Researched and collated by: Vagda Galhotra & Sara Varghese

A total abortion ban in Oklahoma

The state passed a law that bans any abortion after fertilisation—defined as “the fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum.” The thinnest of silver linings: 

“Though the bill considers a pregnancy to begin at fertilisation, and not implantation, the bill does not restrict the use of forms of contraception that prevent a fertilised egg from implanting in a uterus.”

And it does not ban the use of morning-after pills to prevent pregnancies. Abortion rights groups plan to challenge the law. But the outcome will depend on the Supreme Court’s ruling on the constitutional right to abortion in a Mississippi case—which will be released late June. (explained here). (CNN)

Musk gets serious about Twitter

After declaring that the deal to buy the company was “on hold,” Elon Musk is charging ahead with renewed enthusiasm. A new regulatory filing reveals that he plans to put in $33.5 billion—a jump of $6.25 billion from his previously announced commitment. And he is in talks with Twitter founder Jack Dorsey and others to help finance, or roll their shares over, to complete the deal. The result: Twitter shares jumped by 5.1%—while Tesla went marginally down by 1%. Speaking of Dorsey, he just quit the Twitter board—amid accusations of “backstabbing” its members by cosying up to Musk. FYI: We explained the details of the acquisition here. (CNBC)

In other Twitter-related news: The company has been fined $150 million by US authorities for collecting users’ email addresses and phone numbers for security purposes—and then using the data to target them with adverts. There’s absolutely nothing surprising about any of this—other than the measly size of the fine. (The Guardian)

India has an obesity problem

The latest National Family Health Survey shows that nearly 23% men and 24% women have a BMI of 25 or more—which is a 4% jump from 2016. Also: 3.4% of children under the age of five are overweight. 

Any BMI higher than 25 is considered “obese”—but experts think that threshold should be at least two points lower for South Asian countries. The reason: “we are prone to ‘central obesity’, which means that we easily put on belly fat, and that’s more unhealthy than weight anywhere else on the body.” And if we take 23 as the cut-off point, half the urban population of India is likely overweight. BBC News has more details. A related read: Jen Thomas in Mint looks at why BMI is a flawed measure of health. 

Sexual assault charges against Spacey

British authorities are planning to charge Kevin Spacey with four counts of sexual assault against three men. The alleged incidents took place between March 2005 and August 2008. Spacey is currently facing a civil lawsuit filed by actor Anthony Rapp who has also accused him of assault. (Associated Press)

Navjot Singh Sidhu’s spa diet

The Punjab Congressman has been sentenced to a year in jail for assault. During a road rage incident, he beat an elderly man who later died. But Sidhu-sahib will be served a specially curated menu. Apparently, he suffers from embolism which requires a very specific diet. Here’s a taste of what it looks like:

“Mr Sidhu’s day starts with rosemary tea, white petha juice or coconut water. For breakfast, he is to be given a cup of lactose-free milk; one tablespoon of flax, sunflower, melon or chia seeds; five or six almonds, one walnut, and two pecan nuts.”

NDTV reports on the menu in great detail. Reminder: Eighty four-year old Stan Swamy died in jail because authorities refused to grant him bail despite a heart condition and Parkinson’s disease. Swamy had not even been convicted of a crime.

Delhi is short on beer

The extended heatwave brought an early summer—and is creating all sorts of unforeseen problems. Rising temperatures also spiked the demand for beer—which jumped by 30% in Delhi. But supply is limited because “brewers didn’t make significant capital investment due to the pandemic. There is a brewing timeline that cannot be reduced.” Also a problem: Beer distilleries are in other states like Rajasthan, Haryana etc—which have been ordered to first serve local beer-drinkers before shipping the booze outside the state. (Times of India)

Found: The lost cities of Amazon

The dense Amazonian jungles are often difficult to penetrate and explore. So archaeologists used light-based remote sensing technology (lidar)—located in a helicopter some 650 feet up—to digitally deforest the canopy. What they found: the ancient ruins of a vast network of cities—with an unprecedented array of elaborate and intricate structures “unlike any previously discovered” in the region.

Why this is notable: It shows that the rainforests were “actually heavily populated, and in places quite urbanised, for many centuries before recorded history of the region began”—contrary to popular belief:

“It’s a myth that was created by Europeans who really spoke of a jungle, and vast regions untouched by humans. So a lot of people didn’t want to see that there were archaeological sites here that merit exploration.”

The Independent and Smithsonian have more details—or you can read the original study in Nature. See one of the 3-D images below. 

A novel approach to save species

The Chester Zoo in the UK has partnered with a tissue bank to cryogenically freeze genetic material of endangered animals that die at the zoo:

“Small tissue samples from ovaries, testicles and even jaguar ears have been taken from animals that have passed away at the zoo and cryogenically frozen at temperatures of -320.8 Fahrenheit using liquid nitrogen for potential future use.”

Point to note: While cryopreservation offers hope of saving some animals, building a Noah’s ark doesn’t address the far greater threat of mass extinction due to climate change. (Futurism)

Live here for work-life balance

A new study ranks Oslo as #1 for work-life balance among a list of 100 cities. The factors it considered include “work intensity and city livability as well as quality health care, affordable cost of living, and ample time off.” Others that scored in the top five: Bern, Helsinki, Zurich and Copenhagen, in that order. Asian cities are home to the most overworked: the worst is Dubai—followed by Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore. (Bloomberg News via NDTV)

Two things to see

One: Athletes who practice in Delhi’s Thyagraj Stadium have a problem. His name is Principal Secretary Sanjeev Khirwar—who kicks everyone out by 7 pm so he can walk his dog. Khirwar, of course, strenuously denies this—but this photo of him with the missus and the pooch in an empty stadium at 7:30 pm speaks volumes. The fallout: CM Kejriwal directed all government sports facilities to remain open till 10 pm for practice. The Home Ministry has transferred Khirwar to Ladakh, and his wife—and fellow IAS officer—to Arunachal Pradesh. Ouch! (Indian Express)

Two: The UN Postal Administration has issued six new stamps and three souvenir sheets to commemorate three recent missions to Mars: the United Arab Emirates’ Hope Probe; NASA’s Perseverance rover; and Tianwen-1. The stamps are available to purchase here. Gizmodo has a nice gallery of all the stamps.