Israel-Palestine approach brink of war

• The Middle East is turning into a war zone as Israel and Palestine exchange air strikes—and Arab-Jew riots spread within Israel.  
• The Palestinian militant group Hamas has fired more than 1,500 rockets into Israel—including 350 that fell short and into Gaza. Most of these were repelled by a security system called Iron Dome.
• Israel meanwhile has successfully struck 500 targets within Gaza—reducing great parts of the city to rubble. Point to remember: Gaza is twice the size of Washington DC. And it has few bomb shelters and no air defense system.
• The death count so far: 67 in Gaza and seven in Israel. Palestinian authorities say that Israelis indiscriminately targeted civilians, and that 43% of the victims of strikes in Gaza were children and women. Israel claims the strikes were aimed at the Hamas leadership.
• The United Nations has warned that the situation could mushroom into a “full-scale war.”
• Meanwhile, inside Israel, Israeli Arabs and Jews have been involved in bloody riots—especially in the city of Lod—forcing the government to declare a state of emergency. 
• BBC News offers a solid overview. CNN has details of the airstrikes. The Guardian has more on what’s happening in Lod. The New York Times has an excellent explainer on the Al-Aqsa mosque—which was the initial trigger for this round of violence. Indian Express explains the Iron Dome defense system. BuzzFeed News has a collection of photos. The News Minute reports on the Kerala woman who was killed in Israel due to a rocket strike.

The great pandemic: A longish update

First, the numbers: We recorded 362,240 new cases and 4,126 deaths. A Cambridge University tracker says that we may have already reached our peak—but again, this is based on our official numbers which may not be accurate. And researchers offer this caveat: 

“But there is substantial variation among states and union territories in their trajectories, with cases continuing to increase over the next two weeks in areas such as Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Tripura."

Also testing positive: Supreme Court Justice DY Chandrachud. Not being counted: tens of thousands of Indians who are likely infected. Scroll has an excellent deep dive into the testing crisis—as staff and resources are overwhelmed by the second wave. 

About that lockdown: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)⁠ chief Dr Balram Bhargava has suggested continuing the lockdown for another 6-8 weeks in 718 districts that have a positivity rate above 10%. Taking the lockdown seriously: The newly elected Assam government which announced it will charge anyone hosting large events with attempted murder.

About those bodies: More bodies have washed up in new locations along the banks of the Ganga. The officials will not release any numbers, but The Telegraph puts it at 40. Also: in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, an unknown number of bodies were found buried in the sand. Authorities in Bihar have now taken to spreading nets to catch the bodies (See our explainer for background on this tragedy)

Covid politics: 12 opposition leaders⁠—including Sonia Gandhi, Mamata Banerjee, Uddhav Thackeray et al—have written a strongly worded letter to the Prime Minister offering him advice on how to handle the “apocalyptic human tragedy.” Also they don’t seem to expect a reply: “Though it has not been the practice of your office or government, we would appreciate a response to our suggestions in the interests of India and our people.”

About those vaccines: 

• Reason to worry: Data shows that the worst Covid hotspots have experienced the greatest slowdown in their inoculation rates: “The top 20 cities with the most active cases have given 42% fewer shots a day in May than they did in April amid a crippling shortage of vaccine doses.”
• People between the ages of 18 to 44 will not receive Covaxin shots in Delhi starting tomorrow. The reason: The government doesn’t have enough supplies—and will reserve its four-day stock for frontline workers and the 45-plus. 
• Also halting vaccinations for younger residents: Maharashtra and Karnataka. 
• According to the AAP government, Bharat Biotech has flatly refused to supply more vaccines citing union “government directives.” 
• But there’s some good news if you can’t get that second jab of Covishield. Experts say it is perfectly fine to wait for up to 12 weeks. 
• Related read: Scroll has a good piece on Serum Institute CEO Adar Poonawalla’s shifting rationales for the Covishield shortage. Also Indian Express has a guide on when to take the shot if you have been infected.
• Here’s a potential role model for Indian companies: A Japanese publishing company took out a double full-page newspaper ad: “In an old-timey prewar font, it reads, ‘No vaccine. No medicine. Are you asking us to fight with bamboo spears? At this rate, we'll all be killed by politics.’”

Meanwhile at the hospitals: The Wire tracked news and social media reports of deaths due to oxygen shortages at hospitals, and arrived at a shocking total: 223—and that doesn’t include another 70 where the families claim that patients died due to lack of oxygen. In other bad news, here’s a depressing clip of a hospital in Etawah—where the doctors are missing and the floors are covered with human shit because the bathrooms are locked.

On a far happier note: The nurses in Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai danced to the Hindi version of ‘We Shall Overcome’—'Hum Honge Kaamyaab'—to mark International Nurses Day.

About those migrant workers: A new study shows that banning travel of migrant workers during lockdowns only works if the move is carefully timed. Shorter travel bans can result in fewer infections spreading to their home districts, while longer bans offer time for the cities to bring down their infections. But the worst are those which fall in the middle:

“For intermediate durations, we risk a situation where we force people to stay in a region of rapidly increasing Covid-19 (cases), and then we allow them to leave at a time when many of them are likely to be infected. This is what creates the finding of intermediate bans being potentially counterproductive.”

Speaking of celebrity aid: Poor Jack Dorsey just can’t get it right. The Twitter CEO announced he will donate $15 million in Covid relief to India—part of which will go to Sewa International. Turns out that the organisation is the US arm of Sewa Bharti, a welfare organisation affiliated with the RSS. (Times of India)

Doing much better: OYO CEO Ritesh Agarwal who announced that the company will be moving to a 4-day work week in acknowledgement of the physical and mental stress of the pandemic. Employees will now get a day off on Wednesday, i.e. hump day. Also: no questions asked leave on demand. (Economic Times)

Covidiot alert! Three students at the University of Massachusetts were suspended for partying without a mask. The bigger idiots: Their parents who are now suing the university.

A very good Covid resource: In the midst of a hellish pandemic, it is more important than ever for citizens to know their legal rights. Covid Rights India is an important resource aimed at spreading awareness of these rights. Check out the website for very useful information—sorted by individual states—and, more importantly, you can reach out to experts if you need legal advice. You can also do your bit to help their effort by:

• Providing legal advice to families and victims of COVID-19 who may reach out through this website
• Volunteering to add orders to this website
• Offering ideas or suggestions for the website, and how to disseminate it

Central Vista is now a state secret

The government has put up signs banning people from taking photos or videos of the project—or rather the devastation caused by construction, which is (literally) plowing ahead in the midst of the second wave. A possible trigger for this new-found paranoia: This PTI ‘crime scene’ photo that caused a stir on social media:

Quint also reports on the appalling living conditions of workers—who are crammed into tiny tents on the site with zero social distancing. 

‘NFT’ is now an NFT 

File this one under seriously surreal! Merriam-Webster Dictionary is auctioning its official definition of a Non Fungible Token as a Non Fungible Token. The definition reads:

“[A] unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, that is recorded in a blockchain, and that is used to certify authenticity and ownership (as of a specific digital asset and specific rights relating to it).”

So how do you ‘own’ the definition of a word? Gizmodo bravely (but unsuccessfully) does its best to explain this conundrum:

“The NFT bears a relationship to the word in the sense that you gave money to Merriam-Webster because they’re telling you that this digital token has to do with the definition of the word. You will not receive a gold chain emblazoned with ‘NFT,’ you don’t own the word or the definition, you may not license the definition, nor the NFT, and while you may make derivative art inspired by the NFT, you may not use it for commercial purposes. In other words, you will receive a figment of imagination, which is priceless, and the resale value, which is TBD.”

FYI: the highest bid so far is $17.65—which is the most hopeful sign that sanity may yet prevail.

In even weirder news: According to a new book—written by Pulitzer prize winning journalist Carol Leonnig—two members of Donald Trump’s family were in “inappropriate relationships” with the Secret Service agents guarding the family. Vanessa—then married to Donald Jr—“started dating one of the agents who had been assigned to her family.” And daughter Tiffany “began spending an unusual amount of time alone with a Secret Service agent on her detail.” Apparently, the Secret Service “became concerned at how close Tiffany appeared to be getting to the tall, dark and handsome agent.” When life imitates really bad fiction… (The Guardian)

Also weird but not icky: The Pacific football fish—popularised by ‘Finding Nemo’—which usually hangs out at 3,000 feet underwater. So it was quite astonishing when it turned up on a beach in California. FYI, This is the Darth Vader of fish: "Their teeth, like pointed shards of glass, are transparent and their large mouth is capable of sucking up and swallowing prey the size of their own body.” Also: the ‘washed up’ version looked like this:

Also found but rescued: A rare calico-colored lobster shipped to a Red Lobster restaurant was saved from becoming someone’s dinner. Now nicknamed Freckles, he has been sent to live happily ever after at a museum.

Vladimir Putin, hockey star!

The Russian president took part in an ice hockey game as part of an annual festival—and scored eight goals! Sure he did coz who’s brave enough to tackle the Vlad?