Israel bombs Gaza… again!
The fragile ceasefire between the two sides fell apart on Wednesday. Tel Aviv carried out airstrikes in response to ‘incendiary balloons’ launched from Gaza into southern Israel. These are balloons filled with hot air, hydrogen or helium, and have bombs or explosives such as Molotov cocktails attached to them. When they fall, the balloons cause an explosion. There were 20 such blazes in open fields in Israel—but there are no reports of casualties on either side.
Al Jazeera has a long report on the renewed hostilities—which have been accompanied by renewed Jew-Arab tensions within Israel. All of which suggests that little has changed despite the exit of Benjamin Netanyahu. Also read: our explainers on the latest conflict and subsequent ceasefire. Watch footage of the airstrikes here. Also: Those balloons look remarkably harmless:
The great pandemic: A quick update
- First, the numbers: India added 67,549 new cases and 1,332 deaths on Wednesday.
- An exclusive Reuters report shows that scientists did not back the government’s decision to double the gap between Covishield doses. But government officials insist the move was unanimous. Other medical experts told The Telegraph that the decision was “arbitrary” and “lacked scientific basis.”
- New research shows a single dose of Covishield triggers a stronger immune response among those who have recovered from Covid. And therefore a single dose may suffice.
- New data shows that more pregnant women and new mothers were affected during the second wave compared to the first. There was a significant spike in both symptomatic cases and deaths.
- Anurag Behar—CEO of the Azim Premji Foundation—warns of a fresh set of pandemic waves in Mint.
- A new report points to the fact that the virus may have been circulating in the United States as early as December, 2019.
- Tinder has launched its vaccine advocacy campaign in India. Mint has more details.
Tanha, Kalita & Narwal are still in jail
Despite the High Court ruling granting them bail (explained here), the three activists have not been released. The Delhi Police claims it needs time to verify the permanent addresses of the accused—by dispatching teams via trains to the states where they reside. Narwal is from Rohtak in Haryana, Kalita is from Assam, and Tanha is from Jharkhand. Of course, everyone is calling this a delaying tactic. FYI: The police have already asked the Supreme Court to stay the bail order—claiming that the High Court conducted a “mini trial” in a bail matter and “watered down” provisions of the UAPA “which will have wide ramifications and will affect all the cases registered by the National Investigation Agency (NIA)” under the Act. The activists’ lawyers have now petitioned a Delhi court to order their immediate release.
Windows 11 is here!
An online leak has revealed the details of the soon-to-be-released OS—which includes a new user interface, start menu, and even a new startup sound (hear it here). And it looks very good! The Verge has all the details, and get a peek in the video below. (h/t founding member Ashwin Natarajan).
In other happy news: Ikea is now delivering furniture to Bangalore. The News Minute has more details.
A new study on self-harm
New research shows that early warning signs of future self-harm appear in children almost a decade before they start to hurt themselves. And there are two groups that are most at risk. Kids who have difficulty controlling their emotions at the age of five are at 30-50% more vulnerable as teenagers. But surprisingly, children who are more willing to take risks than their peers are also likely to develop self-harming behaviours—for reasons researchers don’t quite understand. The good news: the more we know, the earlier we can intervene to reduce such behaviour. (BBC News)
An epidemic of online sex abuse
A new Human Rights Watch report flags the effects of ‘molka’—i.e. the use of hidden cameras to take and share explicit images—on South Korean women. It is a deeply traumatic experience for survivors:
“Women and girls told us they avoided using public toilets and felt anxious about hidden cameras in public and even in their homes. An alarming number of survivors of digital sex crimes said they had considered suicide.”
The police dismiss such cases even though the effects are lifelong:
“‘Police take the issue lightly because there is no physical contact involved. They don’t realise how terrifying it can be.’ The sharing of covert photos and video online means the crime ‘never ends for the survivors,’ [a researcher] said. ‘It stays with them throughout their lives.’”
US bans import of dogs
The big spike in puppy adoptions during the pandemic also led to a rise in imported dogs—a lot of whom arrived with fake rabies vaccination certificates. As a result, the US has banned bringing in dogs from 113 countries including India. Why the swift move: Rabies has been eliminated in the US, and they don’t want it coming back. (Mint)
Malaysian sharks are unwell
Divers off the coast of Malaysia have spotted whitetip reef sharks with strange skin lesions and spots on their head. Scientists think it may be a fungal infection caused by (what else!) warming temperatures. Sadly, nothing can be done to save them:
“In the wild, nothing much can be done to overcome the problem...It is a natural phenomenon. If climate change triggered the disease due to temperature changes, then the weaker animals will succumb to the disease, and the healthy ones will survive. In the deeper oceans, the temperature changes may not be as severe. We will only know if there are reports of similar cases.”
See an image of the skin condition below:
A crazy college dean in Australia
Dianne Jolley—the dean of science at the University of Technology Sydney—recommended cancelling a Chinese medicine course, but the move was rejected by the board. So she came up with a really smart plan: to send threatening letters to herself from imaginary Asians:
“‘Chop our future we chop yours,’ read one of 19 threatening letters… One letter contained Prof Dianne Jolley’s underwear with the attached note stating ‘sorry for your loss’, while another included a photograph of her with a red line through it.”
(Ok, full disclosure: we included this item just for that underwear line.) Apparently, Jolley was looking for “emotional and physical” support to cancel the course. Instead, she faces 20 charges—which include causing financial disadvantage by deception after UTS spent more than $127,000 in security measures to protect Jolley. (The Guardian)
Rebuilding a rope bridge in Peru
The 500-year-old Q’eswachaka bridge collapsed in March 2021. The local Huinchiri community is now rebuilding the 30-metre bridge using ancient weaving techniques that have been honoured by UNESCO as part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Watch the heartwarming Guardian video report below:
In our gratitude jar…
We are very grateful for the support of our founding members Vrinda Uppal, Paroma P Roy, Uma Narayanan, Ramanand Mundkur, Gitika Mohta, Vivek Shenoy, Ruchika Chanana, Rajeev Peshawaria and Ben Merton. Your early assistance gave splainer a strong and secure foundation—which we continue to build upon!
