Hi all,
My parents visited me in Austin this past week, so I took advantage of that time and took a mini-vacation for 4-5 days. That means this issue will mostly be events that occurred over the weekend, so I apologise if I missed a major update from the past week.
During the holiday, I listened to an interview with José Andrés, the founder of World Central Kitchen, whose organization is now grappling with the horrors of war. I was struck by Andrés’ desire to “simply do something.”
A6 is no World Central Kitchen, but I wanted to leverage my growing platform to create a small positive impact. So, at the end of every issue, I added another section that highlights a charity that I believe is making a positive impact on our world. I hope a few of you will click the donate links I will embed in the headline and inside the blurb.
I will consider it a success if A6 can generate a few hundred dollars for a handful of charities in 2024. I won’t be able to see who donates, so it will all be very private, and there will not be any tracking.
Finally, if any of you have charities to recommend, do not hesitate to reply in the comment section or send me an email. My only worry about this project is sending people to a less-than-reputable organization.
This issue’s charity is, of course, the World Central Kitchen.
Enjoy this issue! I will publish a string of normal A6 editions to finish April.
Followups on A6 topics
A look at what’s in the $95 billion foreign aid package passed by the House
Israeli strikes on southern Gaza city of Rafah kill 22, mostly children, as US advances aid package
Myanmar junta abandons key border town in civil war
A6- Where the world happens
Olympics doping scandal rocks China
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is defending itself against accusations that it mishandled how it punished 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
An investigation by the New York Times revealed that over half of the Chinese team sent to Tokyo had tested positive for steroids in the months prior to the Tokyo Olympics, and that those athletes won three gold medals along with a handful of podium finishes.
The head of the US Anti-doping Agency accused WADA of “sweeping the positive tests under the rug.” The Chinese Anti-doping Agency called the reports misleading.
WADA said it “stands by the results of its rigorous scientific investigation.”
The swimmers are accused of taking a heart medication banned in 2014 because it is believed to help improve athletic endurance.
The situation comes a couple of years after Chinese swimming was tarnished by the case of Sun Yang, one of the greatest freestyle swimmers of all time who was accused of using steroids by his peers, but that was never definitively proven.
Sun’s case became a massive controversy after it emerged that blood test vials had been destroyed during a visit by authorities. Sun was acquitted after it became impossible to figure out who had damaged the tests.
Steroids have become ubiquitous across most sports, and experts believe that modern technology has resulted in a gap between the advancements of performance-enhancing drugs and officials’ abilities to test for them.
The US is leaving Niger
One concrete result of the recent coup in Niger is that the new government is eliminating any American presence in the country.
The inability of Washington to reach a new security agreement with the junta could present real issues for America’s ability to fight terrorism in the Sahel region in West Africa, which has become a global terrorism hotspot.
The newly appointed prime minister reached an agreement with American military officials to begin the withdrawal of troops from the country, but it is unclear what will happen to a major air force base in the city of Agadez.
One official said the airbases in the country will be “hard to replace” over the short term.
The Niger junta had previously expelled French forces from the country.
The coup leaders have deep ties with Russia, whose military trainers arrived in the country earlier in April. Niger said it does not want any foreign forces in the country for the time being and said the Russian personnel are only there to train local forces.
The US military is still attempting to negotiate with Niger leadership about potentially reaching a new agreement to host American forces in the country.
Apple removes WhatsApp and Threads from China store
Apple said on Friday it had removed WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China per Beijing’s requests.
WhatsApp and Threads are both owned by Meta, whose other platforms, Facebook and Instagram, have been blocked in China for over a decade (Facebook in 2009 and Instagram in 2014).
Interestingly, Meta’s VR headset brand Oculus was also banned, but Meta struck a deal with Tencent in 2023 and the Chinese tech giant plans to begin selling the headsets later this year.
Beijing ordered the removal of WhatsApp and Threads because of “national security concerns,” which is also the same logic the US Congress is using in its attempt to ban TikTok.
Apple released a statement that said: “We are obligated to follow the laws in the countries where we operate, even when we disagree.”
China also ordered that the Telegram and Signal messaging apps be removed from the Chinese-language Apple store.
Jon Russel summed up the impact nicely in his Asia Tech Review newsletter, writing:
Removing messaging apps that are mainstream worldwide erodes key channels that are used to communicate outside of China’s Great Firewall internet censorship system. Typically, they’re used by individuals sharing sensitive information outside of China, such as journalists and activists.
Dengue cases break records in the Americas
As the planet continues to warm, expect dengue fever to become a reality of life in colder regions of the world where it had not previously been an issue.
Dengue, which is spread via mosquitos, is very common near the equator, but the disease is surging in the Americas. Over 5.2 million cases have already been reported in the region in 2024, blowing out the record-setting numbers set in all of 2023.
While getting dengue feels horrible, with brutal flu-like symptoms, it’s not actually that dangerous of a disease.
Every year, 400 million people contract the virus globally, and it makes 100 million people sick annually. Of those numbers, around 40,000 people die from severe cases. That is a mortality rate of around 0.01%, as compared to 0.1% for Covid-19.
The statistics also imply that there are likely far more than 5.2 million cases of dengue in the Americas, as many people may have the virus without realising it.
Additionally, unlike Covid, the global medical community has decades of experience treating dengue, making it very unlikely that they would be caught flatfooted.
Much like malaria, dengue cannot be spread between humans, but mosquitoes are remarkably effective at passing it around.
Climate: BP opens large EV charging station in Texas
Oil giant BP opened a new major EV charging station in Houston in March, highlighting the on-the-ground reality that the US is actively building the foundation of its EV future.
The station’s opening is an example of an awkward marriage between EVs and large oil giants. EVs are becoming more popular as people try to curb their greenhouse gas emissions, but companies like BP are the largest emissions generators in the world.
The charging station is an excellent initiative from BP, but observers must be wary of greenwashing. That money may be better spent finding technologies to make BP emissions technologies more efficient.
The oil giant said it plans to invest US$1 billion into US charging infrastructure, with half of that being invested by the end of 2025.
Kevin’s Article: The Oscars of Archaeology: China unveils its top 10 discoveries of 2023
This is a listicle that features blurbs about 10 different discoveries in China from 2023. The intro paragraphs are too generic to share on A6, and this newsletter is too short to highlight all 10.
Most of the discoveries are genuinely cool, so I suggest scrolling through the article and reading about the excavations that interest you most.
Charity to consider: The World Central Kitchen
From the About Page:
World Central Kitchen teams across the world remain deeply committed to serving delicious, chef-prepared meals to people with the dignity they deserve. As the climate-crisis worsens and disasters become not only larger, but more frequent, we’ll continue to be there—and we hope you’ll join us. As José likes to say, “everyone is a part of World Central Kitchen, they may just not know it yet!”.
What I am reading
So You Think You’ve Been Gaslit
Deadly nitazene drug adverts on X and SoundCloud, BBC finds
The Wilmington Massacre of 1898
Using our platform as a way to give back is a great idea. Good lookin' out!
You always find a way to give back, do more. I love it.
"This issue’s charity is, of course, the World Central Kitchen." -Kevin McSpadden