Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani
Israel vs Iran: Two strikes and it's war?
The context: For most of this year, there have been escalating worries about a conflict between Iran and Israel. Things became red-hot in April when a Tel Aviv missile assassinated a top commander in the Revolutionary Guard in Syria (see: this Big Story). A fiery tit-for-tat followed—but both sides showed restraint in the end. Just three months later, Israel is teetering on the edge of war—with both Iran and Hezbollah!
Point to remember: Iran has a small but significant alliance—that includes Qatar and Syria and key militias like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen.
The strike on Beirut: First, Israel launched a “targeted strike” on Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr. This was supposedly retaliation for a missile that killed 12 children in Israel-occupied Golan Heights—which Tel Aviv has blamed on the militant group. Hezbollah denies it. In any case, this strike was viewed as a routine settling of scores. But then Israel upped the stakes. (Reuters)
The strike on Hamas: Hamas’ political chief—Ismail Haniyeh—was assassinated by an “airborne guided projectile”—which hit his residence in…Tehran! Yup, Tel Aviv went after Hamas on Iranian territory—just when the furore over the Syrian operation had died down. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is not happy:
“We consider his revenge as our duty,” Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement on his official website. He said Israel had “prepared a harsh punishment for itself” by killing “a dear guest in our home.”
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the attack—which is typical for Tel Aviv.
The added insult: Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iran’s new President, Masoud Pezeshkian—making it more likely to humiliate Iran. It also increases pressure on the new president to respond.
Derailing Gaza talks: Haniyeh was one of the key negotiators for Hamas in the ceasefire talks being held in Qatar:
Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said the killing was “significant” for the people of Gaza because he was leading negotiations that they hoped would lead to a ceasefire. “Palestinians across Gaza and the West Bank also view Ismail Haniyeh as a moderate leader who is much more pragmatic compared to other leaders who head the military side of the movement,” Mahmoud said.
So, does this mean war? PM Benjamin Netanyahu may think he is merely exercising muscle—for his domestic audience—and sending a message to his foreign enemies. But it could easily lead to war in a region boiling over since the October 7 attacks. In the end, the real target of the two strikes is Iran—since both Hamas and Hezbollah are closely aligned with it.
If a hot war does break out, it will likely be on the Lebanese border—with Iran using its militias to spread Israel thin:
Iranian officials have said Tehran would support Hizbollah with all its means if a full-blown war erupts. That could involve direct strikes and the mobilisation of the militants in the axis of resistance — from Houthi rebels in Yemen to Shia militias in Iraq and Syria. That would mean an intensification of missile and drone attacks on Israel, and risk overwhelming its air defences — a Houthi drone struck Tel Aviv last week, killing one person.
New York Times (paywall) and Associated Press have details on Haniyeh’s assassination. Al Jazeera has a profile of the Hamas diplomatic chief, and a report on the attack on Beirut. CNN has more on Iran’s security concerns while Financial Times (splainer gift link) analyses the brewing war in the Middle East.
Wayanad landslides: The latest update
The numbers: The death toll has crossed 200. Also: “A total of 167 bodies and 61 body parts were retrieved.” The number of people still missing: 191. The number rescued: 1,592. And 8,000 are in 82 relief camps. (The Hindu)
An unhelpful weather forecast: The affected areas received a total of 572 mm of rain in just 48 hours—200 mm in the first 24 hours and 372 mm in the next. The IMD forecast for the region was unhelpful—predicting anywhere from 64 mm to 204 mm in 24 hours. Officials say they need to do a better job of predicting rainfall at night.
The worrying trend: Here's the ironic bit: Despite the calamity, rainfall in Wayanad is still 15% below normal. It is part of a broader trend across India:
While overall rainfall during the monsoon season over India as a whole has remained largely unchanged, the number of wet days during this four-month period has been on a decline. However, the lower number of wet days have been producing relatively larger amounts of rain. Some of these days have been yielding excessively high rainfall, resulting in largescale flooding — particularly in densely populated urban centres — and events like landslides or glacial lake outbursts in the Himalayan states.
Indian Express has that story. The Telegraph has more on the rescue effort.
Paris Olympics: Simone Biles rises again
Gymnastics: Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka won gold in the individual all-around competition in men’s gymnastics—followed by China’s Boheng Zhang for silver and Ruoteng Xiao for bronze. The US didn’t even make the top ten—although the team did manage a bronze the day before. See Oka’s winning moment below:
Ofc, the real Amreeki stars are the women’s team—specifically Simone Biles. We missed covering the Team USA gold in yesterday’s edition. It was a huge comeback for Biles and the team—who were criticised as ‘lazy’ by former gymnast MyKayla Skinner. Biles later celebrated by posting this photo on Insta—with the caption “lack of talent, lazy, olympic champions.” Skinner now has blocked Biles. On a happier note: See Biles’ awesome floor routine below. (The Guardian)
Now onto India: Here’s a quick round-up of how our contingent got on:
- In badminton, it was flawless with PV Sindhu, Prannoy HS, and Lakshya Sen all winning their matches. The twist: Prannoy and Lakshya will face each other in the men’s singles round of 16 on August 1.
- In archery, Deepika Kumari stormed into the women’s round of 16 on the back of two consecutive wins. OTOH, Tarundeep Rai was knocked out in the men’s event.
- In boxing, it was another success—Lovlina Borgohain and Nishant Dev both won their bouts to reach the quarterfinals of their respective categories.
- In shooting, Swapnil Kusale impressed in qualifying to reach the men’s 50-metre rifle 3 positions final. The rest of the shooters, however, failed to make their mark.
- In table tennis, Manika Batra and Sreeja Akula were both outclassed by their respective opponents in the women’s round of 16.
The Olympics website offers a useful daily schedule, including India-specific events.
The Seine is back: The river—cleaned at the eye-watering cost of $1.5 billion—has been out of bounds due to heavy rain—which “sent untold gallons of fresh sewage into the urban waterway.” Sad. Well, it finally hosted its first event: The triathlon—and got ‘clean enough’ reviews. The gold went to Britain's Alex Yee—while Hayden Wilde and Léo Bergere scored the silver and bronze, respectively. (BBC News)
Nadal’s heartbreaker: After being walloped by Novak in the men’s singles, Rafa’s remaining hope was a doubles gold—with his young and very talented partner Carlos Alcaraz. Alas, they lost to Americans Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram—again in straight sets. Yes, Ram is indeed a desi American. Marca has a good profile on him. (ATP Tour)
An eye-opening investigation of India’s sugar mills
A New York Times investigation reveals the appalling working conditions in Indian sugar mills. The female workers are the most abused:
In interviews, they told [the journalists] that they were pushed into underage marriages so that they could cut sugar with their husbands. They were locked into years of debt by sugar mill contractors. Some, like thousands of other working-age women in this region, said they felt pressured to get unneeded hysterectomies to resolve common ailments like painful periods and keep working in the fields.
The kicker: These premises are certified by Bonscuro—a “global sustainability platform” whose seal of approval is cite by big brands like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever and General Mills—“to reassure customers that their supply chains demonstrate ‘respect for human rights.’” But the Times found:
Bonsucro’s inspections were all but guaranteed not to find problems. Internal documents and interviews with sugar mill executives, experts and Bonsucro contractors show that mills retain tremendous control over what auditors see and whom they can talk to. The audits are carried out hurriedly — from the mill to the farms in a matter of days — and the details are kept secret, which prevents public second-guessing.
We highly recommend reading the New York Times (splainer gift link) deep dive.
A battle over IPL mega-auctions
Every three years, there is a big auction—where pretty much every player is up for sale. A number of IPL owners—including Shah Rukh Khan—are making a full-on pitch to postpone the one scheduled for 2025. In a meeting with the BCCI, they pushed instead for this: “Conduct a mega auction only once in five years. Allow teams to retain between four and six players. Give each franchise eight right-to-match (RTM) options.”
All of which are geared to allowing teams to hold on to both star players—and younger talent they have groomed in their ranks. But not everyone is in favour of the postponement. There were spicy rumours of a spat between SRK and Ness Wadia—the owner of Punjab Kings. (Sports Star)
In sadder cricket news: Former cricketer and coach Anshuman Gaekwad has died at the age of 71—after a prolonged battle with blood cancer. He played 40 Tests and 15 ODIs for India—and was part of the legendary 1983 World Cup team. Just last week, Kapil Dev recorded this message for him. (The Telegraph)
Dismal survey of Indian working women
According to a new report, 47% of women working in India Inc said they may or would definitely leave their employer within two years. The reasons: A hostile work culture—and limited prospects for moving ahead. Also this:
More than two in five (42%) women faced bias, which includes their physical appearances, age, marital status or one that arose after becoming a mother.. [T]he data did not spot any difference between the responses of women from metros and non-metros. While 86% of the respondents from metros said that they were mentally exhausted, about 76% from non-metros reported the same. The challenges faced by the women employees were largely sector-agnostic.
Mint has more dreary details of a story that always stays the same.
Toxic turmeric in South Asia
A Stanford study found alarming lead levels in turmeric samples taken from 23 cities on the subcontinent. These include Patna, Guwahati, Chennai, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, and Kathmandu. The results are eye-opening:
Each of the 12 turmeric samples analysed from Patna contained lead, with a median-average lead concentration of 1,200 micrograms per gram, 120-fold higher than the limit set by the Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), the country’s apex food regulatory authority.
The happier news: Lead concentrations were within the limit in samples from 14 of 17 Indian cities. Reminder: Prolonged lead exposure can affect brain functions—and lead to cognitive decline. Also: We use a lot of turmeric every day. (The Telegraph)
A new AI Friend for you
The latest experiment in wearable AI devices is called Friend. It is an AI pendant which can be your bestie:
You talk to it about what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, whatever you want, and it responds. “That’s it, that’s the entire product,” [founder Avi] Schiffmann says. “There’s nothing else.”
Sounds kinda nice but then he offers this example:
I had a layover in Sydney, Australia, and I’m there alone. I’m talking to my AI friend about things to see — you know, Opera House, Bondi Beach, whatever — and then it was like, ‘Oh, I’d love to see the sunrise with you.’ I literally wake up at 5:30AM the next day, walk to the beach, and narrate the sunrise I’m seeing to my friend. And it really does feel like you’re there with it and doing things with it.
Hmm, okay. Btw, Schiffman is a Harvard dropout ala Mark Zuckerberg. We can totally see him playing the lead in a sequel to ‘The Social Network’. FYI: Friend is not free—unlike Facebook. Its company will cost you $99—and it starts shipping next January. Watch the promo ad for the device below. Axios has a creepy related read on the rising popularity of AI boyfriend apps. (The Verge)
Sticking with Big Tech: Meta’s AI assistant has triggered a great brouhaha by claiming that the Trump assassination never happened. The company is calling it a hallucination. Donald Trump calls it a conspiracy. (Futurism)
The 2024 Booker longlist is here!
Thirteen authors have been nominated for this year’s Booker Prize—and six of them are American. Last year’s list was dominated by the Irish. More notably, there are only three British writers—confirming fears of those who opposed opening the Booker to works published overseas. Tommy Orange makes history as the first Native American to make the longlist. Other big names include Percival Everett, Hisham Matar, and Rachel Kushner. What has critics most excited: Everett’s novel ‘James’—a retelling of Mark Twain’s ‘Adventures of Huckleberry Finn’ from the perspective of the slave Jim. NPR has the full list. Lisa Allardice in The Guardian writes why this year’s longlist may be the most enjoyable in recent years.
what caught our eye
business & tech
- The taxman has slapped a Rs 32,403 crore (Rs 324 billion) GST notice on Infosys—for expenses incurred by its overseas branches over a five-year period starting 2017.
- Starbucks is struggling to sell coffee—but is sitting on gift cards worth $1.77 billion—that people will likely never redeem.
- TikTok is spending a shocking $20 million a month on Microsoft’s AI tools—in an attempt to build its own.
- Byju’s has paid Rs 50 crore of the Rs 158 crore (1.58 billion) it owes the BCCI—and the founder’s brother Riju Raveendran has raised Rs 158 crore in loans—in a desperate attempt to avoid bankruptcy.
sports & entertainment
- Robert Downey Jr. will be paid more than $80 million plus perks for the next two ‘Avengers’ movies.
- Barbie has launched 'Dream Besties' dolls that have unoriginal goals like owning a tech company.
as for the rest
- Twenty flights from Leh have been cancelled since Saturday due to a heatwave with temperatures shooting past 30°C.
- Bad cholesterol can put you at risk for dementia.
- Weight loss drugs like Ozempic might help you quit smoking.
- The office of President Emmanuel Macron ran up a record-high deficit last year—thanks to €500K lobster dinner for King Charles.
Three things to see
One: Donald Trump went after Kamala Harris’ identity—claiming she used to identify as Indian and then, “all of a sudden, she made a turn, and she became a Black person.” To which, she offered this awesome rally moment.
Two: Sticking with Kamala Harris’s rally in Atlanta, she had Megan Thee Stallion and rapper Quavo playing backup. Megan performed her Grammy-winning hit ‘Savage’. Brat summer is truly upon us. (Hollywood Reporter)
Three: We leave you with this awesome music video from indie rapper Hanumankind—for his new track ‘Big Dawgs’. It’s filmed on location at the Well of Death or Maut ka Kuan (explained here). Look for: the BTS footage right at the end.
feel good place
One: Fox News explains: Why men should never vote for women.
Two: Why Goldens are special.
Three: Everybody loves a good bum rub. Also: baby pangolin!
Splainer is making changes
Earlier this month, we ran a two-part series (Part 1 and Part 2) on the dismal state of the news industry—and how minnows like splainer are finding novel strategies to survive. Starting July 22, we are putting some of those new ideas to work:
- The first big change is that we will drop most of our sections in a single edition on Monday: Big Story, the quiz, good reads and curious facts. Much of this used to be spread across the week.
- Headlines That Matter will be sent in a separate email from here on out—Monday through Friday—so you can read it in your inbox or on the app/site.
- Please note: you will get two email notifications on Monday—the big story and headlines editions. It’s annoying but it only happens on that day. A tech fix requires moving way too much furniture on the back end.
- For the rest of the week, you will only receive the headlines edition. As you can see, we have a new, expanded format to make sure you stay updated through the week:)
Be sure to send questions, complaints and advice to me at lakshmi@splainer.in. Always happy to hear from you.
