August 2, 2022

A year and a half ago, we were lucky to have a dozen emails hit our inbox on a given day. These would typically include an unsubscribe request, a few answers to the question of the day, and several "I love you" or "you missed a comma" emails from our moms. Now, the inbox dings all day long, and it's a sound we love. Thank you so much for your support; you make Roca special.

In today's edition:

• Al-Qaeda leader whacked
• Hitler item sold at auction
• Frost leaves Brazil

 Key Stories

US Kills Leader of Al-Qaeda

The US killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al-Qaeda, in a drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan

• Al-Zawahiri, a former Egyptian doctor, was Osama Bin Laden’s right-hand man. One of al-Qaeda’s primary operators, he helped facilitate 9/11 and bombings on US embassies and military personnel
• He was among the world’s most-wanted people, with a $25M US bounty on him. He evaded capture or assassination for 24+ years
• Al-Zawahiri led al-Qaeda after a US raid killed Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. Zawahiri was in a home in the Afghan capital when the drone strike hit

• While the Taliban agreed not to shelter members of al-Qaeda as part of the US Afghanistan withdrawal agreement, the US says the Taliban was aware of Zawahiri's presence in Afghanistan. The Taliban condemned the drone strike as a violation of international law

New Reactor Approved in US

The US government said it will approve a new nuclear power reactor design. It is just the 7th nuclear reactor design ever approved in the US

• Despite accounting for 18.9% of US energy, nuclear power has stagnated in the US due to high costs and perceived risks
• These new smaller reactors are presented as low-risk and lower-cost alternatives to older designs
• The new reactor, designed by NuScale, is small enough to be built in a factory and shipped to a customer, cutting costs. Its safety features let it shut down without human interference

• Despite decades of decline in nuclear energy, some experts believe that the world may be on the cusp of a "nuclear renaissance" — a large-scale reinvestment in the technology across the world. Experts cite climate goals, volatile gas prices, and new nuclear technologies as reasons nuclear energy production may increase worldwide

Russia Wants Second Prisoner

Russia reportedly rejected President Biden’s offer to trade Viktor Bout for Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan

• Russia has detained Griner since Feb. 2022 and Whelan since Dec. 2018. Both are Americans the US considers “wrongfully detained.” Bout is a convicted Russian arms trafficker
• Russia reportedly wants a 1:1 or 2:2 swap, and has listed several additional prisoners it would accept. Among them is a former Russian official convicted of murder that is being held in Germany
• The Biden Administration said Russia’s offer isn’t “serious”

• The convicted murderer, Vadim Krasikov, is currently imprisoned in Germany, making a deal far more complex. Russia first conveyed the request to the US through back channels in early July, but the US reportedly didn't know if the offer was serious or not. Since then, US officials have accused Russia of stalling on a prisoner swap

January 6th Rioter Sentenced

The first January 6th Capitol rioter convicted by a jury was sentenced to 7 years in prison — the longest sentence yet for a January 6 defendant

• 884+ people have been charged in relation to the Capitol riot. 329+ have pleaded guilty to felonies, and 185+ have received criminal sentences
• Some rioters were waiting to see how this sentence played out before deciding whether to plead guilty
• The defendant was a heavily-armed member of a Texas militant organization. He was convicted of 3 charges, including inciting the crowd and obstructing Congress’ certification of the election

Mysterious Seafloor Holes

Scientists are struggling to explain mysterious holes in the ocean floor

• Last week, marine biologists found dozens of small, ordered holes up to 1.6 miles (2.6 km) underwater off the coast of Portugal
• The US ocean agency said, “The holes look human made, but the little piles of sediment around them suggest they were excavated by something”
• Similar holes were found in 2004, but there is no broadly accepted explanation for them. Biologists have said these holes appear to have been pushed out from below, potentially by deep-sea animals

• The NFL has suspended Deshaun Watson 6 games over sexual misconduct accusations. 25 women have filed suits against him
• Son of a beach: 3 of the models in Spain's "beach body" campaign are criticizing it. They say Spain's equality ministry photoshopped them
• LIV a little: LIV's weekend tourney drew tepid viewership, maxing out at an estimated 115k on Sunday. Tickets reportedly re-sold for $1

 What do you think?

See yesterday's results below the Wrap!

 Roca Wrap

Frost is also posting videos and pictures of the trip on his Instagram! 

Days 11 through 15 of my trip were a bit of a blur. 

I spent day 11 in a remote nature reserve on the Peruvian side of the Javarí river, which divides Brazil from Peru.

On a jungle hike, we saw some monkeys, toucans, and other exotic birds. At a “rescue center,” a family lived in the jungle with a dozen monkeys, a sloth, and an anaconda. The owner of the center told me that they had saved the animals from people who would kill them; I wasn’t convinced. The family’s children carried the sloth around like it was a stuffed animal.

We took 2 canoe rides in a lagoon – the first to fish for piranhas, and the second to search for caimans, a type of crocodile. We saw both; the caimans at night, their beady little eyes peeking out of the water, reflecting our flashlights. My guide’s 15-year-old brother was terrified: He had been attacked by a caiman as a child and narrowly escaped. 

Caimans, along with poisonous snakes, are among the most dangerous animals in the Amazon. Piranhas are not. They typically attack humans in 2 circumstances: If they smell blood, or if they are trapped in a lagoon, which is a lake that forms when the river’s water levels fall. 

I spent days 12 and 13 on another boat, a 33-hour journey to Manaus, the Amazon’s largest city, home to 2M+. This boat was much nicer than the ones in Peru: It was high-speed with sealed walls, air conditioning, and televisions. It had ~20 rows of bus-style seats, 2 on either side of an aisle. 

Yet those comforts helped little when I came down with another bout of food poisoning. For the first 12 hours, I was stuck in my chair, doing all I could not to vomit. I didn’t eat for 24 hours.

I was first seated next to a man who didn’t speak Portuguese or English. He ended up telling me in Spanish that he was from the Dominican Republic, and was traveling with another Dominican seated across the aisle. I wondered what they were doing in this remote part of Brazil, but didn’t ask. 

That night, we pulled into a small city and a group of federal police came on the boat. They took the 2 Dominicans aside and interrogated them, then searched their bags. The police apparently found nothing and left; the Dominicans returned to their seats. 

5 minutes later, a Brazilian man (named Max) boarded and took a seat next to me. In broken Spanish he said to me, “This area is very dangerous.” He pointed out to the river, “Very dangerous at night. That’s why so many police.” He explained that this portion of the Amazon was a major smuggling route, particularly for cocaine, which is exported to Europe and Africa via Brazilian ports near the end of the river.  

In total, I was on the boat from 8 AM Saturday to 5 PM Sunday – 33 hours, which I mainly spent playing sudoku and reading a book about Brazilian history. 

When we finally reached Manaus, it was like returning to civilization after 2 weeks in the jungle. I stayed near the central square, which even on a Sunday night was packed with hundreds of people eating, drinking, and dancing to live music. I took my first warm shower in a week.

In the 1800s, Manaus was one of the world’s fastest-growing cities. Surrounded by rainforest, which contains rubber trees, it was the hub of Brazil’s rubber boom. Thousands of people immigrated to the city to harvest rubber, as “rubber barons” made millions and built the city into one of Brazil’s grandest. In time, rubber plants were smuggled into Asia, and Brazil stopped dominating the trade. Today, Manaus is a sprawling, industrial city.

I spent the day riding around the city on Uber motorcycles. I visited a beach along the river, which – even on a Monday afternoon – was packed with people drinking and relaxing. I also visited an antique shop, from which the owner’s English-speaking daughter gave me a ride to my hotel because it wasn’t safe to make the 15-minute walk on foot. 

From Manaus, I took an overnight bus – the nicest I’ve ever been on, with privacy curtains and a fully-reclining, plush leather seat – to Boa Vista, a city of 400,000 12 hours to the north. 

Boa Vista is the final city before Venezuela, 3 hours to the north, and Guyana, 2 hours to the east. It faced the brunt of the Venezuelan refugee crisis in the late 2010s, and at least 50,000 Venezuelan refugees now live there today. For a period in 2019, thousands of refugees were walking to the city each day. Most of those refugees have since found shelter, but many haven’t. The first thing I noticed upon arriving were families camped out near the bus station.

To understand the issue better, I met with 3 journalists from a local newspaper. They explained that the military operates refugee housing, and there are strict rules on how refugees live. Some families who refuse to follow the rules get thrown out, and end up on the streets. 

The journalists also told me that the region’s main issue is now gold: Boa Vista was founded by goldminers, and the city has a tradition of goldmining. Today, though, much of the nearby gold is on protected land that belongs to indigenous tribes. Whether it should be legal to mine that gold is the hot debate. It’s currently illegal, but people mine and smuggle it anyway.

Besides that meeting, I had to kill 6 hours until my bus left for the border with Guyana. I could find absolutely nothing to do; I was bored out of my skull. I ended up getting a shave – by a Venezuelan – and eating barbecue. Finally, at 4 PM, it was time to leave. I boarded my bus and set off toward Guyana – the least-visited country in South America. 

 Roca Clubhouse

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 Final Thoughts

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