Race riots in the UK

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

Race riots in the UK

The context: On July 29, a 17-year-old named Axel Muganwa Rudakubana stabbed and killed three young girls in Southport UK. Eight other children and two adults were injured. Authorities initially did not release the identity of Rudakubana—since he is underage. Soon after, rumours that the attacker was a Muslim immigrant spread like wildfire—sparking riots. Rudakubana was born in Cardiff, Wales—and is of Rwandan origin.

What happened now: Anti-immigrant riots spread across the country—led by far-right protesters who looted and burned at will. See a gutted library in Liverpool:

See the mob on a rampage here:

There have been 150 arrests as of now—with PM Keir Starmer promising even tougher action in an address to the nation on Sunday:

During the prime minister's televised address on Sunday, he warned those involved that they will "regret" taking part. "People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we've seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques," the prime minister said. "Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won't shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery."

Point to note: The leader of the far-right—Tommy Robinson—is sunbathing in Cyprus:

BBC News has more on what the government is doing. Independent UK looks at the horrific racist attacks. The Guardian has an analysis on how misinformation played a big part in riots.

Olympics update: Novak’s Golden Slam!

Djoko is golden: The GOAT of men’s tennis has finally struck gold—Novak Djokovic beat Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2) in a tightly contested men’s singles final. Added to his 24 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic has completed the Golden Slam—and become the fifth singles player to do so. BBC News has the match report. You can watch Djokovic’s winning moment here.

Redemption for Imane Khelif: The Algerian woman boxer has been viciously and wrongly hounded for being a transgender person. Happily, she continued her winning streak by defeating Hungary’s Luca Anna Hamori—who posted this nasty image before the bout:

FYI: The IOC has clarified that “there was never any doubt” about Khelif being a woman. Associated Press has more on Khelif—while Press Trust of India via The Hindu has the IOC's strong defense of her. Check out Khelif’s emotional post-victory press conference below. (The Guardian)

Golden moment for hockey: Joy to the world! India beat Great Britain in the penalty shootout—after being a man down—when Amit Rohidas was handed a red card. We are one step away from the gold medal match—and will meet Germany in the semis on August 6. Check out the highlights—and see Indian commentators get extremely emotional below. (Sportstar)

Battle of the Sens: Lakshya Sen lost in the badminton men’s singles semifinals to world no. 2 and Tokyo 2020 gold medallist—Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen. The match was closely fought: 20-22, 14-21. Lakshya will now face Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the bronze medal match. Enjoy the best moments from the high octane semifinal, and see a Viktor smash that sent Lakshya’s racquet flying! Indian Express has more on how over-thinking brought Lakshya down.

Sticking with India: Here’s how the rest of our contingent got on this past weekend:

In archery, Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat finished an agonising fourth in the mixed team event—losing the semifinal to South Korea and the bronze medal match to the US. It's a respectable result given that the team was without its head coach—whose accreditation had been denied.
In athletics, it was nothing to write home about as no Indian made it past the qualifying round of their respective discipline.
In boxing, Lovlina Borgohain and Nishant Dev suffered quarterfinals heartbreaks.
In golf, Shubhankar Sharma and Gaganjeet Bhullar finished 40th and 45th respectively in the men’s event—well off the pace compared to the medallists.
In shooting, 2-time bronze medallist Manu Bhaker could not make the hattrick—finishing fourth in the 25-metre pistol event.

The Olympics website offers a useful daily schedule, including India-specific events.

Other notable bits: It was an eventful Olympics weekend overall, featuring spicy snubs and magnificent memes. These are some of our favourites:

One: Simone Biles continues to rack up gymnastics golds—this time in the women’s vault event. NBC Sports offered this excellent goat-themed graphic to measure her prowess:

Two: Also going viral: This lovely vid of Imane Khelif with a bunch of French kids:

Three: Geopolitical rivalry has been heating up on the sidelines. French swimmer Leo Marchand didn’t shake the hand of the Chinese coach—after his 200-metre gold. This was mild compared to US tennis player Emma Navarro’s behaviour. She told her Chinese rival Zheng Qinwen ‘I don’t respect you’ during the handshake. Well, Qinwen went on to win the gold.

Four: Far prettier, the Chinese duo Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan—who took the gold in synchronised platform diving:

Five: Huang Ya Qiong received an unexpected bonus after winning the gold in badminton mixed doubles—a proposal from her boyfriend.

Six: We leave you with the comic-tragic news that French pole vaulter Anthony Ammirati lost out on the gold due to his, umm, bulge. Variety has this unbelievable story. Note the polite reaction of the commentators lol.

Deadly protests in Bangladesh… again!

The context: Last month, students in Bangladesh staged angry protests against job quotas for marginalised communities. They were reinstated by a recent High Court order—and now have been cancelled in response to the outrage. The protests turned violent on July 16, and around 200 people were killed. The matter seemed settled until this weekend.

What happened now: The students returned to the streets this weekend—with an even bigger demand: the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. So far, nearly 100 people have been killed—including 14 police officers. These rallies are part of a non-cooperation movement—which calls on citizens to stop paying taxes and strike at work.

Where we are now: An indefinite curfew has been imposed, and internet services have been suspended. Social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook are blocked as well. For more on why Hasina is deeply unpopular, see this Big Story. See a clip of the latest protests below. (Al Jazeera)

‘Wink, nudge’ booze ads may be history

Until now, liquor companies have been able to skirt the ban on advertising—by hawking non-alcoholic drinks or products. Example: water, CDs, glassware etc. According to a Reuters exclusive, these “surrogate” ads will soon be banned, as well. Any violation will attract fines up to Rs 5 million ($60,000). According to one senior bureaucrat:

You can't take a circuitous way to promote products. If we find ads to be surrogate and misleading, then even those who are endorsing (products), including celebrities, will be held responsible.

It’s not clear why the government has just woken up to a practice that has been around for decades. But the aim is to reduce alcohol consumption—and restricting ads has worked in places like Norway. (Reuters)

Finally, a band-aid for the heart!

In breakthrough research, scientists have developed a 3-D printed material that “functions like bandages [and] has the potential to repair damaged hearts, or other body parts by smoothly integrating with existing tissue.” Currently, doctors use hydrogel—the material used to make contact lenses—but it doesn't have the elasticity or strength of real tissue. The newly developed material cleverly called Continuous-curing after Light Exposure Aided by Redox initiation (CLEAR). It is also made of hydrogel, but uses a process inspired by worms:

Specifically they looked at the way in which groups of worms tangle themselves up in balls that mimic properties of both solids and liquids, and then untangle themselves. They then applied that model to molecular engineering, and created a material that has molecules arranged much like worms in a ball – a pattern that's known as entanglement.

Check out what the bandage looks like. (Interesting Engineering)

what caught our eye

business & tech

The US Justice Department has sued TikTok, accusing them of illegally collecting children’s data.
AI chip manufacturer Nvidia has reportedly delayed its next chip as a result of a “design flaw”. In related Nvidia news, China is skirting US bans on exports of the company’s AI chips—thanks to smugglers and front companies. The manufacturer also reportedly finds itself in the antitrust hot seat of the Justice Department.
The Directorate General of GST Intelligence (DGGI) has withdrawn a tax demand of ₹3,898 crore for FY18 from Infosys, the software company says. This comes days after Karnataka GST officials had raised a ₹32,403 crore notice for unpaid taxes by the company.

sports & entertainment

Sri Lanka have beaten India in a men’s ODI for the first time since 2021—thanks to leg spinner Jeffrey Vandersay’s six-wicket haul.
Tom Cruise will apparently star in the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, by skydiving.

as for the rest

In light of the NEET paper leak controversy, the Central government plans to increase undergrad medical seats by 3,000 for the upcoming academic session. Unfortunately, the only story out is paywalled—in Mint.
Shubhanshu Shukla is set to be the second Indian to go to space—40 years since Rakesh Sharma did it.
The Sri Lankan Navy has handed over two fishermen—and the mortal remains of a third—to the Indian Navy, after pursuing and detaining them for trespassing.
Much like Kamala Harris’ K-Hive, the Veep’s husband Doug Emhoff now has an insatiable fanbase—the D-Unit!
Myanmar’s junta remains at war with its own people—conducting airstrikes to ward off rebel forces, while bypassing sanctions on its ability to buy jet fuel.
Lab yeast is dying worldwide due to bad agar—an ingredient derived from seaweed used to grow yeast on solid surfaces.

One thing to see

Mount Etna erupted in the early hours on Sunday—covering the city of Catania at its foothills in black volcanic ash. Happily, it hasn’t done much more than disrupt air travel to Sicily. See the volcano in action below. (Euronews)