Researched & collated by: Vagda Galhotra & Nivedita Bobal
The Russian invasion: The latest update
- The Russia-Ukraine talks in Turkey showed signs of progress—with Kyiv offering military neutrality in exchange for security guarantees. Moscow in turn promised to “drastically reduce” military activity near the northern cities of Kyiv and Chernihiv “to increase mutual trust and create the necessary conditions for further negotiations.” But made it clear that this is “not a ceasefire.”
- Moscow continues to insist on payment in roubles for gas sales to the EU—even though the G7 has called it “unacceptable.”
- Happily for India, our wheat exports are surging thanks to the invasion.
Related things to see: Nobel peace prize winner Dmitry Muratov is the editor of Novaya Gazeta—a fiercely independent Russian newspaper. Muratov offered to auction off his medal to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees. But his paper has been repeatedly warned by the government for violating the strict media laws—and forced to remove its Ukraine coverage from its website. Muratov has now decided to suspend publication entirely. This is the final issue of the newspaper, it reads: “Russia. Is bombing. Ukraine.”
Ukraine is now selling NFTs to raise money for the war effort. The 54 tokens is a 2022 spin on traditional war bonds—and they show tweets laid in a timeline along with original drawings or digital designs. Check out the collection here.
Ukrainian musicians decided to hold the annual Kharkiv Music Fest at a metro station being used as a bomb shelter.
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’s woes are mounting
The state-run hospitals are running out of life-saving medicines—including insulin—due to a shortage of dollars. They also can’t carry out diagnostic tests as most chemicals and solutions needed for their tests were not freely available. Meanwhile, the government has allowed suppliers—hit by higher costs—to hike prices of all medical devices such as heart stents by 30%. Indian Express has more on the despair on the ground. Read our explainer for the roots of the current crisis. (The Hindu)
Google issues urgent Chrome warning
The company says it has found a key software bug that leaves users on Windows, macOS and Linux vulnerable to a ‘zero day hack’:
“A zero-day vulnerability, at its core, is a flaw… A zero-day attack happens once that flaw, or software/hardware vulnerability, is exploited and attackers release malware before a developer has an opportunity to create a patch to fix the vulnerability—hence ‘zero-day.’”
Look at the top right corner of your browser window—and you should see the ‘update’ button in red. FYI: Microsoft Edge too has confirmed it has the same vulnerability. (Forbes)
A big fire threatens Sariska tigers
A wildfire in Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve has spread over 10 sq kms (about 1,800 football fields)—and has been raging since Monday. It is right in the territory of tigress ST-17 and her two cubs—and officials are worried they might suffocate. Two air force helicopters have been scooping up water from the nearby Siliserh Lake and spraying the area—but the fire is not under control as yet. (NDTV)
In much happier news: A Sumatran rhino has given birth to a baby after eight miscarriages. Why this is such good news: fewer than 80 Sumatran rhinos remain in the world. (France 24)
Shopee shuts shop in India
The Singapore-based e-commerce company suddenly announced that it was packing its bags due to “global market uncertainties.” But there is speculation that the decision may be linked to its Chinese ties.
“Its gaming arm, Free Fire, was one of the 54 apps linked to China and banned last month. The company’s founders are Chinese-born, and Chinese internet giant Tencent holds a significant stake—around 20%—in Sea [Shopee’s parent company].”
Quartz and South China Morning Post have more.
A new campaign against bitcoin mining
‘Change the Code Not the Climate’ wants bitcoin to change the way it mines cryptocurrency. Here’s why: bitcoin transactions are validated and secured by a process called ‘proof of work’—where miners use massive computer arrays for verification and earn bitcoins as their reward. As mining has become ever more profitable, this method has become massively energy-intensive:
“Over the past decade, bitcoin miners have set up thousands of warehouses of computer hardware dedicated to performing trial-and-error computations in a race against each other to win the block reward. The result is a massively inefficient coal-powered monster that consumes the same amount of energy [a year] as a country (Argentina) with 45 million people.”
Climate activist groups including Greenpeace and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen want bitcoin to move to something called ‘proof of stake’—which cuts energy consumption by 99%—and will soon be adopted by the other main cryptocurrency Ethereum. The bigger nightmare: Even as the world shifts to renewable energy, bitcoin mining “could be this endless monetization engine for fossil fuels”—making it attractive to Middle East countries who rely on oil for revenues. (BloombergQuint or The Guardian)
Two key studies about diabetes
One: A Cambridge study shows that people with type 2 diabetes are at greater risk of developing 57 other conditions. They are 5.2 times more likely to have end-stage kidney disease, 4.4 times more likely to get liver cancer and 3.2 times more likely to develop a sight-threatening condition called macular degeneration. Point to note: The results have not been peer-reviewed yet. If true, here’s why it matters: For starters, there is nothing inevitable about getting type 2 diabetes—as the risk can be greatly reduced by a healthy lifestyle and diet. Also: India has 77 million type 2 diabetes cases—the second largest in the world, and the number is expected to reach 134 million by 2045. (Business Insider)
Two: Metformin—a first-line drug in the treatment of type 2 diabetes—has been linked to a 40% higher risk of birth defects. Children born to men who take the medicine in the three month period before conception are at a greater risk. Why three months: that’s how long it takes fertilising sperm to mature. But further research is required to figure out the best course for couples trying to have a baby. (CNN)
A bad summer for e-scooter owners
A clip of a top line model of the Ola electric scooter going up in flames did the rounds on Twitter. It was taken in Pune—where a man had left it parked on the roadside. Ola says it is investigating the incident. It came on the heels of a tragedy in Vellore, where an Okinawa scooter spontaneously combusted, claiming the lives of a man and his daughter. The government has now launched a probe into potential safety issues of these EVs.
Point to note: These scooters run on lithium-ion batteries—which can experience something called “thermal runaway” if they are damaged. And they are more vulnerable to it in hot temperatures: “Owing to the onset of summers in India, the ambient temperature of the lithium-ion batteries in the EV can go up close to 90-100 degree celsius and could result in a fire in some cases.” (Indian Express)
Two things to see
One: The town of Roccaraso has a problem: A two-year old bear who adores stealing biscuits from bakeries, playing with dogs and munching leftover pizza from bins. ‘Juan Carrito’—a rare Marsican bear—has been tranquilised and transported to sanctuaries multiple times. But he keeps coming back. Well, he’s been moved once again—and everyone is hoping that he will learn to hang with other bears instead of playing with dogs. See an older vid of his antics below. (The Guardian or Times UK)
Two: The European Space Agency released a solar image taken by its Solar Orbiter spacecraft—stitched together from 25 separate shots taken as it passed between Earth and the sun. It is amazing—more so if you see it in full resolution here (totally worth the extra click). FYI, the tiny speck in the upper right corner is us!! (Futurism)
Good stuff to check out
On the latest episode of the splainer podcast ‘Press Decode’, the splainer team looks at politics at the movies—be it Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘Kashmir Files’ or Disney’s aversion to same-sex kisses. Be sure to head over to the IVM website, Spotify or Apple Podcasts to listen to it.
