallons of water out to sea, out to the Pacific. Because they want to take care of certain little tiny fish that aren't doing very well without water."
What’s even more bizarre: A farmer in Telangana who "spent sleepless nights, starving and praying" for Trump's recovery died of cardiac arrest on Sunday. Also: He used to worship a six-feet statue of the Donald.
The great pandemic: A quick update
- India swept past the seven million mark on Saturday—and Kerala is now adding the highest number of daily new cases, beating Maharashtra. How did we get here? This BBC News video offers a timeline in 200 seconds.
- Numbers are rising once again in the US, which reported more than 57,000 cases over the weekend—its highest tally in two months. And the onset of winter poses the very real threat of a second, larger wave since “the virus’s spread will be aided by dry air and people spending more time indoors."
- One key warning that also applies to India: “We still have tens of thousands of known cases, probably hundreds of thousands of actual cases, happening every day, and what that means is that we have a tremendous number of small little outbreaks ready to burst.” And yes, colder temperatures pose a big risk in India as well.
- Winter is also the flu season. So how do you know whether you have the flu or Covid? One key differentiating symptom: The loss of smell and taste.
- The Great Barrington Declaration is a letter calling on governments to pursue ‘herd immunity’ (explained here) has supposedly been signed by 15,000 scientists and medical practitioners—and 150,000 ordinary citizens. But a Sky News investigation shows that many of the signatories are either fake or, umm, kinda weird. Example: one Mongolian Khöömii Singer who describes himself as a "therapeutic sound practitioner".
- That said, the letter has been signed by a number of qualified epidemiologists. Buzzfeed News has that story.
- The latest evidence of neurological damage caused by the virus: “brain fog.”
- A stretch of six genes—inherited from Neanderthals—increases the risk of being infected. A third of the population in South Asia carry the genes—rising to 63% in Bangladesh.
- Microsoft is the latest company to announce that it will allow most of its employees to work permanently from home—for either less than 50% of their work week or go entirely remote.
- Indian Express pays tribute to 48-year-old Aarif Khan who ferried 200 bodies of Covid patients as an ambulance driver. He succumbed to the disease last week: “These have been extraordinary times, and even though he was a driver, Khan often helped with the last rites too. Woh Muslim tha par Hinduon ke bhi daah-sanskaar karaata tha (He was a Muslim but he helped out even with cremations of Hindus)… He was very dedicated to his work.”
North Korea has ‘monster’ missiles
President Kim Jong Un showed off giant intercontinental ballistic missiles at an unusual predawn military parade on Saturday. If made operational, these will be one of the largest ICBMs that can be transported via road. Also: we presume this is a big and parting eff-you to his ex-BFF Trump and their denuclearisation talks. Reuters has more.
The TV TRP drama: An update
As you may remember, Republic TV—along with two Marathi channels—is accused of offering bribes to fix viewership numbers (which we explained here). The Mumbai police interrogated the channel’s CEO Vikash Khanchandani for nine hours. The COO and CFO have been summoned as well, but have not turned up for questioning.
According to the police, one of the men arrested last week—Bomapallirao Mistry—received Rs 10 million over the course of the year from multiple sources. But there is no direct link to the channels as yet—which is why the police is promising a “forensic audit” of the accused three channels.
Already spooked by the TRP tamasha: leading brands and ad agencies that are re-examining their advertising spends. For example, Parle G:
"We are exploring possibilities wherein other advertisers can come together and sort of put a restraint on their advertising spends on news channels, so that there is some sort of a clear signal to all the news channels, that they better change their content."
Bajaj Auto has already blacklisted the three channels. Mint has this story.
Russia’s mysterious environmental tragedy
Thousands of sea creatures—including octopuses, mussels, crabs, and sea urchins—were found dead on the beach in an Arctic peninsula. According to scientists, 95% of sea life to the depth of 10 to 15 meters was dead. But no one knows why it is happening! Scientists have discovered high levels of phosphate ion, iron and phenol but are stumped about the source. Greenpeace is calling it an “environmental disaster,” but the Russians aren’t quite as worked up: "We don't see a catastrophic event; no humans have died, no one has been injured.” But if it makes you feel any better, President Putin sees the situation as “really worrying.” (ABC News)
In related bad news: A new report estimates that there is 8-14 million tons of microplastics on the seafloor—35 times the amount on the surface. (Inverse)
In far happier news: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray has junked the plan to build that infamous metro shed in Aarey—where the previous government mowed down 2,700 trees to begin construction. Around 800 acres of the area has now been declared a protected forest. Indian Express explains the controversy and the ingenious solution devised by the Shiv Sena government to move the shed—though BJP insists that it will raise costs by Rs 40 billion.
Lady with the longest legs
Seventeen-year-old Maci Currin from Texas has broken two Guinness World Records: she has the longest legs in history for a woman and as a teenager. Currin is 6-foot-10. Her legs account for 60% of her height! And as you can see below, she is totally comfortable with dem long stems:)