An assassination attempt in Iraq
Three armed drones targeted the home of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi—who survived unharmed. President Barham Salih described the attack as a precursor to a coup. The country is in a fragile situation after the national elections held last month. The results have been challenged by Iran-backed parties and militias. Some experts believe the intent was not to kill al-Kadhimi:
“What we’ve seen in the past is the use of violence, not necessarily to assassinate, but to warn that, ‘We’re here’... I think this would also be a warning perhaps gone wrong because you can gain a bit more popularity and sympathy as the prime minister who survived an assassination attempt.”
New York Times and CNN have more.
Chennai is under water… again!
The Northeast monsoons have brought a deluge—with parts of the city receiving up to 21.5 cm of rain as of Sunday morning. This is the heaviest rainfall since 2015. And it is expected to continue for the next 48 hours. Schools and colleges have been closed down. Indian Express and The Hindu have more details. This insightful Twitter thread looks at the poor urban planning as a key reason for repeated flooding. Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin attracted praise for wading through muddy waters to inspect affected areas.
Also flooded: Venice which is experiencing its annual 'acqua alta,' or 'high water’—a phenomenon when high tide in the Adriatic sea floods the city. But these are becoming very frequent thanks to climate change. If it’s any comfort, this is what Venice looks like right now:
T20 World Cup: The latest update
New Zealand easily defeated Afghanistan by eight wickets—and destroyed India’s dreams of scraping through to the semi final. Meanwhile, Pakistan beat Scotland by 72 runs—and will face Australia in the semis. Indian bowling coach Bharat Arun flagged the gruelling schedule as one big reason for an abysmal performance.
“Being on the road for six months is a huge ask. Players haven’t gone home and I think they had a short break after the last IPL got suspended. They have been in a bubble for six months and that takes a huge toll… maybe a short break between IPL and World Cup could have done a lot of good for these boys.”
ICYMI: read our big story on the key theories for India’s poor showing.
In other cricket-related news: Former England skipper Michael Vaughan has been suspended from his BBC radio show due to allegations of racism. He is the latest casualty of explosive allegations of institutional racism at the Yorkshire club—whose chairman resigned recently.
- It all started when former player Azeem Rafiq alleged in 2020 that he was left close to suicide after experiencing continual abuse at Yorkshire.
- An internal investigation recently concluded that Rafiq was indeed a victim of racist bullying—but found no evidence of institutional bias.
- But the outrage spread and sponsors pulled their support of the club—and Yorkshire was suspended from hosting international matches.
- Then Michael Vaughan came out in a Telegraph column, saying he is one of the people named by Rafiq—and strongly denied the charges.
- But two other players of South Asian descent have now stepped forward to support Rafiq’s account.
- The Guardian has the latest, while BBC News has a good overview of the racism row.
A flurry of Covid-related news
One: An Oxford University study has discovered a specific gene in South Asians that puts Covid patients at far greater risk of death—doubling the likelihood of respiratory failure. The gene is called ‘leucine zipper transcription factor like 1’ or LZTFL1—and it prevents the cells lining the airways and lungs from responding to the virus. Around 60% of people of South Asian ancestry, 15% of people of European ancestry and only 2% of people of Afro-Caribbean descent carry the gene. Why this matters: This could explain the high mortality rates in India during the second wave. (Indian Express).
Two: New US data shows that Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines dramatically lost their efficacy over the past six months. Moderna’s protection dropped from 89% to 58%, Pfizer fell from 87% to 45%, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine went from 86% to just 13%. Likely factor: The Delta variant. (Los Angeles Times)
Three: The UK approved an oral pill called Molnupiravir to treat Covid. It is the first oral treatment for the disease. (BBC News)
Four: An Indian study has established a strong correlation between diabetes and mucormycosis—aka black fungus, a terrible side-effect of Covid (explained here). What it found: 71.3% of such patients had pre-existing diabetes and 13.9% had newly detected diabetes. And they all had a history of steroid use. Why this matters: India is only second to China in the number of diabetes cases—and it could explain why we have more black fungus patients than the rest of the world. (Indian Express)
Aryan Khan case: The latest update
The allegations of extortion have finally produced a result. The controversial Narcotics Control Board official Sameer Wankhede has been taken off the Khan investigation—and five other drug-related cases. A Special Investigation Team out of Delhi will take over. Meanwhile, NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik has come out with a fresh string of allegations that would put a soap opera to shame. He now claims “the Aryan Khan incident is a classic case of kidnapping and holding a person to ransom”—and it involved a BJP leader and the head of Fashion TV who threw the cruise party. Indian Express has those lurid details.
A big tragedy at a Travis Scott concert
At least eight people—including two teenagers—died in a stampede at the Astroworld music festival in Houston:
"As soon as the crowd began to surge ... those people began to be trapped, essentially up at the front, and they began to be trampled and they actually had people falling down and passing out."
There were 50,000 people at the annual event created by Scott—who continued performing even as things started to go wrong. While the exact cause for the tragedy is still unknown, Variety speculates that a $5 million stage constructed solely for Scott’s performance, and the time he chose to play may have been factors. See people shouting for help below. (ABC News)
A big tragedy in Afghanistan
Four women’s rights activists have been found dead in the city of Mazar-i-Sharif. According to initial reports, they may have been lured with the promise of an evacuation flight—and then murdered. Taliban officials claim they are investigating the case—and have previously insisted that their fighters are not authorised to kill activists. (AFP via Hindustan Times)
A caste row at a Kerala university
Dalit PhD scholar Deepa P Mohanan has been on a hunger strike for the past 10 days. She is protesting harassment by Mahatma Gandhi University’s director Nandakumar Kalarikkal:
“Kalarikkal had cut her access to the lab and to polymers and other chemicals she needed, then denied her seating facilities at the workplace and attempted to block her stipend. She said he had once locked her alone inside the lab on a minor provocation.”
The university has now acceded to all her demands, and has removed Kalarikkal. (The Telegraph)
‘Sooryavanshi’ has a massive weekend
The latest Akshay Kumar movie will end the weekend with Rs 750 million (75 crore) in box office revenue—which is a huge success given that theatres only allow 50% occupancy. BookMyShow sold 700,000 tickets in less than 24 hours—and hit a peak of 21 tickets sold per second, which is the highest ever peak for a Hindi movie. It has done extremely well in Mumbai and Delhi-Uttar Pradesh—but faced angry protests by farmers in Punjab. (Mint)
A very strange plane heist
In a carefully coordinated operation, 24 passengers forced a flight from Morocco to Turkey to land in Spain. No, they didn’t take it hostage. One of them faked a medical emergency—and while he was taken to the hospital, the rest of them fled across the tarmac. Of these, 12 are still missing. This truly may be the most innovative form of illegal migration. (New York Times)
Also very bizarre: A woman who donated her husband’s body for science got a very rude shock. His body was used in an event called a ‘cadaver lab’ in a hotel ballroom—attended by an audience that coughed up between $100-$500 “to observe an anatomical dissection on a full human cadaver.” Naturally, she is extremely upset. (New York Times)
Two animal things
One: A lost Steller’s sea eagle has wandered 4,700 miles away from its home—and has been spotted in Eastern Canada. Its typical range is China, Japan and Korea and the east coast of Russia. Why this matters: “It would be like an elephant walking up out of Africa into Scandinavia. Like getting a call that the Rolling Stones are playing in a field behind a warehouse in the next town over.” FYI: No one can do much about it except hope it finds its way home—or makes a new one if it finds others of its species. (New York Times via Indian Express)
Two: Bisons at the Yellowstone park have started their winter migration to lower elevations—on a route that takes them right through traffic. And we complain about cows lol! (Smithsonian Magazine)
