Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar
The bestest Secret Santa shopping guide
ICYMI, our holiday shopping guide in this week’s Advisory offered a sneak peek of Souk—the next, most amazing thing from splainer. Souk will do the exact same thing as we have done for news... except for shopping. We're cutting out the noise and hype to make it effortless for you to discover lovely, useful, quality products and brands.
The shopping guide—split up into lists of ‘under Rs 500’ and ‘under Rs 1,000’—is a taste of the fresh, hatke recommendations the Souk team plans to offer. Of this list of 30 items, members of the splainer team are picking our must-buy favourites. Aarthi has her eyes on Robin Ha’s ‘Cook Korean’ graphic book with recipes (priced Rs 799) and the Gulab Singh Johrimal Handmade Soaps (priced Rs 360 for a set of eight!) It is all about the aroma! You can pick your faves over here. Let us know what you liked or what we missed over at talktous@splainer.in.
A wild murder story outta Manhattan
Around 6:45 am, Brian Thompson—CEO of UnitedHealthcare insurance—was shot and killed as he left his hotel in New York City. It was a ‘targeted killing’—straight out of the plot of a detective series. There is now a full-on manhunt for the killer—who fled on an e-bike. The CCTV clip below isn’t gory but is still disturbing:
Making things even murkier: He was killed just before a big investor meeting—scheduled to kick off that morning. UnitedHealth is the biggest medical health insurance company in the United States. Also: His wife says Thompson had told her about receiving death threats—for denying insurance coverage. CBS News has the full ‘Law & Order’ version of this shocking story—including unspecified "forensic evidence" at the nearby Starbucks. Wall Street Journal (login required) has more on Thompson’s final moments.
Gunshots fired at Sukhbir Singh Badal
The context: On Monday, the Akal Takht—the highest religious body of Sikhs—ordered the removal of Sukhbir Singh Badal as president of Shiromani Akali Dal—for his ties to convicted cult leader Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. As part of his punishment, Badal was ordered to perform guard duty at the Golden Temple—surrounded by his own Z-Plus security guards! It seemed kinda funny at the time.
What happened now: Yesterday, a man approached the entrance of the Temple, pulled out a pistol and attempted to shoot Badal. A courageous security guard rushed the shooter. Thanks to him, the bullet hit the wall—and not Badal—and he was apprehended by guards. You can see the entire sequence of events below:
Who is the shooter? Narain Singh Chaura is a former militant—first arrested in 2004 for helping the assassins of ex CM Beant Singh escape from jail. He is also linked to a number of extremist Khalistani groups—and seems to have led a remarkably active life as a militant:
A bounty of Rs 10 lakh was put on his head in one of the cases in which he was absconding. Police said Chaura crossed over to Pakistan in 1984 and was instrumental in smuggling weapons and explosives into Punjab during the initial phase of terrorism. He allegedly authored a book on guerrilla warfare and “seditious” literature in Pakistan.
But, but, but: He seemed to have retired from his criminal career—and is now “known more as a political and social activist.”
Chaura’s motive: remains obscure for now. He seems to have been angry at the Akali Dal—and wrote social media posts claiming its leaders could never be absolved for its many ‘sins’. (Hindustan Times)
Russian drones ‘hunt’ civilians in Kherson
The context: Ever since the start of Russia’s war on Ukraine in February 2022, the port city of Kherson has been a key battleground. The reason: it’s a gateway to Crimea in the south—which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014—and to larger Ukrainian ports around the Black Sea—the only water body Kyiv can access. So if you capture and control Kherson, you can cut Ukraine from the global supply chain.
The battle over Kherson: The Russians captured Kherson early in March 2022—but Ukraine retook the city in November of the same year—one of their biggest victories. Now Moscow is planning a new offensive, but using a brand new—and horrific—military strategy. It is using drones to specifically target civilians—a war crime—in order to drive them from the city:
The killer machines, sometimes by the swarm, hover above homes, buzz into buildings and chase people down streets in their cars, riding bicycles or simply on foot. The targets are not soldiers, or tanks, but civilian life. “They are hunting us,” said Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration. “Imagine what that does to a person, the psychological impact.
Fewer the residents, the easier it is to take the city. FYI: Kherson’s pre-war population of 250,000 is now just 60,000. Ukrainian officials also claim that Moscow is using civilians as “target practice” for its strikes. Russian drones have hit the city 9,500 times and killed 37 people. Reminder: Israel has long been using drones to target civilians in Gaza. (Financial Times, paywall, BBC News)
Veo vs Sora: The great AI showdown
Sora—OpenAi’s tool that turns textual prompts into short video clips—has a formidable rival: Veo—from Google DeepMind. It has now been rolled out for select businesses, like Oreo and Quora, through Google’s enterprise platform. Here’s an example of how it works (it includes a puppy, of course):
The earlier demo version has an excellent prompt: “A woman sitting alone in a dimly lit cafe, a half-finished novel open in front of her. Film noir aesthetic, mysterious atmosphere. Black and white.” The result:
FYI: “Veo can generate 1080p clips of animals, objects, and people up to six seconds in length at either 24 or 30 frames per second.” As for the Big Q—is it better than Sora?—the jury is still out. (Techcrunch).
Moving on to more useful AI tools: Google also unveiled AI Agent—a weather prediction tool that has “unmatched skill and speed in devising 15-day forecasts”—which is double the current 10-day limit. It offers the world’s best predictions of deadly storms as well as everyday weather. (New York Times)
Are cereals making your muscles ‘fat’?
According to a new study, eating ultra-processed foods—think frozen meals, cereals etc—results in “muscle fattiness.” Yes, muscles also store fat—especially the ones in your thigh. Processed foods disrupt your metabolism—and ‘fatten’ muscles—irrespective of calorie intake or physical activity. In other words, you don’t even have to binge-eat those Bingos. Why this matters: “The presence of fat within muscle tissue, known as muscle infiltration, is not just a cosmetic issue; it's linked to insulin resistance, reduced muscle function, and a higher risk of falls and fractures in the elderly.” (Financial Times, paywalled. The Sun).
what caught our eye
business & tech
- The Verge has introduced a paywall, charging $7 a month, after many readers asked for a way to support its journalism.
- Amazon has teamed up with AI startup Orbital to test a new material that will capture carbon at one of its data centers—which guzzle energy and accelerate CO2 emissions. Check out our Big Story for more on the energy cost of AI.
- Amazon is also building a massive AI supercomputer, "Project Rainier," using its own Trainium chip. The big plan: support Anthropic in its battle with OpenAI—while taking aim at Nvidia’s chip monopoly.
sports & entertainment
- ‘Girls Will Be Girls’—a Sundance-winning coming-of-age film is coming to Prime Video on December 18. We’re excited.
- Netflix will release a docu-series on ‘The Roshans’—as in Hrithik, Rakesh and Rajesh.
- Ed Sheeran will make history as the first Western artist to perform in Bhutan on January 24, 2025.
as for the rest
- South Korean president Yook Suk Yeol—who was foiled in his attempt to impose martial law—will face impeachment.
- France’s government collapsed after a no-confidence vote ousted PM Michel Barnier, marking the shortest administration in the Fifth Republic.
- Sheikh Hasina stole up to $30 billion from Bangladesh’s financial system during her 15 years of rule.
- Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn in as Maharashtra CM with Ajit Pawar as Deputy CM after the Mahayuti's victory in the state election.
- New Yorker (login required) has a fascinating read on an entire industry dedicated to erasing romantic heartbreak. Some remedies include injections!!
- Residents of Mulugu, Telangana, initially mistook the tremors from a 5.3 magnitude earthquake for monkeys causing havoc.
- Coca-Cola has drastically rolled back its promise to reduce plastic—from achieving 100% recycled packaging by 2030 to just 30-35% by 2035.
- The EU has reduced protections for wolves—permitting more culling, a move predictably supported by farmers and hunters but attacked by conservationists.
- Assam’s government has banned beef consumption in public—because political parties are using beef to influence Muslim voters (?!).
- A new study suggests that caffeine could reduce alcohol's effects on the brain and help prevent addiction by blocking the release of dopamine.
- Lead exposure from gasoline over the past century has contributed to 151 million added cases of mental illness in the US, according to a new study.
Three things to see
One: Scottish Sikh artist Jasleen Kaur has won the Turner Prize—the most prestigious award in British art. Previous recipients include Anish Kapoor and Steve McQueen, among others. Below is an example of her work—a vintage car covered in a giant doily. (New York Times, login required)
Two: Maroon 5 performed at their first India concert on Tuesday in Mumbai. The highlight: Adam serenading a fan with ‘She will be loved’. Aww. (The Hindu)
Three: Disney’s live-action musical version of ‘Snow White’ is finally here—with Rachel Zegler as the princess and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen—which feels kinda fitting these days. It hits theatres on March 21, 2025.
feel good place
One: Belly Bum dancing with the cast of ‘What We Do in the Shadows’.
Two: The poetics of… dating.
Three: Marvel-ous monkey to the rescue!
