From the editors: Verdicts in Hariri killing and Sushant Singh Rajput cases pose interesting questions

A BIG RELIEF FOR STUDENTS: The UK-based Cambridge International, which conducts A-Level examination across the world, has finally decided to review the A-Level results with the promise that revised results will not be lower than the predicted grades submitted by the schools. The decision follows widespread criticism by students about their grades being marked down. A-Levels exams could not be held in June this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Since A-Levels are school-leaving exams whose results determine college and university entrance prospects, the Cambridge Board must revise the results carefully to enable students get admissions in good universities well in time. It is certainly a big relief for students and parents.[COMMENT BY: Ashfaq Ahmed, Senior Assistant Editor]

GUILTY, YES. BUT WILL HEZBOLLAH MAN FACE JUSTICE? The conviction Tuesday of Salim Ayyash, a member of Hezbollah, in the 2005 killing of Lebanon’s ex-PM Rafik Hariri was welcomed in Lebanon and internationally. But will Ayyash really face justice? Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah chief, has said: “For us it will be as if they were never issued.” Even if by some miracle he is nabbed, Ayyash will have to be tried all over again since he was tried in absentia. Also, the big question still remains: Who really ordered Hariri’s murder? Many Lebanese have taken a dim view of the verdict as it has failed to provide closure.[COMMENT BY: Omar Shariff, International Editor]

BIDEN FORMALLY NOMINATED AS DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Joe Biden has been formally nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate. For the former US vice-president it was the realisation of a long-sought goal, but it had to be savoured from a school library rather than a convention hall. His wife of more than 40 years, Jill Biden, later spoke of her husband in deeply personal terms. Biden will deliver his acceptance speech Thursday night. Over the next two nights, Kamala Harris will accept her nomination as Biden's running mate and former president Barack Obama will also speak as part of his stepped-up efforts to defeat his successor. [COMMENT BY: Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor]

BEYOND REASON AND LOGIC: Irrational exuberance, a term popularised by former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, is associated unfounded market optimism that relies not on fundamentals of valuation, but instead on psychological factors. Widespread economic devastation, severe unemployment and a grim outlook for recovery following the COVID-19 have not deterred stock market investors' exuberance. On Tuesday, US markets hit a new high. Across Asia, markets are mimicking the US trend. This is not rooted in logic and reason at a time the real economic toll of the virus is yet to trickle down on to corporate balance sheets. While markets hope central banks will prop up liquidity forever, many believe that worst might be over. Both could eventually prove costly for markets.[COMMENT BY: Babu Das Augustine, Banking Editor]

Ronald Koeman, a former Barcelona hero who scored their match-winner in the 1992 European Cup final, has been appointed the club's new coach late on Tuesday. Koeman, who has been in charge of the Netherlands since 2018, replaces Quique Setien who was sacked after Barca were knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals in a 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich on Friday. Koeman now has the onerous task of rebuilding the side and the club's morale. [COMMENT BY: Gautam Bhattacharyya Senior Associate Editor]

After weeks of intense legal back and forth over the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, the Indian Supreme Court has made its decision. Holding that the FIR registered in Bihar’s Patna over the June 14 death of Rajput was legitimate, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the case. The single-judge bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy also said that the Bihar Government was competent to recommend transferring the case to the CBI. The apex court also asked Mumbai Police to hand over all the evidence collected so far in the case to the CBI. The state of Maharashtra refused the option to challenge the order, Justice Roy said. Rajput was found hanging in his Mumbai apartment on June 14. His family, fans and many in Bollywood claim it wasn’t a suicide. [COMMENT BY:Jennifer Barretto, Assistant Editor - Features]