Haiti: First earthquake, now a storm
Over the weekend, the country was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. At least 1,419 people have died, and many are still missing:
“[H]eavy damage has been reported in the cities of Jérémie and Les Cayes, an area that is less densely populated but also more remote. Thousands of homes and a multistory hotel collapsed, and some roads and bridges were impassable, complicating rescue and aid efforts.”
The quake destroyed 13,694 homes and damaged another 13,785. The country is still reeling from the assassination of its president Jovenel Moïse last month (explained here). And its woes may not be over. A tropical storm is approaching Haiti and threatens to unleash flash flooding and mudslides in the areas already devastated by the quake. CNN has more on the new threat. See the devastation in the video below:
India wins at Lords
The boys in blue pulled off an incredible victory—beating England by 151 runs in the second test match. The big heroes: Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah who gave us precious runs as tail-enders and then put in a magnificent bowling performance for the win. The Hindu has more details. Indian Express explains the three mistakes that Joe Root made.
In other sports-related news: Roger Federer is pulling out of the US Open to undergo yet another knee surgery—his third since 2020. In 2021, he managed to play the French Open and Wimbledon—where he lost. And he pulled out of the Olympics. Why this matters: This may spell the end of the line for the 40-year-old tennis legend. Federer himself isn’t clear on when he can return:
“They told me for the medium- to long-term to feel better I will need surgery. So I decided to do it. I’ll be on crutches for many weeks, and then also out of the game for many months. It’s going to be difficult of course in some ways, but I know it’s the right thing to do.”
CNN has more. Watch him below:
A big win for digital news media
The Bombay High Court stayed two key clauses of the new rules for online news instituted by the government. These clauses required digital media outlets to create an elaborate grievance system to address citizen complaints about their content. They were required to appoint three officers to address such issues. If not satisfactorily resolved, these would be escalated to a self-regulating body—and then to a government committee. And it would allow these bodies to block access to news content or even a site—based on a complaint. News media organisations claim that the real intent is to discourage them from publishing stories that may displease the government. The court agreed, saying these requirements would “bring about a chilling effect” on the freedom of expression. The Wire’s editor Siddharth Varadarajan called it “a shot in the arm for press freedom." LiveLaw has more on the ruling. Our explainer has more on the new rules.
The Meesho scam: The latest update
Meesho has been under fire for sending packages to people who never ordered them. The aim: to scam the person into paying for the cash-on-delivery orders. Now, a Bangalore law firm has served a legal notice to the company and its delivery partner Shadowfax. It has also asked Google to take down Meesho’s app for allowing such fraudulent practices. The reason the law firm is getting involved: one of its employees fell for the ghost order scam. Meesho says:
“As soon as Meesho received the legal notice, we immediately initiated both our customer and legal teams. Our customer team has already initiated the refund and the legal team is in the process of responding to the legal notice. We are very cognisant of the situation and will take appropriate actions.”
Speaking of lawsuits: Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is suing NASA for not granting it a key contract. Three companies were vying for the job of safely landing NASA astronauts on the surface of the moon—as part of its big plans for two lunar landings, one manned and one unmanned. NASA gave the contract to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, making Bezos very, very unhappy. And the lawsuit challenges “NASA’s unlawful and improper evaluation of proposals.” The challenge could trigger another pause to SpaceX’s contract and a new lengthy delay to NASA’s race to land astronauts on the Moon by 2024. (The Verge)
Speaking of scams: Fraudsters are shaking down authors on GoodReads—threatening their books with one-star ratings if they don’t pay a ransom. Time magazine explains why ‘review bombing’ is just one of the many problems with the platform.
Two big dino discoveries
A new study announced the discovery of two new species in China—named Silutitan sinensis (or “silu” which is Mandarin for “Silk Road”) and Hamititan xinjiangensis. They lived 120-130 millions years ago and were gargantuan herbivores—with the Silutitan estimated to be over 20 meters long, while the Hamititan was 17 meters. That makes them almost as large as blue whales. See them below. (CNN)
Three strange things
One: A state in Nigeria has ordered store owners to remove the heads of their mannequins because they violate Islamic laws. The sharia police declared: “Islam frowns on idolatry…With the head on it looks like a human being.” Also: A mannequin has to be covered at all times because to show “the shape of the breast, the shape of the bottom, is contrary to the teachings of Sharia.” Shop owners are naturally unhappy since headless mannequins are hardly good advertisement for their wares. (BBC News)
Two: The Russian state news agency TASS has accused a US astronaut of drilling a hole in a Russian Soyuz module docked at the International Space Station. The hole was discovered back in 2018—and there was great speculation as to its cause. Now, the Russians insist it was 45-year-old astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor—who they allege deliberately sabotaged the ISS in hopes of coming back to Earth early. The reason: She developed a clot in her jugular vein—which created a “psychological crisis.” And she hoped the hole would force the astronauts to be sent back home. Of course, NASA has strongly denied all such allegations. Times UK is behind a paywall. You can read the rest of the story over at Daily Mail.
Three: Pizza Hut in Taiwan has rolled out a new offering with some, er, unusual toppings: preserved eggs, pig's blood cake, and cilantro. The company insists that “once melted mozzarella cheese ties them together, the explosion in your mouth is better than you had imagined.” This concoction was dreamed up by data crunchers who “listened” to what foods people were talking about online. Sounds unappetising? Some netizens thought so, but it has turned out to be Pizza Hut’s bestselling pizza to date—with one bought every eight seconds. Bloomberg News has more. This is what it looks like: