Russia vs Ukraine: The latest update

• Satellite images show that the Russian military is on the move (also, a clip here). US intelligence officials claim that 40-50% of more than 190,000 troops on the borders have moved out of staging and into combat formation.
• OTOH, according to French President Macron, Presidents Biden and Putin have agreed in “principle” to a summit—if Russia does not invade Ukraine.
• At the security conference held in Munich—and attended by US and its allies—Ukrainian President Zelensky slammed them for doing too little—despite the big talk. His demand: Lay out a clear list of severe economic sanctions that Russia will face if it chooses to invade—adding “[if] you can't even disclose what will happen to whom if the war starts ... I doubt it will be triggered after it happens."
• A good related read: Politico on why the US and European countries can’t agree on how to hurt Putin. Watch an agitated Zelensky speaking about the sanctions here.
• Seeming to confirm predictions of an invasion: Belarus announced that the 30,000 Russian troops—who were expected to disperse after the joint drills on Sunday—will remain “indefinitely” due to the increased threat of a Ukrainian attack.
• Also raising temperatures: President Putin’s decision to oversee a series of strategic nuclear exercises involving the launch of hypersonic ballistic missiles. The message: “It was a carefully timed reminder that, as Russian television recently told viewers, the country can turn American cities ‘into radioactive ash.’”
• India has told all its citizens—including students and diplomats—to leave Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia’s BFF China: will deliver 25 J-10C fighter jets to Pakistan within weeks—to counter the 36 Rafales recently bought by India from France. Why this matters: 

“Beijing’s first export of the advanced jets marks a big step-up in its decades-old arms relationship with Islamabad and entails providing its ally with some of the latest equipment that China’s own armed forces are using.”

China will also give Pakistan top-of-the-line warships and stealth submarines: “They want Pakistan to have naval bases ready that China could also use, and to be able to protect them.” Why we should be worried: The face-off on land with China is draining our resources—making it more challenging to upgrade our navy. (Financial Times)

Low turnouts in Punjab

Only 65.32% of eligible voters turned out to vote yesterday—compared to 77.4% in 2017. That’s a drop of 12%. The lowest turnouts were in areas dominated by the Aam Aadmi Party in the previous election. But Chief Minister Channi’s constituencies saw numbers as high as 71.3%. Some experts attribute the tepid turnout to the “general disillusionment of [the] ordinary voter.” (The Hindu)

The hijab ban: The latest update

Fifteen female Muslim students have been booked in Karnataka for staging protests outside their college. The hijab-wearing students were demanding to be allowed on campus with their head scarves. Elsewhere in the state, 58 students who refused to remove their hijab and staged a demonstration against their college were suspended. (The Wire)

The Queen has Covid

The 95-year old finally became a pandemic statistic—but only has mild, cold-like symptoms. She likely caught it from her son Charles who tested positive last week. The poor Rani-ma, her kids are always giving her one kind of grief or another. (BBC News)

Brad sues Angelina over wine 

The Jolie-Pitt breakup gets uglier with each passing year. Brad Pitt is suing ex-wife Angelina Jolie because she sold her stake in Chateau Miraval—the French winery and estate that makes a highly successful line of Rosés. Pitt claims that Jolie went behind his back to sell out to a vodka subsidiary of the Stoli group. He is asking the courts to undo the sale—and demanding damages. (LA Times)

Speaking of French things: Paris will ban all traffic in its city centre by 2024—allowing only public transit vehicles, zone residents, hotel guests and people with disabilities. It is following the cue of Madrid which has already imposed a similar ban—and Brussels in turn announced within hours that it will follow Paris’ suit. (Bloomberg)

Speaking of celebrity drama: The artist formerly known as Kanye West has decided to boycott all music streaming platforms. His highly anticipated upcoming album ‘Donda 2’ will only be available on his platform Stem Player—and it will cost a pretty penny. His fans will have to pay both for the music and shell out $200 for a special device to listen to it. Also: the device is only available in the US, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Needless to say, we are devastated… not. (New York Post)

Speaking of bad marriages: The 27 women who married Ramesh Kumar Swain must be certainly regretting their choices. The prolific bigamist has wooed and wedded women across 10 states—including a Supreme Court lawyer, chartered accountant, doctor etc. And he achieved this in just four years! The biggest question for cops:

“How the diminutive 5-ft-2-inch-tall man, educated only up to Class X but posing as a doctor, managed to deceive so many women without raising suspicion is part of an unravelling mystery.”

The Hindu has this unbelievable story. 

A race row over LoTR

The Amazon series—’The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’—is neither based on the Peter Jackson movies nor the books. Most of its characters are drawn from the magnum opus’ extensive appendices. As a result, the show’s creators have been free to cast people of colour as a number of the elves and dwarves. Inevitably, lots of people are furious at this “woke social justice warrior garbage.” The Guardian has an interesting piece on the whiteness of fantasies and fairytales—and why introducing racial diversity evokes such rage.

Far better reason for outrage: Roblox. This is a virtual world platform that hosts thousands of games—and is viewed as an early iteration of metaverse. But each day uncovers new horrors. First, a BBC News investigation revealed a game called Condos—where characters simulate sex with one another. Now, Daily Mail has found something called the ‘Nazi Experience’ featuring concentration camps, gas chambers and dead bodies. Why this is very alarming: Roblox advertises itself as a platform for kids over the age of 7. Also this: Half of British children aged between six and nine play on the platform at least once a week. 

Three things to see

One: The 2022 Winter Olympics ended with a lavish closing ceremony—full video here. Norway remained #1 with the most number of medals: 37 of which 16 were gold. See a clip from the ceremony below.

Two: The official handle of BJP Gujarat tweeted a cartoon that shows a mass hanging of Muslims with the words ‘satyamev jayate’. This may have been connected to the death sentences handed out to the 38 convicted for the 2008 Ahmedabad blasts—which have now become a talking point for the BJP in the UP election.The tweet is no longer available. Twitter’s message says: “This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules.” (The Telegraph)

Three: Mark Zuckerberg’s sister Randi decided to make her play for the spotlight with a bizarre explainer of cryptocurrency—set to the tune of ‘Hello’. This is her second artistic contribution, the first being a 2007 ode to iPhones that ripped off PussyCat Dolls’ ‘Don’t Cha’. Watch the music video below. (Futurism)