Researched by: Aarthi Ramnath & Anannya Parekh
The war on Ukraine: The big Russian offensive
The tide is turning in the war—perhaps decisively. Russia has grabbed more land in a single day—than the very beginning of the war. The Ukrainian military is in disarray—the troops are retreating—and its commanders are fighting each other rather than the enemy. Civilians are seeking refuge in the city of Kharkhiv.
Why this is significant: Ukraine is at its most vulnerable. Its troops are exhausted, under-manned. The frontlines are dangerously thin. The Kremlin is pushing on Kharkiv—which was relentlessly bombed in 2022—to force Kyiv to pull its troops from other battlefields. More worryingly, here’s what one commander told BBC News:
“There was no first line of defence. We saw it. The Russians just walked in. They just walked in, without any mined fields” he says. He shows me video from a drone feed taken a few days ago of small columns of Russian troops simply walking across the border, unopposed. He says officials had claimed that defences were being built at huge cost, but in his view, those defences simply weren’t there. “Either it was an act of negligence, or corruption. It wasn’t a failure. It was a betrayal”.
New York Times has more on the big picture.
Meanwhile, in Israel: The IDF continues to push into Rafah—despite US warnings—claiming it’s the last bastion of Hamas. But, but, but: Hamas is moving into parts of northern Gaza—already ‘cleared out’ by Israel. That’s because the IDF’s strategy is to bomb, invade and move on. There is no one to secure the territory—because Tel Aviv will not accept any plan to govern these territories. Israeli columnist Ben Caspit writes:
[The military] is now going into Jabaliya for the second time and into Zeitoun for the third time, and it will continue to go in and out… Hamas' regime cannot be toppled without preparing an alternative to that regime… The only people who can govern Gaza after the war are Gazans, with a lot of support and help from the outside.
Associated Press via The Telegraph has lots more on the state of play.
Election 2024: Arvind Kejriwal gets bail!
After spending 50 days in jail, the Delhi Chief Minister was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on Friday. He will be a free man only until June 1 though—since he has been allowed out solely for the election. Kejriwal also cannot perform his duties as a CM. But he is entirely free to really piss off the BJP—which he is doing with great enthusiasm. At his first post-bail speech, Mr K launched an unexpected attack:
Mr. Kejriwal has alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would replace Mr. Modi as PM when the latter turns 75 on September 17 next year. “He had made the rule that people aged 75 will be retired. L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan, and Yashwant Sinha were retired at 75,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
The Delhi Chief Minister did not stop there. Turning the knife on a question that has become very delicate for the BJP in this election, Mr. Kejriwal alleged that there was a power struggle between Mr. Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
He went on to warn voters: “Modi ji is not asking for votes for himself, he is asking for votes to make Amit Shah the Prime Minister.” The BJP A-list—including Amit Shah—had to assure everyone that Modi-ji will remain pradhan mantri. The Hindu has an interesting take on the brouhaha:
[T]he BJP has moved from a position of extolling its track record of 10 years in power to explaining its positions… Electioneering is all about framing the central theme. Mr. Modi, for the first time in his entire political career, is struggling on that count.
The Hindu has more on the judgement. You can watch Kejriwal in full flow below. A good related read: Our Big Story on the draconian anti-corruption laws used to throw Kejriwal in jail. (Indian Express)
Killer floods in Afghanistan
At least 300 people have been killed by flash floods in northern Afghanistan—caused by unusually heavy rainfall. Aid agencies say these have been especially catastrophic:
“These latest floods have caused a major humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan, which is still reeling from a string of earthquakes at the beginning of this year as well as severe flooding in March,” said IRC Afghanistan director Salma Ben Aissa. “Communities have lost entire families, while livelihoods have been decimated as a result.”
The bigger picture:
Afghanistan—which had a relatively dry winter, making it more difficult for the soil to absorb rainfall—is highly vulnerable to climate change. The nation, ravaged by four decades of war, is one of the world’s poorest and, according to scientists, one of the worst prepared to face the consequences of global warming.
The Guardian has more. You can see the disaster below:
A chaotic and political Eurovision finale
The context: Earlier this year, over 2,000 musicians from Finland, Iceland, and Sweden called for Israel's exclusion from the contest this year—to protest human rights violations in Gaza. In response, UK celebrities like Gene Simmons, Helen Mirren and over 400 others have signed an open letter opposing the boycott. Additionally, Eurovision officials said that the contest should be kept out of politics. Reminder: The contest kicked out Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
What happened now: Swiss artist Nemo was crowned the winner for their song ‘The Code’ at the finale over the weekend. But that was the least dramatic moment of the night:
- Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters surrounded the venue chanting “Eurovision, united by genocide.”
- The Dutch contestant Joost Klein was disqualified after he allegedly made a “threatening move” towards a camerawoman.
- Ireland’s entry Bambie Thug, did not show up for the final dress rehearsal—blamed their withdrawal on Israel’s public broadcaster Kan.
- Norway’s former contestant Alessandra Mele withdrew as spokesperson over the “genocide” in the Middle East.
The Guardian has lots more on the chaos. BTW: Our fave song from the Eurovision finalists was ’La Noia’ by Italy’s Angelina Mango. Here it below:
Meanwhile, over at Burning Man: Plans to display a sculpture titled ‘From the River to the Sea’—a chant for Palestinian freedom—were scrapped. The chant is deemed anti-semitic by many Israelis. It was a sculpture of a sliced watermelon—which is used to signify the Palestinian flag—which has been outlawed by Israel. (Los Angeles Times)
Dismal data about climate change in India
According to a recent study, women who endure droughts are 35% more likely to be underweight, 37% more likely to become child brides, 17% more likely to become pregnant at teens, and over 50% more likely to be victims of domestic violence. As for children:
Children are 6% more likely to be stunted, 24% more likely to be underweight, experience 35% reduction in minimum diet diversity, and there is a 12% increase in likelihood of deaths if they are under five years of age and exposed to drought, the report said.
The Hindu has more on these dismal but unsurprising findings.
Two things to see
One: This weekend, the skies across North America, Europe and even some parts of India and New Zealand were lit up with a dazzling display of auroras aka northern lights. They were caused by the strongest geomagnetic storm in 20 years—which are caused by flares from the sun. Truly phenomenal: the night sky from Ladakh below. You can see more incredible images over at BBC News. (CNN)
A bonus clip: This lovely video from the University of Oslo explains how auroras are created.
Two: Researchers at Harvard University teamed up with Google to map a cubic millimetre of brain tissue—about half a grain of rice. It shows the human brain in unprecedented detail—overflowing with 1.4 million gigabytes of information—containing 57,000 individual cells, 150 metre neural connections and 23cm of blood vessels. FYI: The tissue was taken from the cortex of a 45-year-old epilepsy patient. See the 3D model below. Popular Science has more images and The Guardian offers all the nerdy details.
