A flood of canceled Air India flights: Wtf is going on?

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

A flood of canceled Air India flights: Wtf is going on?

Since the horrific plane crash last week, the entire aviation industry in India has been on tenterhooks. There are way more safety inspections—and far less appetite for any kind of flight risk—especially in Air India. A total of sixteen Air India flights were canceled on Tuesday—of which 13 were Dreamliners—the aircraft that crashed in Ahmedabad. All of them were international flights—most didn’t take off due to ‘technical issues’.

One example: The Hong Kong-Delhi Dreamliner that made a mid-air U-turn after the pilot got nervous. You can hear the audio below:

The airline itself seems to be in a state of panicked disarray. The flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick airport—the one that crashed—was given a new number and departure time. But it, too, failed to take off—for reasons even Air India couldn’t properly explain:

[The flight] has been cancelled today due to the unavailability of the aircraft, resulting from airspace restrictions and additional precautionary checks, leading to longer than usual turnaround of aircraft, and not due to any technical snag as claimed.

Reason for this turbulence: Air India simply has more maintenance work on its hands—mandated by aviation authorities. Also this: the Israel-Iran conflict has closed much of the airspace over the Middle East. The underlying problem is that Air India is already overextended:

The airline has majorly expanded routes in about last two years while new aircraft induction has been slower than expected due to global supply chain issues. As a result, the airline has stretched itself thin that affects on time performance as there’s hardly any buffer if an aircraft — with the old ones having a lower than optimal technical despatch reliability — has to be grounded for technical reasons.

Adding to the misery: Random bomb threats on domestic flights—like the Indigo flight from Kochi to Delhi.

The good news: Indian aviation authorities say that the “enhanced inspections” ordered following the crash “did not reveal any major safety concerns.”

Reading list: Indian Express has details of the flights that have been diverted or cancelled. Times of India and The Telegraph have more on the theories behind Air India’s cancellations.

Israel vs Iran: Trump goes all macho in all caps

The biggest news out of the Middle East is that Donald Trump is threatening to enter the war—unless Tehran agrees to an “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER.” Yup, in all caps so he must be serious. He also knows the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s location—but has generously decided not to kill him… “at least for now.” Ofc, this is the same guy who claimed he could negotiate a ceasefire just days ago. Maybe they changed his meds.

In any case, the US media is taking it very, very seriously—flagging military movements like these:

The United States has sent about three dozen refueling aircraft to Europe that could be used to assist fighter jets protecting American bases or that would be used to extend the range of bombers involved in any possible strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

A lot of ‘coulds’ and ‘woulds’ here.

Iran’s response: They haven’t said anything yet. Tehran has been careful to remain conciliatory towards Washington. But experts say the government sees no gain in appeasing Trump:

I think the only thing that is more dangerous than suffering from Israeli and American bombs is actually surrendering to American terms. Because if Iran surrenders on the nuclear issue and on the demands of President Trump, there is no end to the slippery slope, which would eventually result in regime collapse and capitulation anyway.

The greater fear: is not that Washington will kill Khamenei—but that its ‘bunker buster’ missiles will take out Iran’s nuclear facilities. That would force Tehran to retaliate—and it has a number of options to choose from:

If the United States joins the Israeli campaign and strikes Fordo, a key Iranian nuclear facility, the Iranian-backed Houthi militia will almost certainly resume striking ships in the Red Sea, the officials said. They added that pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and Syria would probably try to attack U.S. bases there. Other officials said that in the event of an attack, Iran could begin to mine the Strait of Hormuz, a tactic meant to pin American warships in the Persian Gulf.

Point to note: US bases in Arab countries are the easiest target for Iranian missiles. Remember, Washington has not given Bahrain, Qatar or United Arab Emirates its Iron Dome air defence system—specially reserved for the Israelis. So yeah, bombing Iran isn’t quite as easy as it sounds. And most of the world will be very unhappy at the consequences—which may include oil prices that soar past $100 a barrel.

Meanwhile, on the warfront: The two sides continue to trade missiles—with Israelis doing the greater damage. The death toll in Iran has risen to more than 220—while 24 have been killed in Israel.

Ugly fact to note: Israelis have blocked Palestinians from bomb shelters—during missile attacks. Israel has two million Palestinian citizens—roughly 21% of its population.

Reading list: New York Times looks at possible ways in which Iran will retaliate if the US enters the war. Al Jazeera has an explainer on the consequences for the global economy.

Meanwhile, in Gaza: Israel killed at least 70 hungry, desperate Palestinians at aid distribution sites—which has become the new normal in Gaza. Even the New York Times is appalled:

In recent weeks, Israeli forces have repeatedly used deadly force to control crowds on the approaches to the new aid sites, forcing many Gazans to choose between letting their families go hungry or risking getting shot…

In one video by a local photographer, at least 20 bodies are visible on darkened ground where blood is pooling. Two of the bodies are severely mangled, and two other people have bleeding head wounds.

Meanwhile, at the G7 summit: Trump delivered a number of swift kicks in the direction of his pals before ditching the party early. He beat up on French President Emmanuel Macron—for daring to suggest that Trump was leaving to work on a ceasefire offer:

Publicity seeking President Emmanuel Macron, of France, mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a “cease fire” between Israel and Iran. Wrong!... Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong.

This after Trump bullied the other G7 members into redrafting the final statement on Iran. All mentions of ceasefire were erased. Israel’s “right to defend itself” was loudly affirmed—never mind that Tel Aviv started the war for no good reason. Also: “Iran is the principal source of regional instability and terror.”

But, hey, they got Donald to sign the statement. And Keir Starmer scored this priceless photo-op of him scrambling at Donald’s feet at their joint presser—announcing a vaguely worded trade agreement. Then Trump made it all better by confusing the UK with the EU. Achievement unlocked!

Status update: Ads are coming to WhatsApp

Meta just announced that WhatsApp will no longer be ad-free. Don’t worry, ads won’t show up in your messages—but in the Updates tab. That’s the ‘social media’ space on the app:

WhatsApp will start interspersing ads when you’re tapping through Statuses, which is its version of Stories. Creators, brands, and the 200 million businesses using WhatsApp can start monetizing the app’s broadcast channels with subscriptions for their premium content. They’ll also be able to pay WhatsApp to appear higher in the in-app search results.

As for privacy: Meta insists your messages will remain end-to-end encrypted. Ads will be targeted using only basic data like your location, language, and the channels you follow—unless you are foolish enough to connect your WhatsApp to Facebook or Instagram.

Data to note: WhatsApp’s 3 billion users make it a goldmine. Of these, 1.5 billion people check the Updates tab daily (who are these people?!!).

Why is Meta doing this? All tech roads lead back to AI:

Meta has an expensive habit to support: artificial intelligence. Mark Zuckerberg’s company recently invested $14.3 billion in the startup Scale AI, and it’s planning to shell out as much as $50 billion more on AI this year, mostly supported by Meta’s advertising revenue.

Reminder: Meta’s ad game is stronger than ever. It pulled in nearly all of its $164 billion last year from ads, holding around 15% of the global digital ad market. (Morning Brew)

How visitors broke the Louvre: An overtourism story

The context: Europe has an “overtourism” problem—as in, some destinations receive far more tourists than they can accommodate. It is making the locals very angry in cities such as Barcelona and Venice. And local authorities have been testing various measures to bring the numbers down—issuing pricey day passes, shutting down Airbnbs etc. We looked at overtourism in detail in this Big Story.

What happened now: The Louvre was forced to shut its doors—when its exhausted staff went on strike:

The Louvre’s spontaneous strike erupted during a routine internal meeting, as gallery attendants, ticket agents and security personnel refused to take up their posts in protest over unmanageable crowds, chronic understaffing and what one union called “untenable” working conditions.

A problem of numbers: The Louvre received 8.7 million visitors last year—more than double of what it is designed to accommodate. The worst being the scrum around the Mona Lisa:

Roughly 20,000 people a day squeeze into the Salle des États, the museum’s largest room, just to snap a selfie with Leonardo da Vinci’s enigmatic woman behind protective glass. The scene is often noisy, jostling, and so dense that many barely glance at the masterpieces flanking her — works by Titian and Veronese that go largely ignored.

Here’s a photo from last month showing the chaos in the Mona Lisa room:

The result is “a daily test of endurance” for staff and visitors, alike.

The big picture: Despite being France’s premiere museum, Louvre doesn’t get much attention or money from the government. Its government subsidies have shrunk by more than 20% over the past decade—even as visitor numbers soared. As a result, the museum “remains stuck in limbo — neither fully funded nor fully functional.” (Associated Press)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Investor optimism is roaring back—66% now expect a soft landing (up from 37% in April), recession fears are down to 36%, and belief in weakening growth has nearly halved, Bank of America’s June survey shows. Bonus: over half think international stocks will beat US ones in the next 5 years.
Tensions are boiling over between OpenAI and Microsoft, with frustrated OpenAI execs reportedly considering antitrust action as talks drag on over their AI partnership and Microsoft’s future stake.
Google has unveiled its Safety Charter in India, which includes scaling up its AI-powered fraud detection and security operations.
For the third time, the Donald is expected to extend the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer or face a ban in the US.
Financial Times (splainer gift link) looks at how the culture wars are remaking advertising as we know it.
23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki has bought back the company at a bankruptcy auction.
Car rental app Zoomcar has suffered a massive data breach in which the personal data of 84 lakh users has been stolen.

sports & entertainment

BCCI has brought an additional bone test to check eligibility of cricketers in the Under-16 boys' category. The Hindu has more on why this is required.
Tom Cruise is finally getting his Oscar—joining Dolly Parton, Debbie Allen and Wynn Thomas as this year’s honorary statuette recipients at the Governors Awards.
Kamal Haasan’s new film ‘Thug Life’ will finally release in Karnataka after the Supreme Court ruled that filmmakers’ and cinema hall owners’ rights can’t be curtailed by threats of arson.
Thug Life is turning out to be a box office bust though—its day 12 earnings were 44 times lower than that of its opening day’s, with the Rs 100 crore mark now a distant dream for Mani Ratnam’s much-hyped Kamal Haasan-starrer.
Matthew Perry’s doctor Salvador Plasencia has agreed to plead guilty for illegally supplying the late actor with ketamine. He could face up to 40 years in prison and a $2 million fine.
Sabrina Carpenter‘s new single ‘Manchild’ debuted at #1 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 list—this is her second chart-topping song in her career.

health & environment

A new study warns Trump’s sweeping tax and spending bill called the ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ will end up killing a lot of people as millions of Americans are expected to lose their Medicaid coverage.
Nope, this is not a conspiracy theory: A new discovery using the James Webb Space Telescope suggests that the universe might be inside a huge black hole.
Keeping it in space: Astronomers just solved the mystery of the universe’s missing matter—finding that 76% of all ordinary matter exists in the form of hot intergalactic gas.
Bad news about the air we breathe—US researchers have found traces of a toxic industrial chemical in the air. This pollutant was previously found only in water and is toxic to aquatic species as well.
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a contempt plea by Vantara, seeking deletion of a Himal Southasian article about ill-treatment of elephants at the Anant Ambani-owned zoo. Our Big Story has more on Vantara.

meanwhile, in the world

India and Canada are finally thawing the ice—agreeing to name new High Commissioners for the first time since the Nijjar fallout in 2023. Modi also racked up photo ops at the G7, holding bilateral talks with world leaders—though no big deals or announcements followed.
Colombian senator and presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe is out of surgery but remains in ‘extremely critical’ condition, after being shot in the head during a campaign event earlier this month.
The global money laundering and terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has condemned the Pahalgam attack and will release its inaugural report on ‘state-sponsored terror’.

meanwhile, in India

Amid rising tensions in the region, India has evacuated 110 students—mostly from Jammu & Kashmir—from Iran to Armenia.
Trump’s latest real-estate partner? Mukesh Ambani. The Reliance unit paid $10 million to license the Trump name in Mumbai—part of a foreign deal spree that brought in $44.6 million in 2024, up fivefold from 2023.
For the upcoming Bihar assembly polls, the Election Commission (EC) will carry out webcasting at all polling stations—up from 50% in previous elections.
The Print has a must-read on the fear that has gripped Punjab-based influencers following the murder of YouTuber Kamal Kaur by extremists waging a war on ‘vulgar content’.

Three things to see

One: As you may have heard, America’s First Family has launched a mobile network—Trump Mobile—with a $47.45-a-month phone plan. What you may not know: They are also rolling out a T1-branded “sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States.” You can make a down payment of $100 to reserve yours now. But like all Trump antics, this one also seems to be a scam:

The product page includes what appears to be a Photoshopped image of a brushed gold phone with a “T1” logo and US flag on the back. The triple camera layout appears similar to recent iPhone Pro models at first glance, but the lenses are strangely spaced, and there doesn’t appear to be any camera flash.

Also: it is hideous. (The Verge)

Two: Scientists went on a 35-day deep-sea expedition in Antarctica and have been unveiling images of the many cool creatures they have found. The prettiest: This vermillion coral garden:

Also awesome to behold: Snailfish eggs on a black coral.

Last but not least: This graceful marine gastropod known as Nudibranch—yes, the name made us giggle. Yes, we are five years old. (Science Alert)

Three: The official trailer for ‘The Naked Gun’ reboot is out. Liam Neeson stars as Frank Drebin Jr, the son of Leslie Nielsen’s character from the original trilogy. He is very, very not funny—so much so that we insist you witness how terrible he truly is. The movie is slated for a theatrical release on August 1. (Variety)