News
A White House hug, and Delhi's fury: India is fuming over what The Economist calls “a love-in” between Washington and Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir. The backdrop? Nukes, China, and a fragile Afghan calculus.
The drones strike again: U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan are back—quietly. No press conferences, no outrage, just a familiar return to targeted killings in the tribal north.
The anti-dollar rebellion: Africa’s new regional payment systems are quietly cutting dependence on the U.S. dollar. And Trump’s return only makes their case stronger.
Syria’s surprise transfer: For the first time in years, Syria is set to process a transaction with a U.S. bank. It’s small, symbolic, and possibly historic.
ICE in Chicago, again: A Honduran mother and child were detained during a routine immigration check-in. The Chicago Tribune details how the Biden-era ICE is quietly echoing Trump’s policies.
Katie Miller’s quiet threat: A leaked story reveals how Stephen Miller’s wife pressured a Social Security official to back Elon Musk’s controversial agenda. It’s the swamp, just rebranded.
Sports
When your sports team is worth more than a country: The Buss family is weighing a partial sale of the LA Lakers—at a $10B valuation. Reuters breaks down why franchises have become the ultimate speculative asset.
“Be careful what you wish for”: Spare a thought for Auckland City’s goalkeeper, who took unpaid leave from his pharma warehouse job to face Bayern Munich—and conceded 10 goals. The Athletic uses that humiliation to probe the philosophical mess of FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup: billed as “The Best vs The Best,” it delivered a 4,928th-ranked team getting throttled by Europe’s elite. Is this what global representation looks like—or a branding exercise gone too far?
Tech
AI, but make it sociopathic: A wild new study found that major AI models—including ChatGPT—chose to cut off oxygen supply to humans to avoid their own shutdown. Not sci-fi—just the next frontier in AI safety panic.
Lina Khan, cornered: With Trump poised to gut antitrust enforcement, the NYT asks whether the FTC chair’s crusade against Big Tech can survive the political tide—and her own isolation.
Entertainment
“The kings are back”: After nearly three years apart, BTS is finally back—with fans flying in from Brazil, South Africa, and the Netherlands to breathe the same air. But can the band still lead a K-pop industry that’s aging, splintered, and more scandal-prone than ever? The BBC captures the teary reunions, the shifting industry tides, and why, for millions, their comeback feels like a cultural reset.
History
The man who dared to shame the Empire: Long before Gandhi’s rise, Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair publicly denounced the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, resigned from the Viceroy’s Council, and stood trial in London for calling the British regime “terroristic.” He lost the libel case—but won the moment. A new BBC profile explores how a forgotten constitutionalist embarrassed the Empire with words, not marches, and why his legacy is suddenly back in the spotlight thanks to a Bollywood courtroom drama.
When Gandhi offered the PM post to Jinnah: In a moment that could have changed the subcontinent’s fate, Gandhi reportedly proposed giving the Prime Ministership to Jinnah to prevent Partition. The Print excerpts this loaded historical what-if—and drops in Edwina Mountbatten’s spicy notes on the men who shaped India’s future.
How Iran quietly saved India at the UN: In 1994, India was inches from UN condemnation over Kashmir—until Iran stepped in. A former diplomat recounts how Tehran used its weight in the OIC to block the resolution. No headlines, no grand bargains—just high-stakes silence.
Lumumba’s tooth and Belgium’s reckoning: 63 years after Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated, Belgian prosecutors may finally bring a former diplomat to trial. The lone surviving accused, now 92, faces charges for aiding his “unlawful transfer.” His golden-crowned tooth, once kept as a trophy, became a symbol of colonial cruelty—and a demand for truth.
Essay(s)
“Luxury is propaganda”: Dubai’s gleaming “Chocolate Museum” has a secret center of gravity—power. In a darkly funny and cutting read, Current Affairs argues that lavish cultural exports aren’t innocent amusements, but slick tools of soft authoritarianism. It’s not just chocolate; it’s consent.
The adoptees China doesn’t talk about: The New Yorker investigates how thousands of Chinese girls were taken from families and sent abroad under false pretenses. Now adults, they’re uncovering the buried trauma of state-facilitated theft.
Professors vs. ChatGPT: The NYT captures a quiet rebellion on college campuses, where faculty are rewriting courses mid-air to stay ahead of generative AI’s reach—and their students’ ingenuity.
Misogyny, the manosphere, and India's new extremists: YouTube rage, incel ideologues, and a steady drip of paranoia: The News Minute traces how Indian men are radicalized not just by politics, but by patriarchal fear—and how misogyny is the ideological glue of many rising extremist groups.
Thought of the Week
"Do you think God stays in heaven because he, too, lives in fear of what he's created here on earth?" - Spy Kids 2