headlines that matter

editor’s note

The perfect house party playlist: Once a month we gather suggestions from the splainer fam to put together an awesome playlist—each with its own theme. For the next edition, we're looking for your suggestions to up the New Year's house party game. As always, we are language agnostic:) Add your picks to this handy chhota form.

In our latest Advisory edition… An excerpt from ‘The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction,’ in which a bar dancer-turned-housemaid is tempted into joining a dance class. A very useful list of the best places to buy fab sourdough bread in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. A wonderful list of true crime books—featuring absinthe smugglers, dyslexic spies and robbers who come bearing flowers. The splainer team has put together the best global beats of the past month. And as always, we’ve curated the best new shows and films to binge-watch this weekend. Read it here.

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Joy to the world: Notre Dame opens its doors!

Five years after the catastrophic fire destroyed great parts of the cathedral, Notre Dame reopened to the public on Saturday. The grand ceremony was attended by clergymen, donors, French officials and world leaders—including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prince William. But the most notable: President Emmanuel Macron’s love-fest with President-elect Donald Trump:

Speaking of Trump: He took the opportunity for a heart-to-heart with Zelensky—and demanded an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine: “I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!" China? Really? Trump also declared William a “good looking guy”—and even managed a friendly chat with First Lady Biden—declaring a ceasefire of his own:

Moving on to the ceremony: The joyous celebration gave us lots of things to see.

One: The Notre Dame red carpet featured Archbishop Laurent Ulrich and fellow clergymen in Catholic couture—designed by French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

Two: Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudame gave us this lovely rendition of ‘Amazing Grace’:

Three: Beethoven's ‘Fifth Symphony’ performed by the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France also rang bold and true:

Four: The cathedral itself looked like a rockstar:

Five: This is a rehearsal from the day before of the ‘Worker’s Choir’—of more than 80 engineers, architects, carpenters, crane operators, construction workers who worked on the restoration.

Six: Yes, there were less ‘classical’ acts as well—like Pharrell Williams performing his viral hit song ‘Happy’ with his choir outside the Notre Dame a day before the opening:

Washington Post (paywalled) and The Guardian have more on French diplomacy while Vogue has all the highlights from the ceremony.

Say hello to the news ‘bias metre’!

The context: The LA Times has been in the midst of tumultuous change recently. It laid off 115 journalists—20% of its newsroom. In October, owner Patrick Soon-Shiong also blocked the paper’s plan to endorse Kamala Harris—leading to three high-ranking resignations—including the editorial board editor Mariel Garza.

What happened now: Soon-Shiong now wants to integrate an AI-powered “bias metre” in the newspaper’s political coverage, in an attempt to be more neutral:

The point of the meter would be so that “someone could understand, as a reader, that the source of the article has some level of bias,” he told Jennings. Soon-Shiong elaborated that readers would be able to “press a button and get both sides of that exact same story, based on that story, and then give comments.”

FYI: News startups like VT News already use something similar. The idea itself is an interesting innovation. But it feels a little dubious coming from an owner who seems to have undergone a sudden—and unexplained—political change of heart:

Soon-Shiong, who once fashioned himself as a Black Lives Matter-supporting vaccine proponent, has morphed into a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Jennings fanboy. Since Trump’s victory in November, Soon-Shiong has turned to X to criticize the news media, praise Trump’s cabinet picks, and appeal to a MAGA audience.

In other words, this feels more like an owner using his news publication to protect or promote his other business interests—which is routine in India, btw. In any case, the news industry’s woes are way bigger than Soon-Shiong—as we explained in our two-part Big Story. (Gizmodo)

Looping back to India: Prasar Bharti—the parent company of our beloved DD—is launching a streaming platform called WAVES. It will offer “family-focused content”—curated from its own channels and partners like Lionsgate and Eros. Examples: ‘Fauji 2.0’—a modern adaptation of the 1980s SRK show and Kakbhushandi Ramayan. The TV programming will be free but you’ll have to pay a Rs 20 subscription fee for premium content from private partners. What this really means: Modi-ji on TV, Modi-ji on radio and now Modi-ji on streaming. (Mint)

what caught our eye

business & tech

The sale of the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper—The Observer—to Tortoise Media has been confirmed, despite angry opposition from staff.
Meta has launched Metamate, an internal AI tool built aimed at assisting employees with tasks like coding and research.

sports & entertainment

Pat Cummins' five-wicket haul and Mitchell Starc's early breakthrough guided Australia to a 10-wicket win over India in Adelaide.
Mukul Kesavan in The Telegraph analyses whether the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has taken precedence over the Ashes as the premier Test cricket rivalry.
Pushpa 2: The Rule shattered box office records, grossing Rs 6 billion worldwide in just three days—fastest to do so in Indian film history.

as for the rest

Samajwadi Party has quit the MVA alliance in Maharashtra—with Abu Azmi accusing Uddhav Thackeray’s Sena of adopting a Hindutva agenda.
Allahabad High Court judge Shekhar Kumar Yadav, at a VHP event, accused Muslims of lacking tolerance, and claimed "India will run as per the wishes of its majority.”
An update on Southeast Asia’s scam factories—seven men from Kerala have revealed in detail the horrific abuse they faced at a Cambodian centre.
Trump confirmed he will order mass deportations and end birthright citizenship on day one in office.
South Korean prosecutors arrested ex-defence minister Kim Yong-hyun for his role in ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol’s martial law declaration.
Taliban bans Afghan women from nursing and midwife courses—which is extreme even by its own standards.
Scientists have found evidence of the human-dog bond that dates back to 12,000 years. A related good read: Our Big Story on their pivotal—and controversial—role in medical breakthroughs for humans.
A Gurgaon penthouse in DLF Camellias sold for Rs 1.9 billion, breaking records with a price of Rs 180,000 per square foot.
India now has 185 billionaires—the third largest number in the world after the US and China.

Four things to see

One: New York hosted a lookalike contest for the shooter who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Reminder: The killer has not been caught yet. Ah, the Big Apple, the most tasteless city in the world.

Two: Desi metalheads, rejoice! Check out Bloodywood’s collab with Japanese pop-metal outfit BABYMETAL—with a song titled ‘Bekhauf’. Watch their truly fearless and awesome music vid below. (Consequence)

Three: The official trailer for season 2 of the hit workplace horror series ‘Severance’ just dropped. The new episodes hit Apple TV+ from January 17 onwards. (The Verge)

Four: This one’s for the Trekkies! See the trailer for the newest installment to the Star Trek universe—‘Sector 31’—headlined by Michelle Yeoh who reprises her role as Emperor Philippa Georgiou. The new movie drops on JioCinema on January 24. (Deadline)