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This morning’s 3-by-3 travels across China’s discoveries on the far side of the moon, a struggling yet innovative automaker in Vietnam, a new union deal in Hollywood, and more. Let’s fly!

Politics

• China recovers samples from the far side of the moon

Amid a perpetual space and technology race with America, Japan, and India, China’s Chang’e 6 probe has returned to the Inner Mongolian region with rock and soil from the far side of the moon — marking a global first where a nation was able to take off from the far side and bring back samples. Whereas past U.S. and Soviet missions have only recovered samples from the near side, China expects these samples will reveal the geological activity that creates the 2 sides’ distinctions and yield discoveries about the solar system’s early days. China says it will share its findings internationally but has not yet indicated with which countries, with political alliances and rivalries likely to influence dissemination.

• Kenya police combat Haitian gangs

Four months since Haiti’s most powerful gangs launched a coordinated attack to seize control of police stations, prisons, and the airport, a contingent of around 200 Kenyan police officers has arrived in capital Port-au-Prince to combat the dire situation, backed by the U.N. Security Council. Now controlling 80% of the capital city, these violent gangs have made 580,000 people homeless from their pillaging of neighborhoods and killed thousands more in recent years. As Kenya concurrently manages violent anti-tax protests at home, its Haiti-based police will be joined by international police from the Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica — comprising a 2,500-person effort to which the U.S. has committed $300 million.

• Brazil Supreme Court decriminalizes marijuana use

A majority of Brazil’s 11 Supreme Court justices voted to decriminalize marijuana possession for personal use, allowing small amounts while maintaining it illegal to sell. As one of the last countries in South America to implement decriminalizing measures, compared to full legalization in Uruguay and a decade of decriminalization in Colombia, Brazil’s Congress could nullify the top court’s ruling with an active constitutional amendment that would criminalize any quantity of an illicit substance — soon expected to go to a floor vote. The court is yet to indicate the maximum quantity that its ruling will classify as personal consumption, with many hoping this landmark decision will reduce Brazil’s more than 850,000 imprisoned individuals (the 3rd highest in the world), of which nearly 25% were sentenced for drug possession or trafficking.

Business

• U.S. sanctions “shadow banking network” behind Iran

The Treasury Department has imposed economic sanctions on 50 people and firms found to be supporting Iran’s military in a “shadow banking network,” located across Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates, and the Marshall Islands. These entities, including currency exchanges and cover companies, have illegally allowed Iran to access the international financial system, facilitating the sale of Iranian oil and petrochemicals and creating income used to fund Houthi rebels and supply Russia with drones for the Ukraine War. Those sanctioned cannot access American financial assets or property nor engage with American business, as the U.S. aims to cripple Iran’s “destabilizing terrorist activities” — paralleling similar sanctions placed on 39 Iran-linked businesses in March 2023.

• Struggling Vietnamese automaker banks on new model

Falling short of its U.S. sale ambitions and losing $2.39 billion last year, Vietnamese automaker VinFast hopes its new VF3 will be a saving grace — a 10-foot-long mini-SUV priced at $9,200. Whereas previous models were designed for America yet impeded by construction delays of a $4 billion factory in North Carolina and legal troubles over a fatal crash in California, VinFast will now focus on selling 20,000 VF3s in Vietnam this year before expanding to the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, the U.S., and Europe next year. VinFast’s monopoly on domestic charging infrastructure bodes well against Chinese EV competitor BYD and the 3 models it plans to launch in Vietnam next month, as the automaker also considers establishing a factory in India given its high market potential.

• Baking giant receives a warning from the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned Bimbo Bakeries USA, the U.S. arm of Mexican giant Bimbo and the largest commercial baking company in the country, to stop mislabeling products as allergen-containing when they in fact are not. The company behind Sara Lee and Entenmann’s has become accustomed to indicating that products contain ingredients such as sesame or tree nuts or even adding small amounts of these ingredients to existing recipes as a liability precaution — given how timely and expensive it can be to prevent cross-contamination in its baking plants. The FDA believes these actions violate the spirit of its regulations and unfairly reduce food options for those with allergies, granting Bimbo officials until July 8 to remedy the issue.

Culture

• Major Hollywood studios and union strike a deal

Following one of the longest writer and actor strikes in Hollywood history last year and fears of further work stoppages, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has reached a tentative agreement with studios on behalf of 50,000 film and TV crew members from 13 distinct West Coast-based union locals (e.g., art directors, editors, hair stylists, etc.). The so-called Basic Agreement protects employees from AI prompts that could displace them, increases pay by 7% in the first year, compensates triple time for those who work more than 15 hours per day, and secures studio funds for the union’s health insurance budget. Advocated for by Mark Ruffalo and Kerry Washington, the pro-crew deal was made with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — a leading group of studios, streaming platforms, and production companies such as Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros.

• Afghan cricket team reaches its first World Cup semifinal

Afghanistan will compete in the T20 World Cup semifinals for the first time against undefeated South Africa, having beat New Zealand, Australia, and Bangladesh to qualify. Big crowds gathered in Kabul at 5 a.m. local time to watch the South Asian country’s historic accomplishment, with team captain Rashid Khan expressing the win’s significance and inspiration to the “youngsters back home.” Amid the men’s success, the women’s national cricket team was dropped in 2021 when the Taliban seized power, banned girls from secondary education, and excluded women from many jobs — with the International Cricket Council yet to take a stance on this discrimination.

• Mexico City-based Jedi academy trains Star Wars fans

The Jedi Knight Academy was founded in 2019 as a lightsaber combat and choreography school in Mexico City, offering Star Wars fans a dream form of recreation and exercise. The school runs daily 3-hour sessions that begin with meditation and continue with Jedi and Sith-inspired lightsaber exercises that incorporate martial arts such as kendo, aikido, and tai chi. As an official sport recognized by the French Fencing Federation, the academy’s lightsabers are made of ballistic-grade polycarbonate and even illuminate colorfully, just like the ones in the movies.

Written by Outer Voice founders

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