The puzzling death of Gene Hackman

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

The puzzling death of Gene Hackman

The 95-year-old Hollywood legend was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home. Also found dead: His 63-year-old wife Betsy Arakawa—on the floor of a bathroom near “an open prescription bottle and scattered pills… on a counter.” Also found dead: Their German Shepherd—who was discovered between 10 and 15 feet away from Arakawa in a bathroom closet. The couple had been married for 34 years.

What happened here? No one knows for now. The Hackmans seem to have been dead for days—but the circumstances appear inexplicable:

A pair of deputies arrived and found Ms. Arakawa in the bathroom and then discovered Mr. Hackman lying in the mud room, with his body in a similar condition to his wife’s, the affidavit said. He was found in gray sweatpants, a blue long-sleeve T-shirt, brown slippers and with a cane, the affidavit said. A pair of sunglasses was found to his left. One of the deputies on the scene said that it appeared he had “suddenly fallen,” the affidavit said.

There are no signs of a gas leak and “there were no apparent signs of foul play” or external trauma—according to the local police. We are still waiting on the toxicology reports.

Remembering Hackman: The great actor was nominated for five Oscars and won two during his 40-year career. He retired and left the public spotlight to live in Santa Fe—about 20 years ago. Quote to note: In a 2009 interview, Hackman said:

I have the normal fear of passing away. You know, I guess we all think about that, especially when you get to be a certain age. I want to make sure that my wife and my family are taken care of. Other than that, I don’t have a lot of fears.

When asked about his likely epitaph, he offered just two words: ‘He Tried’. Well he did a lot more than that. Below is TCM’s short and lovely video tribute. Associated Press has lots more on his brilliant career. (New York Times)

A lethal mystery illness in Congo

A fast-spreading illness has killed more than 50 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in just five weeks. Since the outbreak started on January 21, there have been 419 reported cases. The problem: No one knows anything about this disease.

How it started: The first reported cases were in the village of Boloko, where three children who ate a bat died within 48 hours. More than two weeks later a second and larger outbreak was recorded in the village of Bomate—where more than 400 people fell ill. But it isn’t clear if the illness is the same.

What we know right now: Around 80% of patients are suffering from fever, chills, body aches, and diarrhea—with some also battling vomiting and internal bleeding. WHO is most worried about “the quick progression from sickness to death” in Boloko—“along with the high number of deaths” in Bomate. Doctors have already ruled out the usual suspects like Ebola etc.

Point to note: The US was the largest bilateral donor to Congo’s health sector—training hundreds of epidemiologists to help detect and control diseases… until Trump returned to the White House. All US aid has been suspended for now—at a time when speedy lab investigations, surveillance, etc. is critical.

The bigger picture: Diseases that spread from animals to humans are on the rise—especially in Africa—where such outbreaks have surged by more than 60% in the past decade:

Experts say this might be what is happening in Congo, which is home to about 60% of the forests in the Congo Basin, home to the largest expanse of tropical forest on earth. “All these viruses are viruses that have reservoirs in the forest. And so, as long as we have these forests, we will always have a few epidemics with viruses which will mutate,” said [health expert] Gabriel Nsakala.

Associated Press has lots more details on the illness.

A fiasco over fish curry at SAU

Wtf is SAU? Established in New Delhi in 2010, South Asian University (SAU) is an international university sponsored by the eight members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan. (Yes, SAARC—which no one talks about now that we’re fighting with most of our neighbours.) By design, a majority of the students belong to SAARC nations—in other words, it’s meant to be a genuinely international institution.

Wtf happened with the curry? Sadly an ‘international’ designation is no protection from nationalist politics. On Wednesday, a fight broke out in the mess hall—when members of the RSS student wing—ABVP—confronted the manager for serving non-vegetarian food on Maha Shivratri. Furious at this “ideological terrorism” by ‘Maoist’ students, one of the members threw a container of the offending fish curry. FYI: The dish is routinely served every Wednesday.

The allegedly egregious bit: One of the ABVP members—PhD student Ratan Singh—assaulted and ‘inappropriately touched’ the mess representative—Yashada Sawant—when she tried to intervene. Also this:

When I tried to stop him, he pushed me. Some of the curry fell on my face. My friend tried to shield me, but the group surrounded us… One of them then punched me in the face… I screamed and begged for them to stop, but they kept hitting me…

OTOH, the ABVP folks insist they only wanted the ‘sattvic’ food to be kept and served separately. The clips of the incident are kinda chaotic…

Why this is notable: SAU is funded by seven other SAARC countries. Yet, it is facing the same kind of interference as JNU etc:

Another controversy had rocked the university last year, when a student cited American philosopher Noam Chomsky’s criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Subsequently, Sasanka Perera, a founding member of the sociology department at SAU, was allegedly forced to take voluntary retirement after screening a movie for students. The SAU administration, according to students, has been increasingly restricting campus activities.

And the government is planning to bring other international Unis to India? Good luck with that! The Print and Indian Express have more on the incident.

The fake out: Trump’s mineral rights deal with Ukraine

The backstory: Donald Trump has been cosying up to Putin since returning to the White House, and has been pushing for a peace agreement—whose terms sound more like a Putin wishlist. OTOH, bechara Volodymyr Zelenskyy is being bullied—for wasting US funds. In compensation, Trump demanded rights to the nation’s mineral deposits:

Trump said at the weekend that he’s “trying to get the money back,” referring to the aid provided to Ukraine under the previous administration.The US initially demanded a $500 billion share of Ukraine’s rare earths and other minerals in exchange for the aid it has already provided to Kyiv. But Zelensky rejected that idea, saying that agreeing to it would amount to “selling” his country. Trump subsequently called Zelensky “a dictator.”

What happened now: Zelenskyy appears to have buckled and agreed to a mineral rights agreement—which will be unveiled with a flourish by a triumphant White House later today. It will undoubtedly be sold as a result of Trump’s macho ‘dealmaking’ skills. Except for the fine print…

The leaked version: is vague on the details. Ukraine is expected to pay proceeds from future minerals mining into a partly US-owned fund—which in turn will invest in Ukrainian projects. More importantly, the deal doesn’t contain any security guarantees for Kyiv—which would be Zelenskyy’s primary incentive to cede any rights… right?

Here’s the kicker: The most important facts about these minerals are buried in the very last paragraph of this Wall Street Journal article:

[U]p to 40% of those mineral deposits are in areas of the country currently under Russian occupation. Much of what is under Ukrainian control has never been mined. Making them commercially viable will, in some cases, require years of studies and hundreds of millions of dollars of investment—capital that will be difficult to raise while the war is still going on.

Donald, the ultimate feku, strikes again! In fact, Putin has already offered access to minerals on both Russian and occupied Ukrainian land. But the ugly optics of the US bullying Ukraine is what matters—even if it is for little profit.

Reading list: Wall Street Journal and CNN have the reporting on the deal. Reuters has the nerdy details on Ukraine’s mineral reserves. For more analysis, check out this Centre for Strategic and International Studies piece.

what caught our eye

business & tech

Finally! IKEA is bringing online deliveries to Delhi-NCR, UP, and Punjab starting March 1, with same-day shipping in the capital.
Amazon launches Alexa Plus, its long-awaited AI upgrade, promising smoother smart home control and grocery orders.
Nvidia just shrugged off last month’s DeepSeek panic—profits jumped 80%, revenue soared 78%, and the chip king isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
Three mystery customers drove over 30% of the company’s revenue last year though—likely to be tech giants Google, Amazon, and Microsoft.
Meta apologized after an “error” flooded Instagram’s Reels with graphic videos of shootings and accidents—even minors weren’t spared.
Lauren Sanchez is leading a Blue Origin all-female spaceflight, with Katy Perry and Gayle King joining the crew.
OpenAI unveils GPT-4.5—its biggest, smartest, and priciest model yet—rolling out first to ChatGPT Pro users.

sports & entertainment

Netflix’s viewership was up by 5% in the second half of 2024 compared to previous year—courtesy of the second season of ‘Squid Game’ which was released on December 26.
A ‘Supernatural’ reunion? ‘The Boys’ final season will feature Jensen Ackles’ ‘Supernatural’ co-stars Jared Padalecki and Misha Collins. Reminder: Ackles plays the antagonist Soldier Boy.
Frontline has a good read on the movie ‘Chhava’ stirring up public debate beyond religion by bringing up caste and the idea of Maharashtra itself.

health & environment

Olive Ridley numbers are growing “steadily”, but rising sand temperatures mean too many females, sparking concerns over the species' future.
Scientists have found that certain food scents can stimulate the brain and wake you up. The top 5 include lemongrass, orange, chocolate, peppermint, and yes, coffee beans.
A new US study has found that longer-term exposure to heat was linked to an increase in a person’s biological age by up to 2.48 years. Also this: “The impact on the body is comparable to the effects of smoking.” Not sure what that says about people living in Delhi.
A rare alignment tonight: All seven planets will line up in the night sky—starting with Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars.

meanwhile, in the world

An Israeli military report confirms that it was complacent and underestimated Hamas—which led in turn to the October 7 attacks.
In an exclusive, Washington Post details how Musk’s businesses have raked in $38 billion in government funding—loans, subsidies, and contracts that helped build his empire, even as he rails against taxpayer handouts.
Gabbard fires 100+ intelligence workers over, apparently, “horrific” chats—targeting discussions on gender-affirming care and diversity as Trump’s purge on DEI ramps up.
Iran is ramping up uranium enrichment, nearing weapons-grade levels, as U.S.-Iran tensions spike, says the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Thailand deports dozens of Uyghurs to China despite global outcry, sending them back to the risk of torture and imprisonment.
Russia and the US held six hours of talks on embassy operations—Putin’s hopeful, but the real test is whether this paves the way for a broader reset in relations.
Trump officials are split on how to tackle Mexican cartels—military strikes or cooperation—as they scramble to stem the flow of drugs into the US.
BBC takes us inside the Taliban’s high-tech surveillance hub, where 90,000 cameras watch over Kabul. Officials call it crime control—critics call it a tool for crushing dissent.
The Guardian, with detailed maps, has an in-depth look at how Airbnb and Booking.com help Israeli settlers cash in on stolen Palestinian land.
The FBI says North Korea’s Lazarus Group pulled off the biggest crypto heist in history—a $1.5 billion Ethereum coin steal last week.
Austria’s new centrist government is finally in place—129 days after the election, and without the far-right party that won it.
Japan’s birth rate plunged to a new historic low in 2024, down 5% from the previous year, deepening the country’s demographic crisis.
Danish archaeologists have uncovered a 4,000-year-old wooden circle—dubbed a "mini-Stonehenge"—while digging at a housing site.

meanwhile, in India

Manipur’s biggest arms surrender yet—radical militia Arambai Tenggol turned in 246 looted weapons.
Karnataka bans cancer-causing plastic sheets for steaming idlis, cracking down on 51 hotels using the hazardous practice.
SC rejects pleas to stop Bhopal gas tragedy waste disposal, calling objections a classic case of ‘not in my backyard.’
In today’s expected news, Delhi BJP MLAs are pushing to rename constituencies—Najafgarh to Nahargarh, Mohammadpur to Madhavpuram, and more.

Five things to see

One: Donald Trump—and his BFF Elon—made USAID the first target of their ‘cost-cutting’ spree. Notices sent out this week terminated over 90% of its contracts for humanitarian and development work around the world. The Supreme Court destroyed the last vestige of hope—by temporarily blocking a judge’s order requiring the administration to release billions of dollars in foreign aid. Right now, there is a 90-day freeze of all funding—which may become permanent. The map below shows which countries will lose the most—although Hindu Business Line indicates the impact will be modest in India. Reuters has the best charts and data on the cuts.

Two: Guess dupes are dope now—and going mainstream. Last year, Walmart sold out its fake Birkin bags. Now, Amazon’s rip-off of the iconic Hermès Kelly is all the rage. An authentic Kelly bag starts at $8,000 and can cost as much as hundreds of thousands. Amazon’s version is just $42 and available in multiple colours! See the original (on the left) and the fake Kellys (on the right) below. (New York Post)

Three: The latest viral sensation in China is this snapshot of a mountain—abutting the Yangtze River. Yes, it resembles a dog’s head—and has been dubbed “Puppy Mountain.” Before you object to the news value of this item, let us just say… Topographical puppies matter! (Associated Press)

Four: The UK-based group Everyone Hates Elon—yes, they exist—pasted this excellent poster for the ‘Swasticar’ across bustops in London. Reminder: Tesla sales have halved in Europe ever since he jumped into politics. (Euronews)

Five: Star Wars fans, rejoice! The franchise’s most critically acclaimed spin-off ‘Andor’ is back for its second and final season—with the wonderful Diego Luna in lead. New episodes stream from April 22 on Disney+Hotstar. Watch the badass trailer below. (Hollywood Reporter)

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