Trump’s unhinged phone call
The Washington Post has accessed a recording of a bizarre phone call between the soon to be ex-President and Brad Raffensperger—the Republican in charge of counting the votes in the state of Georgia. Trump is heard bullying Raffensperger, saying: “So look. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state.” Trump lost Georgia by 11,779 votes.
Why this matters: This is just a preview of the bigger tamasha that will unfold this week when Congress certifies Joe Biden’s victory—at which time a small group of Republican members will challenge the result. Is any of this legal? No. Do any of these politicians care? No.
The great pandemic: A quick update
- On Saturday, the US recorded 277,000 new cases in a single day and the United Kingdom hit a new high of 57,000. The US has uncovered at least three cases of the new, more infectious strain of the virus (explainer here).
- Speaking of the new strain, a recent study shows that it is 'hugely' more transmissible than the previous versions—and that the differences between them is “quite extreme.” What’s really scary: The November lockdown did not make a dent in the spread of infection, which tripled during the same period. BBC News has more. Also a must read: The Atlantic on why we shouldn’t take any comfort from the fact that this new strain does not cause more serious symptoms.
- The UK government is therefore getting more creative with its vaccination plan. Strategy #1: Use all available doses to deliver at least one dose of the two-jab Covid vaccine to as many people as possible—and then delay the second jab to up to 12 weeks. The Guardian has more on the debate over this move.
- Strategy #2 is even more controversial. New guidance allows doctors to ‘mix and match’ different vaccines (Oxford, Moderna, Pfizer etc) if needed: “If a second dose of the vaccine a patient originally received isn’t available, or if the manufacturer of the first shot isn’t known, another vaccine may be substituted.”
- Also being creative: US authorities who are considering giving folks two half-doses of the Moderna vaccine.
- Israel has already inoculated one million citizens—at the rate of 11.5 doses per 100 people, which is the highest in the world. However, it is refusing to vaccinate Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
- A good related read: Indian Express explains why Indian women have a higher Case Fatality Ratio—i.e. percentage of cases that lead to death—than men, unlike the rest of the world.
Jack Ma has vanished
The Alibaba founder has not been seen in public for two months—raising questions and confusion. The most recent cause for concern: He was a no-show at the final episode of his own TV talent show ‘Africa’s Business Heroes’. And his photo has been removed from its website. An Alibaba official claims it’s because of a “scheduling conflict,” but many suspect this is the fallout of his clash with the Chinese government. Ma had criticised Chinese banking regulators—calling them an “old people’s club”—in a controversial speech in October. Soon after, Beijing stepped in to block the highly anticipated IPO of his company Ant Group—and launched an anti-monopoly investigation into Alibaba in December. Bloomberg News reports on why Ma’s fall from grace had been years in the making. (Yahoo News or Financial Times)
Comedy is a criminal offense in Indore
Stand-up comic Munawar Faruqui and four others were arrested on Friday at a show in the city. The reason: The son of a BJP MLA accused them of being offensive:
“When I heard about Munawar’s show, I bought a ticket and went to see it. As expected, he was insulting Hindu deities and also mocked Home Minister Amit Shah by dragging his name with Godhra riots.”
Faruqui and others were roughed up and then arrested. Yet, the video clip of the performance shows that Faruqui did not make any of these alleged comments. The local inspector agrees, but Faruqui is still in jail—now because he’s been named as the organiser of the show. The clip below offers a glimpse of the on-stage harassment:
RAW has all sorts of problems
Wikileaks has released a string of emails that make clear that the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) treats all Muslims as hostile to Indian interests. The spy agency was looking to buy surveillance software from an Italian company via an Indian consultancy agency. When it came to demonstrating the software’s capabilities, the agency CEO Vikas Sharma had specific instructions:
“[Y]our demonstration can be provided by your people only in our office premises. No business cards can be exchanged. Please ensure that no Muslims are part of the demonstration team.”
Equally as interesting:
"The emails also revealed concealed information that there could be no paper trail showing RAW buying equipment from abroad. 'The system has to be provided under our name since the agency cannot buy it from a foreign agency,' [Sharma] wrote."
Kamal Haasan reveals his inner sexist
The founder of Food Bank India, Sneha Mohandoss tweeted a clip of her practicing with nunchucks, along with the message: “Feeling Confident in your Ability to Protect yourself Empowers you to live with less fear & more FREEDOM #Free_From_DomesticViolence #Learn_SelfDefence”
Kamal Haasan’s unsolicited and absurd response:
“Dignity and equipoise are important to your protection and empowerment. With the above qualities, your self-defence can become non-violent. When non-violence meets violence, there is no combat; clearly the criminal is exposed. Your confidence can do more damage than pepper spray.”
The NewsMinute has more on the public spanking that followed.
Fuss over Sourav Ganguly’s heart attack
The former India captain suffered a mild heart attack, and is recovering well. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except for the political scrum that followed. Everyone from CM Mamta Banerjee to the Bengal Governor raced to the hospital. Home Minister Amit Shah offered an air ambulance to airlift him to Delhi if needed. Even Modi-ji called to check on Dada’s health. The real reason for all this fuss: State elections are drawing near, and a Ganguly on the party ticket would be a major coup. The Telegraph has more on the silliness.
Wonder Woman 2 fails to impress
The first installment of the franchise was a global blockbuster, earning $821 million worldwide. But its sequel ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ has proved to be a bit of a dud— making only $118.5 million so far. The cost of making the film: $200 million. One reason is the pandemic, and the fact that HBO Max also released the movie on its streaming platform in the US. But also: “waning interest from fans.” That said, plans for a third installment have already been announced. (Variety)
Vagina wars in Brazil
A 33-metre bright red, concrete vagina called Diva has sparked a furious confrontation between rightwing supporters of President Jair Bolsanaro and the artwork’s leftwing admirers. Artist Juliana Notari wrote in a Facebook post:
“In ‘Diva’, I use art to dialogue with issues that refer to gender issues from a female perspective combined with a cosmopocentric and anthropocentric western society. Currently these issues have become increasingly urgent. After all, it is by changing perspective of our relationship between humans and humans and nonhuman, that will allow us to live longer on that planet and in a less unequal and catastrophic society.”
None of that has gone down well with her detractors who have responded with even more bile. You can judge for yourself (more photos here).
