Just give it up: Trump’s ‘peace’ plan for Ukraine

Written by: Raghav Bikhchandani & Yash Budhwar

Just give it up: Trump’s ‘peace’ plan for Ukraine

Donald Trump made a 90-minute phone call to Putin on Wednesday. An overenthusiastic Indian Express has dubbed it “as significant as the World War II Yalta Summit”—when Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt carved up Europe among them. This one had a more modest aim—to carve up Ukraine.

Hegseth tells all: The Trump plan was dropped like a stink bomb by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at a recent NATO meeting in Brussels. The core deets:

Ukraine will not be admitted into NATO.
Kyiv will have to cede territory already held by Moscow—which is 20% of the country.
Any postwar security guarantees in a peace treaty will not be enforced by US troops. Europe will have to provide “the overwhelming share of future lethal and nonlethal aid to Ukraine”—and it won’t be part of NATO.

Translation: Don’t expect Americans to come to the rescue if when Putin invades again.

Point to note: Earlier this week, Zelensky had floated the idea of a ‘land swap’ between the two countries—with Kyiv offering captured territory in Russia’s Kursk province. But the Kremlin isn’t ready to cede an inch—neither, it seems, is Trump.

The quote to note: Asked by Axios what leverage Ukraine has left, Hegseth’s response screamed volumes: "It's just a cheap political point to say, 'Oh we've left all the negotiating cards off the table by recognizing some realities that exist on the ground. [Trump's] got all the cards he would like.” Read that again.

The ‘peace’ map: If Trump plays all his “cards”, the map of Ukraine will look something like this:

The notable bit: Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was not consulted by the White House—before the Putin call. Neither was NATO—which was left spluttering in protest:

“It is crucial that Ukraine is closely involved in all talks on its future,” Mark Rutte, the NATO secretary general, said ahead of the meeting… John Healey, Britain’s defense secretary, said: “There can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine, and Ukraine’s voice must be at the heart of any talks.”

Reading list: Axios brings the best big picture take on Trump’s plans. New York Times has more on Hegseth’s remarks. The Guardian reports on the Trump-Putin phone call, while CNN has some must-read analysis on how US-Europe relations will never be the same again.

The great Beerbiceps pile-on: An update

Quick context: Ranveer ‘Beerbiceps’ Allahbadia asked this question on a YouTube roast show ‘India’s Got Latent’—hosted on comedian Samay Raina’s YouTube channel: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex for the rest of your life, or would you join in once and stop it forever?” It has been public mayhem ever since—despite Allahbadia’s abject apology video.

What happened now: Everyone and their grandmother’s sister’s grandson has jumped in the fray—eager to land a blow on all concerned:

Guwahati police (why?) filed an FIR against all five judges of the show—Allahbadia, Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, and Apoorva Makhija.
The Maharashtra Cyber Cell has also filed cases against the five judges and nearly 40 other people—some of whom had appeared on the show in the very first episode!!
Raina has been forced to delete all ‘India’s Got Latent’ episodes from his channel—as a sign of abject surrender.
Hindu activist Rahul Easwar has filed a police complaint against Allahbadia et al “to teach a lesson to Ultra Liberals, FemiNazis.” Sure, why not.
Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has vowed to raise this pressing matter in Parliament—and demand we “set boundaries” on these online platforms.
Not to be left out, the Human Rights Commission has written a stern letter ordering YouTube to pull down all episodes of the show—and cooperate with the police—and submit an ‘Action Taken Report’ within three days, no less.
And we have BJP MP Jagdambika Pal declaring: “Whether YouTuber or social media, inappropriate language needs to be banned and no remarks should be made in public against anyone without any evidence. Regulations regarding this should also be discussed if needed.”

You can see where all of this is going. Vir Sanghvi spells it out at length in The Print—in case you have any doubt.

Food delivery is bad for your heart

A new study out of China has terrible news for your Swiggy/Zomato orders. Research on rats indicates a strong link between eating from plastic takeout containers and the risk of congestive heart failure. The reason, however, lies in your gut!

The intriguing methodology: First, researchers studied over 3,000 people in China to see if there was correlation between frequency of meals in plastic takeout containers and the state of their heart. Then, they moved on to the rats:

They put boiling water in the containers for one, five or 15 minutes because plastic chemicals leach at much higher rates when hot contents are placed in containers... The authors then gave rats the water contaminated with leachate to drink for several months, then analyzed the gut biome and metabolites in the feces.

What they found: The rats’ gut bacteria had significantly changed—especially those linked to inflammation. Then they checked the rats’ hearts and discovered damage. The even more worrying bit:

The study did not find a statistical difference in the changes and damage among rats that were exposed to water that had been in contact with plastic for one minute versus five or fifteen.

Point to note: Although the researchers couldn't identify the specific chemicals leaching from the plastic, all of them are harmful:

Plastic can contain any of about 20,000 chemicals, and many of them, such as BPA, phthalates and Pfas, present health risks. The chemicals are often found in food and food packaging, and are linked to a range of problems from cancer to reproductive harm.

All of which is good reason to reconsider your food delivery lifestyle—quite apart from your waistline. (The Guardian)

A big breakthrough for CSI: Sexomes!!

Australian researchers have excellent news for investigators—not so much for fornicating criminals. They have discovered that we exchange a lot more than just fluids during sex. We also swap traces of bacteria called the “sexome”—presumably a clever riff on ‘the biome’ (sigh):

They’ve coined the neighborhoods of bacteria living on our penises or vaginas as the ‘sexome’. “In forensic science we work on the concept that all contact leaves a trace behind. With fingerprints that’s obviously the residues from our skin and in the case of the sexome, we’re using the healthy bacterial communities living on, and within, our bodies as a means of detecting that transfer,” senior researcher Brendan Chapman, a forensic scientist at Murdoch, told Gizmodo.

FYI: Even condoms cannot fully prevent the exchange. Why this matters: “We have confidence that in the future, sexome analysis will be another tool in the forensic DNA toolkit that can help identify perpetrators of sexual assault.” (Gizmodo)

what caught our eye

business & tech

Elon Musk’s X has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the Donald, over his suspension from the platform in 2021.
Adani Green Energy will exit two proposed wind power projects in Sri Lanka, in light of the Anura Kumara Dissanayake government looking to reduce the cost of power from the projects.
Reuters has a must-read on how Volkswagen’s ongoing $1.4 billion tax tussle with India is rekindling foreign investor fears about the ease of doing business in the country.
TikTok is back on the App Store and Google Play nearly a month after its US ban, following assurances from the attorney general that Apple won’t be fined for hosting it.
Also (finally) available for Android users—Apple TV+—with a free trial for a week.
AI-driven romance scams are surging—70% of online daters are targeted for cash and gifts, and in India, 51% have chatted with AI bots posing as real people.
A Google-backed startup, Apptronik, just raised $350 million to make robots our “true partners”—claiming they’re set to transform workplaces worldwide.
Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy has inaugurated a massive new building at Microsoft’s office complex in Hyderabad—marking 25 years of the corporation’s presence in the state.
Another day, another Narayan Murthy clone—this time, JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon has derided his employees for preferring hybrid models over the company’s compulsory five-day in-person workweek.

sports & entertainment

The latest edition of the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes is in and…there are zero women. The topmost earning woman—Coco Gauff—earned $30.4 million in 2024.
IPL franchise owners have been making big investments in England’s The Hundred league this month—ESPNCricinfo has the best roundup on all the major moves.
Disney is scaling back trigger warnings for old films as it rethinks DEI efforts, dialing down alerts for racial stereotypes on its streaming platform.

health & environment

CNN has a good read on why tourists are being told to wipe their shoes before visiting New Zealand’s "clearest lake"—to protect its pristine waters from harmful algae and preserve its sacred, otherworldly beauty.
China’s construction of coal-fired power plants hits a decade-high, with 94.5GW of capacity added last year, undermining President Xi’s pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 2030.

as for the rest

Hamas is set to release Israeli hostages this weekend as part of the ceasefire deal, easing tensions and keeping the fragile truce with Israel on track.
In other ME news, Saudi media have turned on Netanyahu and Trump, slamming their Gaza displacement plans in a rare shift that breaks from Riyadh’s usual pro-diplomacy tone on Israel.
Trump is working on “reciprocal tarrifs” to go into force on April 2. These are based on duties slapped on US goods by a given trade partner—but are really meant to force US companies to manufacture at home.
Congress accuses Manipur Governor of flouting Article 174, calling it “deliberate contempt of the Constitution” as they blast the PM’s ongoing absence from the state.
Axios has a deep dive into “masculine maximalism”—Trump and Musk’s shared playbook of raw, unapologetic power, wielded by strong (mostly) white men to test the limits of influence and authority.
Germany’s military is only “50% battle-ready,” with fewer troops, weapons, and air defense than before Russia’s Ukraine invasion—despite Scholz’s big defense push.
IIT Bombay has stopped sharing caste data in placements after a complaint alleging discrimination, scrapping a practice that gave PSUs access to student categories.
Aditya Thackeray huddles with Rahul Gandhi as MVA turbulence deepens after Sharad Pawar's surprise felicitation of Eknath Shinde.
Delhi Police detained over 10 Jamia students as protests erupted against disciplinary action on campus, with security tightened amid demands to revoke show-cause notices and scrap restrictions on student demonstrations.
Trump approves the extradition of 26/11 accused Tahawwur Rana, calling him “very evil” as the Mumbai attack plotter prepares to face justice in India.
Facing massive backlash, Bangalore Metro caps its fare hike at 71% after Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah calls the increase “abnormal” and orders a rollback.
Mint has all you need to know about RSS’ swanky new Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) ‘Keshav Kunj’ office—three 12-storey towers, 300 rooms, and state-of-the-art auditoriums.
Wall Street Journal (splainer gift link) has an interesting read on whether repeating someone's name is charming or creepy—once a power move by politicians and execs, now backfiring with many saying, “It made me uncomfortable.”

Seven things to see

One: A grand entourage of Musk Jrs—plus papa, of course—arrived at Blair House to visit our Prime Minister—who is on a two-day visit aimed at soothing the savage Trump. Indian Express has more on what they may have spoken about. We are most amused by this photo—on one side, India’s leading diplomats; on the other: the Elon Musk nursery. Cuter photos here.

Two: Kanye West upset everyone by tricking local TV channels into airing ads for his clothing brand Yeezy. He bought the slots—and then put tees with swastikas on the website after the fact. That’s the new normal for Ye these days. What’s really odd is the video created in response—Ori Bejerano of Israeli ad firm Gitam BBDO. He put out this vid of celebs like Scarlett Johansson, Steven Spielberg, Drake, Jerry Seinfeld and Sam Altman—all wearing white T-shirts with a middle finger emoji with the Star of David. Except it was a deepfake. No one else has said a word, but Johansson is not amused. (Gizmodo)

Three: BBC veteran Stephen Sackur took former Chief Justice of India—DY Chandrachud—to the woodshop in this interview on his HardTalk show. The conversation included the abrogation of Article 370, Ayodhya etc. The Telegraph offered its annotations to the points raised by the former CJI. (Hindustan Times)

Four: A team of researchers off the Canary Islands captured rare footage of this mean-looking black seadevil anglerfish. It was captured on camera for the second time—the first was in Monterey Bay, California in 2014. But that was underwater—since these fish are usually found at depths of between 200 and 2,000 metres. This time, the beauty was seen in broad daylight—but sadly didn’t survive the trip to the surface. (Oceanographic Magazine)

Five: Having suffered the ‘snoafer’ and the ‘sneakerina’, we have now been beset by the ‘Bea Mary Jane’ from Ugg. It’s a mashup of the usual Ugg and old-school Mary Janes. But hey, it has sheepskin on the inside. For what it’s worth: this Frankenshoe looks far more appealing than the last two we’ve featured—prices start at $120. (InStyle)

Six: This is the trailer for Radhika Apte’s next release—‘Sister Midnight’—directed by debutant Karan Kandhari. It’s a black comedy about a small-town woman—played by Apte—who struggles in her new life in Mumbai following an arranged marriage. A darker version of ‘Laapataa Ladies’ perhaps? The film premiered at Cannes last year and has been nominated for a BAFTA in the Outstanding British Debut category—the awards take place this Sunday. Check out the trailer below. (The Telegraph)

Seven: This is the trailer for ‘G20’—where Viola Davis stars as US President Danielle Sutton—battling terrorists who seize control of—wait for it—a G20 summit in Cape Town. Yes, you read that right. Alongside Davis, the cast includes Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, and Antony Starr. The film drops on April 10 on Prime Video. (Variety)

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