The Ukraine invasion: The latest update

• Russia has cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland—after they refused to pay in roubles. They are now relying on their EU neighbours for gas.
• It has now been revealed that the US gave real-time intelligence to Ukraine to help it down a Russian plane—and protect its air defences and aircraft.
• Moscow offered a unilateral ceasefire to evacuate Mariupol—and then promptly shelled a humanitarian corridor out of the city.
• Now, there are reports of explosions in Russian-controlled border regions of Ukraine—which may or may not be responsible for them. Why this matters: “What’s the ‘so what’ of this escalatory cycle? Further escalation becomes more likely as animosity builds.”

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

Trigger warning: This item includes a description of sexual assault.

Rape case rocks Malayalam film industry

The sexual exploitation and abuse of women in the industry has been in the spotlight thanks to the high-profile case against superstar Dileep (explained here). Now, there is a new allegation filed by a young actor against actor/producer Vijay Babu—who is accused of raping her multiple times over the course of over a month:

“‘Whenever I was conscious, I denied consent for engaging in sex. But for him it was never an issue and disregarding my protest he has raped me several times during the past one and a half months,’ she alleged. She added that he would make her drink alcohol or take ‘happy pills’ despite her refusal, and when she was inebriated, Vijay Babu would allegedly sexually abuse her. ‘He was like a monster to me,’ she said.”

To make matters worse, Babu then went on Facebook Live to defend himself—and named the woman. He has now been charged separately for rape and for revealing her identity. The News Minute has detailed testimony from the woman. The Hindu has more on the case.

In other alarming news about sex abuse: Hackers posing as law enforcement officials sent fake legal requests to the biggest tech giants asking for confidential user data. This includes Apple, Meta, Alphabet, Snap, Twitter and Discord. That’s bad enough but it’s now been revealed that the information was used to sexually exploit women and children. The attackers used the information to hack into their online accounts—or to befriend them and encourage them to provide sexually explicit photos. And it gets worse:

“In addition, perpetrators have threatened to send sexually explicit material provided by the victim to their friends, family members and school administrators if they don’t comply with the demands, according to the people. In a few instances, the victims have been pressured to carve the perpetrator’s name into their skin and share photographs of it.”

In many cases, the perpetrators were teenagers themselves. (Bloomberg Law)

Musk’s Twitter melodrama: The latest update

First, the Tesla tweets: Back in 2018, Musk reached a $40 million settlement with the SEC over his tweets claiming that he planned to take Tesla private—which caused the stock to rise by 6%. Part of the deal was a ‘babysitter’ for Musk’s handle: A Tesla lawyer responsible for monitoring and in some cases pre-approving his tweets. Yesterday, a judge rejected his request to scrap the deal—on the grounds that the regulator's pursuit of Musk “crossed the line into harassment” and impeded his constitutional right to free speech. What the judge said:

“Musk cannot now seek to retract the agreement he knowingly and willingly entered by simply bemoaning that he felt like he had to agree to it at the time but now—once the spectre of the litigation is a distant memory and his company has become, in his estimation, all but invincible—wishes that he had not.”

Next, the Twitter deal: It seems Musk has already broken the terms of the agreement reached with Twitter to buy the company. These included a condition that allows him to tweet about the merger “so long as such Tweets do not disparage [Twitter] or any of its Representatives.” But Musk yesterday took aim at top Twitter lawyer Vijaya Gadde for blocking a published story about Joe Biden’s son Hunter in the past: “[S]uspending the Twitter account of a major news organisation for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate.” Gadde was later mercilessly trolled by Musk’s supporters. 

Finally, the Tesla stocks: The share price is continuing to plummet—falling 12%. Why this is a problem: Musk secured a $12.5 billion loan against his stake in the company to finance the Twitter purchase. The company has lost $125 billion in its market value in recent days. (BBC News)

UP’s big anti-loudspeaker sweep

In a single day, the government removed over 10,900 “illegal” and “unauthorised” loudspeakers across the state—and brought 35,000 loudspeakers under prescribed decibel limits. It used a 2018 court order to implement the drive. Point to note: The rule was enforced across the board at gurdwaras, temples and mosques—and the move was endorsed by local religious leaders. Indian Express has more details. 

Air India plans AirAsia India takeover

The Tatas already own an 83.67% stake in the Indian arm of the Malaysian airline—and they recently acquired Air India. The company now plans to buy out the rest of the equity—which will need regulatory approval since the Tatas also own Vistara. FYI: AirAsia—which has been struggling financially—has long been keen to exit India. (MoneyControl)

A mini implant to reverse Parkinson’s

A UK trial showcased a new breakthrough in treatment for the debilitating disease: a small battery-operated brain implant that delivers electrical impulses to targeted parts of the brain to override abnormal brain-cell firing patterns. Why this matters: There is no cure for Parkinson's disease—which leads to parts of the brain becoming progressively damaged over years. So this offers a real ray of hope. (BBC News)

Three things to see

One: A huge fire broke out in the Bhalswa landfill in Delhi—and has been raging for more than 24 hours. A nearby school was forced to shut down due to the toxic air quality. There have been a number of landfill fires due to scorching temperatures, and here’s why:

“The wet waste dumped in a landfill produces methane when it rots. In hot weather conditions, methane catches fire spontaneously and the blaze spreads as it feeds on combustible material like textiles and plastics.”

See the blaze below. (Outlook Magazine)

Two: MIT researchers have invented ultra-thin speakers that can be slapped onto any hard surface—think walls, tables etc. They both generate high-quality sound and cancel out noise. Gizmodo has all the details. Watch a demo below:

Three: Flamingos have arrived in Mumbai!