Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
What the F*** Happened Here: The latest edition
ICYMI: We now have a twice-weekly newsmagazine show—hosted by our editor Lakshmi Chaudhry. This episode is all about why Delhi is boiling, silent layoffs in India’s IT industry—which quietly shed more than 20,000 employees last year, and recommendations of music from around the world, and a heads up on what to watch on streaming platforms.
The show is a great option when you don’t have time to read us every day. You get a video version of our best stories twice a week. Do check it out and—most importantly—share it with your friends, fam, colleagues, and more. It’s a great cost-free way to introduce someone to splainer—especially if they are text-averse.
Two female leaders of note
Winning in Mexico: has elected its first female president—Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City. The 61-year-old is a former energy scientist. She won around 60% of the vote—against her main rival—who is also a woman: businesswoman Xóchitl Gálvez.
As for Sheinbaum’s politics:
[S]he’s a long-time leftist activist, a close ally and champion of [former president] López Obrador — a divisive figure who came to power promising to represent the lowest echelons of Mexican society and, during his tenure, increased social spending to a historic high while simultaneously attacking Mexico’s system of checks and balances.
Politico has an excellent profile of Sheinbaum. (BBC News)
Winning in Iceland: Halla Tomasdottir has become president with 34.4% of the vote—in an election where all top three candidates were women. The 55-year-old former businesswoman and investor campaigned on “fundamental issues” like AI, mental health, and boosting tourism. Unlike Mexico, Iceland has a long tradition of electing women in high political offices—the first democratically elected female president of any nation in the world was Iceland’s Vigdis Finbogadottir in 1980. FYI: The post is largely ceremonial. (Associated Press)
Moving on to the UK: Nigel Farage—notorious hater of brown immigrants—has entered the parliamentary fray in the UK. This is the guy who pushed for Brexit—but more recently known for being Donald’s best bud:
Mr. Farage said last month that he would not seek a parliamentary seat because he wanted to prioritise supporting Donald J. Trump’s electoral campaign in the United States. Mr. Farage is a longtime ally of the former president and campaigned for him in 2016 and 2020.
Guess he changed his mind—which is terrible news for Rish-Rish—who is also running on an anti-immigration plank. (New York Times)
Stock markets ride exit poll high
The exit polls awarding BJP a massive victory may or may not be true. But stock traders are already riding the high. Sensex jumped by 2,000 points—taking it to a record high of 76,583.29. The Nifty recorded its biggest jump in four years—rising by 3.3%. All of this is about ‘certainty’ and ‘stability’ etc. That said, some stocks did better than others. Adani Ports surged by 12.8%—while Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries rose by 5.6%. (Financial Times, paywall, NDTV)
As for Sam Altman’s stocks: His portfolio is making news for all the wrong reasons. As you may know, OpenAI’s CEO does not own any stock in his own company. But, but, but: It turns out he owns stock in companies that profit from deals with OpenAI. He has a $2.8 billion portfolio in 400 companies—that include startups that are either customers or major business partners or OpenAI: “The arrangement puts Altman on both sides of deals, creating a mounting list of potential conflicts in which he could personally benefit from OpenAI’s work.” Example: “OpenAI is in talks for a deal with Helion, a nuclear-energy startup that is chaired by Altman, in which it would buy vast quantities of electricity to provide power for data centres.” (Wall Street Journal, paywall, Quartz)
War on Gaza: A diplomatic battlefront
The Maldives has decided to ban Israeli passport holders in protest against the invasion of Gaza. President Mohamed Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign to send aid to Palestine. FYI: This is not unprecedented. A previous ban on Israeli tourists in Maldives was lifted in early 1990s. (Al Jazeera)
A trashy war in Korea: In its latest offensive, North Korea has sent 720 balloons carrying trash over the border—including cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, vinyl, paper trash, and even manure. The reason: it was a ‘tit for tat action’ for balloons carrying anti-regime propaganda leaflets sent by South Korea. But Seoul is so unhappy with the smelly response that it has cancelled a key military agreement. You can see the mess below. (Associated Press)
Birth control gel for men
A once-daily gel applied to the shoulders—can effectively suppress men’s fertility within a matter of weeks. NES/T carries nestorone and testosterone. How it works:
When it’s given to men, the drug [nestorone] lowers the levels of hormones in the testes responsible for male fertility, including testosterone, which then leads to low sperm counts. But it also lowers testosterone circulating in the blood, which can counterproductively reduce men’s sex drive, among other adverse effects. By reintroducing synthetic testosterone through the gel, the goal is to maintain stable hormone levels in men’s blood, ensuring temporary sterility and minimising side effects.
The very good news: in early trials, the gel’s efficacy rate is on par or even better than hormonal contraceptive options for women. (Quartz)
In other happy health news: A new blood test can help detect potential relapse among breast cancer patients. It can spot symptoms three years before a scan can detect tumours. (The Guardian)
A chocolate that is good for you… and the planet
A team of Swiss scientists have developed a new way of making chocolate—that uses the whole cocoa pod instead of just the beans. It also replaces sugar with a sweet gel made from the cocoa flesh and juice:
The study found that in a lab the new method used 6% less land and water but increased planet-heating emissions by 12% because it required an extra drying step that consumed large amounts of energy. But by scaling up the process — and drying the pulp in the sun or using solar panels — they found that greenhouse gas emissions could fall.
The lab-based chocolate was “basically identical” to dark chocolate from South America, in both taste and texture. Why this matters: The world is currently witnessing a severe cocoa shortage—which is driving up the price of chocolate. More on that in our Big Story. You can read the new study here. (The Guardian)
Three things to see
One: The latest episode of HBO’s ‘Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’ was titled ‘Indian Elections, Trump & Red Lobster’. It was not released in India. You can get a taste of what you’re missing here:
Two: Cyclone Remal caused 18 deaths and affected more than 530,000 people in Assam. See the flooding in Nagaon district below: (The Hindu)
Speaking of rain, Bangalore received 111.1 mm of rainfall on Sunday—the highest-ever for the month of June, breaking a 133-year-old record of 101.6 mm set in 1891. Of course, roads turned into swimming pools. (Indian Express)
Three: Rupert Murdoch has got himself married for the fifth time. His wife: the 67-year-old retired molecular biologist Elena Zhukova. Rupert is 93 years old. He really needs to stop dating younger women. (CNN)
