Afghanistan’s looming cash crisis threatens to worsen a humanitarian disaster

Those ubiquitous plastic barriers? They might be making things worse.  

Sponsored by Hewlett Packard Enterprise The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Afghanistan's financial meltdown 08.20.21 Good morning! Today we look at how the growing cash crisis in Afghanistan, and why the Taliban takeover poses such a problem for crowdfunding platforms. I hope you have a restful weekend, and please do send others here to get The Download every day. Afghanistan’s looming cash crisis could worsen a humanitarian disaster   Afghanistan’s banking system is in a state of collapse, and people there are running out money. This cash crisis means many Afghan citizens lack access to important services, as the UN warns of a growing humanitarian disaster. Asef Khademi, who was previously working to modernize the country’s financial systems, is one of the many people now hiding in Kabul who wants to leave Afghanistan, but his hope is waning fast.   Khademi is afraid because for the last few years he has been working for an internationally-funded project to bring digital currency and banking into people’s lives, called the Afghanistan Payments System, or APS. It was an important project: the Afghan economy runs on cash, and only 10-15% of citizens have a bank account. APS was meant to help Afghanistan become less cash-dependent. And, says Khademi, it was moving fast before the US withdrew its forces and the Taliban took over. Now, though, as chaos continues to unfold in Afghanistan, the project has stopped, and cash is running out before any viable alternatives have been put in place.  But a different outcome was within reach, Khademi says: Afghanistan was perhaps just a year or two away from having a 21st-century digital banking infrastructure that could cope even if cash disappeared. Read the full story. —Tate Ryan-Mosley, Charlotte Jee and Eileen Guo We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + This puppy captured how I feel every morning.    + It's amazing what you can do with ice cream sticks. Thanks Donna!   + Patagonia is breathtakingly beautiful. (NYT $)   + Perhaps the true value of an adventure is that it shrinks our ego.   + Rice is undoubtedly one of the best ingredients out there, in all its many forms. Try out some of these recipes.   + That's one badass-looking bear. Sponsor Message A new age of data means embracing the edge The amount of data collected – from phones, computers, cars, sensors, and more – is growing at an incredible rate. One estimate has the number of connected devices at the edge increasing to 50 billion by 2022. However, data can’t always be shared—whether it’s personally identifiable, holds proprietary information, or to do so would be a security concern—until now. Enter swarm learning – a way to share learnings and insights but not actual data, which keeps it private and secure. Listen to the podcast here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Afghanistan poses a crowdfunding conundrum  Good intentions are bumping up against the harsh realities on the ground. (NYT $)   + Organisers of a GoFundMe to help queer Afghans say the platform won't let them access the money. (Buzzfeed)   + The Taliban wants you to believe they've changed. (Politico)   + A Kabul-based crisis alert app is struggling to protect its own employees. (Rest of World)  2 Those ubiquitous plastic barriers? They might be making things worse.   They're disrupting the usual flow of ventilation. (NYT $)   + People who feel fine are fueling delta's rampant spread. (Nature)   + Fox News is making its employees disclose their vaccination status. (Slate)   + Alabama's hospitals are getting overwhelmed. (Ars Technica)  3 The FTC is suing Facebook again The suit seeks to force Facebook to sell off Instagram and WhatsApp. (Politico)   + This will be Lina Khan's first big test as FTC chief. (WP $)   + Purely coincidentally, on the same day, Facebook launched a VR videoconference app. (Vox)   + Only Facebook knows the extent of its misinformation problem. And it’s not sharing. (WP $)   + Facebook says it's rolling out a one-click tool which lets Afghans lock their accounts. (NBC)  4 Chinese astronomers want to build an observatory in the Tibetan Plateau A new study suggests the summit of Saishiteng Mountain has lots of potential. (TR)   5 Toyota is going to have to cut production by 40% from next month The ripple effects from the global chip shortage are just getting bigger and bigger. (WSJ $)   6 OnlyFans says it's going to ban sexually explicit content Isn't that… most of its business? (TechCrunch)   + It's a devastating move for the performers who made a living using the platform. (Slate)   + It may be at least partly motivated by a BBC investigation which found it tolerated illegal content. (The Verge)  7 It's hard to be rational 🤔 The real challenge isn’t being right but knowing how wrong you might be. (New Yorker $)   8 These crypto traders want payback for losses caused by Binance glitches Whether they win or lose, they'll set an important precedent for the industry as a whole. (NBC)   9 Tesla says it's building a humanoid robot But "it probably won't work", according to Elon Musk. Cool! (CNBC)   + Are you ready for sentient Disney robots? (NYT $)  10 The case for "longform" music 🎧 Enough with the endless curation. Listen to an album and let go. (Wired $) Discover how to lead with innovation at EmTech MIT.  This year's program delves into the technologies that underpin our lives and businesses and the emerging technologies solving today's toughest problems. Purchase your ticket today. Quote of the day “Moves by some countries globally to introduce booster shots threaten the promise of a brighter tomorrow for Africa. As some richer countries hoard vaccines, they make a mockery of vaccine equity.” —Dr Matshidiso Moetim, the WHO's Africa director, draws attention to the price Africans are paying for rich countries' covid booster shots during a press conference yesterday. Top image credit: AP PHOTO | RAHMAT GUL Please send ice cream sticks to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Understand the promise of technology. Make MIT Technology Review your go-to resource for thought-provoking insights, analysis, and news about the world of technology. Get unlimited access when you subscribe today. Subscribe now   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142   *Manage Your Email Preferences or *Unsubscribe  Subscription Information This email was sent to Webmaster220 Bible Study Blog  *the blog owner has deleted the hyperlink intentionally