2025 Oscars: A snub for Payal Kapadia

Written by: Aarthi Ramnath, Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Who hearts Donald Trump: A striking global survey

The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) conducted a global survey of 24 nations—to measure public opinion on the Donald’s return to the White House. But the reasons for cheering his comeback—or not—are not what you think.

Jai ho, Donald Trump! The level of support among Indians is almost embarrassing. A staggering 84% think he will be great for America, another 85% think he’s fab for India—but the one that left us gobsmacked:

Please note India is leading the pack on such questions—way ahead of Saudi Arabia and Russia. Other ‘Trump Welcomers’ include South Africa, China and Brazil.

Crying into their beers: America’s European allies: “Only 22% of citizens of the EU, 15% of the British and 11% of South Koreans think his return is a good thing for their country.”

The more interesting stats: are on the Middle East question. Yeah, India is super optimistic as ever—but more importantly, 54% of Saudis agree—which is a pretty high number. That said, other key ME nations were never surveyed. Also this: Very few people in the world think Ukraine will win the war—including Ukrainians.

The more surprising stat: The 11 EU countries polled don’t have a very warm view of India:

The bigger picture: Those who welcome Trump’s return are not necessarily cheerleaders of US hegemony—as ECFR chief Mark Leonard points:

They no longer want the U.S. to be a self-appointed moral arbiter or global policeman. They’re much more comfortable dealing with it as the most powerful country in a more transactional world.

That’s why the Chinese are more upbeat than EU residents. In the words of Martin Wolf of Financial Times:

Postwar Europeans really believed in the “liberal international order”. For them, its disappearance is a huge disappointment. The so-called “global south” mostly never did and so is more comfortable with Trump’s transactional approach.

Reading list: Politico and The Guardian have lots more on the survey—the full nerdy findings can be found on ECFR’s website.

2025 Oscars: A snub for Payal Kapadia

Let’s get the saddest news out of the way: ‘All We Imagine As Light’ has been completely shut out by the Oscars. India’s official nomination for the foreign film category—‘Laapata Ladies’—didn’t even make the shortlist back in December.

The good news: The short film 'Anuja'—backed by Priyanka Chopra and Guneet Monga—is among the nominees for Best Live Action Short Film. Written and directed by Adam J Graves, the film centres on a 9-year-old girl who works in a garment factory in Delhi, and gets the chance to go to school. Reminder: Guneet Monga’s ‘The Elephant Whisperers’ won Best Documentary Short Film in 2023. The Hindu has more on that story. You can watch the trailer below:

As for the rest: ‘Emilia Pérez’ leads the way with 13 nominations—including Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film and two in Best Original Song! Next up: ‘The Brutalist’ and ‘Wicked’ with 10 nominations each, including Best Picture. The big snub: Zendaya-starrer ‘Challengers’—though the other Zendaya-starrer, ‘Dune: Part Two’, received five nominations.

Reminder: The 97th edition of the Oscars will take place on March 2 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theater. Hollywood Reporter has the full list of nominations, while The Guardian analyses the top contenders.

ADHD linked to shorter life expectancy

Researchers have uncovered a link between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reduced life expectancy. A large-scale UK study shows that male patients died seven years earlier than their peers—while women’s life spans shrank by nine.

Why the shorter lifespan? The study didn’t offer a cause-effect relationship—but highlighted significant risk factors:

[Individuals with ADHD] were twice as likely as the general population to smoke or abuse alcohol and that they had far higher rates of autism, self-harming behaviors and personality disorders than the general population. In adulthood, Dr. Stott said, “they find it harder to manage impulses, and have more risky behaviors.”

The problem: Without knowing why or how ADHD shrinks life spans, it is hard to take preventive steps—as some experts point out: “That is the key limitation of the study because it would be really important to know, in terms of prevention, should we be focused on suicidality? Better diet and exercise? Depression?” (New York Times)

Single-dose treatment for breast cancer?

Let’s start by stating plainly that the following study was conducted on mice. But scientists are still excited about a single-dose treatment that eliminates small breast tumours and significantly shrinks larger ones. This is in a specific kind of breast cancer that accounts for 70% of cases in humans.

How it works: The scientists injected a single dose of a synthetic molecule—ErSO-TFPy—which happily doesn’t cause many side effects. If this works on humans—which is a big if—it offers great hope for breast cancer patients. They currently have to endure surgery—followed by 5 to 10 years of treatment with adjuvant hormone therapy. (The Telegraph) Warning: The pop-up ads on this site have become highly intrusive—and make it impossible to read.

Atiqa Mir: India’s karting trailblazer

Quick refresher: Go-karting involves racing small, open-wheel vehicles—sort of a miniature and less-powerful version of an F1 car (watch them here). World Series Karting (WSK) Championships have been the testing ground for race car legends like the reigning F1 world champion Max Verstappen: “WSK is considered as the pinnacle of karting which attracts the best driving talent, the top kart manufacturers and engine manufacturers.”

Hello, Atiqa Mir! The 10-year-old go-karting whiz from J&K is set to become the first Indian female to race in the WSK Championships. She is racing in the competitive Mini class—a category featuring over 60 participants—and will also be the only girl on the grid. Her journey to this stage began with an outstanding performance at a race in Italy last year. It earned her a spot with Babyrace, a 29-time WSK championship-winning team. FYI: Karting is in Atiqa’s blood—her father, Asif Nazir was India’s first National Karting Champion. We are proud. You can see Atiqa below—the baby in Babyface:) (The Hindu)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Ola and Uber have been issued government notices for allegedly giving iOS and Android users different prices for the same ride.
WhatsApp wins a major victory in India as a tribunal lifts a ban on sharing user data with Meta, boosting Zuckerberg’s hold in its biggest market.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince revealed plans to pour $600 billion into the U.S. over the next four years. Hmm, where does an independent Palestine—a core Saudi demandfit into all this?
While the rest of corporate America does a runner, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs doubled down on DEI efforts. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon said "Bring them on!" to activist shareholders pushing them to turn the clock back.
OpenAI’s new agent Operator will handle all your pesky web tasks—like flight bookings and restaurant reservations—while you stay in charge of the final click.
Google plans to roll out AI-designed drugs by the end of the year—which would be huge.

sports & entertainment

Director Ram Gopal Varma got a 3-month jail sentence for bouncing a cheque—plus a Rs 3.72 lakh (Rs 372,000) fine.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese are teaming up to bring Devil in the White City to life—after over a decade in development limbo!
Gukesh checkmates the rankings to become world’s #4—the highest ranked Indian.

health & environment

While Trump says ‘Drill baby, drill!’, the EU generated more electricity from sunlight than from coal in 2024.
In today’s Captain Obvious findings, a new survey has revealed that frequent social media use is tied to higher levels of irritability.

as for the rest

The Jalgaon train accident—which killed 13 people—was supposedly sparked by a tea-seller spreading a rumour about a coach being on fire.
A federal judge blocked Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship—calling it “blatantly unconstitutional.”
Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has a good read on the Elon Musk-Vivek Ramaswamy ‘DOGE Divorce”—and why Trump’s fave NRI was pushed out.
In the first step of The Donald 2.0’s immigration policy, the Pentagon is sending 1,500 active duty troops to secure the US-Mexico border
Sticking with the Trump administration: the new-look Justice Department has ordered a freeze on all civil rights cases.
Ukraine has killed far more Russian soldiers, but Russia is still winning—because it has bodies to spare.
Pakistan’s parliament passed a bill granting its government sweeping social media controls, including prison time for spreading disinformation.
Nepal has increased the permit fee to climb Mount Everest by 36%. The new price: $15,000. But, but, but: it’s unlikely to discourage adrenaline-seekers.

Three things to see

One: Thailand’s marriage equality law came into effect yesterday—and was marked by a mass wedding of same sex couples. Reminder: It is the first Southeast Asian country, and the third in Asia after Taiwan and Nepal, to legally recognise same-sex marriage. See the colourful celebrations below: (Reuters)

Two: A new study has found that coral bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef reached “catastrophic” levels last year. In a period of 5 months, 370 out of 462 coral colonies were bleached and 52% of the bleached corals were killed. The images below show the speed and extent of the damage between February and May. (CNN)

Three: The latest Kalyan Jewellers ad features Katrina Kaif helping a plus-sized model pick out lehenga and jewellery for her shaadi—without any mention of her body. (Indian Express)

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