Pegasus project: The latest update
If you need more context to understand this story, be sure to check out our explainers here and here.
One: The Wire published a new set of stories revealing more names whose phone numbers were found in the global database of likely Pegasus targets. The big ones: Dalai Lama’s closest advisers and Anil Ambani—whose number was added in 2018 when there was political uproar over the deal to buy Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation (explained here). Also on the list: ex CBI chief Alok Varma whose name was added the moment he was sacked by the Modi government.
Two: New names emerging elsewhere in the world include Telegram founder Pavel Durov—and The Guardian suggests there is some evidence that he may have been of interest to the UAE. Also: Two key women belonging to the Dubai royal family. Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s estranged wife Hayaa and his daughter Princess Latifa—who was abducted off the coast of Goa when she tried to flee her father. We explained Dubai’s royal house of horrors here.
Three: An advocate has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the use of Pegasus in India. But he is a colourful man who often rushes to the Court the moment any big case makes the headlines. In 2018, the Supreme Court had imposed a cost of Rs 50,000 on him for filing a frivolous PIL against the then Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. Maybe more serious: A freelance journalist in Jharkhand—Rupesh Kumar Singh—also moved the Supreme Court, alleging breach of privacy after his number and that of two family members appeared in the global list.
Tokyo Olympics: Latest list of woes
The show director of the opening ceremony has been dismissed for a joke he made about the Holocaust back in the 1990s. This is after a composer quit the organisers’ team after it emerged he had bullied classmates with disabilities at school. Meanwhile, Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) boss and powerful committee official has been slammed for hectoring a leading woman politician like she is a child—at a press conference, no less:
China vs WHO: Battle over lab leaks
- Earlier this year, a preliminary report released by WHO’s team of independent investigators seemed to brush aside the theory that the coronavirus may have originated from a lab.
- But last week, the organisation announced a second phase of the investigation which would include “audits of relevant laboratories and research institutions operating in the area of the initial human cases identified in December 2019”—i.e. the team wants to take a second look at the Wuhan lab.
- Then, at a closed door meeting with member states, WHO’s director general, Tedros Ghebreyesus said he expected China “to support this next phase of the scientific process by sharing all relevant data in a spirit of transparency.”
- Well, China finally responded yesterday, and with great indignation. Its vice-minister of health held a press conference to slam the proposal as showing “disrespect for common sense and arrogance towards science.” And he bluntly declared: “We won’t follow such a plan.”
- The Guardian has more details.
A groundbreaking heart transplant
Surgeons at the Duke University Hospital transplanted a total artificial heart (TAH) into a 39-year-old man who experienced sudden heart failure. Unlike other artificial hearts, this one mimics and works like the real kind—with two ventricular chambers and four biological valves. And it allows the recipient to lead a near-normal life—though he will have to carry around almost a four kg bag that consists of a controller and two chargeable battery packs that work for approximately four hours at a time. (Interesting Engineering)
UAE is a rain-maker!
Imagine a monsoon-like downpour in the middle of a desert—at the height of a summer heatwave which has seen temperatures regularly surpass 48.9°C! Emirati meteorologists achieved just that using drone technology to shoot an electrical charge into clouds. This is part of a bigger project to raise the water table in a country that receives just four inches of rain each year. The Independent has more on the rains, while Gulf News explains the tech in painstaking detail. Also: the weather looked like this:
Three tech things
One: Clubhouse is no longer invite-only. It has thrown open its doors to the aam janta. The ten million people currently on the waitlist will be slowly added as users. The reason for this big change: Twitter Spaces can be accessed by anyone. So there’s no joy in being exclusive when folks can just wander on to your rival. (The Verge)
Two: Don’t want to talk to Alexa? Say hello to Ziggy—the “masculine-sounding wake word” and voice rolled out by Amazon. Being suitably woke (or noncommittal), “Amazon isn’t specifically associating ‘Alexa’ with the feminine-sounding voice and ‘Ziggy’ with the new masculine-sounding option; users can use either of the voice options with any of the wake words.” In other words, Alexa can very well sound like this if you so choose:
Three: Feeling bored on all those Zoom calls? Don’t worry, the company has come up with a bright idea: games that you can play with your friends and coworkers directly in the video conferencing app. Examples: Live Game Night Poker, Kahoot and Heads Up. Cnet has more details if you want to get started.
An eBay tale of horrors
A couple in the United States have accused eBay and its employees of conspiring to “intimidate, threaten to kill, torture, terrorize, stalk and silence them.” The reason for this alleged persecution: They run an ecommerce newsletter that is highly critical of the company. No, this isn’t a joke. Federal prosecutors have charged at least seven people, and five have pleaded guilty:
“Federal prosecutors have said the Steiners were subjected in the summer of 2019 to anonymous email and Twitter threats; covert surveillance; deliveries to their home including live cockroaches, a bloody Halloween pig mask and a funeral wreath; and pornography sent in their names to neighbors.”
And eBay’s already apologised: “The misconduct of these former employees was wrong, and we will do what is fair and appropriate to try to address what the Steiners went through. We are very sorry for what they endured.” (Reuters)
Content warning: The item below includes an NSFW image. Use our trusty doggie to skip ahead if you want to spare yourself the sight of sex toys.
Two things to behold
One: Ola unveiled the ten colours of its new e-scooter—which is so wildly popular that it gathered 100,000 bookings in less than a day. We don't know how good the scootie actually will be, but it sure is pretty! (Mint)
Two: This was always going to happen—thanks to all the jokes about billionaires and the size and shape of their, um, rockets. An adult entertainment company has launched a line of dildos called ‘Billionaire Flesh Rocket Series’—which includes Blue Orgasm (Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin), Galacdick (Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic VSS Unity), and Space Sex (Elon Musk’s SpaceX). No, we have no comment, but AV Club thinks Branson’s version resembles “a haunted, eyeless dolphin.”