Protests swell in Myanmar

Tens of thousands of citizens took part in the largest protests since 2007 to express their anger at the recent military coup. The popular chant: "We don't want military dictatorship. We want democracy.” The military imposed an internet ban but it did little to quell the protests—and was eventually lifted. BBC News notes:

“People from all different backgrounds, not just students and activists, have joined the protests in Yangon… The atmosphere was charged and protesters were defiant. They are angry but also quietly afraid. They know that the military is capable of using violence to suppress dissent but they feel like they have no choice.”

A farmer protest ad in America

This ad aired on the local TV channel during the Super Bowl—the biggest sporting event in the US—in the city of Fresno, California:

The great pandemic: a quick update

• The second dose of the Covid vaccine triggers more severe side effects than the first. The reason: Your body has to produce B cells to generate antibodies when it is exposed to the virus—and that takes time. But when you get the second jab, “those cells are sitting around like a clone army and can immediately start producing a very big immune response, which is what is happening when people feel like they have been kicked in the teeth."
• A new study found that the Oxford vaccine offers "minimal protection" against getting a mild or moderate version of the South Africa variant—but “should still protect against severe disease.” Point to note: The so-called South Africa variant denotes a particular set of mutations—which have now been detected in other variants, including one in the UK. 
• Hugely promising stage 1 trials of a drug in Israel suggest it may cure patients with moderate to severe symptoms within five days! EXO-CD24 is delivered directly to the lungs—and doesn’t attack the virus but prevents the fatal overreaction of our immune system called ‘cytokine storm’.
• A good related read: Times of India explains why children may need a separate vaccine.

Twitter India lobbyist quits

The government insisted that Twitter block 100 accounts and 150 tweets in India. Twitter complied for a few hours—and then reversed the block, citing that the content constituted legitimate free speech. The government in turn demanded Twitter follow the law of the land—and threatened legal consequences. Now, Twitter’s public policy director Mahima Kaul has resigned from her role. Her job description: Kaul oversees Twitter's relationship with policymakers, elected officials, government agencies, and NGOs in India. In other words, she was the equivalent of Facebook’s Ankhi Das. The plot thickens and/or the game of chicken continues. (Reuters)

In related news: Surprising no one, researchers studying the firestorm over Rihanna’s tweet found “strong suggestion of collusive tweeting from the key Indian celebrities.” But more strikingly: “[W]e find that speaking on the issue, on all sides of the political spectrum, resulted in increased following for the respective Twitter account holders’, even when they were subject of high degree of trolling.” This pretty much explains why anyone says anything on Twitter. The study is here or you can read the summary in Scroll.

In sorta suspect news: The Print is on a roll when it comes to Rihanna. First, it put out a nasty editorial. Next, the publication rolled out two anti-Rihanna stories in quick succession over the weekend:

• According to the first report, her company Fenty Beauty is being looked at by a government agency for allegedly using mica extracted from mines in Jharkhand—where “child labourers work in dire conditions.” Apparently, this was triggered by an NGO that suddenly filed a complaint demanding “appropriate penal action against the company and its owners.” But there is no mention of investigating those who own the mines. Weird.
• The second story—based entirely on “sources in the security establishment”—claims that a Canada-based PR firm Skyrocket allegedly paid $2.5 million to Rihanna to tweet in support of the farmers’ protest. No, there is no evidence offered by said sources. It lays out a fairly elaborate theory that links the ‘Khalistani’ hand to both Rihanna and Greta Thunberg—but consists entirely of assertions and zero proof. 

Munawar Faruqui: A quick update

The comedian was finally granted bail by the Supreme Court on Friday—but was not released until Saturday night. The reason: Indore jail authorities insisted on waiting for a green light from the judge in UP who had issued a production warrant against him in a related case (our explainer here). This was absurd since the Court had issued a stay on that warrant as well. In the end, an unnamed Supreme Court justice had to make a phone call to get him out of jail. Faruqui, however, has since released a video expressing his faith in the justice system. Watch it here.

The problem with Zoombombing

The pandemic has brought with it a new kind of disease: intruders disrupting virtual meetings and harassing the participants (see: teachers in India). A new study found the most intuitive security measures—like password-protecting meetings, using waiting rooms, or insisting meeting links are not shared widely—do not work at all. The reason: 

“Our findings indicate that the vast majority of calls for zoombombing are not made by attackers stumbling upon meeting invitations or bruteforcing their meeting ID, but rather by insiders who have legitimate access to these meetings, particularly students in high school and college classes… We also find instances of insiders instructing attackers to adopt the names of legitimate participants in the class to avoid detection.”

Therefore, the only effective defense against zoombombing: creating unique join links for each participant. (Ars Technica)

Speaking of online conversations: The Chinese government may soon turn its sights on Clubhouse—the audio chat social networking platform that is very hot even in India right now. The invite-only app works solely on iOS devices. And Chinese users are eagerly using overseas Apple IDs and buying invitation codes to use it. And they are talking about the most dangerous topics—such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and human rights. Most experts think it’s just a matter of time before Clubhouse is banned in China. (South China Morning Post)

World’s fastest roller coaster is coming!

It’s called ‘Falcon's Flight’ and will be unveiled at the Six Flags Qiddiya in Saudi Arabia in 2023. The three-minute ride will travel across four kilometers of track—and "achieve unprecedented speeds of 250-plus km/hour.” Added thrill: diving over a vertical cliff into a 160-meter-deep valley. That’s a hard no from us. If you’re the kind of person who enjoys recreating near-death experiences, here’s a video that shows you what it will be like: