The great pandemic: A quick update
- The number of confirmed cases of Omicron in India has jumped to 21—including nine new confirmations in Rajasthan, seven in Pune and one in Delhi. Most of them have recently travelled to African countries or were in contact with those who did. Times of India has more details about the patients and their travel histories.
- Researchers have identified a unique mutation that the virus possibly picked up from a common cold virus. Why this matters: “Our study underlines that the… pandemic cannot be examined in a silo—other viral infections such as seasonal coronaviruses or retroviruses such as HIV might also need to be factored into research on emerging variants of concern.” (The Telegraph)
- The latest data from South Africa shows that the Omicron variant spreads twice as quickly as the Delta variant. Also: There are indications that a previous infection does not protect you from the variant. (Axios)
- A related read: Vinod Scaria and Bani Jolly in The Hindu ask a very important question: Was Omicron designated a variant of concern in haste?
- US scientists have developed an experimental chewing gum that could reduce the transmission of Covid: “5mg of chewing gum could significantly reduce viral entry into cells while 50mg of the gum reduced viral entry by 95%.” (Mint)
- An Italian anti-vaxxer found a novel way to avoid the jab: wearing a fake arm. The reason for such desperation: Italy has banned unvaccinated folks from going to cinemas, nightclubs, stadiums etc. (The Guardian)
A horrific lynching in Pakistan
A Sri Lankan factory manager was set on fire by a mob—who appear to be supporters of the extremist group Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). His alleged ‘crime’: tearing down a poster with Islamic holy verses. More than 800 people have been booked under terrorism charges—and 13 prime suspects have been identified among the 118 arrested. Prime Minister Imran Khan has vowed to bring the guilty to justice and protect all expat workers. We explained the history of violent clashes over blasphemy in the country here. Al Jazeera and The Telegraph have more details.
A new streaming war: Spotify vs comedians
The platform has pulled down the work of hundreds of comedians, including John Mulaney, Jim Gaffigan and Kevin Hart—due to a war over royalties. Comedians are typically compensated as performers—not as writers of their jokes. But now Spoken Giants—a global copyrights management company—wants to collect royalties for those words—similar to how songwriters are paid for use of their music and lyrics. The negotiations between Spotify and Spoken Words fell apart—hence, the great purge. (Wall Street Journal)
Michigan school shooting: The latest update
- Over the weekend, the police tracked down and arrested the parents of the 15-year-old boy who killed four fellow students in yet another horrific school shooting.
- They have been charged with involuntary manslaughter—for giving him the gun as an early Christmas present.
- And we now know that they were called into school—on the day of the shootings—to discuss their son’s alarming behaviour, which they dismissed.
- Teachers had flagged drawings where “blood everywhere” was scrawled next to a drawing of a bullet—and there was a sketch of a bloody figure with two gunshot wounds. The school is now investigating why the boy was sent back to class—and not sent home with his parents.
- CNN and New York Times have more details. Washington Post looks at why it is rare for parents of school shooting suspects to be charged.
An eventful India-Kiwi test match
On day two, Ajaz Patel entered the rarefied ranks of cricket history by taking all 10 wickets—becoming only the third person to do so. And on day three, he became the bowler to take the most wickets against India—finishing his hot streak with 14/227. But none of that may help Kiwis seal the deal. They need to score 400 runs with five wickets in hand. Scroll has match details, while The Telegraph has more on challenges that Patel will face in the future. Stuff.co.nz explains why poor Patel may be warming the bench once this series is over.
Farm protest: The latest update
The alliance leading the protests, Samyukta Kisan Morcha, will put together a five-person committee to negotiate with the government. This came after Home Minister Amit Shah personally reached out to find a way to end the protests. (The Telegraph)
Vinod Dua has passed away
The veteran journalist and star NDTV anchor lost the battle to chronic liver disease over the weekend—and the news was shared by his daughter, comedian Mallika Dua. NDTV and The Wire have the best tributes to the king of Hindi broadcasting. Back in June, we explained the cases that were filed against him in recent years—primarily in response to his journalism.
Airbnb’s nasty China connection
An Axios investigation has discovered that the rental platform is selling listings in Xinjiang—the province where the Uighur are subject to hard labour and genocide. Why this matters: There is a US government sanction on any company whose business is connected to human rights violations in China. Also this: Airbnb is one of 14 top-level sponsors of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. (Axios)
Three studies of note
One: Australia is the drunkest country in the world according to a new survey. Its citizens imbibe to the "point of drunkenness" at least 27 times a year. The global average: 15. OTOH, the French drink on average three times a week—compared to Australians who average two nights. Moral of this lesson: It’s not how often but how much? (The Guardian)
Two: Purebred dogs are actually dreadfully inbred dogs. A new study looked at a wide variety of breeds and found that “the average level of inbreeding within these breeds was around 25%, or about the amount of genetic similarity you would see between two siblings.” Why this matters: There is a huge risk of genetic disorders for far lower levels of similarity between two unrelated humans—3-6%. So that number is very worrying. Gizmodo has more details.
Three: Sex ratio in a population is linked to pollution levels: “mercury, chromium and aluminium pollution correlated with more boys being born, while lead pollution increased the proportion of girls.” FYI, the study has just established correlation not causation: “This is a list of suspects to investigate, and all the suspects have some credible evidence, but we’re very far from conviction.” (The Guardian)
Five things to see
One: This is cute. Over the weekend, the starting lineup of the Russian football team Zenit St Petersburg walked out on the pitch with doggies in their arms—all of whom are up for adoption. Daily Mail has the story. See the ‘overburdened’ team below:
Two: UK company Engineered Arts released a video of its robot Ameca—and it’s very human expression. Everyone was freaked out including Tesla CEO Elon Musk. (Futurism)
Three: Speaking of Musk, this is what he looks like now. We have no comment though Twitter was not as polite. (Daily Mail)
Four: A solar eclipse over Antarctica was captured by NASA. See a clip below. Or the longer version over here.
Five: Once upon a time, big media houses held big summits to discuss weighty questions that faced the nation. Now, we have this… but hey, Punjab CM Channi can sure shake a leg!
Also at the Aaj Tak summit: This amusing question posed to Arvind Kejriwal. Warning: many non-Punjabis (oddly) were offended by such blatant stereotyping.
