Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Our experiments with YouTube: A new format!
We’ve been playing with different formats for our YouTube show. We recently tried a daily news wrap—which didn’t quite work with the platform—where discovery happens days later. So we’ve switched to a twice-weekly version—that’s more like a newsmagazine.
It’s 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. The Friday edition is below.
Iran’s president has died
This is a breaking story as we publish. Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian died after their helicopter crashed in northern Iran. The helicopter was one of three travelling in the president’s convoy. It made a "hard landing" due to heavy fog. It took hours to identify the crash site—which is in a mountainous region.
Here’s why Raisi’s death matters. One: He’s a well-known hardliner—and is the architect of the ongoing campaign to brutally put down any sign of dissent—especially from women. Two, the crash comes soon after an Israeli airstrike killed a top commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards—which led to an alarming escalation of tensions in the region. Tel Aviv will be suspect #1 in many of the conspiracy theories—which will turn up the heat even further. CNN and BBC News both have live blogs for the latest updates.
War on Gaza: The latest update
Here are the latest headlines:
- Prime Minister Netanyahu has been openly challenged by his political rival Benny Gantz and defence minister Yoav Gallant—who are demanding concrete plans for post-war Gaza. As of now, Bibi has not specified who will rule the strip—only that he won’t accept Hamas or the UN.
- But satellite images uncovered by the Washington Post show that Netanyahu’s already working on a plan—a military occupation that divides Gaza in two. The military is busy blowing up university buildings to make it happen.
- This is notable since no one on the Israeli military council supports taking control of Gaza.
- The first shipment of humanitarian aid from the offshore pier set up by the Americans has arrived in Gaza.
You can see the satellite images below:
Byju’s is in even bigger trouble
The context: India’s most valuable tech startup defaulted on a $1.2 billion loan. The US lenders took Byju’s to court in Delaware—demanding their money back or, at the very least, control of its US holdings. Both sides sued each other and things got really nasty (all of it explained in this Big Story). There were allegations that the company parked the collateral of the loan—$533 million—in a shady investment fund. Over the past year, Byju’s has slashed its operations, cut costs, and promised to turn a new leaf in attempts to raise money.
What happened now: Rajnish Kumar and Mohandas Pai have exited the advisory panel of Byju’s parent company—Think & Learn Pvt. Ltd. They were brought in to show that founder Byju Raveendran was finally heeding sensible advice—and was working on fixing Byju’s financial and legal problems. Pai and Kumar joined the panel at a time when the company’s key investors quit its board. Here’s why they are leaving now:
One of the reasons behind both Kumar and Pai snapping ties with Byju’s, according to one executive, is on account of the company getting embroiled in litigation. Byju’s is facing lawsuits both in India and in the US from its creditors and key shareholders, who want the founder ousted.
This is the latest sign of a sinking ship. Last month, the newly hired CEO Arjun Mohan quit his job, as well. (Mint)
Content warning: The story below contains a clip that shows domestic violence that may be difficult to watch.
Sean “Diddy” Combs: Exposed by a CCTV horror clip
Over the weekend, CNN accessed and aired a shocking clip from 2016. The CCTV footage of a hotel in LA shows the rapper assaulting his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura—outside the lifts. She appears to be trying to leave—with her purse and suitcase—when he throws her down, kicks her—and drags her back to the room. Combs has since issued an Insta apology, saying he was “disgusted” by his behaviour—and has since sought therapy.
Ventura had previously sued Combs—accusing him of rape and years of domestic abuse. He settled the lawsuit in November for an unknown amount—but his lawyer claimed: “Mr. Combs‘ decision to settle the lawsuit does not in any way undermine his flat-out denial of the claims.” Btw, the LA police has already said it cannot prosecute the crime—as it's beyond the statute of limitations. CNN has a lot more on the tape. You can see the clip below—sorry, we think it is important to face the ugliness if and when you can.
OpenAI cuts back on safety
The context: In July last year, OpenAI set up a new ‘superalignment’ team to focus on the long-term risks of its AI products. Ilya Sutskever—the company’s chief scientist, and one of the co-founders—co-led this team with Jan Leike. This was part of CEO Sam Altman’s grandstanding about AI ethics—even as he junked the company’s “primary fiduciary duty” to put interest of “humanity” over profit. (explained in this Big Story)
What happened now: Sutskever and Leike have now resigned—and the superalignment team has been disbanded. In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), Leike said his decision was the result of “a disagreement over the company’s priorities”—and resource allocation to his team. Reminder: OpenAI launched their new omnichannel chatbot, GPT-4o, a day before the resignations. Reminder: Altman is the king of “doomy AI talk”—making dark prophecies about the hazards of AI—even as he works to make them come true, apparently. (Wired, paywall, CNBC)
Meanwhile, over at Apple: According to The Information, Apple is working on a slimmer version of the iPhone—perhaps called iPhone 17 Slim. It is slated for release in September 2025—and could be their most expensive phone yet. If true, this will mark the first major design change in the iPhone since 2017—when the company got rid of the home button, introduced FaceID, and switched to an OLED display. Apple also plans to launch a cheaper version of the iPhone, to replace its iPhone SE series, in 2025. All of this frantic activity is to keep up with Samsung—which is now at pole position with 20.8% of the global market. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, at Samsung: The company rolled out a not-so-subtle response to Apple’s controversial iPad ad—which showed instruments, art supplies, and more objects being pulped by a shiny and slim iPad Pro. Watch it below. (The Verge)
Fiery trouble for Air India
Early on Saturday, the Air India Express flight from Bangalore to Kochi had to make an emergency landing—five minutes after taking off—after its right engine caught fire. The flight made a precautionary landing in Bangalore—and evacuated all 179 passengers and six crew members to safety. Mercifully, there were no injuries. No one knows the cause of this fire. Why this is notable: On Friday, an Air India flight from Delhi to Bangalore reported a fire in its AC unit. You can see the burning engine of the Kochi flight below. (Hindustan Times)
Unearthed: A new branch of the Nile
Scientists have long wondered how ancient Egyptians built 31 pyramids in the middle of the Sahara desert. It seemed impossible to transport such massive stones—many weighing over 10 tonnes—over land. They have finally found the answer: a long-dried stretch of the Nile river which once ran alongside the location of the pyramids—including the Giza complex:
At the time of the pyramids' construction, the hidden branch would have been a bustling highway, 64 kilometres long, around half a kilometre wide and at least 25 metres deep. The team’s work suggests that the branch’s days were numbered following a major drought some 4,200 years ago, which contributed to it drying up and silting over. This time frame coincides almost perfectly with the end of the sixth dynasty (around 2340 BC), when pyramid construction largely halted.
You can see the route of the ancient Nile branch in the map below. (BBC News)
Vatican’s new rules for the supernatural
The context: The Catholic Church has long dealt with claims of supernatural phenomena—such as weeping Virgin Mary statues and divine apparitions. The location of some of these ‘events’ are now famous pilgrimage spots—like Fatima in Portugal or Lourdes in France.
What happened now: Tired of the flood of hoaxes spread on social media, the Vatican has changed the rules of verification—for the first time since 1978. For starters, local bishops can no longer declare the validity of apparitions and revelations. Direct approval from Vatican authorities is now required. More importantly:
Significantly, the church will no longer endorse or verify any event as supernatural in origin. In that case, labelled as nihil obstat, the church will be determining that, while the event is not confirmed as supernatural, nothing about it is contrary to the faith. While bishops may promote it, Catholics will no longer be compelled to believe it, the document makes clear.
To review: Jesus making a surprise appearance on toast—will have to be verified by the Vatican. And even if it is indeed ‘verified’, you don’t have to believe that’s Jesus—to be a good Catholic. Yes, we added this bit just to show you the toast lol! (USA Today)
Three things to see
One: Rohit Sharma called out Star Sports for airing his personal convo with Abhishek Nayar, assistant coach for Kolkata Knight Riders. It occurred on the sidelines of the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders match—on May 11. He accused the channel of breaching his privacy:
Despite asking Star Sports to not record my conversation, it was and was also then played on air, which is a breach of privacy. The need to get exclusive content and focused only on views and engagement will one day break the trust between the fans, cricketers and cricket.
As to what he said, the audio is unclear. But the best Reddit guess is Sharma was talking about his Mumbai Indians sorrows:
Ek ek cheez change ho raha hai... . Woh unke upar hai, main ye sab pe dhyaan nahi data... . Jo bhi hai woh mera ghar hai bhai, woh temple jo hai na maine banwaya hai. Bhai mera kya, mera toh last hai. (Everything is changing one by one. It depends on them, I don't care about that. Whatever it is, it's my home. It's a temple that I've built. Anyway, this is my last.)
Check out the clip below. (Economic Times)
Two: British singer Ed Sheeran was on the latest instalment of ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’—where he performed ‘Shape Of You’ bhangra-style. MoneyControl has loads more on other antics on the episode—or you can just watch it on Netflix.
Three: On Saturday night, the night skies of Spain and Portugal were lit up by a meteor. According to the European Space Agency, the fireball was a piece of a comet that was travelling at around 100,000 miles per hour. It likely burned up over the Atlantic Ocean. See the incredible flash caught by ESA’s camera in Cáceres, Spain. (Space.com)
