Cancer isn't equally deadly everywhere

New cancer diagnosis tools in East Africa, election in post-Assad Syria, referendum in Guinea & a new High Seas Treaty.

Hey, this is Sham Jaff, your very own news curator.

Issue #442: Some political processes (like the upcoming election in Syria or the referendum in Guinea) may lock in problems instead of solving them. Others, like the new High Seas Treaty, are really, really good. You're probably asking yourself, "high seas, what's that?". High seas are essentially parts of the ocean that nationalism has not reached, and that effectively do not belong to anyone. Who takes care of them? So far, we didn't have any mechanism set up for this question. Now, that four more countries last week ratified the treaty, it can finally come into effect and two-thirds of the ocean will now finally have rules for conservation (I love when processes process; and, how did we not have this already?!). Plus, Kenya and Uganda are trying out new ways to test for cancer, because did you know that the same type of cancer has a 90% survival rate in rich countries and a 30% one in East Africa? New tech that can be run in HIV labs allows for this. Proof that tech can be good too, not just dystopian.

Plus, Japan is so hyped for an anime movie and its soundtrack, I suggest buying art straight from refugee artists in Kenya, what Cleopatra and the Titanic have in common, and why Alexandra should be on your 2026 list. Oh, if your name is Isis, the DMV in California has a message for you.

Talk soon,
Sham

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We now have an international treaty to help protect the parts of the ocean that belongs to nobody

What happened
Last week, four more countries officially ratified the High Seas Treaty at the UN – Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, and Morocco. Their signatures pushed the treaty over the required 60 ratifications, which means it will now come into effect and become a real international law on January 17, 2026.

Why this matters: Negotiations for this treaty took nearly 20 years. Now there are finally agreed rules for protecting the parts of the ocean no nation controls. Indigenous peoples have been saying this all along.

Tell me more
The treaty has a long officially name, Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (or BBNJ Agreement, or short, the BBNJ Agreement. Rebecca Hubbard, Director of the High Seas Alliance, called the ratification a “historic moment,” saying it shows what global cooperation can achieve. She framed the treaty as proof that multilateralism works (are you reading this, Trump?), and as a turning point where pledges to protect the ocean (which makes up over 70% of the planet) begin to translate into real action.

BTW: Beyond the 60 countries that have already ratified the treaty, another 142 countries plus the EU have put their names on it as a sign they plan to ratify. Signing shows political support, but ratification is the step that actually makes it binding.

What is the treaty about?
The High Seas Treaty is the first binding global deal to protect marine life in international waters (the parts of the ocean that don't belong to any country; they cover two-thirds of the world's oceans). Until now, there wasn't a strong legal system to protect marine life and biodiversity there. Countries could fish, mine, or explore without much accountability. Now, countries that have ratified the treaty, are legally obliged to follow its rules.

Essentially, the treaty creates protected zones, forces environmental checks (basically, to get everyone asking "will this hurt the environment or not?" before taking from the ocean) before projects, and ensures developing countries get fair access to ocean science and resources (right now, rich countries have more resources to exploit the ocean, for example, through advanced deep-sea tech). The treaty now includes mechanisms to share knowledge, technology, and benefits, like discoveries of new marine genetic resources that could be used for medicine or industry.

Zoom out: Did you know the Paris Climate Agreement isn’t the only big deal out there? There’s a biodiversity version too – the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework – and this treaty, if countries actually follow through, is a huge boost to it. The goal is “30×30”: protect 30% of land and ocean by 2030. Without this treaty, that goal is basically impossible.

Wait, what have Indigenous people been saying all along?
I'm glad you asked. Indigenous communities have long argued that oceans, rivers, and ecosystems aren’t something you can “own” or divide up. Oceans, they say, are living systems that need to be cared for collectively. That idea is baked into many Indigenous worldviews, where humans are seen as part of nature, not separate from it. Pacific Indigenous leaders often stress that the ocean is a shared ancestor and must be stewarded, not exploited. A phrase you see often is “the ocean is who we are, not what we own.” So, for a different take on this news story than "yay omg", I invite you to read about how Indigenous knowledge is so much better for ocean "management".

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Kenya and Uganda are using new tech to improve cancer diagnosis

What happened
In Kenya and Uganda, pilot projects are testing new ways to diagnose cancers, especially blood cancers like leukemia and lymphomas, reports The East African.

Why this matters: We talk a lot about Evil Tech, but here’s an example of Good Tech. It doesn’t get much funding (like AI), but if it did, it would save a lot of lives. And the bigger point: health gaps aren’t inevitable. The difference often comes down to access, the right tools at the right time. So, don't read this story as one about a flashy scientific breakthrough, but more about fixing the bottlenecks that decide who lives and who doesn’t.

Tell me more
In East Africa, most cancers are found too late. That’s why survival rates are way lower than in richer countries. For example, in wealthy countries, a child with Burkitt’s lymphoma is almost guaranteed to survive (survival rates above 90%). In East Africa, most don’t (~30% in parts of East Africa). The main difference is not biology, it’s late or wrong diagnosis. Rural areas are hit hardest. Huge populations, very few cancer specialists, and long delays before anyone even gets tested.

What’s the new technology doing?
The centerpiece is flow cytometry, a laser-based test for blood and bone marrow samples (here's a YouTube video that shows how it works, you beautiful nerd) It’s much faster and more accurate than the old microscope method. More than 1,000 patients have already been tested, and the results are striking: in just five years, survival rates for some blood cancers rose from about 10% to nearly 50%. To make flow cytometry work in East Africa, researchers had to adapt it. They created standardized kits to reduce errors and reformulated the chemicals so they don’t need constant refrigeration (which has always been a bigger issue). On top of that, they set up the pilots in existing HIV labs, which means the infrastructure was already there.

What now?
If scaled up, this could be a game changer. Early detection means many more lives saved. To be continued. But if anything, this story shows how tech transfer, infrastructure repurposing (e.g. using HIV diagnostic labs), and simpler logistics can overcome big obstacles in low-resource areas. It puts a spotlight on health equity: the difference between outcomes isn’t just biology, it’s access and timing.

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