An update on Lebanon
- The latest toll is at least 135 dead and 5,000 injured—and up to 250,000 are left without homes. A two-week national emergency has been declared.
- The Guardian’s photo gallery captures the devastation.
- The likely culprit: criminal negligence. Officials allowed dangerous stores of ammonium nitrate to languish in a warehouse for six years without putting in place any safety measures. New York Times explains how a culture of corruption and crime made this inevitable.
- The pyramids in Egypt and Burj Khalifa were lit up with the Lebanese flag in solidarity. See images here and here.
- Going viral: This clip of a bride posing for the camera right at the moment of the explosion.
Samsung’s new foldable phone
The company held its big annual unveil yesterday—on a videoconference, of course. And it rolled out a new Galaxy 10 smartphone, new iterations of its watch and tablet and Galaxy Z Fold2—the latest gen of its foldable phone. It has a bigger display with a 6.2-inch screen that folds out to 7.6 inches. Business Insider has more on ZFold2. Wired has the full list of announcements.
Nine Indian states are ‘vulnerable’
Total number of cases as of today: 1,961,357. Total deaths: 40,681. We also recorded the highest daily number of recoveries: 51,706. A new study says nine states remain vulnerable to a surge: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Gujarat. Researchers created an index based on socioeconomic factors, demographics, housing and hygiene, epidemiological trends, and the local health system. Also read: Indian Express’ analysis of small states like Goa, Puducherry, Nagaland etc that are witnessing a significant spread.
Related read: Mint predicts that the next year is going to be catastrophic for mid-sized hotels—while the luxury tier will survive. Tourists are already flooding boutique hotels in Rajasthan.
The global pandemic: Rising fatalities
One person dies every 15 seconds from Covid, as the global death toll surges past 700,000. The total number of cases: 18,691,600. A great portion of the recent surge is being fuelled by young people: Of the 6 million infections recorded between February and early July, the share of people aged 15-24 rose from 4.5% to 15%. The reason: “[Y]oung people are more likely to go to work in the community, to a beach or the pub, or to buy groceries.”
Related casualty: Virgin Atlantic, which has filed for bankruptcy. The airline will run out of cash next month if creditors do not approve a $1.6 billion rescue deal. The Guardian has more.
Related read: The Telegraph on new research that shows that bodies that are immune to certain cold viruses are able to detect the coronavirus—and therefore more successfully fight it off.
TikTok drama continues…
- Axios named Apple as a potential buyer for TikTok, but the company insists that it has no such plans.
- The loss of its India market has not made a dent in the company’s earnings—which were higher than any other app in July. One reason: 89% of its revenue comes from China.
- Stirring the pot: Facebook, which launched its TikTok clone Reels in the United States and 50 other countries. It’s already been launched in India.
- TikTok is fighting back with a new array of fake news detection and reporting tools.
Rafael Nadal opts out of US open
He will not defend his United States Open singles title this year due to concerns over Covid. Nadal tweeted his decision:
“After many thoughts I have decided not to play this year’s US Open. The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still don’t have control of it… This is a decision I never wanted to take but I have decided to follow my heart this time and for the time being I rather not travel.”
The world’s number one women’s single player Ashleigh Barty has already opted out of the tournament.
Amazon aur Airtel ki jodi
In the latest move to stop the Jio juggernaut, the company has teamed up with Airtel to deliver cloud services to medium and small enterprises. Reliance struck a similar deal with Microsoft last year. Related read: Economic Times reports on how the pandemic has changed Prime Day preparations in India.
Mumbai warned of floods
Residents have been told to stay home due to predictions of continuing heavy rainfall. How crazy have the rains been? According to Indian Express, Mumbai clocked 2,319.7 mm yesterday—which is far higher than the seasonal average of 2,260.4. See crazy clip below.
Government steps into Rajput fray
The Attorney General told the Supreme Court that the Union government has accepted Bihar CM Nitish Yadav’s request for a CBI probe. Read that sentence again… We now have a state government, the Supreme Court and the CBI involved in investigating a single suicide. (Indian Express)