Researched & collated by: Vagda Galhotra, Prafula Grace Busi & Elisha Benny

The Russian invasion: The latest update

• As Ukrainian forces recover lost ground around Kyiv, they have found evidence of war crimes against civilians—“bodies with bound hands, close-range gunshot wounds and signs of torture.” Ukrainian officials called it a “scene from a horror movie.” Moscow has dismissed it as fake news.
• These images from Bucha will likely lead to harsher sanctions with Germany’s defence minister calling on the EU to consider banning Russian gas imports.
• President Zelensky warned that the Russians are booby-trapping everything with mines as they retreat: “They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed. There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.”
• Meanwhile, a Ukrainian photographer was shot by troops even though he was wearing a press jacket. IFEX has more context on Moscow’s campaign against journalists in the war zone.
• Mariupol is still waiting for humanitarian aid, while the port of Odesa is now under missile attacks.
• A Times UK exclusive (paywall) reveals that China carried out a significant cyberattack targeting Ukrainian military and nuclear facilities—just before the invasion.
• Russia has suspended all cooperation around the international space station until sanctions are lifted.
• Related read: New York Times reports on the rising popular support for Putin within Russia.

Editor’s note: If you need more context, we highly recommend reading our Big Story on the historical roots of the conflict and this timely explainer on the effectiveness of economic sanctions, the return of the Cold War, what is driving Vladimir Putin, India’s “balancing act” and the looming oil crisis.

Sri Lanka in crisis: The latest update

If you want to know how we got here: read our Big Story on the economic roots of the turmoil in the country. Here’s where we are now:

• Faced with angry protesters—over a plan to impose 13-hour electricity cuts—President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a state of emergency on Friday and imposed a 36-hour curfew. 
• The government also blocked all social media platforms and messaging apps like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp etc—though that was lifted by Sunday.
• But it had little effect. People streamed into the streets over the weekend—and 664 were arrested in just the first 12 hours of curfew. The popular chant on the street: ‘Go Home Gota’—calling for the resignation of the President (who is adamant that he will not do so).
• Who has resigned: All 26 cabinet ministers—but not Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa—who is Gotabaya’s brother. Though his son Namal is one of the ministers who put in their papers.
• The government’s coalition partners have threatened to quit if a ‘caretaker government’ is not put in place.
• The immediate crisis at hand: A crippling scarcity of fuel. A ship carrying 5,500 metric tonnes of cooking gas turned back because the Sri Lankan company could not arrange foreign currency to buy it. 
• India is stepping in to help. New Delhi recently delivered 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel, as part of a $500 million fuel aid—on top of the $1 billion loan given in March. It is also planning to send 40,000 tonnes of rice soon.

And the Grammy winners are…

Silk Sonic had a great night as ‘Leave the Door Open’ won both song and record of the year. Nope, ABBA didn’t take home a single award. Olivia Rodrigo mopped up best new artist, best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance for ‘Driver’s License’. Foo Fighters swept best rock performance, best rock song and best rock album. You can see the latest results at the CNN liveblog. As for the red carpet standouts, our vote goes to Lil Nas X and Dua Lipa. See the others here.

Speaking of award shows: Will Smith resigned from Academy over the weekend—presumably ahead of him being thrown out. What this means: He can’t vote for the Oscars but can still be nominated for one. Smith also issued the most direct and abject apology to date. The Academy, however, will go ahead with its disciplinary proceedings—though it is unlikely that it will revoke his best actor award. 

Point to note: Smith is already being sidelined in Hollywood. His Netflix project has been placed on the backburner—and Apple refused to say when it will release its movie with him even though it is in post-production. Sony’s ‘Bad Boys 4’ is also on hold.

Australia wins the World Cup

The women’s team defeated England in the final by 71 runs to clinch the title. The superstar of the game: Alyssa Healy who hit a record 170 runs off 138 balls—which is the highest individual innings for a World Cup final—including the men’s tournament. (BBC)  

A new covid variant

The WHO announced that a new variant called XE has been detected in the UK. This is a recombinant version—as in a combination of two sub-variants (BA.1 and BA.2) of Omicron. This typically occurs when one person is infected with both at the same time. We don’t know much about it other than it is 10% more transmissible than BA.2—which in turn is more infectious than BA.1. Mint has a useful explainer.

Speaking of Covid: A 61-year old German man has been vaccinated 87 times—often getting three shots a day. (Deutsche Welle) 

In other health news: A new Indian study has found that 60.5% of newly diagnosed diabetes patients in India are at a “very high risk” of developing cardiovascular disease. (The Telegraph)

Aryan Khan case: An unexpected update

Prabhakar Sail was the key witness in the extortion case against Kiran Gosavi and NCB officer Sameer Wankhede—who allegedly conspired to extort money from Shah Rukh Khan to secure his son’s release (background here). Sail—who was Gosavi’s bodyguard—suddenly died of a heart attack. His family does not suspect foul play, but the Maharashtra government is not convinced—and has ordered a probe. (Scroll)

A very hot month for India

India experienced the hottest March since 1901—with an average maximum temperature of 33.10°C—which was 1.86°C above normal. The average rainfall was also 71% below the long term average. The worst hit: The northwest India—including Delhi—where temperatures were 3.91°C above normal. The variation for the southern peninsula was only 0.59ºC. Speaking of Delhi, temperatures are already in the 40s—and expected to stay there as the city braces for a heatwave this week. (Indian Express)

Women are unhappier than men, period

For many years, researchers were bewildered by something called the ‘female happiness paradox’. Women consistently reported experiencing higher levels of life satisfaction compared to men—and yet also experienced higher levels of stress and anxiety. A new paper—which has not yet been peer-reviewed—has reached a definitive conclusion: “women are always and everywhere more unhappy than men.” Apparently, there was no ‘paradox’ to begin with: 

“The authors explain that the female happiness paradox emerged in part because of the types of questions researchers ask. If surveys ask men and women about how satisfied they are with their lives, trends may vary depending on where they live, the year, or even the season. Including controls for other factors besides gender (such as marital status) can also muddy the results; for example, it’s not necessarily clear whether marriage makes people happier, or if happier people are more likely to get married.”

Essentially, if you ignore the ‘life satisfaction’ results, it is clear that women score higher than men in the “unhappiness metrics”—such as sadness, anxiety, depression, loneliness. Quartz has more on the paper.

Three things to see

One: Forest officials found three kangaroos—and the body of the fourth—in the Jalpaiguri forests in West Bengal. This is barely three weeks after a red kangaroo was rescued on the Bengal-Assam border. The suspected reason for this bizarre find: a wildlife smuggling chain originating in Nepal—which was transporting these animals for a private collector. The kangaroos have been taken to a wildlife preserve, and then will be sent to a zoo. You can see one of them on a highway below. (Times of India) 

Two: A ‘meteor shower’ spotted in the skies over Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra on Saturday may actually be a rocket. According to one astronomer:

“I believe this is the reentry of a Chinese rocket stage, the third stage of the Chang Zheng 3B serial number Y77 which was launched in Feb 2021—it was expected to reenter in the next hour or so and the track is a good match.”

Others claim it may be a fallen satellite. Well it still looks pretty cool. (The Print)

Three: China’s pandemic lockdown policies are both extreme and bizarre. Residents of Shanghai now have a four-legged robot dog that patrols the streets—warning everyone to follow Covid protocols. (NDTV)

Good stuff to check out

On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the splainer team looks at the Will Smith ‘thappad’ through an Indian lens—which has been missing in the popular debate—including how the protector role plays out in politics. Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.