headlines that matter

Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh, Aakriti Anand & Raghav Bikhchandani

Swifties in Vienna: ISIS’ new target? 

All three Taylor Swift’s upcoming concerts in Vienna have been cancelled due to bomb threats—made by individuals linked to ISIS. Two people have been arrested. 

The prime suspects: A number of them are from the former Yugoslavia. One is a 19-year-old Austrian man of North Macedonian heritage. The police found machetes, detonators, and chemicals used to make bombs at his residence. He has made a full confession—and sworn allegiance to ISIS. The other is a 17-year-old Austrian citizen with Turkish and Croatian roots.  

The return of ISIS: An ISIS attack feels like a bizarre flashback—but the Islamic State has made something of a comeback over the past year—fulfilling dire warnings of terrorism experts. The ISIS-K (Khorasan) made global headlines in March for a gruesome and brazen attack on a concert hall in Moscow (See: this Big Story).

What’s worrying and new: All those involved are Austrian teenagers—signalling a new ISIS strategy: 

“Groups like (ISIS-K are) specifically targeting young teenagers,” [terrorism expert Peter] Neumann said. “They may not be very useful. They may mess up. They may change their mind,” he said, but they are “not least less suspicious. Who would think of a 13-year-old as a terrorist? One is enough.” Teenagers were being recruited through social media platforms like TikTok, dragged through algorithms into “bubbles” online where jihadist recruiters can reach them, Neumann said.

A new choice of target? Not really. Concert venues have always been popular “soft” targets—where the population density is high but the level of security is low. As one expert puts it: “Think of it as ‘high yield’ for the bad guys.” You can see The Conversation’s map of the number and location of those attacked since 1996 below:

Point to note: Organisers had expected up to 65,000 fans inside each stadium—and as many as 30,000 outside.

What’s next: London has no plans to cancel its Swift concerts—slated for August 15 and 20. City Mayor Sadiq Khan said, “We’re going to carry on.” Reminder: a 2017 attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester killed 22 people.

Reading list: Associated Press has more on the foiled attacks. CNN explains how social media chatter is radicalising kids. The Conversation has more on concert venues as a terrorist target. Our Big Story on the Moscow attacks does an excellent job of explaining the return of ISIS.

Olympics update: Neeraj secures silver!

Neeraj Chopra threw his javelin down 89.45 metres—the second best of his career. However, it wasn’t enough to retain his gold medal from Tokyo 2020. 

That honour went to his friend and rival—Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem—who smashed the Olympics record with a monster throw of 92.97 metres. And if you thought that was a fluke, Arshad breached the 90-metre mark again with his final throw of the night. 

With his only legal throw being that 89.45-metre effort, Neeraj was carrying an injury and had to settle for silver—but according to his mother, Arshad is also a son to her. Awwwww. 

The Hindu has the match report, while Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a good profile on Neeraj. Enjoy the highlights and Arshad’s record-breaking throw below.

Bronze in hockey! For the second Olympics in a row, India has won the men’s bronze medal match—this time it was 2-1 against Spain, with captain Harmanpreet scoring both goals. It was also an emotional farewell for our stalwart goalkeeper PR Sreejesh—who announced his retirement ahead of the match. Indian Express has the analysis on India’s run while The Hindu has a great read on Sreejesh. Check out Harmanpreet’s game-winning goal below.

Sticking with India: The Vinesh Phogat saga continues—her plea for a joint silver medal in women’s 50 kg freestyle wrestling will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CaS) today. Indian Express has a good piece on her heartbreak and all the people who abandoned the wrestler up to this point.

Things to see: The Games in Paris continued to throw up some incredible moments. Here are our favourites.

One: France’s Alice Finot placed fourth in the women’s 3000m steeplechase—the best ever finish by a European—and proposed to her boyfriend right after. 

Two: China’s Zhou Yaqin won the silver medal in women’s artistic gymnastics balance beam, but learned something new from the two Italians on the podium—biting your medal!

Three: These five perfectly timed gold-winning dives in synchronised swimming.

Four: This roundup of the standout fashion choices in Paris—starting with Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes’ Ken-do attitude!

The US elections: The latest update

One: Donald Trump held a press conference—where he agreed to a debate—hosted by ABC—with Kamala Harris on September 10. This was part of the original agreement with the Biden team. He’s also suggested two other debates—hosted by Fox News and NBC, respectively. Trump also “repeatedly mispronounced Ms Harris’s first name, criticised her intelligence and resurrected a series of familiar attacks casting her as ‘a radical left person.’” BBC News has more on the debate.

Two: Kamala Harris sent alarming signals that she plans to mirror Biden’s Israel policy. Her National Security Adviser tweeted: 

@VP has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups. She does not support an arms embargo on Israel. She will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law.

More significantly, the ‘clarification’ came on the heels of this showdown at Harris’ rally in Detroit: 

The New York Times’ gushing description of the incident tells you all that you need to know. What’s notable: her running mate Tim Walz’s language has been more sympathetic on Gaza. Also: Biden and leaders of Egypt and Qatar are readying a “final” cease-fire proposal—which they will present next week. The Guardian has more on the mixed signal from the Harris campaign—and the dilemma for pro-Palestinian voter groups such as the Uncommitted.

Stuff to see: The conservative Italian newspaper Il Tempo still hasn’t learned the difference between India and America—532 years after Christopher Colombus made the same damn mistake. Italians—always weak on geography.

Google and Meta ki shady jodi 

An FT exclusive revealed a “secret deal” between Google and Meta to sell ads for Instagram on Youtube—targeting teenagers. Why this is a big deal: Google has a very strict policy banning personalised ads for anyone under 18. The Insta campaign targeted 13- to 17-year-olds—who were marked as ‘unknown’ on YouTube advertising menu—to hide their age:

According to a Google Ads help page, the “unknown” demographic category refers to people whose age, gender, parental status, or household income are supposedly unidentified, and can allow advertisers to reach “a significantly wider audience” when selected. However, Google could use app downloads and online activity to determine “with a high degree of confidence” that the “unknown” group was populated by younger users.

Financial Times (splainer gift link) has the original investigation.

Farewell, Great Barrier Reef!

According to a new study in Nature, temperatures in the Coral Sea—off the coast of Australia—are the highest ever in 400 years. What the study shows—the role of humans in creating this catastrophe:

Without human influence, Coral Sea surface temperatures during January–March remain relatively constant since 1900. Add in the human impacts, and the region warms steadily in the early 1900s, then rapidly after the 1960s. In short: without human-caused global warming, the very high sea temperatures of recent years would be virtually impossible, based on our analysis using the world’s top climate models.

Due to global warming, the Reef has already experienced five major coral bleaching events in the last nine years. What this means:

The heat extremes are occurring too often for those corals to effectively adapt and evolve. If we don’t divert from our current course, our generation will likely witness the demise of one of Earth’s great natural wonders.

Yup, the Reef will die in our generation—not in some distant future. 

Data point to note: Between January 2023 and August 2024, 74% of the ocean reefs have experienced the level of heat stress that causes bleaching. Check out more on coral bleaching here. (New York Times, paywall, BBC News)

The ‘orgasm gap’ is still a thing

A new study shows that the orgasm gap between men and women has not narrowed—despite advances in sex education and women’s rights. Around 70 to 85% men experience an orgasm during sexual encounters—compared to 46% to 58% for straight women. 

What’s notable: Sexual orientation had an impact on the numbers for women—with lesbian and bisexual women experiencing higher rates of orgasm. There was no difference between straight and gay men. Also dismal news: The gap does not diminish with age—debunking the idea that older women experience greater pleasure because they become more connected with their needs etc etc. 

But, but, but: Previous research shows that straight women’s definition of sex—if they limit it to the penetrative kind—may also account for why they report lower numbers—since “the majority of women require some form of clitoral stimulation in order to orgasm.” 

Quote to note: According to one expert: “There are so many ways to experience sexual pleasure, so it’s important not to equate the orgasm gap to a pleasure gap”. New York Times (splainer gift link) has more. 

Is Humane’s AI Pin a dud? 

The context: Founded by two former Apple engineers—blessed with A-list funders like Sam Altman—Humane was valued at $850 million—before it even sold a single device. In April, they unveiled the $699 Ai Pin—hyped as a revolutionary device—much like the iPhone. Think of it as a wearable smartphone—except way, way smarter… or so its creators claim. This Big Story has all the details.

What happened now: The Ai Pin has proved to be a dud—more likely to be returned than bought: “1,000 purchases were canceled before shipping, and more than $1 million worth of product has been returned.” FYI: Humane’s lifetime sales is $9 million. 

The real killer: It can’t be refurbished or resold—because it is linked to a plan from service provider T-Mobile. So it can’t be reassigned to a new user. The just pin becomes e-waste. In total, Humane has only sold 10,000 Pins—far lower than its goal of 100,000 Pins within the first year. And only 7,000 of those customers still have their pins. Why this matters: It underlines the warning of many experts that the hype around AI may be excessive—and more accurately, premature. We’re not there yet. (The Verge)

Proof that cats are not a**holes! 

Needy slobbering creatures (aka dogs) have been making felines look bad since humans got themselves household pets. A new study shows that cats are not “aloof, independent and fickle in their affections.” They experience grief—and experience loss—when a fellow pet died (including dogs): 

They [cats] engaged less in sleeping, eating and playing but more in seeking attention from humans and other pets, hiding, spending time alone and appearing to look for their lost companions.

What this tells us: the psychological experience of loss could be universal—though some experts insist that humans are merely projecting their needs onto animals. (The Guardian)

what caught our eye

business & tech

• Be it reels, stories or photos, Instagram is making “views” the primary metric for content.
• Reliance has slashed jobs by nearly 11%, mostly in its retail business.
• The political unrest in Bangladesh could lead to a boost of 10-20% in export orders for India’s garments industry. 
• Foreign airlines like Riyadh Air and Turkish Airlines have started looking at India for cabin crew hiring—there’s plenty of aviation talent to go round after the closures of Go Air and Jet Airways.
• Formed in 2019 after the Christchurch mass shooting, the nonprofit initiative Global Alliance for Responsible Media will shut down as it can’t afford to fight a lawsuit filed against it by Elon Musk 

sports & entertainment 

• In light of the recent racist riots in the UK, Sri Lanka’s cricket board has raised security concerns over the men’s team’s upcoming Test series in England. 
• Actors Naga Chaitanya and Sobhita Dhulipala are now engaged.
• *NSYNC’s ‘Bye, Bye, Bye’, Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ and Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Iris’ have found a new lease of life on the Billboard charts—after featuring in ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’. 

as for the rest

• Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee—West Bengal’s last communist CM—passed away at 80 this week. The Telegraph looks at his importance within and beyond politics. 
• 300 schoolkids from a primary school in Kozhikode district are helping their peers affected by the Wayanad landslide by handwriting and photocopying their study materials from scratch. 
• Astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore—who performed the first crewed test flight of Boeing’s Starliner—may have to return to Earth on a different spacecraft, according to NASA. This Big Story has more on the technical issues of the spacecraft.
• OceanGate has been sued to the tune of $50 million over its submersible imploding near the wreckage of the Titanic last year (explained here).
• The WHO chief will convene experts to determine if the mpox outbreak in Africa is a global emergency
• Over 900 health workers staged a protest at Agartala’s Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital, seeking regularisation.
• Medicines approved in the US, UK, Japan, Australia, Canada and the EU no longer need clinical trials in India
• A prominent school in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budhh Nagar has caused controversy by implementing a “no non-veg” rule.
• Jack Karlson—the man behind an iconic viral meme on “democracy manifest” and a “succulent Chinese meal”—has passed away aged 82.

Three things to see

One: This may be the best take on Vinesh Phogat’s heartbreaking disqualification—offered by Supreme Court advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan. ICYMI: our previous edition has more on her loss.

Two: Double bronze-medallist Manu Bhaker returned to India—and immediately ended up at the Gandhi residence—proving everything under the sun can and will be politicised. Needless to say, BJP supporters were pissed off—especially given the PR around PM Modi’s loving congratulatory calls. (Indian Express)

FYI: The Phogat tragedy has become political, as well. Opposition uproar in the Rajya Sabha provoked a walk out by the Vice President himself. NDTV has that story.

Three: These ‘Harris Walz’ camouflage caps have already chalked up $1 million in sales! The ongoing debate: Are they inspired by Chappell Roan’s “Midwest Princess” line of hats? Our take: Who cares, camo hats are just plain ugly. (Quartz)

feel good place

One: Super phool, Super Mario—courtesy Japanese artist Raku Inoue. More of his work here.

Two: Best bathroom signs evah. 

Three: Us, in yoga class. 

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