Researched by: Rachel John, Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
Israel is on the edge
The context: In the most recent election held in November, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scraped his way back into power. What was notable: he put together a coalition of three fringe parties to do it—resulting in the “most rightwing government” in Israeli history. Netanyahu really, really needed to win this election. He is on trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. And this was his last chance to grab power—and prevent a possible guilty verdict. The sweeping judicial “reforms'' proposed by his government—which sparked a huge uprising in March—are very much designed to get him off the hook. See our Big Story for details.
What happened now: The Israeli Parliament has passed a law that annuls the Supreme Court’s power to overrule government actions it considers unreasonable. The bill was approved by an overwhelming 64-0 vote after the Opposition boycotted the vote. However, this is unlikely to stop the hundreds of thousands protesters who have taken to the streets in recent weeks:
Deepening the crisis, thousands of reservists, including pilots in the air force crucial to Israel's offensive and defensive capabilities, have vowed not to volunteer for service. Such unprecedented dissent has caused alarm over the potential impact on Israel's military readiness.
You can see the sheer size of the protests below. (Associated Press)
Spanish elections end in a stalemate
The parliament is divided between the conservative Popular Party and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’ Spanish Socialist Workers party. Neither has a clear majority. This is a happy surprise for those on the left—who were expecting a rightwing coalition to gain power. The greatest worries centred on the far-right Vox—which was slated to play kingmaker. Vox, however, slipped from 15 percent to 12 percent of the vote and lost 19 of its 52 seats. OTOH, the socialists scored one million more votes than expected—and may have a better chance of cobbling together a ruling coalition even though they came in second. (Washington Post)
Staying in Europe: Wildfires have devastated the Greek island of Rhodes—forcing 19,000 people to flee. Thanks to climate change, temperatures over the past week have exceeded 40°C in many parts of the country. The Telegraph UK video report below gives you a sense of how bad it is. (Reuters)
‘Barbie’ makes box office history
Greta Gerwig had the biggest opening weekend for a woman director—making $377 million worldwide. The movie has surpassed ‘The Super Mario Bros Movie’ and every Marvel film released this year to become the biggest opening of the year. Usually, two big movies opening the same weekend tend to undercut each other. But the Barbenheimer effect may have boosted both flicks: “The social media-fuelled fusion of Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer as “Barbenheimer” brought moviegoers back to the theatres in record numbers to see both films as a double feature.” FYI: ‘Oppenheimer’ made $174.2 million worldwide. But it did top ‘Barbie’ in India—making Rs 500 million compared to Barbie’s Rs 185 million. (The Guardian)
PS: Did you miss our excellent and entertaining history of Barbie & Ken? Read our Big Story and feel free to marvel at the weirdness of it all.
Speaking of ‘Oppenheimer’: As we noted yesterday, the movie has received great flak from a foundation dedicated to saving Indian culture from filthy entertainment content—headed by the Information Commissioner of India. The reason: a scene where Oppenheimer’s lover asks him to quote the Gita mid-coitus—and then he does. Now, the I&B minister Anurag Thakur is also irate—especially at the film certification board that allowed such travesty to be screened in Indian theatres. The scene could now be hacked from the film. TBH, it’s tacky and historically inaccurate—but we think the Gita can survive such foolishness without resorting to censorship. (Indian Express)
Two biz stories of note
Adani: is selling his shadow banking business to an American private equity firm Bain Capital—which will acquire 90% of Adani Capital and Adani Housing, buying out the family’s stake. Why this is notable:
Indian billionaire Adani is looking to cut liabilities on his conglomerate’s balance sheet as it recovers from an attack by US-based short-seller Hindenburg Report at the start of this year, levelling allegations of fraud. An Indian Supreme Court cleared the company’s name, but the Adani Group is still doing its own housekeeping to rebuild investor confidence. Part of that is focusing on its core infrastructure business and prepaying debt.
ITC: is spinning off its hotel business—separating it from the larger tobacco & consumer goods empire. Mint has lots more on whether this is a good or bad idea.
A big women’s cricket controversy
The Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur was extremely upset at the umpires officiating at the One Day International against Bangladesh team on Sunday. The key reason: she was dismissed due to an LBW—that so enraged Kaur that she smashed the stumps on her way out:
But the real problem was her post-match behaviour at the awards ceremony:
With the series ending in a draw, and the trophy being shared between the two teams, India and Bangladesh players were together called for a photo session at the end of the post-match presentation. However, in a video that has gone viral all over the internet, Harmanpreet can be seen derisively calling the umpires to join in when the trophy was handed to the two captains, with her act implying that they played a role in home team levelling the series.
The Bangladesh team naturally walked out—even as Kaur clapped during their exit. The International Cricket Council has fined Kaur 75% of her match fees—but that is a light punishment for such poor sportsmanship. You can see the clip with Bengali commentary below. Former captain Diana Edulji in Indian Express explains why Kaur’s behaviour is unacceptable. (Hindustan Times)
Saudi football’s buying spree: After landing Cristiano Ronaldo—and missing out on Lionel Messi—the Saudi Pro League has its eyes on Kylian Mbappé. According to The Telegraph, he has received an insane offer of £260 million ($333 million) from Al Hilal. Mbappé’s club Paris Saint-Germain has put the 24-year-old up for sale—after letting Messi go to Inter Miami. This is despite the fact that his contract ends next year. In fact, PSG has been getting ready for the pre-season without Mbappé. The reason: he has not shown any interest in extending his deal with the club. As a result:
They have subsequently deemed he is intent on joining Real Madrid on a free transfer next year, and are understood to be willing to bench him this season if he does not finalise a move to another club this summer.
Telegraph UK, paywall, or The Athletic have more details.
A rice stampede in America
The government’s decision to ban all varieties of rice except basmati triggered panic among NRIs—mostly of Telugu origin. Worried about a shortage, they’re lining up outside Indian grocery stores—picking up multiple bags. The result: the prices have almost doubled in just days. Stores are now forcing customers to make a minimum purchase if they want to purchase a rice bag. Biryani prices are expected to shoot up, as well. You can see how nuts it is in Dallas below. (The Hindu)
Three things to see
One: Iran banned a major film festival because the organisers released a poster of an actor without a hijab. Here is the actor without a hijab. Her name is Susan Taslimi and this is a scene from the 1982 film ‘The Death of Yazdguerd’. We did a very good Big Story on the women’s rights protests in Iran. (Agence-France Presse via Hindustan Times)
Two: This is not a happy/cute vid about wild animals. This is a clip of a lion strolling along a flyover in the midst of torrential rains in Gujarat. Imagine how terrible the situation must be for a lion to leave the forests. (NDTV)
Three: Every year, Key West in Florida holds a ‘Hemingway Days’ festival in honour of good old Ernest. Part of this is a look-alike contest hosted by a local bar. Now, Hemingway was not the most attractive man, but resembling a balding, bearded literary legend has some value…at least in Key West. (Associated Press)
