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Good morning. It’s a good time to be a soccer fan in the U.S. Still, I appreciate this take in Defector on the commercial hydration breaks.
$360,000
That’s about how much money the U.S. spent between January 2025 and March 2026 to store millions of dollars worth of contraceptives that were meant for international aid, according to a USAID Office of Inspector General advisory issued last week. (Monthly storage costs increased from more than $17,000 to $24,000 in that time.)
The birth control was originally meant to go to low-income countries in Africa but was left in Belgium after the Trump administration made massive cuts to USAID last year. Out of $9.7 million in family planning supplies, only about $1.7 million remain usable, as they’ve been stored in climate-controlled facilities. But expiration dates starting in April 2028 loom. Meanwhile, throughout Africa, there’s a crisis in family medicine planning, as sources told CNN this spring.
