Dose Of News Useful Today

Wednesday, March 10th

🎵 Woah, We’re Halfway There

Welcome to Wednesday. Get ready to learn about the new CEO of Jeff Bezos’ $10B Earth Fund, a severe weather warning covering the entire state of Hawaii, and Disney+’s updated subscriber count.

⏰🚀 Ready, Set, Go: Today’s newsletter takes 5.15 minutes to read. (Know someone who would enjoy the DONUT? Just forward this email. New? Sign up here.)

Daily Sprinkle

"The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any."

–Alice Walker

🇨🇳 Report Finds China Guilty of Genocide

An independent report released Tuesday found Chinese authorities have violated all five acts under Article II of the UN Genocide Convention regarding their treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities. (Violating even one act can sustain the finding of a genocide.)

The 55-page report was published by a Washington, D.C., think-tank called the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy, which consulted with dozens of experts in war crimes, human rights, and international law.

📝 Background:

More than 1M Uyghurs are estimated to be detained in mass internment camps in China’s Xinjiang province.

Investigations have shown evidence to support allegations of torture, forced sterilization and other abuses, along with a series of factories inside the camps where detainees are forced to work in cotton fields. Products made in Xinjiang are integrated into supply chains around the world.

🤿 A deeper dive…
The report marks the first time a non-governmental group has conducted an independent legal analysis of the genocide allegations in Xinjiang.

It found Uyghur detainees are "systematically tortured, subjected to sexual violence, including rape, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment, deprived of their basic human needs, and severely humiliated."

"China's policies and practices targeting Uyghurs in the region must be viewed in their totality, which amounts to an intent to destroy the Uyghurs as a group," the report concludes.

On Sunday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi denied the allegations against the country’s government, telling reporters: "The so-called 'genocide' in Xinjiang is ridiculously absurd. It is a rumour with ulterior motives and a complete lie."

🌎 Around the World

🇺🇸 The U.S. became the first country to declare China’s treatment of Uyghurs a genocide in one of the last acts of the Trump administration – a decision current Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he agreed with after taking office.
🇨🇦 Canada’s parliament unanimously voted to declare China’s actions a genocide late last month, though PM Justin Trudeau and most members of his cabinet abstained.
⚖️ The International Criminal Court last December declined to investigate allegations of genocide against Uyghurs, but it left the file open – meaning more evidence can be submitted and the ICC could still open an investigation.

Biden calls Chinese President Xi and criticizes abuse of Uighurs. But we need more than words.

LEFT CENTER → NBC News (Opinion)

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🔢 By the Numbers:

3,200 – The number of migrant children stuck in border facilities as of Monday, according to reports, the highest in DHS history (and a figure said to have tripled over the past two weeks). (Left-Center | Right-Center)

68.6% – The percentage of Americans 75 or older who have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, per CDC data. (52.8% among Americans aged 65-74.)

1 in 3 – The number of women who face physical or sexual violence from an intimate partner or sexual violence from a non-partner at some point in their lifetime, according to a WHO report published yesterday.

6 – The number of women now alleging they were sexually harassed by NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo after it was revealed yesterday an unnamed female member of Cuomo’s staff said he inappropriately touched her. (Left-Center | Right-Center)

👑 A Royal Statement

Royal Family official statement (Image: Twitter)

Piers Morgan will leave ITV's Good Morning Britain morning show after facing backlash for comments he made regarding Meghan Markle on Monday.

More: Watch in full: Oprah interviews Prince Harry and Meghan Markle (1 hr 25 mins) or here's the highlights.

⏰ Catch-up Quick

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed into law a measure banning nearly all abortions in the state, except when the mother’s life is threatened. The law is expected to be appealed. (Left-Center | Right-Center)
The FBI released new video footage showing the person investigators suspect planted pipe bombs at the offices of the DNC and RNC the night before January 6. The agency is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
In an email to supporters Monday night, former President Trump called for “no more money to RINOs” – referring to ‘Republicans in name only.’ Last week, a lawyer for Trump’s PAC reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to the RNC and other GOP organizations demanding they stop using his name and likeness to raise funds. (Left-Center | Right-Center)

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

Image: AP

The National Weather Service placed the entire state of Hawaii under a flash flood warning yesterday after heavy rainfall forced thousands of residents on the island of Maui to evacuate their homes.

✈️ Flying High

Boeing revealed yesterday it received more new orders than cancellations for commercial airplanes last month for the first time since November 2019.

The company sold 82 aircraft in February and logged 51 cancellations. Boeing’s backlog now stands at 4,041 planes after it delivered 22 aircraft last month, including 18 recently-cleared 737 MAX planes.

More: The 737 MAX was grounded worldwide in March 2019 after two crashes that killed 346 people. Regulators in the U.S. and elsewhere cleared the plane to resume flying last November after Boeing changed the automated flight-control system that played a role in the crashes.

🐭 Mighty Mouse

Disney+ has surpassed 100M subscribers, Disney CEO Bob Chapek revealed in the company’s annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday.

Disney originally projected acquiring 90M subscribers over a four-year period, but ended up surpassing the 100M threshold in just 16 months.

More: It took streaming rival Netflix ten years to reach 100M subscribers (~204M as of late Q4).

💵 Down to Earth

Jeff Bezos named Andrew Steer as the new CEO of the $10B Bezos Earth Fund yesterday.

Steer currently serves as President and CEO of environmental nonprofit World Resources Institute.

Bezos also revealed plans to spend the entire $10B fund by the end of 2030 – a date that hadn’t previously been publicly disclosed.

More: Last November, Bezos announced the first recipients of the Earth Fund, granting $791M to 16 environmental groups (including the World Resources Institute).

⏰ Catch Up Quick:

💰 Bitcoin’s market cap rose above $1T for the second time ever yesterday, according to data from CoinDesk.

📽️ China’s Film Bureau approved a surprise plan to re-release James Cameron’s Avatar in theaters across the country on Friday. (Avatar is currently trailing Avengers: Endgame by $7.4M for the title of highest-grossing movie of all time.)

☝️ 1 Last Thing…

An international collective of hackers breached the system of cloud-based security camera startup Verkada in an effort to show how commonplace and easily-hackable the company’s cameras are, Bloomberg reports ($).

The hacking group gained access to the live feeds and full video archives of more than 150k surveillance cameras located inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons, and schools (including 222 in Tesla factories and warehouses).

🧇🧇 An Awaffley Kind Deed

“A parent not having food to feed to their child, especially with dealing with such challenges, I can’t even explain in words what that feels like.”

Nine-year-old Jerico Roman was diagnosed with autism along with severe oral aversion and eating challenges – which, as you can imagine, means he has trouble eating almost all foods.

That is, of course, besides his favorite: Nature's Path Maple Cinnamon Waffles.

Images: Global News

“He will not eat anything [else], and it will spiral downhill,” explains his mom, Jenna. Jerico averages around 2 full boxes of waffles a day.

Jenna began to panic when Nature’s Path announced earlier this year that the product would be discontinued. She had plans to buy every last box of the waffles in North America – and even started a GoFundMe page to that end.

However, the company was one step ahead of her. After hearing their story, Nature’s Path was able to locate the last six cases of the waffles and send them all to Jerico and Jenna’s home in Canada.

The company went so far as to modify and rewrite the recipe for at-home baking, sharing it with Jenna so she can recreate her son’s beloved food herself in the future.

“[I am] speechless,” remarked Jenna when she heard the news. “This is exactly what I needed.”

🌠 It’s Alive... planetary scientists reported a 10.6-ounce meteorite that landed in a residential driveway in rural England last month is composed of carbonaceous chondrite, a substance known to contain organic material and amino acids - meaning the ingredients for life may be present elsewhere in the solar system.

🧠 Best Guess... computer science professors at the Georgia Institute of Technology developed a new algorithm using a process of complex random guessing to solve linear equations at a rate faster than previously thought possible.

💊 Prescription Perfection... pharmaceutical researchers in Singapore invented a simple method for 3D-printing customizable prescription medications that satisfy patients’ individual medical needs. (Full study)

📺 iAmMalala… Apple TV+ announced a multi-year programming partnership with women’s rights activist Malala Yousafzai, who became the youngest-ever Nobel laureate in 2014 at 17 years old. Her production company Extracurricular will create a variety of content for the streaming service ranging from documentaries to children’s series.

🪐 On the Bright Side

What is the brightest planet as seen from Earth?

A) Venus
B) Mars
C) Mercury
D) Saturn

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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Dose of Knowledge Answer

A) Venus

Venus is considered the third-brightest object in the Earth’s sky, after the sun and moon. Venus’ atmosphere reflects about 70% of the sunlight it receives – more than any other planet in our solar system.