Researched and collated by: Vagda Galhotra, Prafula Grace Busi, Sheya Kurian & Anagha Srinivasan

An IS attack on Afghan gurudwara

On Saturday, Islamic State extremists attacked a gurudwara in Kabul—killing two people. It was intended as retaliation for Nupur Sharma’s remarks on the Prophet Muhammad. The Indian government has now issued 111 emergency visas to Afghan Hindus and Sikhs. There are only 160 members of these communities left in the country. (The Telegraph)

Women’s swimming ban on transgender athletes 

The international governing body of swimming adopted a new ‘gender inclusion policy’ that only permits transgender swimmers who transitioned before age 12 to compete in women’s events. The reason for the age restriction: “It's what the scientists are saying, that if you transition after the start of puberty, you have an advantage, which is unfair.” In effect, this bans all transgender athletes since most countries do not allow children that age to transition—neither is it recommended before the age of 15. Advocates for LGBTQ rights say the new policy is “deeply discriminatory, harmful, unscientific.” (CBS News)

India’s big Russian buying spree

Faced with huge coal shortages at home—and in the middle of a long heat wave—India has been buying up vast amounts of Russian coal. Our purchases totalled $331.17 million between May 27-June 15, which is a 6X jump—compared to the same period last year. The spike in imports of Russian oil: 31X. Why this is notable: The US has not penalised India for violating its sanctions—but only if there is no “rapid acceleration.” That said, Washington is looking the other way… for now. (Reuters)

Revolutionary new therapy for cancer 

It’s called photoimmunotherapy—and experts believe it will soon become a major cancer treatment after surgery—similar to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Here’s how it works:

“The light-activated therapy forces cancer cells to glow in the dark, helping surgeons remove more of the tumours compared with existing techniques—and then kills off remaining cells within minutes once the surgery is complete.”

Point to note: It has been tested on mice with an aggressive form of brain cancer—where the treatment triggered an immune response that could help the body target cancer cells in future. Why this matters:

“Brain cancers like glioblastoma can be hard to treat and, sadly, there are too few treatment options for patients. Surgery is challenging due to the location of the tumours, and so new ways to see tumour cells to be removed during surgery, and to treat residual cancer cells that remain afterwards, could be of great benefit.”

The Guardian has more details.

Everest base camp heads downslope

Every year, eager Everesteers gather at the base camp on the Khumbu glacier—at an altitude of 5,364 metres. But the glacier is rapidly melting and thinning due to climate change—by as much as one metre every year in the area near the camp. And it is happening very quickly—making the camp unstable and dangerous: 

“We surprisingly see crevasses appearing overnight at places where we sleep. In the morning, many of us have this chilling experience that we could have fallen into them in the night. Cracks on the ground develop so often, it is quite risky.”

The new camp—slated for 2024—will be located 200-400 metres lower on the mountain—where there is no year-round ice. The main drawback is that the climb to the peak will now be longer. (BBC News)

A very strange Google lawsuit

A former Google video producer is suing Google for the most bizarre reason. His grouse centres on a religious sect based in Oregon—called Fellowship of Friends. At least 12 members of this sect have worked for the Google Developer Studio—which produces videos showcasing its technologies. And one of them actually ran the unit. As a result, the leadership discriminated against those who did not belong to the sect, and favoured those who did. As for the sect, it’s one of those new-agey outfits that believes “most people moved through life in a state of ‘waking sleep’— and a higher consciousness can be achieved by embracing the fine arts. Its history also includes a $2.75 million lawsuit alleging sexual abuse—that was settled out of court. (New York Times)

Also attracting the wrong kind of attention: SpaceX—which fired its employees for a letter critical of founder Elon Musk. They were among 400 who signed on to a letter addressed to SpaceX leadership—asking them to “publicly address and condemn Elon’s harmful Twitter behaviour” and “define and uniformly respond to all forms of unacceptable behaviour.” Five of them were sacked within 24 hours and SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell wrote a staff email addressing the move: “We have too much critical work to accomplish and no need for this kind of overreaching activism.” Some labour law experts think the firing was illegal—though it isn’t clear if the ex-staffers plan to sue. The Verge has more on the law, while CNBC has the details of the firing.

Neeraj Chopra wins gold 

The Olympic champion kept up the winning streak by scoring the gold at the Kuortane Games in Finland—beating the reigning world champion Anderson Peters for the second time in four days. The Telegraph has more details.

Found: A secret polar bear clan

Scientists have discovered a population of 300 bears living in isolation in Greenland—separated from other bear populations for over 200 years. That’s kinda nice, but here’s why it’s important:

“The bears live on the steep slopes around fjords—long and narrow coastal inlets, where glaciers meet the ocean—and hunt on a patchwork of glacial ice that breaks up in these inlets. The new discovery suggests that some polar bears, at least, may be able to adapt to sea ice disappearing as climate change worsens.”

While this is heartening, experts warn that most bears do not have access to glacier ice—and this is unlikely to minimise the threat posed by global warming, and disappearing Arctic sea ice. (Live Science)

Videotapes fetch big moolah

Have a brand new VHS that you never cracked open? Hold on to it as it may be worth a whole lot of money. A 1986 near-mint copy of ‘Back to the Future’ fetched a record-breaking $75,000 at auction. Why this is interesting: VHS tapes are experiencing a big collector boom, with films such as ‘The Goonies’ ‘Ghostbusters’ and ‘Jaws’ selling for lots of money. (CNN)

One thing to see 

Say hello to the AI-powered tank that can navigate obstacles and move around without a human. What is unclear is whether the turret is also controlled by a machine—or a human. Either way, this is the future of warfare. (BGR)

Good stuff to check out

On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the team looks at the controversy surrounding the military’s Agniveer program—and the heated debate over making AI more “human.” Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.