Researched and collated by: Vagda Galhotra & Sheya Kurian

Johnny Depp scores a big win

The bitter court battle between Depp and Amber Heard ended in a victory for the actor—who had sued his ex-wife for defamation. The court awarded him $15 million in damages—less than the $50 million he’d asked for. But it was definitely far more than the $2 million Heard got for her countersuit. Depp later said “the jury gave me my life back,” while Heard declared: “I'm heartbroken that the mountain of evidence still was not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence, and sway of my ex-husband.” CNN has more details. We did a Big Story on the trial—which offers more context. 

Kashmiri Pandits flee the Valley

A series of targeted killings have sparked panic among the community—and a number of them have fled to Jammu. This despite the government’s best efforts to stop them—which included confining many to their transit colonies and deploying police and paramilitary forces to block their exit. Government Pandit employees have been protesting the government’s failure to ensure their security—threatening a “mass migration” if they are not given safer postings. (The Hindu)

Yet another Chinese exit

ByteDance has sold its entire stake in VerSe Innovation—which operates news aggregator Dailyhunt. The purchasers: Canadian investors who were part of the company’s latest $805 million fundraising round. This is becoming a pattern as relations between India and China remain tense—and New Delhi has been tightening restrictions on Chinese investors. Most recently, Alibaba’s Jack Ma exited Paytm Mall for $5.4 million (Rs 42 crore). OTOH, Tencent stays invested in several Indian startups including Cars24, Swiggy and ShareChat. (Mint)

The Gandhis get ED summons

The Enforcement Directorate has called Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in for questioning in a case involving the National Herald newspaper. They are charged with money laundering—for illegally acquiring the paper and, more importantly, its real estate assets worth Rs 2,000 crore for a pittance: Rs 50 lakh. Outlook has a very good explainer that lays out the convoluted details. What’s notable: The case had been closed by the ED back in 2015.

India’s first K pop star

Shreya Lenka—an 18-year-old from Odisha—has been chosen as the fifth member of the Korean girl band Blackswan. After the group’s oldest member, Hyeme quit, the band held global auditions—which kicked off in May 2021. Lenka and Brazilian singer Gabriela Dalcin made the final cut. South China Morning Post has a nice profile of Lenka. Watch her dance moves below. (Indian Express)

Female footballers have eating disorders

A UK study shows that top athletes in the sport have a variety of mental health issues: 36% of them display symptoms of an eating disorder—while 11% have moderate to severe anxiety and another 11% struggle with moderate to severe depression. What’s notable is that the percentage for eating-related issues is higher than male football players and the general population:

“‘Our findings reported that 35% of footballers were currently trying to lose weight and 45% reported attempting to lose weight in the previous four weeks,’ said Perry. ‘Importantly, this data was collected during the competitive season. Research is therefore warranted as to how and why players are trying to lose weight during the season.’”

Also this: struggles around eating appear to be “normalised” in their sporting environment. (The Guardian)

The genetic luck of some smokers

A new study has finally figured out why some lifelong smokers never develop lung cancer. The reason: DNA-repair genes that prevent lung cells from mutating into tumours:

“[What’s] most interesting is that after around 23 years of smoking a pack a day, the scientists found that the risk and mutation rate of those cells plateaus drastically. As such, some lifelong smokers never get lung cancer because of how drastically the mutation rates change. That’s because their DNA is able to repair the body before the cell mutations develop into tumours.”

These genes can be inherited or acquired—but we still don’t know why some people have them while others do not. Point to remember: Smoking is still terrible for your health—and can cause all sorts of diseases including emphysema. (BGR)

Say hello to the ‘biggest plant on Earth’ 

Scientists have discovered a seagrass roughly three times the size of Manhattan—off the coast of Australia. It grew from “a single, colonising seed” over the course of at least 4,500 years—and is sprawled across an area of 200 sq km. The species—a Posidonia australis, also known as fibre-ball weed or ribbon weed—generally grows like a lawn at a rate of up to 35cm (13.7in) a year. (BBC News)

Two things to see

One: England is pulling out all the stops for the Platinum Jubilee celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Example: projecting portraits of the maharani on Stonehenge. (CNN)

Two: The resident white lion at the Guangzhou Zoo in China is breaking the internet with his mane power bangs. No, he’s not been specially styled by his keepers—who blame the fashion-forward look on humidity. We feel you, man! (Newsweek)