Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
War on Gaza: Biden makes a move
After scolding Bibi for months—and being ignored—Washington has finally hit pause on a weapons shipment to Israel. It contained thousands of “dumb bombs” that have been used to devastate Gaza—and killed thousands of civilians.
The aim was to deter the invasion of Rafah—which clearly hasn’t worked. (Washington Post, paywall, Reuters)
As for Rafah: Aid shipments have stopped—due to the Israeli invasion:
All main entry points to the south of Gaza are closed and there has been widespread looting of existing stocks in Rafah after aid agencies were forced to leave warehouses unguarded following warnings to evacuate the area from Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) ahead of the military offensive launched on the city on Tuesday morning.
Reminder: Gaza is in the midst of a full-blown famine. As for the bombing:
AFPTV footage showed Palestinians scrambling in the dark to pull survivors, bloodied and caked in dust, out from under the rubble of a Rafah building. "We are living in Rafah in extreme fear and endless anxiety as the occupation army keeps firing artillery shells indiscriminately," said Muhanad Ahmad Qishta, 29.
"Rafah is witnessing a very large displacement, as places the Israeli army claims to be safe are also being bombed," he told AFP. Al-Ahli hospital said a strike on an apartment in devastated Gaza City killed seven members of the same family and wounded several other people.
The Guardian has a ground report on the famine.
Rapping for Palestine: Macklemore dropped a new track taking aim at Biden—for supporting Israel. It’s called ‘Hind’s Hall’—after the Columbia Uni building which was recently occupied by students. The Hall itself is named after a six-year old Gazan child, Hind Rajab, killed by Israeli tanks. Reports say that she was on a call for three hours before her tragic death, begging rescue workers to come save her after the family’s car came under fire. Check out the track below:
Election 2024: The latest update
Modi on Muslims: In a rare TV interview with Times Now, the Prime Minister offered even rarer comments on his and his party’s alleged hostility to Muslims. He also took the opportunity to urge Indian Muslims to “introspect and think about the future.” You can see the vid below.
If you don’t understand Hindi all that wall, here’s the gist in translation:
The country is moving forward. If your community is lagging, then what is the reason? Did you receive the benefit of government schemes during Congress' rule? If you keep thinking about who to put in power and who to remove, you will only ruin the future of your children. The Muslim community is changing across the world… Think about your future. I don’t want any community to live the life of bonded labour due to an atmosphere of fear.
Pitroda steps down: Modi-ji may be immune from consequences of his rhetoric, but the chief of the Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda had to step down after saying this:
People in the East look like the Chinese, people in the West look like the Arabs, people in the North look like, maybe, White, and people in the South look like Africans… It does not matter. All of us are brothers and sisters.
To which Modi said:
Yeh chamadi ki rang ka khel Shehzade ko kisne ijazat di hai. Samvidhan sar pe lekarke nachne wale log… (Who gave permission to these people who play this game with skin colour—and dance with the Constitution on their head)... Modi will never tolerate it.
Sigh. (Indian Express)
An IPL protest: Twelve workers of the student wing staged a protest against Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest—in the stands at an IPL match in Delhi. They were detained by police—for allegedly ruining the game for others. You can see them in action below. (Mint)
An Olympics-sized scandal in France
In the run up to the football World Cup in Qatar, there was relentless coverage of the treatment of migrant workers who built the stadiums and other sites. French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron boasted Paris would be different… or maybe not. According to a New York Times exposé:
But inspection records and other documents show that Olympics sites have been more dangerous than organizers have let on, with some projects failing to meet basic safety standards. When undocumented immigrants are hurt on the job, workers and officials say, the injuries are often handled off the books, all but guaranteeing that they will not show up in government statistics.
We strongly recommend reading the original piece in The New York Times (splainer gift link) which speaks volumes for the situation of immigrants in France.
In happier Olympics news: The flame arrived in Marseille to help kick off the Games. It will go on a 79-day relay across the country—before ending up in Paris in time for the opening ceremony on July 26. (BBC News)
First Vistara, now Air India: Cancellation crisis!
The context: Vistara pilots are refusing to show up at work in protest against drastic cuts to their salaries—which has resulted in cancellations, delays and chaos all around. All this is a fallout of the Tatas’ decision to consolidate their three airlines—Air India, Vistara, and AirAsia.
What happened now: Over 90 Air India Express flights—both domestic and international—were cancelled over the past two days. The reason: 300 cabin crew members called in sick at the last minute. As with Vistara, they are protesting the changes to their employment contract—due to the merger with AirAsia:
They claim that some staff members were offered lower job positions despite clearing interviews.The crew has also alleged that the key parts of the compensation package have been modified or removed and that the airline management is shutting down the dissenting voices, sources said.
The situation does not seem to have improved today. (NDTV)
Climate change: An important link to disease
According to a new study, human beings are making the planet more hospitable for infectious diseases. A new study looked at five “global change drivers”—biodiversity change, climate change, chemical pollution, the introduction of nonnative species and habitat loss or change. All of them increase the risk of disease. Now, this may seem like a no-brainer, but this is why the research matters:
This paper is one of the strongest pieces of evidence that I think has been published that shows how important it is that health systems start getting ready to exist in a world with climate change, with biodiversity loss.
Surprising point to note: Urbanisation decreases the risk of infectious disease. (New York Times, paywall)
Speaking of the weather: We all know that home delivery is convenient—but hardly good for the planet. But thanks to Zomato, you’ll at least know just how hot it is outside. The company has created a “proprietary network of 650+ on-ground weather stations” called the Weather Union. CEO Deepinder Goyal describes it as the “largest private infrastructure of its kind in our country.” It will provide real-time information on temperature, humidity, wind speed, rainfall etc in 45 cities. The open-source tool is available to companies and organisations—free of cost. (Mint)
Not helping fight climate change: A new initiative by two government bodies—the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Central Leather Research Institute—called ‘Wrinkles Achche Hai’. They are asking staff, students, and employees to wear unironed clothes on Mondays until May 15. How will this save the planet:
An iron takes about 800 – 1200 Watts of power to operate, which is 20-30 times more than the power taken by a bulb. 74% electricity in India is produced using coal. Ironing one pair of clothes for a family of five (using an iron for 30-60 minutes) can thus result in the emission of one kg of carbon dioxide.
Too bad, the leather industry is considered one of the largest polluters—and CSIR labs use large volumes of equally toxic chemicals. (Indian Express)
Designer brand lovers beware!
More than 800,000 shoppers across Europe and the US were targets of a global online scam—executed by hackers out of China. They created tens of thousands of fake online shops offering huge discounts on designer brands. The aim: “to lure shoppers into parting with money and sensitive personal data.” They look worrying real, as you can see:
The Guardian has this exclusive.
A dirty truth about IPL fans
A new survey has exposed a dark, dark reality about the world’s most popular cricket league: Half of its fans do not support any team. Haw! Even worse: When they do have faves—brace yourself!—it has nothing to do with the team’s performance on the field. The results also confirm what we always suspected about those RCB bhakts in Bengaluru:
Despite their consistent success in the IPL, CSK fans generally hold their team to a high standard while fans of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) – which is yet to lift the trophy – are more lenient, the survey found, suggesting RCB fans have a more emotional connection with their team.
We can’t stop laughing. FYI: CSK is the most popular team—mainly due to Mahi. Mint has more on the brand/biz implications.
In sadder IPL news: Mumbai Indians became the first team to be eliminated in this year’s tournament. Bechara Hardik. Indian Express has that story.
Taking the knife out of Swiss knife
The most famous multi-tool in the world is the Swiss army knife—made by Victorinox. Each one of these has 73 functions—and at least one blade… until now. The knife will soon be history—primarily because of security rules that ban them in public spaces. Think: airplanes, cinemas, malls etc. The company is moving on to creating specialised tools—for cyclists, for example—that don’t need a blade. (CNN)
