The great pandemic: a quick update
- First the numbers: India reported 285,000 new cases on January 26. The good news: The states who account for most of these cases say 95% of their hospital beds are unoccupied.
- A small government study shows that an Omicron infection may protect against a reinfection from the Delta variant.
- Scientists are tracking a new version of Omicron—now known as BA.2. It has been detected in India, Denmark and Britain—but virologists do not seem to be worried. Washington Post has more.
- According to a UK study, 65% of those who tested positive for Omicron had been previously infected with Covid—which indicates a high percentage of reinfections.
Russian invasion of Ukraine: The latest update
There are growing fears in Europe that Russia will invade this former Soviet republic—in an attempt to assert its control of its neighbouring countries. If you need more background, check out our previous explainer. Here’s what’s happened now:
- US President Joe Biden has threatened to place direct sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin—who is suspected of having a secret stash of enormous wealth.
- While NATO has placed its forces on alert, there are signs that Germany may be waffling. It has refused to greenlight arms exports to Ukraine and been vague about supporting severe economic sanctions against Russia—including shutting down the Russian oil pipeline to Europe. New York Times has more on Germany’s hesitation. The Guardian looks at rifts within NATO.
- Meanwhile, Ukraine is confusing everyone by playing down the Russian threat—even accusing its Western allies of crying wolf. Likely reasons: Ukraine has to “be deft in crafting a message that keeps Western aid flowing, does not provoke Russia and reassures the Ukrainian people”—so they don’t panic and play into Moscow’s hands.
- Oil is the biggest worry for Europe since Russia is its largest supplier. It will be hard to get through the winter if Moscow turns off the tap. Qatar has indicated its willingness to fill the gap if that happens.
- As for India, we have yet to issue an official statement because we don’t want to rock our close relationship with Moscow. Also this: “Almost 60% of India’s military supplies are Russian-manufactured, a significant factor when Indian and Chinese troops continue to be in a stand-off on the eastern border.” Indian Express has more.
A bloody siege in Syria
Islamic State militants stormed one of the country’s largest prisons—and held its 3,000 inmates hostage. These included hundreds of foreign and Syrian children as young as 12—who have been held in these overcrowded, makeshift prisons alongside extremists. These are kids who were taken to Syria by their parents when they joined ISIS. While the number of casualties is unknown, many of them are now feared dead as the Kurdish-led militia regained control of the prison. The Independent has more on the plight of these children, while New York Times has more on the siege.
A coup in Burkina Faso
On Monday, the army ousted and detained President Roch Kaboré—marking the fourth coup in West Africa in the last 17 months. The military mutiny reflects public fury over rising Islamist violence that has displaced 1.4 million people, killed 2,000 and destabilized two-thirds of the country. What’s interesting: The coup may also mark a big victory for Russia—which seems to be very popular with the new regime, unlike Burkina Faso’s traditional ally, France. Why this matters: Russian presence is growing in Africa—where it is taking advantage of fears of Islamic extremism:
“Russian intervention in Africa often focuses on resource-rich countries in dire need of military help where Western influence is waning or absent... Russian help comes in the form of military advisers, weapons or mercenaries, paid for with cash or mining concessions for gold, diamonds and other resources.”
BBC News has a good explainer on the coup, while New York Times has more on Russia’s ascendance.
SpaceX rocket to crash the moon
Launched in 2015, the rocket has been following a “chaotic orbit” around Earth—and is now on a collision course with the moon. This four metric tonnes of “space junk” will intersect with the moon at a velocity of about 2.58km/s in a few weeks. Don’t worry. The moon will be A-okay despite the rude intrusion. (The Guardian)
Flying closer to Earth: Planet-destroying planes. Greenpeace estimates that nearly 100,000 flights in Europe are running despite being nearly empty. Airlines are forced to fly these “deserted, unnecessary or unprofitable flights” to preserve their landing and takeoff slots under aviation rules. The result: 2.1 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions—which is what 1.4 million petrol or diesel cars emit in a year.
Tim Cook has a crazy stalker
The Apple CEO has been granted a restraining order against a 45-year old woman who insists they are married and that Cook is the father of her twin children. She has emailed Cook 200 times with messages that are “threatening and highly disturbing”—including one that said that Cook would be “suicided in his condo.” Whoa! (NBC News)
Also going to court: Attorneys general from DC, Texas, Washington and Indiana who are suing Google. The reason: Contrary to its claims about user privacy, it is continually extracting location data:
“The complaints also allege the company has deployed ‘dark patterns,’ or design tricks that can subtly influence users’ decisions in ways that are advantageous for a business. The lawsuits say Google has designed its products to repeatedly nudge or pressure people to provide more and more location data, inadvertently or out of frustration.’”
Indian Express has a detailed explainer on the case.
Celebs faring far better: Shilpa Shetty, who has finally been cleared of all charges in an absurd case of obscenity—which dates back to a public event in 2007 when actor Richard Gere kissed Shetty on her cheek. Yup, it took 15 years for common sense to prevail. (BBC News)
SAT is going digital
The undergraduate entrance test for US colleges will no longer require paper or pencils—at least in America. Starting next year, the test will be administered online, though students will have to go to exam centres to take it. Why the change: The change makes the test easier to administer, and “schools will have more options for when, where, and how often they administer the SAT.” The bigger reason for the change: The percentage of colleges that no longer require the SAT is now at 80% as compared to 45% before the pandemic. (Axios)
Two studies about animals… sorta
One: New research found that diners are 25% more likely to pick a vegetarian dish off a menu if it carried messages like:
“Each of us can make a positive difference for the planet. Swapping just one meat dish for a plant-based one saves greenhouse gas emissions that are equivalent to the energy used to charge your phone for two years. Your small change can make a big difference.”
Consumer experts also say that when dishes are called vegan it “really turns off mainstream audiences. It comes across as preachy, righteous, aggressive.” In other words, messaging fails if it’s read as recommending being a vegetarian or vegan. It should instead be aimed at flexitarians—who can opt to eat less meat. See, we did get to the animal bit eventually:) Also, why this matters: the food industry accounts for more than a third of the world’s total annual global warming emissions. (The Guardian)
Two: Scientists have figured out why hippos make loud “wheeze honks.” The reason: It helps them differentiate between friend and foe: “In their call, there is information about the identity of the individual—so they have 'voices'—and they are able to recognise each other by their voices.” (BBC News)
Four things to see
One: Here’s a cheeky ad that unites the two women in actor Ashton Kutcher’s life: present wife Mila Kunis with his ex Demi Moore. Yes, they do have a “lot in common.” (People)
Two: A ‘lavender marriage’ is when two queer people marry each other. It is the subject of an upcoming Bollywood film ‘Badhaai Do’—starring Bhumi Pednekar and RajKummar Rao. Some think it's regressive while others do not.
Three: Five-year-old Goldie—a porcupine pufferfish—was losing weight because her teeth grew so long she couldn’t eat properly. So she did what any sensible fish would do: go to the dentist. The Guardian has this sweet story, and you can see Goldie’s perfected smile below.
Four: Top seeded Daniil Medvedev beat Felix Auger-Aliassme to reach the Australian Open semi-finals—after being two sets down in this scorcher of a match. See an awesome sample of the hard-fought play below. (Hindustan Times)
