Dear Reader,

Here’s some good news to wrap up the first full week of 2026: The Xylom just hit 1,000 newsletter subscribers. For an independent news organisation that intends to grow organically, this is a big deal.

Ever since The Xylom was founded in 2018, we have never resorted to clickbait journalism, focusing instead on fact-checked, balanced reportage. No SEO traps, no sensational headlines, but good old journalism that informs you about global health and environmental disparities.

Beyond delivering trusted information to our readers, we strive to ensure that we do our contributors right from start to finish.

• Dimple Behal, who wrote an article about the unscientific relocation of an Indigenous community in India, says, “My piece was handled with sensitivity, without flattening its complexity. The Xylom’s decision to keep the story beyond a paywall meant it reached policymakers and practitioners who actually need to engage with these issues. That intent, to prioritise access over clicks, really sets them apart.”

• “One of my best reporting experiences was with The Xylom,” says Nepali journalist tanka Dhakal. Dhakal reported on how the crackdown on Gen-Z protests in Nepal has increased air pollution levels, putting vulnerable populations at risk. “Reporters crave to work with editors who give feedback and constructive criticism, and I found that in The Xylom. I found help every step of the way — from pitching to reporting and promoting it. I love that their stories are accessible for readers,” Dhakal said.

• Abdullahi Jimoh, who produced an investigative article on the illegal use of paraquat in Nigeria, says, “I have worked with many international publications over the years, but my experience with The Xylom is quite remarkable. I'm thrilled to work with its editorial team again.”

I want to personally thank you for trusting us and continuously supporting our work. Without you, we wouldn’t be so psyched about what we’re doing.

Our 2026 goal is to reach 2,500 newsletter subscribers; let’s get the ball rolling by sharing this newsletter issue with a friend so they can subscribe below.

Subscribe now

Yours sincerely,
Laasya Shekhar
Managing Editor

✨ NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS

• 🚀 Thanks to 114 readers like you who donated during our recent NewsMatch campaign, we raised $31,804, surpassing our goal of $30,000 (including matching funds!)
  
  Missed the party? Help us in our ongoing effort to rebuild our rainy-day fund by becoming a monthly member.

• 🎤 Congratulations to our former intern, Zhenjia Zhang, for winning the Overseas Press Club Foundation Scholar Award, granted by the Overseas Press Club Foundation to support emerging journalists with a strong interest in international reporting!

• 🗽 Our Engagement Editor, Aorui Pi, joined Documented as their part-time Chinese correspondent. Congratulations!

• 🏍️ Check out our Editor-at-Large Kang-Chun Cheng’s story on a motorcyclist fighting visceral leishmaniasis — the world’s second-deadliest parasitic disease — on BBC Future.

• 📢 ICYMI: Join our WhatsApp channel and help reach users who stay off social media (share this with your friends).

🍑 A SOUTHERN FLAIR

• OSCEOLA CAMP, Fla. — ‘Not about special treatment,’ Miccosukee Tribe responds to Trump veto (Jay Waagmeester, News from the States)

  “The Tribe has a constitutional duty to protect and defend the Everglades ecosystem, our traditional homelands. We never sought to obstruct the President’s immigration agenda. Instead, we have taken action to ensure sufficient environmental due diligence is performed to protect federal restoration investments,” Chairman Talbert Cypress wrote.

• TEXAS — This grumpy-faced lizard is under threat. Can its adorableness help save it? (Asher Elbein and Jordan Vonderhaar, National Geographic)

  “It’s a rarity to see that kind of connection between a reptile and people,” Barber, Fort Worth Zoo’s senior curator of ectotherms says. “But they’re definitely charismatic enough to where you start to almost feel like you have a little bond with them.”

• DECATUR, Ga. — Georgia has its first ‘Bird City.’ Here’s how it protects winged residents. (Drew Kann, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

  “Because of the Chattahoochee River and because of our relatively intact tree canopy, especially for such a large city, we have a lot of bird life here,” [Adam] Betuel[, Birds Georgia’s executive director,] said.

• PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. — Ten Million Corals Are in the Path of a Federal Dredging Project in Florida (Teresa Tomassoni, Inside Climate News)

  “The project would result in the largest impact to coral reefs permitted in U.S. history,” Andy Strelcheck, NOAA Fisheries’ Southeast regional administrator, wrote in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, obtained by Inside Climate News.

🗺️ WHAT ELSE WE'RE READING

• GAZA — ‘We just sit and cry’: Gaza’s cancer patients die waiting for treatment (Mohammad Mansour and Tareq Abu Azzoum, Al Jazeera)

  “I used to receive treatment in the West Bank and Jerusalem,” Naim told Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum. “Today, I cannot access any treatment at all. I need radiotherapy, and it no longer exists in Gaza.” 

• GUANGZHOU, China — The Makers of Modern China (Xiaoqiong Zheng; translated from Chinese by Eleanor Goodman for Equator Magazine)

  Later, when she took me to meet some of her fellow villagers living in the city, I paid attention to their left hands. Just as she’d said, they each had scars on their forefinger, middle finger or pinkie. Some scars were shallow, others deep – all childhood injuries.

• KASHMIR — Planting the Seeds of Climate Hope (Aliya Bashir, The Conservationalist)

  Writing on Climate Change demands exhaustive fieldwork in fragile ecosystems, sifting through scarce data amid conflict, and confronting the grief of vanishing landscapes and livelihoods. At the same time, the writing consciously seeks out stories of resilience rather than despair.

SOME OF OUR RECENT STORIES

🧠 ‘I Am Fighting Every Single Day to Just Get Through the Day’

A growing body of research shows that the trauma caused by ICE and Trump's immigration policies can potentially cause long-term harm in the bodies and brains of Asian youth.

This story is the first part of an investigative series produced by MindSite News and co-published by The Xylom.

🍯 ‘Podcast Bros’ Are Embracing the Other ‘Maha’ Madness

For millennia, Himalayan tribes have scaled cliffs to obtain psychoactive honey for its medicinal properties. But in recent years, the honey has been culturally appropriated by “podcast bros” such as Joe Rogan, leading to public health and ecological crises.

This story was supported by The Ferriss – UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship and co-published by The Himalayan Times.

🏥 America’s Failure To Treat Psychosis Has Turned Patients Into ‘The Lepers of Society’

Psychosis affects 3% of Americans. For those living with the condition, holistic care can offer stability across daily life. But finding such support in the U.S. often feels like navigating a maze.