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<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0, user-scalable=yes" name="viewport"/>
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<title>18 June, 2023</title>
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<title>Daily-Dose</title><meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport"/><link href="styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><link href="../styles/simple.css" rel="stylesheet"/><style>*{overflow-x:hidden;}</style><link href="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.css" rel="stylesheet"/><script src="https://unpkg.com/aos@2.3.1/dist/aos.js"></script></head>
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<body>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-down" id="daily-dose">Daily-Dose</h1>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" data-aos-anchor-placement="top-bottom" id="contents">Contents</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="#from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-vox">From Vox</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</a></li>
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<li><a href="#from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</a></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-new-yorker">From New Yorker</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>“I Am the Only One”: Trump’s Messianic 2024 Message</strong> - Under threat of prison, the master of fear and anger takes another dark political turn. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/letter-from-bidens-washington/i-am-the-only-one-trumps-messianic-2024-message">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine’s Counter-Offensive, and What Comes After</strong> - Zelensky has mounted a major effort to take back territory seized by the Russians. But he’ll have to do more than prevail on the battlefield. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/ukraines-counter-offensive-and-what-comes-after">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is Donald Trump Scared?</strong> - At the former President’s arraignment in Miami on Tuesday, it was impossible to say whether his fate was more likely to be a return to the White House—or prison. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/is-donald-trump-scared">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Why Isn’t Joe Biden Getting More Credit for a Big Drop in Inflation?</strong> - Throughout the past year, the rate at which prices are rising has fallen dramatically, but public perceptions are lagging, perhaps because many prices are still a lot higher than they were in 2020. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/why-isnt-joe-biden-getting-more-credit-for-a-big-drop-in-inflation">link</a></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>What Can Joe Biden Do About Benjamin Netanyahu?</strong> - The President is clearly displeased by the Prime Minister’s anti-democratic turn but seems wary of testing his influence. - <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-can-joe-biden-do-about-benjamin-netanyahu">link</a></p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-vox">From Vox</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><strong>The epic story of our best malaria drug</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A medical worker prepares paperwork alongside documents and medical supplies including a box of injectable artesunate vials." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/debCLHPGzSOAQtYV1UkIkaCD0D8=/326x0:4675x3262/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72380712/174644273.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Artesunate is the leading effective anti-malaria treatment, and was made from a plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. | Thierry Falise/LightRocket via Getty Images
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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How the Vietnam War and ancient Chinese medicine led to a malaria treatment.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T94VfP">
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Let’s talk about artesunate.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="On0hUy">
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This drug is now the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876034114000720">standard, World Health Organization-recommended treatment</a> for severe malaria. It was <a href="https://www.mmv.org/sites/default/files/uploads/docs/access/Injectable_Artesunate_Tool_Kit/INJartesunate_60mg_booklet_ENG.pdf">only in 2011</a> that it officially displaced the old treatment, quinine, which you may know better as the thing in tonic water that makes G&Ts delicious. Artesunate is one of a class of anti-malarials developed as part of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0092867411009500">Project 523</a>, an effort launched by Chinese leaders Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong in the middle of the Cultural Revolution as a favor to North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="qJBgkS">
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Ho was in the midst of a brutal guerrilla war with the Americans, and his soldiers were falling sick and <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Detailed_Chronological_Record_of_Proje/fFaxhXYg8uAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA4&printsec=frontcover">dying of malaria at alarming rates</a>. He wanted a better class of treatments, but his country, which had been fighting the Japanese, the French, South Vietnam, and the Americans for a quarter-century by that point, didn’t exactly have the manpower or money to develop them itself. So he <a href="https://www.chemistryworld.com/features/50-years-of-artemisinin/4016074.article">asked his comrades</a> in Beijing to help.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RHf2dd">
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Tu Youyou, a chemist and expert on Chinese traditional medicine, <a href="http://www.lavierebelle.org/IMG/pdf/the_discovery_of_artemisinin_qinghaosu_and_gifts_from_chinese_medicine.pdf">led a team that combed through ancient medical guides</a> for hints at compounds that could fight malaria. She found that Artemisia annua, a type of wormwood, was mentioned as fighting malaria in <em>A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies</em>, written by the 4th-century traditional Chinese doctor Ge Hong (284-346). Tu’s team developed an extract from the plant (known as “artemisinin”) that they found effective in treating severe malaria cases. A whole class of treatments, known as “artemisinin derivatives,” comes out of this work. Tu would eventually <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2015/tu/facts/">win the 2015 Nobel Prize in Medicine</a> for her achievements.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gi624X">
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Liu Xu, a scientist at the Guilin Pharmaceutical Factory in southern China, <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Artemisinin_Based_and_Other_Antimalarial/EuxjDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA20&printsec=frontcover">attended a meeting</a> in 1977 held by Project 523, and heard about artemisinin derivatives for the first time. He began experimenting in rodents and found that one specific derivative was up to seven times more effective than ordinary artemisinin against severe malaria. It could also be formulated as an intravenous treatment. It became known as artesunate.
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</p>
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<h2 id="j2KA70">
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The long road to treatment
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</h2>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="U1liS5">
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But, as a <a href="https://rethinkpriorities.org/publications/historical-global-health-rd-hits">new report from the research group Rethink Priorities</a> written by analyst Bruce Tsai details, that was just the start of the story. It took decades for Tu and Liu’s discoveries to translate into a change in the worldwide treatment of malaria, a disease that still kills over <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria#:~:text=Disease%20burden&text=cases%20in%202020.-,The%20estimated%20number%20of%20malaria%20deaths%20stood%20at%20619%20000,63%20000%20more%20malaria%20deaths.">600,000 people per year</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Dem2vm">
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As late as 1998, Tsai writes, “there was no particular interest in artesunate specifically.” A <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD000527">Cochrane review</a> that year found that artemisinin derivatives generally were “no worse” than quinine at treating malaria. The main derivative tested at that point was artemether, which seemed a viable alternative to quinine, but not clearly superior.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MD2qxk">
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So what changed? Tsai gives primary credit to a series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) funded by the Wellcome Trust, the British medical foundation. First a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/37/1/7/474970">small 113-person study</a> found lower mortality when intravenous artesunate was used than with quinine. While not statistically significant, this result was promising enough to prompt a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)67176-0/fulltext">much larger, multicountry study of 1,461 patients</a> across India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Indonesia. It concluded that mortality with artesunate was 34.7 percent lower than with quinine, and also had fewer harmful side effects. A <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61924-1/fulltext">still larger study</a> in nine African countries with 5,425 child patients also showed a huge advantage (22.5 percent lower mortality), and demonstrated that the results generalized outside of adults in South Asia.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="73d8MT">
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At the same time, the Medicines for Malaria Venture, a nonprofit funded <a href="https://www.mmv.org/about-us">by foreign aid agencies and foundations</a>, funded an RCT that found a <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/205/2/312/2192412?login=false">lower-dose, cheaper regimen of artesunate</a> was just as effective as a bigger dose. It also worked with Guilin, the pharma company where Liu had developed artesunate, to get “prequalified” by the WHO. <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/prequalification-of-medicines-by-who">Prequalification</a> is a kind of quality check involving pharmaceutical factory inspections and other steps meant to signal to governments that prequalified products are safe and legitimate, and can greatly increase uptake.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="n7LSn5">
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Tsai and the Rethink Priorities team estimate that the 2011 introduction of injectable artesunate has prevented at least 785,716 deaths so far. Projecting forward, it estimates the drug could save as many as 4 million lives total.
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</p>
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<h2 id="tmqhDz">
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Philanthropic investment in drugs pays off in lives
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</h2>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="tX0GxQ">
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The tale of artesunate is a wild story that jumps from the Vietnam War to 4th-century Chinese medicine to modern randomized trial-based medical research. Its main lesson, for me, is a simple one, widely known to experts on global health but probably underemphasized outside that world: we cannot rely on businesses alone to protect us from disease.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="yAlNns">
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At each step in the artesunate story, the key funders and actors have been governments, foundations, and NGOs. Even Guilin, the pharmaceutical company that invented the drug, existed in the context of pre-reform China, where few enterprises were truly “private” and the state was heavily, heavily involved. (It still is, to a lesser extent, today.)<strong> </strong>
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="pg7rci">
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The delay in the drug’s rollout seems attributable in part to the lack of much commercial incentive to develop better malaria treatments, given how poor most people who get malaria are. If malaria was killing 190,000 Americans a year — which is the <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/malaria">number of Nigerians who died from the disease in 2021</a> — I’d guess artesunate would have become a standard treatment within a couple years of discovery, not over three decades later. Americans would be able to pay for it, and pharma firms would rush to soak up that money.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GxoR1J">
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Though maybe even that is too optimistic —<strong> </strong>a paper examining cancer drug trials from 1973 to 2011 in the United States found that <a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yYFwDH8MEpmyBC-jMdmnzgChdFfT9xDe/view">drug companies systematically underinvested in research and development</a>, and that proper investment would have led to patients living longer, cumulatively adding millions of years of additional life. The US invests heavily in health research through the National Institutes of Health and public universities. But there’s a strong case we should be doing still more.
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</p></li>
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<li><strong>People are using abortion medication later in their pregnancies. Here’s what that means.</strong> -
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<figure>
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<img alt="A single pill, inscribed with an S, is perched on its edge atop a translucent pink block." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/nOyA94sDAMX4VIz-_Q53EzAKReA=/0x0:2880x2160/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72380692/GettyImages_1481452347.0.jpg"/>
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<figcaption>
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Mifepristone, pictured, is one step in the most common medication abortion regimen. Access to it, and to clinical abortion, has become increasingly limited in the year since <em>Roe v. Wade</em> was overturned. | Getty Images/iStockphoto
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</figcaption>
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</figure>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The regimen is common and considered safe after 10 weeks, but the delays are cause for concern.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QDNQXd">
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Medication abortion is a simple procedure.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="84rIjC">
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A patient takes one medication, <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23678597/mifepristone-safety-abortion-pill-ruling-misoprostol-kacsmaryk-fda-rems">mifepristone</a>, which stops the pregnancy from developing, followed one to two days later by another medication, <a href="https://www.vox.com/23672829/what-is-misoprostol-abortion-medication-mifepristone-kacsmaryk">misoprostol</a>, which induces contractions that empty the uterus. The regimen, approved for abortions in the US since 2000, is <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23678597/mifepristone-safety-abortion-pill-ruling-misoprostol-kacsmaryk-fda-rems">effective and very safe</a>, according to physicians and researchers, with a low incidence of serious side effects, and it’s the <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/02/medication-abortion-now-accounts-more-half-all-us-abortions">most common method of abortion</a> in the US. It’s approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the first 70 days, or 10 weeks, of pregnancy, though the World Health Organization recommends medication abortion for <a href="https://srhr.org/abortioncare/chapter-3/abortion-3-4/medical-management-of-induced-abortion-recommendations-27-30-3-4-2/">up to 12 weeks</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="FgjIy1">
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Since <a href="https://www.vox.com/2022/6/24/23181720/supreme-court-dobbs-jackson-womens-health-samuel-alito-roe-wade-abortion-marriage-contraception">the Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em></a> last summer, however, nothing about abortion is simple anymore. With near-total <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-later-abortions">abortion bans in place</a> in more than a dozen states and gestational limits in several others, the procedure is growing harder to access by the day. Meanwhile, a federal court case is casting further doubt on <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy/23679121/mifepristone-abortion-pill-legal">the future of mifepristone’s availability</a> in the US.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GDNEoD">
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That ongoing march of bans and restrictions is causing delays for many patients — because they have to travel to other states to receive care, because the remaining clinics are overwhelmed with patients, or because they’re using pills <a href="https://www.vox.com/23056530/aid-access-abortion-roe-wade-pills-mifepristone">mailed from overseas</a>, which can take weeks to arrive.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="2zLR7F">
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“Up until the fall of <em>Roe</em>, we had maybe two calls ever asking for advice on using pills in a pregnancy that was over 12 or 13 weeks,” said Linda Prine, a family physician and co-founder of the <a href="https://www.mahotline.org/">Miscarriage and Abortion Hotline</a>, which advises callers about <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/gpr/2018/10/self-managed-medication-abortion-expanding-available-options-us-abortion-care">self-managing their abortions</a>. Now, she said, the hotline gets such calls as frequently as once a day.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="D1GOoa">
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So far, there is little hard data on how many people are using medication abortion after the first trimester. Counting abortions is difficult in an environment where they are often illegal, and <a href="https://societyfp.org/research/wecount/">existing efforts</a> often do not track how far along a patient is in pregnancy. The increasingly limited access to abortion around the country, however, has experts considering a future in which people use the medications later in pregnancies, beyond the 10 weeks approved by the FDA and outside of clinical settings.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="MZtbtx">
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Abortion medications still work past 12 weeks — <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15327617/#full-view-affiliation-1">one study</a> of 224 women between 12 and 20 weeks’ gestation found efficacy rates of 91 to 95 percent — and outside the US, medication abortion after 10 weeks is not uncommon. But the process comes with more severe side effects and slightly higher risk of complications, experts say, and can be frightening for patients who have to go through it alone and without guidance — a more common scenario as more people self-manage their abortions, and as stories of bans and <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23021104/texas-abortion-murder-charge-starr-county">prosecutions</a> have patients unsure who they can trust.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="a1VNKh">
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“It’s infuriating and outrageous to me,” Prine said. “These laws are not stopping people from getting abortions; they’re stopping them from getting timely abortions.”
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</p>
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<h3 id="VY5bX8">
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Medication abortions after 10 weeks are safe, according to doctors, but come with more severe side effects
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</h3>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="fpdm6m">
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Around the world, there is plenty of precedent for medication abortions later in pregnancy. This method is the norm for second-trimester procedures in Scandinavian countries, said Daniel Grossman, a physician and a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California San Francisco.
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Even in the US, doctors are able to prescribe medication abortion <a href="http://webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/off-label-drug-use-what-you-need-to-know">off-label</a> after 10 weeks — in <a href="https://www.ansirh.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/Trends%20in%20Abortion%20Care%20in%20the%20United%20States%2C%202017-2021.pdf">one 2022 study</a>, 33 percent of clinics provided medication abortion after that time period. In <a href="https://blog.utp.edu.co/maternoinfantil/files/2012/04/135-Aborto-2-trimestre.pdf">its most recent practice bulletin</a> on the topic, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists lists medication as one of the recommended methods of second-trimester abortion; the recommended regimen includes more doses of misoprostol than a first-trimester abortion but is otherwise similar.
|
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</p>
|
|||
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|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="H3TBbe">
|
|||
|
|
Researchers have also studied the method into the third trimester, with some research conducted at up to 28 weeks. They’ve found that mifepristone and misoprostol “are very safe and effective medications and they remain so throughout pregnancy,” said Heidi Moseson, a senior research scientist at Ibis Reproductive Health, a research group focused on reproductive autonomy.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="0BhrT2">
|
|||
|
|
The FDA, for its part, does not continuously review the latest research, instead relying on pharmaceutical companies to submit applications to expand approval of their drugs. The agency expanded its approval of mifepristone from seven weeks’ gestation to 10 weeks in 2016, but has not acted to lengthen the period in which it can be used since then. “Just because the evidence is published in a peer-reviewed journal or even because practice is changing,” Grossman said, “it doesn’t happen automatically.”
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="9RGITI">
|
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|
|
Online pharmacies and other groups vary in their policies toward abortions later in pregnancy. Aid Access does not prescribe medication to people who say they are more than 11 weeks pregnant, but instead directs them to abortion funds or other resources, said founder Rebecca Gomperts. Plan C, which provides information and links to online stores that sell abortion medication, does not collect data on how far along visitors are in pregnancy, said co-founder and co-director Elisa Wells. (The website had 209,000 visitors this April, up from 76,000 in April 2022, before the <em>Dobbs</em> decision was announced.)
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="wzgEt5">
|
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|
Complications such as hemorrhage or a retained placenta are slightly more likely after 10 weeks than when the medication is taken earlier. However, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18772097/">one review</a> of the available research found that less than 1 percent of patients had heavy bleeding that required transfusion. “For the most part, in our experience, the pills work very well, and it isn’t common to need to get extra care,” Prine said.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="jl8o8T">
|
|||
|
|
Still, the process of undergoing a second-trimester abortion with medication can be challenging, especially at home. “People who are further in gestation have more pain associated with medication abortions,” Grossman said. Because of the pain and the elevated complication risk, the standard of care in the US has been for medication abortions in the second trimester to take place in medical facilities.
|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="E9thGV">
|
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|
|
The experience can also look different from a first-trimester abortion. Earlier procedures tend to produce fairly consistent cramping and bleeding over the course of several hours, while later medication abortions more often result in “a big gush of fluid and then passage of the fetus and then some bleeding after that,” Prine said.
|
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|
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</p>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rOFUlL">
|
|||
|
|
Sometimes patients call the hotline frightened, saying things like, “I just passed my pregnancy and it’s the size of my fist.” Others call because the umbilical cord is still connected, or because they haven’t passed the placenta yet and want to know what to do. Much of what they’re experiencing is expected for a second-trimester abortion, but patients don’t necessarily know that.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QQYwGZ">
|
|||
|
|
For now, most callers to the hotline are using a combination of mifepristone and misoprostol. People can self-manage second-trimester abortions with misoprostol alone if mifepristone becomes unavailable, but it is harder to determine when a misoprostol-only abortion is finished. Patients could end up having to take several additional doses of misoprostol, each of which comes with side effects like nausea and diarrhea, Prine said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="1fTcnl">
|
|||
|
|
Bans and restrictions could push more people to use medication abortion later in pregnancy
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LN0V7O">
|
|||
|
|
Today, <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy/explore/state-policies-later-abortions">13 states ban abortion</a>, and several others impose strict gestational limits — restrictions that apply to both <a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/the-availability-and-use-of-medication-abortion/">surgical and medication abortions</a>.
|
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|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="49NDJV">
|
|||
|
|
That has left patients there scrambling to access reproductive options. Some are able to travel elsewhere to seek care: In the six months following <em>Dobbs</em>, states such as North Carolina and Illinois, which border states with bans and have fewer restrictions, experienced surges in the number of abortions performed, according to <a href="https://www.societyfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/WeCountReport_April2023Release.pdf">the abortion reporting effort #WeCount</a>. That influx of patients has caused an <a href="https://sentinelcolorado.com/1gridhome/dobbs-effect-as-demand-for-abortions-in-colorado-goes-up-so-do-wait-times-for-in-person-care/">increase in wait times</a> for clinic appointments in the states that still allow abortion, a phenomenon that can push patients past the legal limits as some states without bans still <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/north-carolina-lawmakers-vote-overriding-veto-12-week-abortion-ban-2023-05-16/">shrink the window</a> in which people can get care.
|
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|
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</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="xdbofa">
|
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|
|
Faced with fewer options within the US, more patients are turning to pharmacies and other groups that provide abortion medication from overseas. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/01/upshot/abortion-pills-mail-overseas.html">One study</a>, for example, found an almost 120 percent increase in orders through the Austria-based nonprofit Aid Access in the two months after <em>Dobbs</em>. “Most people can’t travel to other states,” Prine said. So their only option is to get pills “either from underground community networks or online.”
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nADpkO">
|
|||
|
|
Overseas groups get around US abortion law because they are outside the American legal system and thus more difficult to prosecute or sue. However, the pills can take longer to arrive than if they were shipped or prescribed domestically, meaning that patients will potentially have abortions later in pregnancy.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="JkB25j">
|
|||
|
|
The confusion and logistical difficulties caused by new abortion restrictions may be causing more delays, too. Patients may first seek an abortion nearby and go online only when that’s impossible to access. “When we see bans go into effect, it delays people,” Moseson said. “Many people will still obtain care, but it pushes them later in pregnancy.”
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nTD5pF">
|
|||
|
|
It also means that clinical care may not be an option, particularly in states with bans. Patients in these areas are often on their own, unsure of what to expect or how to get medical care if they need it — or whether they’ll be criminalized for doing so.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
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|
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="QExj4H">
|
|||
|
|
Only two states have laws explicitly banning self-managed abortion, and there are no laws requiring health care providers to report to law enforcement if they believe such an abortion took place, Moseson said. There’s also no blood test or other screening that can determine if someone took abortion medication.
|
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|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6kuT5p">
|
|||
|
|
However, many patients remain afraid of legal repercussions if they do end up needing to go to a doctor or hospital for complications. Prosecutors have used laws against mishandling human remains and other crimes to prosecute people suspected of self-managing abortions. In a <a href="https://www.ifwhenhow.org/resources/self-care-criminalized-preliminary-findings/">2022 analysis</a> of such criminalization by the reproductive justice legal group If/When/How, the vast majority of abortions that led to investigation or arrest took place in the second or third trimester. <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23021104/texas-abortion-murder-charge-starr-county">High-profile cases of criminalization</a> in the news can also make people afraid of going to the hospital. “There are real instances when people need care quickly to save their lives and the confusion around these laws and the real legal repercussions have a very harmful chilling effect,” Moseson said.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="UI5kxT">
|
|||
|
|
“People are just living in such fear in these restricted states,” Prine said. “They just don’t know what’s safe.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Eeuoad">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.vox.com/the-goods/23580117/linda-prine-abortion-pills-medication-dobbs-roe">Prine and other abortion rights advocates</a> are calling for <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/20/opinion/new-york-abortion-rights-legislation.html">shield laws</a> to protect doctors in blue states who want to prescribe abortion medication by telemedicine to patients in red states. Massachusetts already has such a law, and New York state is considering one. The laws could allow more patients to get the medication through US mail, avoiding the long waits sometimes associated with shipping from overseas.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="c2ZEar">
|
|||
|
|
For now, however, legal barriers and logistical hurdles are combining to leave some patients with few options other than a medication abortion later in pregnancy. “I feel for the people who are experiencing this,” Prine said. “This should not be having to happen.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RIs2ye">
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="T5deHB">
|
|||
|
|
</p></li>
|
|||
|
|
<li><strong>Mali’s referendum can’t guarantee a democratic transition</strong> -
|
|||
|
|
<figure>
|
|||
|
|
<img alt="MALI-GUINEA-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-GOITA-DOUMBOUYA" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/K-RNHLqe-52Jx7ugXJ5mi9ASYEA=/0x69:1600x1269/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72379903/1243425166.0.jpg"/>
|
|||
|
|
<figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
Malis interim leader and head of Junta, Colonel Assimi Goïta looks on, in Bamako, Mali, on September 22, 2022 during Mali’s Independence Day military parade. | Ousmane Makaveli/AFP via Getty Images
|
|||
|
|
</figcaption>
|
|||
|
|
</figure>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
|||
|
|
The junta’s constitutional amendments could let it consolidate power over an unstable nation
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="gL8imE">
|
|||
|
|
The ruling junta in Mali is <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/malians-divided-ahead-referendum-vote-paving-way-elections-2023-06-16/">holding a constitutional referendum</a> as part of a transition back toward civilian rule, but experts and political opponents say the true aim<strong> </strong>is consolidating its power in the increasingly violent and unstable Sahel region, which runs through Mali and several other countries.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="J38yXo">
|
|||
|
|
The junta, which came to power in an August 2020 coup, has promised to stabilize the country where violent insurgent Islamist groups compete with it and<strong> </strong>each other for control. Instead, violence on the part of the Islamists and the junta — backed by<a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/3/21/23622615/ukraine-war-bakhmut-wagner-group-russia"> the Russian mercenary Wagner group </a>— has increased exponentially, with civilians bearing the brunt of the horror.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="6DEJaS">
|
|||
|
|
The vote has been delayed several times, most recently in February of this year, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/mali-junta-delays-referendum-needed-democratic-transition-2023-03-10/">citing logistical</a> reasons. Presidential elections are to be held in February 2024, though it’s unclear whether the junta will adhere to that timeframe.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="71BlOB">
|
|||
|
|
Some of the proposed constitutional amendments give more power to the president, rather than than the parliament — hence the political opposition. Though it’s unclear whether the current leader, Col. Assimi Goïta, will stand in any future election, certainly an ally or proxy for the junta will. That could effectively legitimize the junta’s control and perpetuate the current violence and instability.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="rN1z5K">
|
|||
|
|
“The fear I have for Mali is that we might see, effectively, the restoration of military power which is kind of like going back to the ‘70s and ‘80s, which are commonly referred to in the African politics literature as the ‘Dark Decades,’” according to Daniel Eizenga of the Africa Center for Strategic Studies. “That was a really terrible time, but [the current situation] looks kind of like a prelude to re-experiencing that,” he told Vox in an interview.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="IUfCDN">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.africanews.com/2023/06/12/mali-soldiers-cast-ballots-during-early-voting-in-constitution-referendum//#:~:text=06%20%2D%2011%3A49-,Mali,in%20Bamako%20in%20early%20voting.">Security forces have already voted</a>, and civilians are set to vote Sunday, June 18 — a simple “yes” or “no” in response to whether they approve of the changes the junta has proposed to the 1992 Malian constitution, created by civilian leadership after the overthrow of dictator Moussa Traoré in 1991. Opposition to the changes include a contingent of influential imams who oppose the idea of Mali as a secular country, as well as political parties and civil society groups that reject mechanisms for the junta to consolidate power under the guise of the democratic process.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="hrPH6h">
|
|||
|
|
However, the international community has pushed for the referendum as part of Mali’s path back to civilian governance; regardless of the flaws in the process, it’s a necessary step in the transition, Leonardo Villalon, a professor of political science and African studies at the University of Florida told Vox. “This referendum is going to be limited and flawed, in the sense that the vote is going to be very difficult to hold in some areas,” he said. “There’s precedent for that, and there’s precedent for widespread acceptance of that,” particularly given the security challenges that Mali faces and its fragile electoral apparatus.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="LglyKP">
|
|||
|
|
“I’m assuming [the referendum is] going to pass, and the government will make sure it passes,” Villalon told Vox.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="0HRb2D">
|
|||
|
|
The junta promised stability, but violence has only accelerated in Mali
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="t7b5Td">
|
|||
|
|
<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/7/coup-leader-assimi-goita-set-to-be-sworn-in-as-malis-president">Goïta’s leadership</a> is actually the result of a second coup that he staged in May 2021, seizing power from the transitional president and prime minister. Goïta had previously taken power from Mali’s last elected civilian, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/ibrahim-boubacar-keita-dead/2022/01/16/2d74da48-ed25-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html">President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta</a> — commonly referred to as IBK — over allegations of corruption and worsening security and economic conditions.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="dsZ1rA">
|
|||
|
|
Though the coup sparked international outcry, thousands of Malians had protested IBK’s poor handling of the country’s crises, and supported the military forces as they took the capital Bamako. Islamist terrorist groups and separatist groups flush with weapons and insurgents after Libya’s collapse in 2011 have wreaked havoc across the Sahel region, particularly in <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violent-extremism-sahel">Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger</a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="s3Xq9U">
|
|||
|
|
“[IBK’s] government was not particularly effective on the security front,” Eizenga told Vox. “The situation has gotten much worse, and it’s gotten worse faster since the junta came to power, and I think they bear a lot of responsibility for that, particularly the violence against civilians. But the situation was trending badly before they came to power, too.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="teT2oL">
|
|||
|
|
United Nations peacekeeping forces and French military forces had been in Mali since 2013,<strong> </strong>in an effort to help the government combat extremist forces. However, the junta effectively forced French forces out in 2022 and on Friday demanded that UN peacekeepers leave the country “<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/africa/20230616-mali-calls-for-immediate-withdrawal-of-un-peacekeeping-mission">without delay.</a>”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="nmoyTK">
|
|||
|
|
Though the efficacy of both forces in containing the violence has been dubious at best, the calls for their removal has more to do with the junta’s efforts to whip up populist, nationalist, and anti-colonial sentiment than it does with the military’s own efforts to stabilize areas where insurgent groups are in control.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="ci2zdY">
|
|||
|
|
Indeed, under the present government, the security situation has rapidly deteriorated, Eizenga told Vox. According to data from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project (ACLED) and the<a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/debunking-the-malian-juntas-claims/"> Africa Center for Strategic Studies</a> shared in an email, in 2022 there were 996 violent events involving Islamist groups, which resulted in 3,635 fatalities. As Eizenga told Vox, that makes violence in 2022 “by far the worst on record.” Furthermore, “based on the available data through the first quarter of 2023, we anticipate roughly a doubling of violence since the junta took power.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VqPOVp">
|
|||
|
|
That is primarily due to the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/05/mali-massacre-army-foreign-soldiers">Moura massacre</a> in Mali’s southern-central Mopti region. As Vox’s Jen Kirby wrote in a <a href="https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2023/3/21/23622615/ukraine-war-bakhmut-wagner-group-russia">March report</a> on the Wagner mercenary group:
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="GZ4OZh">
|
|||
|
|
In January, <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/01/mali-un-experts-call-independent-investigation-possible-international-crimes"><strong>a group of independent United Nations experts</strong></a> called for an investigation into reported abuses in Mali, including a potential mass execution in Moura. Malian troops and Russian mercenaries — who are fighting an insurgency — were accused of murdering hundreds of people last March, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/world/africa/mali-massacre-investigation.html"><strong>many of them likely civilians with no apparent ties to insurgent groups</strong></a>.
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
</blockquote>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="oZ4tFX">
|
|||
|
|
The junta has defended its actions in Moura, decrying a <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2023/05/malian-troops-foreign-military-personnel-killed-over-500-people-during">recent United Nations report</a> on the event and claiming that it was protecting civilians in the area from Islamist violence. But, Eizenga said via email, “part of the logic seems to be to alienate international forces like those comprising [the UN peacekeepping forces], so as to limit scrutiny of the military’s operations particularly with Wagner support.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<h3 id="ZiD8l1">
|
|||
|
|
The referendum is a difficult start to any potential democratic transition
|
|||
|
|
</h3>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="f9jaaK">
|
|||
|
|
Despite its failures to stamp out Islamic extremism and the alleged atrocities it’s committed, the junta does have supporters, Villalon said. “They have support and they have a lot of ambivalence — maybe people who aren’t sure about them, but they’re also really dissatisfied with the old guard, the old parties that ruled Mali for so long.”
|
|||
|
|
</p>
|
|||
|
|
<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="N9LMaq">
|
|||
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Some of the opposition to the referendum does come from those “old guard” entrenched political parties, particularly the Parti Pour la Renaissance Nationale, or PARENA and Solidarité Africaine pour la Démocratie et l’Indépendance, or SADI, which were established in the 1990s.
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</p>
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“Too much power in the hands of the future president will squash all the other institutions,” Sidi Toure, a PARENA spokesperson, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/malians-divided-ahead-referendum-vote-paving-way-elections-2023-06-16/">told Reuters Friday</a>. PARENA is encouraging Malians to vote “no” to the changes, but, Toure said, it’s unclear what the outcome will be. “Mali and Malians are profoundly divided.”
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The referendum has brought about a serious debate about the role of <a href="https://www.vox.com/religion">religion</a> in society and politics in the majority-Muslim country, particularly as a rejection of the French model of secularism. Imams are a major force of opposition to the draft constitution, which designates Mali as an “independent, sovereign, unitary, indivisible, democratic, secular and social republic.” Some of the most <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/rallies-grip-bamako-before-mali-constitutional-referendum-eadd899f">vocal opponents to the referendum</a> are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23802014.2022.2108893">imam Mahmoud Dicko</a>, one of the leaders of the opposition to IBK in 2020, and the <a href="https://www.rfi.fr/fr/afrique/20230506-mali-des-associations-islamiques-se-l%C3%A8vent-contre-l-inscription-de-la-la%C3%AFcit%C3%A9-dans-la-constitution">Ligue Islamique des Imams du Mali</a>, an association of about 20 Muslim groups. Separatist groups in the north, including the <a href="https://www.maliweb.net/politique/mali-les-principaux-mouvements-signataires-de-laccord-dalger-recommandent-le-report-du-referendum-constitutionnel-3024750.html">Cadre Stratégique Permanant pour la Paix, la Sécurité et le Développement</a> (CSP-PSD), have also opposed the referendum, saying that the changes are not sufficiently inclusive.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="RDF6Ee">
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Though Villalon referred to Sunday’s vote as a “referendum on the regime,” Eizenga told Vox that “the hopes for emboldened democracy in Mali, I think, are pretty low.”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="Le8eZY">
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Results of Sunday’s referendum are expected within 72 hours after the election, according <a href="https://www.barrons.com/news/rallies-grip-bamako-before-mali-constitutional-referendum-eadd899f">to Agence France-Presse</a>.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom" id="VzmVeZ">
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</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-sports">From The Hindu: Sports</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Wrestlers protest | Sakshi Malik, Babita Phogat engage in a war of words</strong> - While Malik accused Babita of siding with the government, the latter claimed that the Malik has become a “Congress’ puppet”</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Badminton | India’s Rankireddy and Shetty triumph in Indonesia Open, create history</strong> - The Indians, who were also Asian champions, defeated the current world champions in 43 minutes.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Morning Digest | From one eruption to another, day and night spread equal dread in Manipur; Railways to review operations on safety of trains, and more</strong> - Here’s a select list of stories to read before you start your day</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Inter-state Athletics Championships: AFI president Sumariwalla defends hosting event amid heat wave</strong> -</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Jamari, who is in fine nick, may score an encore in the Fillies Championship Stakes</strong> -</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-the-hindu-national-news">From The Hindu: National News</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Heatwave in U.P. and Bihar kill nearly 100 die as India struggles with a sweltering</strong> - Indian officials say at least 96 people have died in the two States over the last several days with swaths of the country reeling from scorching heat</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>EESL pledges support to Energy Efficiency projects in State</strong> - The projects are aimed at mitigating the impact of climate change, especially in the MSME sector</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 to be conferred on Gita Press</strong> - “Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 recognises the important and unparalleled contribution of Gita Press, in contributing to collective upliftment of humanity, which personifies Gandhian living in true sense”</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Manipur women hit the streets for peace</strong> - Women raised slogans demanding implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC).</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Congress blames BJP for violence against minorities</strong> - APCC says PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah failed to reach out to States shaken by violence and initiate confidence-building measures</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-bbc-europe">From BBC: Europe</h1>
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<ul>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war must end, South African President Ramaphosa tells Putin</strong> - Cyril Ramaphosa and other African leaders met the Ukrainian and Russian presidents in their peace bid.</p></li>
|
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Poland: Thousands march in Warsaw for LGBT rights ahead of elections</strong> - Same-sex relationships are not legally recognised in Poland and gay couples cannot adopt children.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Rare earthquake damages French homes, schools and churches</strong> - Hundreds of buildings in western France are declared uninhabitable following the rare earthquake.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Ukraine war: Putin confirms first nuclear weapons moved to Belarus</strong> - Russia’s leader says the move is to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”.</p></li>
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<li data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Spain drought forces Fuente de Piedra flamingos to find new home</strong> - Spain has witnessed its hottest spring since 1961, with high temperatures likely to continue for months.</p></li>
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-ars-technica">From Ars Technica</h1>
|
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The sleeper hits of Summer Game Fest 2023</strong> - Games about time travel, foam spraying guns, and… space hospitals? - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948256">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Scientists conduct first test of a wireless cosmic ray navigation system</strong> - System could be used to guide underwater robots or underground autonomous vehicles - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948491">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Neanderthal adhesives were made through a complex synthesis process</strong> - Birch bark was heated in underground chambers to create a tougher adhesive. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948666">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>The US Navy, NATO, and NASA are using a shady Chinese company’s encryption chips</strong> - US government warns encryption chipmaker Hualan has suspicious ties to China’s military. - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948695">link</a></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Weirdly, a NASA official says fixed-price contracts do the agency “no good”</strong> - “What really makes me worried is that I think it shows where the heart of the agency is.” - <a href="https://arstechnica.com/?p=1948558">link</a></p></li>
|
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</ul>
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<h1 data-aos="fade-right" id="from-jokes-subreddit">From Jokes Subreddit</h1>
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<ul>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Reddit is killing third-party applications (and itself). Read more in the comments.</strong> - submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/JokeSentinel"> /u/JokeSentinel </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://i.redd.it/1j5nee06kx5b1.png">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/1490rmv/reddit_is_killing_thirdparty_applications_and/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Did you know that 20 pirahnas can demolish a small child down to the bone in under 30 seconds?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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In other news, I lost my job at the aquarium today.
|
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
|
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(My nephew told me this joke yesterday, totally deadpan! Thought it was worth sharing!)
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</p>
|
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</div>
|
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/smelliepoo"> /u/smelliepoo </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14ceu9q/did_you_know_that_20_pirahnas_can_demolish_a/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14ceu9q/did_you_know_that_20_pirahnas_can_demolish_a/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>NSFW A teacher asked her class if anyone could use the word contagious in a sentence. One girl raiser her hand and said, “The mumps are contagious” “Very good”, said the teacher, “Would anyone else like to try?” A boy raised his hand and said,</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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“Our next-door neighbor was painting her house by herself, and my dad said it would take the contagious.”
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</p>
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</div>
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<!-- SC_ON -->
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/bebobbaloola"> /u/bebobbaloola </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14buh8h/nsfw_a_teacher_asked_her_class_if_anyone_could/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14buh8h/nsfw_a_teacher_asked_her_class_if_anyone_could/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
|
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Two men were washed ashore during WWI.</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<div class="md">
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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Their ship, an aging minesweeping model, had wrecked off the coast of an uninhabited island. As the older veteran worked to build a makeshift camp, the younger soldier managed to salvage a radio, and quickly telegraphed an SOS with their coordinates.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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To their surprise, a ship responded within the hour, confirming that it could arrive at their position in approximately two weeks.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The old vet sighed and shook his head, saying he’d rather take his chances swimming out to the wrecked ship and trying to repair it.
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The young soldier scoffed. “You’d really rather play with that old mine craft all day?”
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</p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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The older man shrugged. “It’s better than a fortnight.”
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/KairuSmairukon"> /u/KairuSmairukon </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14bzhya/two_men_were_washed_ashore_during_wwi/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14bzhya/two_men_were_washed_ashore_during_wwi/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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<li><p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"><strong>Is your refrigerator running?</strong> - <!-- SC_OFF --></p>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom">
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If so, I may vote for it.
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</p>
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</div>
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<p data-aos="fade-left" data-aos-anchor-placement="bottom-bottom"> submitted by <a href="https://www.reddit.com/user/HelpingHandsUs"> /u/HelpingHandsUs </a> <br/> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14c4is9/is_your_refrigerator_running/">[link]</a></span> <span><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Jokes/comments/14c4is9/is_your_refrigerator_running/">[comments]</a></span></p></li>
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