Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
War on Gaza: The latest update
Ceasefire talks gather pace: The latest deal on the table is a 40-day pause in fighting—accompanied by the swap of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners. The big Q: Will the ceasefire be permanent or temporary? Israel is baulking, as usual—and threatening to invade Rafah irrespective of a deal. Interestingly, Washington is putting pressure not on Tel Aviv—but on Qatar—asking Doha to expel Hamas if it doesn’t take the deal. Washington Post has that story. (BBC News)
Israel expels Al Jazeera: Israel has ordered the closure of the Qatari news channel—which the company is calling a “criminal act.” According to authorities: the network’s “broadcast equipment will be confiscated, the channel’s correspondents will be prevented from working, the channel will be removed from cable and satellite television companies, and Al Jazeera’s websites will be blocked on the Internet.” The reason: Tel Aviv claims the channel incites hate and violence toward Israel. (CNN)
Campus protests update: Here’s what happened over the weekend:
- Protests spread to Europe—including Sciences Po in France, University College London, Trinity College in Dublin and campuses across Australia. But they are not as big or as angry. (New York Times)
- After the cops arrested protesters last week, 20 UCLA faculty members crashed a museum gala hosted by the university. It marks the increasing involvement of profs in the protests.
- The ‘counter protests’ became predictably ugly—and many have been hijacked by rightwing white men. In Mississippi, they threw bottles at the protesters—and made racist gestures. The Guardian has that story. See the clip below.
A travel ban: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sitta—who gave shocking testimony to human rights abuses by the IDF—was denied entry into France. He is a British citizen. He had previously been denied entry to Germany—which slapped a year-long Schengen-wide ban on Abu-Sitta. The Germans refused to provide reasons for their decision. (Al Jazeera)
Election 2024: The latest update
Karnataka: The nephew of JD(S) chief Prajwal Revanna fled the country—after clips of him sexually assaulting women became public. He was the MP from Hassan—and up for reelection. His father HD Revanna has now been sent to custody. The reason: “The former Minister is accused of being involved in the abduction of one of the victims of alleged sexual assault by his son, who is a former maid at his Holenarsipur house.”
Indian Express has an incredibly sad report on Prajwal’s victims—the women who have been forced to leave home due to the “stigma” of sexual assault. (The Hindu)
Telangana: On April 27, the Congress party in Telangana shared a doctored video of Home Minister Amit Shah saying he will abolish all reservations (see the clip here). The Delhi Police summoned Telangana CM Revanth Reddy to “join the probe”—which didn’t result in any action. Now, they have arrested the party’s social media coordinator Arun Reddy. He is accused of cropping and editing the vid. (Mint)
Irony alert: The Karnataka BJP posted an appalling anti-Muslim video. The Congress has complained—but the Election Commission is expected to do nothing. This is the second such clip. You can see it below. Note: We don’t want to promote hateful content but it is important for citizens to ‘see’ what’s happening—however ugly it may be. (Indian Express)
The Rohith Vemula suicide: Case closed!
The context: In January 2016, Dalit PhD scholar Rohith Vemula died by suicide–blaming systemic discrimination, abuse and harassment at University of Hyderabad.
What happened now: On March 21, the Telangana police submitted a closure report to the Telangana High Court, eight years after the incident. According to the Indian Express, it did not acknowledge his caste identity, the circumstances of his death or those accused of abetting his death—including Vice Chancellor P Appa Rao. Most shockingly:
The report — prepared in 2018 and officially submitted in the jurisdictional court on March 21 this year — claims that Vemula was not a Dalit and that it was likely the fear that his “real caste” would be revealed that led him to suicide.
Rohith’s mother and brother had expressed some "doubts and concerns" regarding the report and have appealed to the court to re-examine the case. Now, Telangana Police has reopened the investigation. Indian Express has other dismal—and enraging—details. The News Minute offers a handy summary.
Are gas stoves bad for your health?
According to a new study, gas stoves increase our exposure to nitrogen dioxide to unsafe levels. It’s 75% of the amounts regarded as safe by the WHO:
That means even if a person avoids exposure to nitrogen dioxide from traffic exhaust, power plants, or other sources, by cooking with a gas stove they will have already breathed in three-quarters of what is considered a safe limit…The research, which measured NO2 in more than 100 homes before, during, and after gas stove use, found that pollution migrates to bedrooms within an hour of the stove turning on, and stays above dangerous levels for hours after use.
Nitrogen dioxide irritates the airways and can exacerbate respiratory illnesses such as asthma. This is especially terrible news for Indians—who are already exposed to dangerous levels of coal emissions inside the home. The gas cylinder is considered a safer, healthier alternative. Our Big Story has more on why gas stoves are under fire—and implications for India. (The Guardian)
Two things to see
One: An orangutan in Indonesia was spotted treating his injuries with a medicinal plant:
Rakus spent 13 minutes eating the plant, and then he spent seven minutes chewing the leaves and not swallowing, instead daubing the plant's juices onto his wound. When flies began landing on his wound, Rakus fully covered it with leaf material and went back to eating the plant.
Scientists describe it as the “first known case of active wound treatment in a wild animal with a medical plant.” Basically, no one had seen a wild animal use ‘medicine’ to treat its injuries before. Even happier news: The wound healed, without an infection, and only left a faint scar! The plant is called Akar Kuning, and is known to have healing properties, and bring pain relief. More on the study here. See Rakus in action below. (NPR)
Two: Francis Ford Coppola fans rejoice! Here’s the first teaser clip for his long awaited passion project ‘Megalopolis’. The movie—which has been in the works since the 1980s—stars Adam Driver and Forest Whitaker in lead roles. Coppola self-financed a large part of the movie, which is set in dystopian New York, and follows an architect trying to rebuild the city. There’s no date as yet for a theatrical release, but the film is due to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17.
