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I don’t know why, but I love a document leak. Today: What’s inside China’s surveillance files. Plus: What the next six months in Gaza could look like.
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Photo: Dake Kang / AP
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1. A trove of leaked files shows the breadth of Chinese surveillance
The rather large (and unusual) leak offers a rare glimpse into China’s extensive state-sponsored hacking efforts.
These efforts include:
- surveilling dissidents overseas and in China
- posting pro-China propaganda on social media
- tapping communications in South Korea, Taiwan, and elsewhere in Asia
“We see a lot of targeting of organizations that are related to ethnic minorities — Tibetans, Uyghurs,” cybersecurity analyst Dakota Cary told the Associated Press.
The 190-megabyte trove was leaked from Chinese security firm I-Soon and details the services the company has provided to a range of Chinese government entities.
A menu of I-Soon’s selected offerings includes:
- Software that runs disinformation campaigns and hacks accounts on X — $100,000
- A cornucopia of personal information behind social media accounts — $278,000
- The hacking of Vietnam’s economy ministry — $55,000
I-Soon is just one of hundreds of companies that support Chinese surveillance.
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2. If war in Gaza escalates, 85,000 Palestinians could die in 6 months
This projection represents a worst-case scenario that includes deaths from injury and disease, according to a study released this week.
That’s in addition to the more than 29,000 Palestinians who’ve already been killed since the start of Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks.
In a second scenario in which fighting and the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza continue as is, the study authors projected 58,260 additional deaths in the next six months.
Despite increasing pressure for a cease-fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has held firm to plans for a ground invasion in the southern city of Rafah. On Wednesday evening, Israel Defense Forces destroyed a mosque and homes in Rafah in one of the heaviest nights of bombing yet.
In other Israel-Gaza news:
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3. What is fertility tourism?
The Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos now qualify as children has many worried over the future of in vitro fertilization (among other things).
With in vitro, more eggs are typically fertilized than used, and the unused eggs are frozen, to eventually be either used in future procedures or destroyed. Friday’s ruling may have essentially banned the destruction of such embryos. Clinics in Alabama have paused IVF procedures, leaving the treatment’s future in doubt there.
IVF is already difficult to access. In most countries, fertility treatments like IVF must be funded out of pocket, and most couples can’t afford it. In the U.S., only 15 states require that insurers pay for IVF.
And cost isn’t the only barrier. For example, Arkansas and Texas require couples to use their own eggs and sperm (rather than a donor’s), which effectively excludes same-sex couples.
Increasingly, people are looking abroad for cheaper and more inclusive IVF in a trend called — I can’t believe I know this phrase now — “fertility tourism.”
One fertility clinic in Barbados, for example, welcomes straight, same-sex, and transgender couples, who are allowed to use their own eggs and sperm or those of donors. The cost for a single cycle is $6,500, compared with an average of $12,000 to $17,000 in the United States.
Spain, the Czech Republic, and Israel are a few top destinations for IVF, according to Medical Tourism Magazine. That’s right, Medical Tourism Magazine.
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In other news
- Farmers in India have paused their march on Delhi after a protester died on Wednesday. The reported cause of death was a “bullet to the head.” The Haryana Police has denied that anyone died during the protest. [BBC]
- The U.K. attorney general is arguing that one of the last available defenses used by climate activists should be removed. The “consent defense” can be invoked when a defendant believes the owner of property that they damaged would have consented if they’d known why the action was taking place. [The Guardian]
- It’s not just TikTok that Shein and Temu have taken over. Now it’s the skies. The online marketplace and fast-fashion giant are upending the air cargo industry, having flown a combined 600,000 packages to the U.S. each day in 2023. [Reuters]
- Stocks in Japan rose to a record high on Thursday, beating a previous record set in 1989. The sales frenzy was spurred by the report of AI chipmaker Nvidia’s fourth-quarter earnings, up 265% from the year before. I wish my earnings were up 265% … [The Globe and Mail]
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Say that again
“This is the last existential threat, it is climate. We have a crazy SOB like that guy Putin, and others, and we always have to worry about nuclear conflict, but the existential threat to humanity is climate.”
This comes from — who else — President Biden, who was speaking at a fundraiser on Wednesday. You can just hear him say “SOB,” can’t you? [The Hill]
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How many Americans see climate change as a critical threat?
Opinions are divided, nearly exactly in half, but the scales tilt dramatically when broken down by political party.
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What we’re watching
Here’s one guy who couldn’t care less about the Japanese stock market: the protagonist of Wim Wenders’ “Perfect Days.”
Hirayama is a man of routine who enjoys simple pleasures: Every morning he gets up and goes to work cleaning public restrooms in Tokyo, eats lunch in the park, takes photos of the light in the trees, and falls asleep at night reading.
Watching actor Kōji Yakusho perform this routine, again and again, had a meditative, lulling effect. Hirayama’s days are so similar that even the smallest change feels eventful. A cigarette becomes a major personal rebellion; a beer with a stranger, transcendent.
I highly recommend you put this (Oscar-nominated) movie on your list. Doubly so if you’re a Lou Reed fan (clip below).
—Laura Adamczyk, staff writer
Thanks for reading. We’ll see you tomorrow.
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