Damn, Botswana

This issue starts off with good news from Botswana because, oh boy, Myanmar's democracy movement (and allies) are mourning Ko Jimmy and Mexico's got a huge water shortage problem (especially Monterrey). Other than that, I bring to you four more good news from Nepal (more wild tigers yay!), Colombia (hello, very rare hummingbird), science (wowzer technology) and Senegal (a frikkin' peace deal),
and so much more.

Botswana is almost done with AIDS

AFP reported: Botswana is almost done with AIDS.

• Btw, do you know where Botswana is on the African continent? No? That's OK. Here's a game that you can play to practice being a person of the world: youdontknowafrica.com.

Tell me more:
The country has met the so-called "95-95-95" goal of the United Nations a couple of years earlier than expected. The agency wanted 95 percent of HIV-positive people to know their status, 95 percent of those diagnosed on medication and 95 percent of those under treatment to show signs that the virus is being suppressed in their blood by 2025. And that, Botswana has not only met but even surpassed it, with a 95-98-98 score. The global average in 2020 was 84-87-90, according to a new study by lead author Madisa Mine, a Botswana government virologist. More than 14,000 people aged 15 to 64 were interviewed and blood-tested for this study. "We have translated a hopeless situation into a situation where now there is hope," he said.

Why this matters:
About one in five people in Botswana live with the virus -- one of the highest rates in the world, according to UNAIDS. This is huge progress against HIV, and the country might end HIV by 2030 once and for all even.

Zoom out:
Worldwide, about 38 million people, including almost two million children, were living with HIV in 2020, and more than 600,000 died from AIDS-related illnesses, according to UNAIDS.

How did Botswana do it?
Basically, a lot of government money and the decision to turn self-testing into something that anybody can do. But there were also some key moments in time, 2002 and 2019. In 2002, Botswana became the first African country to offer free anti-retroviral drugs, which help prevent the disease from infecting others. And in 2019, the country decriminalised same-sex relationships, which (probably) helped to get more and more people into care.

Fun fact:
Eswatini became the first country to reach the UN target in 2020, UNAIDS said. In Germany, we call them Streber, but in a good, loving, congratulatory way.

For my German speakers:
I spoke to Jana Münkel from Deutschlandfunk Kultur about this good news (and so much more). Listen here.

"Rest in power, Ko Jimmy" -- Myanmar's democracy movement

Kyaw Min Yum, also known as Ko Jimmy or ကျော်မင်းယု, has been executed, as The Irrawaddy reports. He was a very famous pro-democracy leader and writer in Myanmar.

Why this matters:
More than 120 people have been sentenced to death since the military violently took over the country's leadership in February last year and arrested leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Around 54 million people live in Myanmar.

Wait. Executed?
Yeah, they still do that in Myanmar. Myanmar Now reported that Ko Jimmy was one of four activists who were sentenced to death and executed by the military (aka the 'president' of the country) at the Insein Prison in Yangon this January. The others were Hla Myo Aung, Aung Thura Zaw and former hip-hop artist Phyo Zeya Thaw (who co-founded one of the country's first hip-hop groups ACID), who became a parliament member and top aide to Aung San Suu Kyi.

Tell me more about Ko Jimmy:
Ko Jimmy was born February 13, 1969, in Myanmar's eastern Shan state. He was State Enemy No.1 because, oh man, this man could protest. First, in 1988 (against the country's military dictatorship) and then again in 2007 (against higher fuel prices),...