Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath, Anannya Parekh & Aakriti Anand
Donald Trump makes criminal history
The context: Donald Trump was charged with paying hush money to two alleged lovers, right before the 2016 election. He basically wanted to shut them up. Trump paid $150,000 to one and $130,000 to the other. Now, paying that kind of hush money isn’t illegal, as such. The problem is that he paid to cover up information that could hurt him in the presidential election. That’s a violation of the US campaign law. And then, he faked his business records to cover up the cover up. That’s illegal, as well.
What happened now: He became the first former US president to ever be convicted of a felony. A New York jury found him guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11. But these kinds of offences rarely carry jail time.
Of course, he will also appeal the verdict—and he can still run for president. Yup, there is nothing in the US Constitution that bars a convicted criminal from running for the highest office in the land. It only requires that the person be at least 35 years old, a natural born citizen, and a US resident for at least 14 years. Hence, Trump’s feisty response to the verdict: “This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5 by the people.”
Point to note: “Trump faces three other prosecutions—two over his alleged efforts to overturn President Biden’s 2020 election victory and one alleging he illegally retained classified documents after leaving the White House—though none may go to trial before Election Day.” (Wall Street Journal, paywall, CNN)
Also paying the piper: Prajwal Revanna. The MP accused of sexually abusing a great number of women (explained here) was arrested the moment he landed in Bangalore airport. He came in on a flight from Munich. Revanna had promised to turn himself in to the police by this morning—and has already applied for anticipatory bail. It remains to be seen if he will be able to wander free before election results are out. (Indian Express)
OTOH, being unfairly punished: Fourteen pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong—most of whom are politicians. They were convicted of conspiring to “subvert state power.” Why it matters: It sets a “significant precedent” criminalising non-violent acts under the draconian national security law. (The Guardian)
How Google search really works
There’s a lot of noise over a leaked document that reveals just how Google ranks search results. This is a big deal, of course. If something doesn’t show up on search, it might as well not exist. Once you get past the confusing SEO jargon, here’s what the doc shows: “A website deemed popular by Google may receive a higher Search ranking for a query even though a lesser-known site may have better information.” Contrary to its claims, the company gives a significant and unfair advantage to big brands—which get more clicks. This, in turn, is why all of us are drowning in clickbait.
Why this matters: Quite simply: Google’s “search rankings can help determine whether a business succeeds or fails.”
Point to note: This also explains why smaller media outlets like splainer are practically invisible on the internet:
In recent months, several small publishers have seen their Google Search traffic vanish… These ranking features could indicate the levers Google can pull. As more and more national media organisations licence their content to appear on ChatGPT, Google Search also appears to be skewing towards larger publishers. Broadly, this could have a squashing effect, compressing what most people hear into just mainstream media organisations.
FYI: ChatGPT just signed deals with Vox and The Atlantic—similar to the agreements cut with New York Times, Financial Times etc. Gizmodo has loads more—including Google’s response.
Sticking with big tech: Amazon is close to buying Times Internet’s free video streaming platform—MX Player. There were rumours of a sale last year—but Times asked for over $100 million—$40 million more than Amazon was willing to pay. It is unlikely to get that price—but may have to accept whatever Amazon doles out:
The two parties have resumed talks and are close to a deal. The valuation has gone down because MX Player is in bad shape. However, the company, which has over [Rs 25 billion] Rs 2,500 crore in debt, will have to settle it on its own and Amazon will not take it on its books.
FYI: Times paid $140 million for MX Player back in 2018. (Mint)
Four things to see
One: New research on a 4,000-year-old skull shows that ancient Egyptians performed surgery on tumours. It belongs to a man in his early 30s—with over 30 bone lesions in the skull and jaw. We don’t know if they were trying to heal a live patient—or conduct an autopsy. But just the idea that they were aware of these tumours—which we today call cancer—is pretty amazing.You can see the skull below. (CNN)
Two: An AI-generated image calling attention to Rafah went viral on Insta. It expresses solidarity with the Palestinians—but the reason why this faked image has been shared 47 million times remains a mystery. Quartz has theories.
Three: At a press conference of the Telugu movie ‘Gangs of Godavari’, actor and politician Nandamuri Balakrishna rudely shoved fellow actor Anjali—while they were getting ready for a group photo. Anjali treated it as a joke—but the internet is not amused. (Times of India)
Four: The town of Grindavik in Iceland has witnessed spectacular eruptions of Mount Hagafell in recent months—making global headlines. Residents were repeatedly evacuated over winter due to dangerous lava flows over winter. Well, the volcano is back in action again—shooting red hot lava 50 metres up into the air from a 3.4 km wide fissure. It looks spectacular. (BBC News)
