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. In the latest episode, we look at the brilliant backstory of cricket in America, a very useful travel guide to Croatia, and the best picks of what to watch, in theatres or on streaming.
FYI: 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.
The Ukraine peace summit: India says ‘nyet’
The context: Switzerland hosted a two-day Summit on Peace in Ukraine, hoping to end the war between Moscow and Kyiv. About 100 delegates attended, including heads of states, and world organisations. However, Russia wasn’t even invited to the summit—which was primarily a show of solidarity with Ukraine.
What happened now: New Delhi refused to endorse the joint statement released at the conclusion of the summit. The ‘Joint Communique on a Peace Framework’ called for the protection of Ukraine’s “territorial integrity”—and endorses Kyiv’s peace plan. It was signed by 80 countries—including Turkey, Qatar and Iraq. But India said ‘nyet’ because “only those options acceptable to both parties can lead to abiding peace.” In other words, there’s no point endorsing a plan that Moscow will never accept. FYI: At least six other countries passed on the proclamation as well: Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates. (The Hindu)
Meanwhile, in Italy: The Group of Seven countries (G7)—made up of the US and its key allies—met in Puglia, Italy. Over the weekend, they signed off on a $50 billion loan to Ukraine. It will be financed by frozen Russian assets worth $325 billion in the West. They generate $3 billion in interest—which will be used to pay the interest on the loan. It’s always nice when someone else underwrites for your virtue—even if it is against their will. President Putin has called the move “a criminal action.”
What’s worth noting: The money won’t reach Ukraine until the end of the year—and is unlikely to help change the course of the war—which Kyiv is currently losing. BBC News has more on whether it breaks international law.
Speaking of Italy: PM Modi was in Puglia as a G7 guest—warmly greeted by host Italian PM Giorgia Meloni—who released this kinda cringe vid. The accompanying message: “Hello, from the Melodi team!” Eeks! (Economic Times)
War on Gaza: A tactical pause
The IDF has declared a daily ‘tactical pause’ in military operations—from 8am to 7pm—to allow humanitarian aid trucks to enter the region. The announcement coincides with Eid al-Adha—and ongoing ceasefire negotiations. Why this matters: Aid shipments into Gaza have been declining at a precipitous rate—even as great parts of the strip are in near-famine conditions:
From 6 May until 6 June, the UN received an average of 68 trucks of aid a day, according to figures from OCHA. That was down from 168 a day in April and far below the 500 trucks a day that aid groups say are needed.
What’s notable: Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed to be angry at the military for declaring a pause: “We have a country with an army, not an army with a country.” Presumably, this is to keep the far-right happy. Associated Press has more on the political angle.
School textbooks see no evil
The context: A great part of the government’s education policy rehaul involves rewriting textbooks—as we explained in this Big Story. Many of the edits involve rewriting history, as well.
What happened now: The revised version of the Class 12 textbook for Political Science has been released with some pointed omissions:
[The] textbook does not mention the Babri Masjid by name calling it a “three-domed structure,” has pruned the Ayodhya section from four to two pages and deleted telling details from the earlier version. These include: the BJP rath yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992; President’s rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP’s expression of “regret over the happenings at Ayodhya.”
Similar changes were made to the Class 11 textbooks as well. When asked about this creative writing exercise, the NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklan said: "Why should we teach about riots in school textbooks? We want to create positive citizens, not violent and depressed individuals.” Well, who can argue with that? The Print has that story. (Indian Express)
Goa’s got new tourism plans
The government is prepping a controversial rehaul of its tourism laws. This includes:
- A new “tourism safety force” made up of police personnel—with sweeping powers to search, seize and arrest. They will be assisted by ‘tourist guards’—who are…? Nobody knows as of now.
- A 2% “sustainability fee” slapped on every transaction—on top of GST. But it’s collected from the businesses—who undoubtedly will pass it on to the customer.
- A big crackdown on “touts”—the folks who offer to sell you concert tickets, get you transportation, cut lines etc.
All of this part of the bigger plan to help Goa compete with Sri Lanka, Vietnam etc as a tourist destination. But local businesses say squeezing them dry isn’t the way to do it. Times of India has that story. (Indian Express)
Good news on sexual harassment laws
The Madras High Court has removed the deadline for reporting sexual harassment at the workplace. Until now, a person had three months to file a complaint. But this change only applies to serious cases that caused “mental trauma”—not lesser misconduct, such as passing lewd remarks (The Print)
A MeToo shocker in China: Two of the country’s most prominent MeToo activists have been sentenced to prison for “inciting subversion of the state”—which is a national security offence—slapped on activities such this:
A former independent journalist, Ms. Huang, 35, became a prominent voice in China’s #MeToo movement who helped women report cases of sexual harassment. Later, she travelled to Hong Kong and wrote essays about anti-government protests there. Mr. Wang, 40, was a longtime activist on behalf of workers and people with disabilities. He also helped #MeToo victims to speak out.
The verdict is shocking even in a country where dissent is ruthlessly squelched. According to one expert: “We are seeing an almost zero-tolerance approach to even the mildest forms of civil society activism in China.” Feminists who question patriarchy have therefore been dubbed agents of foreign forces. (New York Times)
Meanwhile, over at Apple: The company is being sued by two women—who claim that its female employees—past and present—have been paid less than their male counterparts. One plaintiff claims that her male colleague was “being paid almost $10,000 more than me, even though we performed substantially similar work.” One way women get screwed over:
Before the fall of 2017, Apple asked job applicants about their previous salaries and used that information to determine starting salaries, a practice outlawed in California in 2018 for perpetuating low wages for women. After 2018, Apple began inquiring about candidates' pay expectations, which the lawsuit alleges is essentially the same as asking about prior pay.
For more on the lawsuit, see Reuters.
A landmark surgery by a robot
A doctor in Italy performed prostate surgery on a patient who was 8,000 km away in Beijing. The history-making operation was performed in real-time over two days—thanks to a robot:
The procedure uses a console that displays a real-time image of their patient, enabling a surgeon to detect movement and direct the robotic arms that perform the operation. While Zhang [Xu] performed the radical prostatectomy from Italy, a medical team and a backup surgeon were with the patient in China where robotic arms matched each movement Zhang made to remove the cancerous tissue.
Why this matters: This is a possible game-changer for medical care during war and pandemics. (South China Morning Post)
Drones are harmful to whales
According to research—low-flying drones in Australia are disrupting the whales’ migration patterns and creating risks for their mating season—due to their speed, noise, and shadows. Experts noted that whales showed signs of being disturbed such as sudden dives, changes in swim direction, and increased frequencies of surfacing. In fact, marine mammals have been known to lash out when disturbed, and have even injured people in the past. To avoid that, different regions in Australia have come up with regulations to limit how close a drone can get to the whales, which range from 100 to 500 metres. In New South Wales, people operating drones closer than 100 metres to an animal can even be fined up to $3,300. (The Guardian)
Four things to see
One: With the Euros underway, ‘tis the season for football hooliganism. Let’s start with the worst of the lot—an axe-wielding man who was shot down by German police. It happened on a crowded street in the middle of the entertainment district. (New York Times)
English fans were in true form against the Serbians. Btw, England won that game 1-0. (The Telegraph)
Two: Kate Middleton finally made her first public appearance after 173 days—since she was diagnosed with cancer in December. We personally were intrigued by the ‘My Fair Lady’ theme:
You can see her with the kids below:
Three: Pope Francis—who reportedly referred to gays using an Italian slur—was the star of a huge PRIDE march in Rome. People came dressed as the pope, wore papal hats and brandished cardboard cutouts of him. And everyone had a jolly good time. (Associated Press)
Four: Students at IIM Amritsar staged a sleep-in at their college mess—to protest the lack of air conditioning. The canteen is the only place with AC—and the temps were close to 45°C. (Moneycontrol)
