Source: United States Senator for Iowa Chuck Grassley
WASHINGTON – Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) joined Senate Republicans in voting to pass a budget resolution that builds on President Trump’s electoral mandate to restore fiscal sanity, authorize robust resources to secure the southern border and greenlight domestic energy production.
“After four years of being crushed by the Biden-Harris administration’s and congressional Democrats’ reckless spending, Iowans gave President Trump a mandate to right our fiscal ship and end the chaos at the southern border. By passing this budget resolution, Senate Republicans have taken a significant step forward to help deliver on the President’s agenda and improve the quality of life for all Americans. Together, Congress will send President Trump a strong package of Republican solutions that will get our country back on track, secure our border, unleash American energy and grow our economy,” Grassley said.
The Senate-Passed Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Resolution Paves the Way to:
Begin restoring fiscal sanity by fully paying for investments in border security, national security and domestic energy production up front
Secure the border by providing funding to:
Finish the wall and upgrade border technologies
Ensure dangerous criminals are not released into the United States by increasing the number of detention beds
Boost the number of ICE officers, Border Patrol agents, Assistant U.S. Attorneys and immigration judges
Invest in state and local law enforcement to bolster cooperation with federal law enforcement efforts
Unleash American energy production and stop the Biden-Harris administration’s natural gas tax (methane emissions fee)
Strengthen the military by providing critical Department of Defense funding to deter conflict and ensure America’s security, including to:
Maintain military readiness to defend American interests globally
Grow the Navy and strengthen the U.S. industrial base to restore maritime dominance
Build an integrated air and missile defense
Overhaul and strengthen America’s nuclear defense posture
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Source: United States Senator Ted Budd (R-North Carolina)
Washington, D.C. — Last night, the Disaster Loan Accountability and Reform Act was approved by the Senate Small Business Committee with bipartisan support and sent to the Senate floor for consideration.
The bill is led by Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Chair Joni Ernst (R-IA), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC), and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC).
The legislation strengthens oversight, financial safeguards, and transparency within the Small Business Administration’s disaster loan account.
Key provisions include:
Requires detailed monthly reports on funding status, assumptions, and depletion estimates, with penalties for non-compliance.
Requires budget requests follow a 10-year program average for disaster loan subsidy and administrative costs.
Limits unsecured loan thresholds when funding falls below 10% of the 10-year average cost of the program.
Directs comprehensive reviews of recent funding shortfalls and program inefficiencies, with actionable recommendations for improvement.
Senator Budd said in a statement:
“As we learn the lessons from Hurricane Helene and the federal response, it’s imperative that we improve disaster response in a fiscally responsible way. My bill adds much-needed accountability, transparency, and oversight to SBA’s disaster loan account. I thank my colleagues for joining this effort to help those in need, while protecting the integrity of taxpayer dollars.”
Chair Ernst said:
“SBA’s mismanagement resulted in the disaster loan program running out of money for 66 days last year. This unacceptable failure left disaster victims across the country out in the cold. By advancing this legislation, the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship is ensuring that more Americans in need can get critical relief as soon as possible after disaster strikes.”
Senator Tillis said:
“Small businesses across Western North Carolina were hit hard by Hurricane Helene, and it’s our responsibility to ensure they have the resources to recover and rebuild. This legislation will enhance oversight, tighten financial controls, and eliminate wasteful spending by instituting clear reporting and budgeting standards. It’s essential that we not only support our small businesses during times of crisis, but also uphold the highest levels of accountability to ensure those resources are available when urgently needed.”
Senator Tim Scott said:
“Far too long have government agencies gone unchecked when dealing with taxpayer dollars. The Disaster Loan Accountability and Reform Act will implement the necessary measures to ensure that hard-earned tax dollars are used in the American people’s best interest and that Congress has a say in any financial decision from the Small Business Administration. I am grateful for Senator Budd’s efforts on this legislation.”
“Today I have posted an open letter to the federal minister of transport and internal trade, urging her and her federal colleagues to take action and advance investments in interprovincial mega-infrastructure projects that will ensure Canada is competitive and successful.
“Canada has been stuck in a situation where it cannot complete nation-building projects like the Canadian Pacific Railway that was completed in 1885, or the Trans Canada Highway that was completed in the 1960s. With the uncertainty of U.S. tariffs looming over our country and province, Canada needs to take bold action to revitalize the productivity and competitiveness of its economy – going east to west and not always relying on north-south trade. There’s no better time than right now to politically de-risk these projects.
“In a federal leadership vacuum, Alberta has worked to advance economic corridors across Canada. In April 2023, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba signed an agreement to collaborate on joint trade infrastructure networks meant to boost trade and economic growth across the Prairies. Alberta also signed a similar economic corridor agreement with the Northwest Territories in July 2024.
“Through our collaboration with neighbouring jurisdictions, we will spur the development of economic corridors by reducing regulatory delays and attracting investment. We recognize the importance of working with Indigenous communities on the development of major infrastructure projects, which will be key to our success in these endeavors.
“However, provinces and territories cannot do this alone. The federal government must play its part to advance the economic corridors that we need from coast to coast to coast to support our economic future. It is time for immediate action.
“To move forward expeditiously, I propose the establishment of a federal/provincial/territorial working group. This working group would be tasked with creating a common position on addressing the economic threats facing Canada, and the need for mitigating trade and trade-enabling infrastructure.
“We ask the federal government to join us in a new approach to infrastructure development that ensures Canada is productive and competitive for generations to come and generates the wealth that ensures our quality of life is second to none.”
Related information
Full content of the open letter, including specific actions that can be undertaken right now can be found here.
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – On December 9, 2024, Cardinal Luis Antonio G. Tagle, Pro-Prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization – Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches – appointed Msgr. Carlos Adán Alvarado, of the clergy of Juigalpa, as National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of Nicaragua for the five-year period 2025-2030.Msgr. Carlos Adán Alvarado is 57 years old and has been a priest for 18 years. He was already National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Nicaragua for five years, from June 13, 2014 to June 12, 2019.He is currently parish priest of the Parish of Saint Peter the Apostle in San Pedro de Lóvago, as well as Vicar General of the Diocese of Juigalpa and Diocesan Councilor for Evangelization. (EG) (Agenzia Fides, 21/2/2025)
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HOUSTON – A 53-year-old federal railroad employee has agreed to pay $24,000 to resolve potential violations related to his submission of unemployment benefit claims under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act during the COVID-19 pandemic, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Between April 20, 2020, and Aug. 27, 2021, Chad Gillingwater, Katy, allegedly falsely claimed federal unemployment benefits.
Gillingwater was not entitled to those funds because he was already receiving state unemployment benefits and/or paid leave from his employer at the same time. Gillingwater also received additional benefits under The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, which extended unemployment insurance benefits for railroad workers sidelined during COVID-19.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office conducted the investigation with assistance from the Railroad Retirement Board – Office of Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) Michelle Luong handled the matter.
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Acadia Ventures Ltd. (“Acadia”) has filed on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.com) an early warning report with respect to subordinate voting shares (“Subordinate Voting Shares”) of VerticalScope Holdings Inc. (the “Issuer” or “VerticalScope”) held by Acadia.
On February 20, 2025, Acadia disposed of a total of 612,600 Subordinate Voting Shares representing approximately 3.33% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares of VerticalScope. The Subordinate Voting Shares were sold through the facilities of the TSX for aggregate proceeds of $7,817,817.42 (or an average of approximately $12.76 per Subordinate Voting Share). As a result of the disposition, Acadia’s shareholdings decreased to a total of 2,707,400 Subordinate Voting Shares representing 14.7% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares. Immediately prior to the disposition, Acadia owned 3,320,000 Subordinate Voting Shares representing approximately 18.02% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares. Immediately following the disposition, Acadia owned 2,707,400 Subordinate Voting Shares representing 14.7% of the then-issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares.
On February 21, 2025, Acadia further disposed of a total of 130,000 Subordinate Voting Shares representing approximately 0.7% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares of VerticalScope. The Subordinate Voting Shares were sold through the facilities of the TSX for aggregate proceeds of $1,657,500 (or an average of approximately $12.75 per Subordinate Voting Share). As a result of the disposition, Acadia’s shareholdings decreased to a total of 2,577,400 Subordinate Voting Shares representing 13.99% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares. Immediately prior to the disposition, Acadia owned 2,707,400 Subordinate Voting Shares representing 14.7% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares. Immediately following the disposition, Acadia owned 2,577,400 Subordinate Voting Shares representing 13.99% of the issued and outstanding Subordinate Voting Shares.
Acadia holds the Subordinate Voting Shares for investment purposes only and not for the purpose of influencing control or direction over the Issuer. Acadia may further purchase, hold, trade, dispose or otherwise deal in the securities of the Issuer, in such manner as it deems appropriate, including on the open market or through private transactions in the future depending on market conditions, reformulation of plans and/or other relevant factors.
The Issuer is located at 111 Peter Street, Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario M5V 2H1. Acadia is located at Flagship Building, 142 Seafarers Way, PO Box 2428, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, KY1-1105. A copy of this report may be obtained by contacting Rajesh Bavalia at +1.345.938.9731 or RB-avl@proton.me.
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after Senate Republicans voted to advance their reconciliation budget bill that lays the groundwork to give massive handouts to billionaires at the expense of working-class Americans:
“While families face high prices for groceries and housing, Republicans are in a race to deliver huge tax breaks to the billionaire class. The Senate Republican budget bill does nothing to bring down prices or tackle inflation for working families. Instead, Republicans are laying the groundwork for massive cuts to critical programs that families across California rely on like Medicaid, Social Security, and nutrition assistance. California deserves better, and I will continue to expose the truth about this destructive bill.”
UConn Health has been recognized as one of America’s Best Large Employers for 2025 by Forbes in the 10th anniversary edition of its rankings.
Among the 701 best companies in America, UConn Health ranked 150th and placed second among seven Connecticut organizations, outperforming the only other healthcare institution on the list, Yale Health, which ranked 214th.
Forbes and Statista selected America’s Best Employers 2025 through an independent survey from a vast sample of over 217,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 1,000 people within the U.S. Over 6.5 million employer evaluations were considered.
“At UConn Health, we are committed to supporting our exceptional workforce which is the foundation of our excellence in patient care, education, and research,” says Dr. Andrew Agwunobi, UConn Health CEO and Executive Vice President for Health Affairs. “That’s why it is especially meaningful and rewarding to have an objective external organization recognize UConn Health for its achievements.”
“Our people are the heart of what makes UConn Health a great place to work, and this recognition reflects the dedication and collaboration of our entire team—staff, leadership, and union partners alike,” says Lakeesha Brown, Chief Human Resources Officer for both UConn and UConn Health. “Thank you to everyone for fostering an exceptional workplace. Together, we will keep pushing forward with excellence and innovation.”
In 2024, UConn Health earned a spot on Forbes’ “America’s Best Employers by State” list, highlighting its commitment to providing a top-tier workplace in Connecticut. Now, with its inclusion in Forbes’ prestigious America’s Best Large Employers list for 2025, UConn Health has further solidified its reputation on a national scale. This latest recognition reflects the organization’s ongoing dedication to fostering an exceptional work environment, prioritizing employee well-being, and maintaining a strong workplace culture that stands out among the country’s top employers.
Forbes notes that companies pay no fee to participate or be selected in the rankings.
UConn Health has a workforce of more than 5,800 employees working at 11 sites throughout Connecticut. Based in Farmington, its off-campus locations include West Hartford, East Hartford, Canton, Simsbury, Avon, Southington, Storrs, Willimantic, Putnam, and Torrington. Prospective employees can learn more on UConn Health’s job seekers page.
Source: American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Union
WASHINGTON – AFSCME President Lee Saunders released the following statement after the Senate passed a budget reconciliation package, beginning the process to cut essential public services for communities nationwide:
“This budget is inhumane. If cuts to essential services are enacted, children in public schools will go hungry. Retirees who depend on Medicaid and Medicare will lose health care. Families on SNAP will have to choose between groceries and rent. Emergency calls will go delayed or unanswered. Lifesaving public services will again come to a screeching halt, all so billionaires can hoard even more wealth.
“On average, 33% of state budgets depend on the federal government. Deep cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, SNAP or other programs will force states, cities and towns to significantly cut the services they provide and slash public service worker jobs. Clearly, these anti-worker senators do not work for us; they work for the wealthy who they plan to hand trillions of dollars in tax cuts while depriving vulnerable Americans of food and health care.
“AFSCME’s 1.4 million members, the public service workers who keep our communities running, will mobilize the full strength of our union to urge members of Congress to abandon these destructive budgets. And we will keep fighting to ensure that there is always someone there to answer 911 calls, pick up your child from school, ensure your roads are safe to drive on and protect public services for future generations.”
Headline: Around the Air Force: Strength through Bamboo Eagle, A New Era of Pilot Testing, AETC Launches New Flying Risk App
In this week’s look Around the Air Force, BE 25-1 kicks off focusing on ACE with joint and allied forces, the USAF Test Pilot School collaborates with Stanford University for AI driven systems that will define future warfighting capabilities, and AETC deploys a ground-breaking app to retool how aircrews assess risk prior to every flight.
LONDON, UK, Feb. 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Jeton, global payment services provider, announces a three-year partnership with global football icon Alexis Mac Allister. The 25-year-old Argentine football player is a midfielder for Premier League Club Liverpool and represents Argentina’s national team. The agreement between the global payment services provider and the footballer will appoint Mac Allister to serve as Jeton’s brand ambassador and represent the brand in various marketing campaigns. Jeton will be authorised to use Mac Allister’s professional name, image, likeness, and biography as part of the partnership.
“I’m pleased to be Jeton’s brand ambassador,” stated Alexis Mac Allister. ‘I look forward to representing the brand and sharing its values with my fanbase and football lovers worldwide.”
‘We are very happy and excited to work closely with Mac Allister. We have strategized these partnerships based on what our customers expect from Jeton and how we can exceed their expectations. We hope to build stronger relations among the football community and reach out to football lovers all around the world through partnerships they desire. As exemplified by our recent partnership with Japanese football player Kou Itakura, we believe we are one step closer to achieving our objectives. We can’t wait to embark on this journey alongside Alexis Mac Allister.’ said Executive Director of Jeton.
Jeton is known for its ongoing partnerships, marketing activities and close relations with football clubs and the community. The global payment services brand has a long-lasting relationship with West Ham United FC as their official e-Wallet partner and have previously partnered with other notable football clubs such as Aston Villa FC and Hull City AFC. Jeton has recently expanded its reach into the Asian market by partnering with Japanese football player Kou Itakura.
About Jeton
LA Orange CY Limited, trading as Jeton, is authorised by the Central Bank of Cyprus under the Electronic Money Law of 2012 and 2018 (Law 81(I)/2012) for distributing or redeeming electronic money (e-money), with Licence No: 115.1.3.66. LA Orange CY Limited has been incorporated in the Republic of Cyprus under the provisions of the Companies Law (Cap 113) with registration number HE 424807, with its registered office address at 116 Gladstonos, M. Kyprianou House, 3rd and 4th Floor, 3032, Limassol, Cyprus.
Jeton Bank Limited is licensed and authorised by the Financial Services Unit, Ministry of Finance of the Commonwealth of Dominica, licensed as a banking institution under the international Banking Act, fully authorised to provide services to clients worldwide, under the prudential supervision of the Financial Services Unit. Jeton Bank Limited is registered in the Commonwealth of Dominica, Company Number 2022/C0175, with its registered address at 1st Floor, 43 Great George Street, Roseau, Commonwealth of Dominica, Post Code: 00109-8000. – LEI Code: 894500XGIX3R4HCIOC29.
In this week’s look Around the Air Force, BE 25-1 kicks off focusing on ACE with joint and allied forces, the USAF Test Pilot School collaborates with Stanford University for AI driven systems that will define future warfighting capabilities, and AETC deploys a ground-breaking app to retool how aircrews assess risk prior to every flight.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Peter J. Strauss, 46, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison for knowingly transferring, and aiding and abetting the transfer of, $3 million to prevent the lawful seizure of the funds.
Evidence obtained in the investigation revealed that Strauss directed and aided and abetted the transfer of $3 million for Jeff and Paulette Carpoff following the execution of federal search and seizure warrants in California. Strauss directed the transfer of $3 million from an account in the Bahamas to his trust account, thereafter, combining the funds for his personal use.
Jeff and Paulette Carpoff owned and operated DC Solar Solutions, Inc. and DC Solar Distribution, Inc. (DC Solar), California corporations that designed, manufactured, and leased renewable energy products, specializing predominantly in the production of mobile solar generators.
On Dec. 18, 2018, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies executed numerous search warrants on the businesses associated with DC Solar, as well as the personal residences of Jeff and Paulette Carpoff. Several seizure warrants were also executed on bank accounts and assets associated with DC Solar and its principals. The search warrants were conducted in conjunction with a large-scale investigation regarding an investment fraud and money laundering scheme being operated by the principals of DC Solar.
Following the execution of search and seizure warrants related to an investigation into the Carpoffs’ company, Strauss received $11 million from the Carpoffs. On Dec. 19, 2018, the first $5 million was transferred into Strauss’ trust account and thereafter distributed to various criminal defense attorneys and bankruptcy counsel and to Carpoffs’ captive insurance funds, managed by Strauss’ captive insurance management company. Thereafter, on Dec. 28, 2018, Strauss received an additional $3 million, largely used to pay for the Carpoffs’ captive insurance fund premiums. Finally, on Jan. 15, 2019, the Carpoffs wired Strauss $3 million into Strauss’ trust account. The combined funds in Strauss’ trust account were completely spent over the next few months.
Jeff Carpoff pleaded guilty in California to money laundering and wire fraud in January 2020 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. In November 2021, Paulette Carpoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States and money laundering. Paulette was sentenced to 11 years and three months.
Strauss pleaded guilty in November 2023 to removal of property to prevent seizure, admitting that by the time of the $3 million transfer in January 2019, he knowingly transferred and aided and abetted the transfer of funds from Carpoff to prevent and impair the government’s lawful authority to take the property into its custody and control.
United States District Richard M. Gergel sentenced Strauss to nine months imprisonment, to be followed by a two-year term of court-ordered supervision. There is no parole in the federal system. Strauss was ordered to pay $2.7 million in restitution, which Strauss previously paid in compliance with the terms of his plea agreement.
This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Limehouse prosecuted the case.
EL PASO, Texas – An El Paso transnational criminal organization (TCO) member was sentenced in federal court Thursday to 235 months in prison for his role in a hostage taking conspiracy.
According to court documents, a man was forcefully kidnapped at gunpoint from his motel room in Juarez, Mexico, on Aug. 24, 2023, and was held hostage until Sept. 5, 2023. During that time, the victim’s family received threatening phone calls from multiple unknown subjects demanding payment. Ultimately, the family paid approximated $9,000 to the TCO for safe travel and release of the victim.
Luis Edward Castro, 28, worked for the TCO, “La Empresa.” Armed with a handgun, he recorded and sent proof-of-life videos to the victim’s family. In the videos, the victim appeared visibly scared and stated he was in El Paso. An investigation led law enforcement to Castro’s address, where they searched the residence and found six undocumented noncitizens and multiple firearms.
Castro was arrested Sept. 5, 2023 and charged with six counts pertaining to harboring and transporting undocumented noncitizens for financial gain, hostage taking, and the possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. He pleaded guilty to the hostage taking charge on Sept. 26, 2024.
“This case highlights some of the many dangers posed by TCOs on both sides of our southern border, and Castro’s sentencing of two decades in federal prison is a significant penalty,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. “I am thankful for our partners at the FBI and U.S. Border Patrol, whose investigative skill and expertise led to the recovery of these kidnapping victims and the outcome of this case.”
The FBI and USBP investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mathew Engelbaum and Kyle Myers prosecuted the case.
Source: United States Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) this week joined Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to introduce the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act, bipartisan legislation which would allow Americans to safely import prescription drugs from Canada, lowering costs, increasing access for consumers, and creating more competition in the pharmaceutical market.
“Skyrocketing drug prices are hammering patients in Vermont and across America,” said Senator Welch. “Lifesaving drugs that help treat cancers, blood clots, asthma, and multiple sclerosis aren’t helpful if Americans can’t afford them. Meanwhile, those same drugs are hundreds of dollars cheaper just a few miles north in Canada. American patients are getting ripped off by Big Pharma—enough is enough. Our bipartisan legislation will allow patients to import prescription drugs from Canada and help folks get the lifesaving medication they need.”
“Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” said Senator Klobuchar. “Our bipartisan legislation would save Americans money by allowing them to import their medications from pharmacies in Canada. Brand-name prescription drugs that we invent here in America cost more than twice as much in the United States as in Canada. Americans deserve better. Building on my legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug costs, I will continue to work to increase competition in the pharmaceutical market so Americans no longer get ripped off by Big Pharma.”
“Congress must take an all-of-the-above approach to lowering the price of prescription drugs. Our commonsense, bipartisan bill would provide Americans increased access to safe, affordable prescription drugs available in Canada, while boosting much-needed competition in the pharmaceutical industry,” said Senator Grassley.
In addition to Sens. Welch, Klobuchar, and Grassley, the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act is cosponsored by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Angus King (I-Maine), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.).
Hearing scheduled for 7 AM PT today at John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in Boston; register to listen online here
OAKLAND —California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general in issuing a joint statement ahead of a court hearing in Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. National Institutes of Health (NIH). At today’s hearing, the plaintiffs will seek an extension of its Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Trump Administration’s unlawful cuts to funds that support cutting-edge medical and public health research at universities and research institutions across the country.
Attorney General Bonta joins the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington in issuing the following statement:
“The Trump Administration’s attempt to cut research funding at thousands of research institution across the country is not only unlawful; it undermines public health, our economy and our competitiveness. There are laws in place that protect this funding, and the President cannot simply toss those laws aside.
“This research funding covers expenses that facilitate critical components of biomedical research, such as lab, faculty, infrastructure and utility costs. Without it, lifesaving and life-extending research, including clinical trials, would be significantly compromised. These cuts would have a devastating impact on universities around the country, many of which are at the forefront of groundbreaking research efforts – while also training future generations of researchers and innovators. They would force many universities to redirect funds and ultimately reduce research activities. Research funded by the National Institutes of Health has furthered our understanding of medical conditions and found new treatments for adult and childhood cancer, ALS, Parkinson’s Disease, heart disease, PTSD, and more.
“Attorneys general are not just fighting for the rule of law; we are fighting for our loved ones, our friends and our neighbors, and we will not allow President Trump to play politics with our public health. We are heartened that less than six hours after filing our lawsuit, the Court recognized the devastating impacts of this directive and granted an emergency temporary restraining order preventing the Administration from implementing these unlawful cuts. Today, we urge the Court to continue to block these funding cuts as we keep fighting this reckless abuse of power.”
On February 10, Attorney General Bonta joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the NIH in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts challenging the Trump Administration’s attempt to unilaterally cut “indirect cost” reimbursements at every research institution throughout the country. Less than six hours after the attorneys general filed their lawsuit, the court issued a temporary restraining order against the NIH, barring it from cutting billions in funding for biomedical and public health research.
In filing the lawsuit, Attorney General Bonta joined the attorneys general of Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
ICYMI: Senator Murray on Senate Republicans’ Pro-Billionaire Budget Resolution, Trump and Musk’s Devastating Funding Freeze and Mass Firings
ICYMI: Senator Murray Leads Entire Democratic Caucus in Raising Alarm Over Trump Admin Pushing Illegal Indiscriminate Funding Cuts to NIH, Derailing Lifesaving Research
ICYMI: Senator Murray Statement on Meeting with NIH Nominee Jay Bhattacharya
Washington, D.C. — Today on the Senate floor, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, put forward an amendment to Senate Republicans’ budget resolution that would reverse massive, arbitrary cuts to lifesaving research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that Donald Trump and Elon Musk tried to make earlier this month by setting the maximum reimbursement rate for indirect costs to 15 percent.
Republicans blocked Murray’s amendment.
Importantly, the Trump administration’s move to change the indirect costs rate is illegal—Congress’ bipartisan Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Bill prohibits modifications to NIH’s indirect costs. The policy is currently temporarily blocked in the courts. Last week, Murray led the entire Senate Democratic caucus in sending a letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. expressing alarm over the funding cuts and other recent moves by the Trump administration that threaten to undermine America’s biomedical research infrastructure and set us back generations.
MURRAY AMENDMENT #880: Senator Murray offered an amendment to reverse the Trump Administration’s indiscriminate cut to biomedical research and the lifesaving work supported by the NIH at research institutions across the country. Murray offered an identical amendment at the Senate Budget Committee markup last week—which no Republican spoke in opposition to during debate, but every Republican voted against.
Senator Murray said on the Senate floor when offering her amendment, #880:
“The Trump administration is working to destroy medical research as we know it with an illegal, unrealistic cap on the NIH reimbursement rate for indirect costs. That would mean: cancer researchers laid off, lifesaving clinical trials cancelled, and more. It’s also violates bipartisan appropriations law. I should know, I helped author that provision. And Republicans should know—they worked with me to pass it.”
Earlier today, Murray delivered a lengthy speech on the Senate floor where she laid out in detail how Republicans’ budget resolution is a blueprint for deep, painful cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP that help working families—all in service of passing more tax giveaways for billionaires. Murray also underscored how the Trump administration’s lawless mass firings and funding freeze is hurting people and jeopardizing critical services in every part of the country, and why a clean full-year CR is not an acceptable solution to government funding.
Last week at the Senate Budget Committee mark up of Senate Republicans’ Budget resolution, Senator Murray, a senior member and former chair of the committee, put forward six amendments to steer Republicans toward a bipartisan approach to spending, affirm Congress’ power of the purse, reverse cuts to NIH, deliver transparency into the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and more. Republicans unanimously opposed every amendment Murray and other Democrats offered. In her opening remarks, Murray also called for Elon Musk to come before the Committee to discuss his already in-motion efforts to decimate programs people count on.
Anyone familiar with Scotland will know the weather is at best mercurial, and at worst wet, grey and what we call “dreich” – a good Scottish word meaning drab. For an artist in the early 20th century suffering not just miserable weather but a cultural landscape of joyless, soul-sucking Presbyterianism, escaping to the sunlit uplands of the Parisian avant garde, where artists were experimenting wildly with new ideas and techniques, would have been deeply attractive.
Into this vivid world of colour and possibility stepped four Scottish artists who embraced everything this exciting new art scene had to offer, and in doing so, changed Scotland’s art forever. Inspired by the post-impressionist works of Van Gogh, Matisse, Cezanne and Derain, they often painted outdoors, revelling in nature, creating exceptional artworks that explored light, shape and colour.
Samuel John Peploe experimented with Cezanne-like geometric forms, while John Duncan Fergusson took on fauvist influences. George Leslie Hunter focused on blocks of colour, and Francis Campbell Boileau Cadell explored bold shapes and impressionistic compositions.
Together they became known as the “Scottish colourists”, and their work is being celebrated at a new exhibition at the Dovecot in Edinburgh. As our reviewer Blane Savage points out, each brought back to Scotland new approaches to art that were reflected in their subsequent work. Take Peploe’s Green Sea, Iona from 1925, which perfectly captures the mesmerising colours of a Hebridean shoreline. Radiant and vibrant, here was art to lift even the dreichest Presbyterian Scot’s heart.
The Scottish Colourists: Radical Perspectives is on at the Dovecot Studios in Edinburgh until June 28.
Just as the Scottish colourists loved a nice vase of voluptuous blooms, the new Saatchi Gallery exhibition on the subject, named simply Flowers, explores the place of flora in contemporary art, as well as its wider cultural influence.
Reviewer Judith Brocklehurst describes the show as resembling a “supersized florist”, filled with bunches of blooms and hanging arrangements of dried flowers. The exhibition offers a wide perspective: from sculpture finding inspiration in Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, to William Morris’s much-loved floral designs, to the digital recreation of 17th-century Dutch paintings, and contemporary photography and video installations too.
This richly imaginative and engaging exhibition celebrating the importance of flora in our lives is well worth an hour of your time if you’re in London.
Highly recommended cinema this week is the Japanese film Cottontail, a gentle and touching story about a middle-aged man grieving the loss of his wife after a long illness. Honouring her dying wish, he takes her ashes to be scattered in the Lake District in the north of England – a place that had special significance for her.
Woven through the tale is the man’s complicated relationship with his son, whom he has neglected for his career. Struggling to connect, they embark on the journey together, each dealing with their own grief and sense of loss. Chao Fang, an expert in ageing, death and dying, found this delicate film’s portrayal of grief realistic and relatable, and the journey to find peace by reconciling the past and present both absorbing and affecting.
The Oscar-nominated I’m Still Here, released today, sees director Walter Salles adapt Marcelo Rubens Paiva’s autobiographical novel of the same name. The film follows the grief of a family whose husband and father is disappeared by the regime of Brazilian dictator Emílio Garrastazu Médici in the early 1970s. The film is carried by a memorable performance from actress Fernanda Torres who plays Eunice, the wife of missing left-wing politician Rubens.
Relating the story from Eunice’s perspective as she desperately searches for her husband, the film details the breakdown of her relationship with her eldest daughters as they all seek to deal with their devastating loss and uncertain future. Professor of film Belén Vidal describes the film as a “clear-cut tribute to the ‘feminine’ politics of resistance”. Sad, moving and bittersweet in its conclusion, I’m Still Here, appropriately, lingers long after the credits have rolled.
Often real life is stranger than anything created for our screens. Based on the true story of Australian wellness influencer Belle Gibson, Apple Cider Vinegar follows the story of a social media darling documenting her “journey” as she rejects conventional medicine for alternative therapies to treat a rare form of brain cancer. But in 2015, Gibson was exposed as a financial fraud – and worse, was revealed as never having had cancer. The internet, understandably, went wild. But how was she able to perpetrate such an audacious and complex deception?
Apple Cider Vinegar dramatises Gibson’s story, documenting her meteoric rise to fame and her dramatic downfall, detailing some of the psychological issues that influenced her deceit. But, as sociology professor Stephanie Baker indicates, this shocking story also illustrates a wider point about the conditions that enable frauds like Gibson to gain credibility and influence online. Truly fascinating stuff, it once again reveals how the virtual nature of the internet deludes people when it comes to online behaviour, accountability and getting away with it.
The start of 2025 has been good for China and its reputation as a high-tech innovator. The unveiling of the Chinese-made artificial intelligence (AI) tool, DeepSeek, caused consternation on the US stock exchange and from potential competitors in Silicon Valley.
Chinese firms are increasingly at the forefront of key high-level technologies such as electric vehicles (EVs) and AI, as reflected by the success of China’s electric vehicles, BYD, and now DeepSeek.
These moves have made the Chinese economy more self sufficient than it was during Trump’s first term, and has made Beijing more confident about pushing back politically against Trump.
This is all underlined by a high-level meeting hosted by President Xi Jinping at China’s Great Hall of the People this week. He told the heads of China’s leading tech firms it was time for them “to give full play to their capabilities” and spoke of it as a patriotic duty, according to official accounts.
This comes as China starts being hit by US tariffs of an additional 10% on its goods, as well as a slew of anti-China rhetoric from the Trump government.
But China’s high tech industries are on the up, and this is a significant boost for Xi. For instance, in January this year, sales of the Chinese EVs exceeded those of Tesla in the UK for the first time.
Part of the Chinese EV’s success could be attributed to a backlash against Tesla’s co-founder Elon Musk, after he started backing far-right parties around the world.
Another factor that Chinese high-tech goods have in their favour are lower prices. Prices for Chinese EVs start at £7,697 in the UK, for example – much lower than Tesla’s Model 3 at £25,490.
This price difference will be significant in the latest phase of the Sino-US trade war, particularly in countries struggling with a cost-of-living crisis. China is also hoping its cheap prices and tech innovations will help it find new trading allies to counteract Washington’s proposed tariffs.
What China has to offer
China is a fast-growing economic and political power and is expected to account for nearly a quarter of the global economy by 2030.
The success of BYD and DeepSeek comes at a time where Beijing feels more prepared for Trump’s tough tariffs and tension with Washington, than it did in his previous term. China has responded to Trump’s threats with reciprocal tariffs on US coal and liquefied gas, as well as a ban on the export of critical minerals. These are a key component for many US military technologies varying from communications equipment to missiles.
China accounts for 72% of all rare earth imports for the US. Such measures contrast with the cautious approach taken by Beijing in 2017, when US tariffs during Trump’s first term met little retaliation from Beijing.
The changes in China’s tactics can partly be attributed to what Beijing learned from the previous trade war. In 2017 there were weaknesses in the supply chains of many Chinese firms, most notably ZTE and Huawei.
They struggled when Washington pressurised its own chipmakers and those of allied states, such as Britain’s Arm, to stop sales of semiconductor technology to China. As a result, finding long-term alternatives to US technology in the supply chain has become a key priority for Beijing.
What is Deep Seek?
Xi has recognised the value of firms such as Huawei and BYD in aiding China’s wider technological (and geopolitical) ambitions, most notably as part of the Made in China 2025 strategy, a national strategy to make China a leader in high-tech technology.
Traditionally, China was seen as the home of cheap, low-quality goods, which had been central to its development in the 1980s and 1990s. But many of companies producing these products are increasingly moving to south-east Asia to take advantage of lower labour costs.
However, Chinese industries are now gaining ground in fields that have traditionally been the preserve of developed nations. For instance, Huawei has developed a spin off, Honor, which has gone from producing cheap, simple smartphones and into AI technology.
Meanwhile, the success of BYD and DeepSeek have demonstrated that China is, in some ways at least, far better placed for a prolonged trade war. Beijing is feeling more confident, which explains its willingness to push back against Washington this time.
So the White House will have to deal with higher prices for US goods going into China, as well as additional trade spats with the EU, Canada and the UK. It might be a bumpy ride for US consumers.
How Beijing responds and its new-found clout may determine the course of this new trade war, and potentially add to its long-term standing in the world.
Tom Harper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Middlefield Canadian Income PCC (the “Company”) including Middlefield Canadian Income – GBP PC (the “Fund”), a cell of the Company Registered No: 93546 Legal Entity Identifier: 2138007ENW3JEJXC8658
Withdrawal of General Meeting Requisition
As announced on 13 February 2025, Middlefield Canadian Income PCC (the “Company”) and Middlefield Canadian Income – GBP PC (the “Fund”) received a letter from a nominee account acting on behalf of the custodian and prime broker for Saba Capital Management, L.P. (“Saba”) requisitioning the Board of the Company and Fund (the “Board”) to convene a general meeting of shareholders (the “Requisition”).
Since the receipt of the Requisition, the Board has consulted with a number of the Company’s largest shareholders, including Saba. Following constructive discussions, Saba has agreed to withdraw the Requisition for a period of 60 days to enable the Company and its advisers to formulate proposals that are in the best interests of all shareholders.
The Board will provide a further update in due course.
For further information, please contact:
Middlefield Canadian Income – GBP PC via Investec Bank plc Michael Phair (Chairman)
Investec Bank plc 020 7597 4000 Corporate Broker Helen Goldsmith/David Yovichic
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Directors Basel Adra, left, and Yuval Abraham on stage at the 62nd New York Film Festival on Sept. 29, 2024.Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
For many low-budget, independent films, an Oscar nomination is a golden ticket.
The publicity can translate into theatrical releases or rereleases, along with more on-demand rentals and sales.
However, for “No Other Land,” a Palestinian film nominated for best documentary at the 2025 Academy Awards, this exposure is unlikely to translate into commercial success in the U.S. That’s because the film has been unable to find a company to distribute it in America.
“No Other Land” chronicles the efforts of Palestinian townspeople to combat an Israeli plan to demolish their villages in the West Bank and use the area as a military training ground. It was directed by four Palestinian and Israeli activists and journalists: Basel Adra, who is a resident of the area facing demolition, Yuval Abraham, Hamdan Ballal and Rachel Szor. While the filmmakers have organized screenings in a number of U.S. cities, the lack of a national distributor makes a broader release unlikely.
Film distributors are a crucial but often unseen link in the chain that allows a film to reach cinemas and people’s living rooms. In recent years it has become more common for controversial award-winning films to run into issues finding a distributor. Palestinian films have encountered additional barriers.
As a scholar of Arabic who has written about Palestinian cinema, I’m disheartened by the difficulties “No Other Land” has faced. But I’m not surprised.
The role of film distributors
Distributors are often invisible to moviegoers. But without one, it can be difficult for a film to find an audience.
Distributors typically acquire rights to a film for a specific country or set of countries. They then market films to movie theaters, cinema chains and streaming platforms. As compensation, distributors receive a percentage of the revenue generated by theatrical and home releases.
The film “Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat,” another finalist for best documentary, shows how this process typically works. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2024 and was acquired for distribution just a few months later by Kino Lorber, a major U.S.-based distributor of independent films.
The inability to find a distributor is not itself noteworthy. No film is entitled to distribution, and most films by newer or unknown directors face long odds.
So why can’t “No Other Land” find a distributor in the U.S.?
There are a couple of factors at play.
Shying away from controversy
In recent years, film critics have noticed a trend: Documentaries on controversial topics have faced distribution difficulties. These include a film about a campaign by Amazon workers to unionize and a documentary about Adam Kinzinger, one of the few Republican congresspeople to vote to impeach Donald Trump in 2021.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, of course, has long stirred controversy. But the release of “No Other Land” comes at a time when the issue is particularly salient. The Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Israeli bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip have become a polarizing issue in U.S. domestic politics, reflected in the campus protests and crackdowns in 2024. The filmmakers’ critical comments about the Israeli occupation of Palestine have also garnered backlash in Germany.
Yet the fact that this conflict has been in the news since October 2023 should also heighten audience interest in a film such as “No Other Land” – and, therefore, lead to increased sales, the metric that distributors care about the most.
Indeed, an earlier film that also documents Palestinian protests against Israeli land expropriation, “5 Broken Cameras,” was a finalist for best documentary at the 2013 Academy Awards. It was able to find a U.S. distributor. However, it had the support of a major European Union documentary development program called Greenhouse. The support of an organization like Greenhouse, which had ties to numerous production and distribution companies in Europe and the U.S., can facilitate the process of finding a distributor.
By contrast, “No Other Land,” although it has a Norwegian co-producer and received some funding from organizations in Europe and the U.S., was made primarily by a grassroots filmmaking collective.
Stages for protest
While distribution challenges may be recent, controversies surrounding Palestinian films are nothing new.
Many of them stem from the fact that the system of film festivals, awards and distribution is primarily based on a movie’s nation of origin. Since there is no sovereign Palestinian state – and many countries and organizations have not recognized the state of Palestine – the question of how to categorize Palestinian films has been hard to resolve.
In 2002, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected the first ever Palestinian film submitted to the best foreign language film category – Elia Suleiman’s “Divine Intervention” – because Palestine was not recognized as a country by the United Nations. The rules were changed for the following year’s awards ceremony.
In 2021, the cast of the film “Let It Be Morning,” which had an Israeli director but primarily Palestinian actors, boycotted the Cannes Film Festival in protest of the film’s categorization as an Israeli film rather than a Palestinian one.
Film festivals and other cultural venues have also become places to make statements about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and engage in protest. For example, at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, the right-wing Israeli culture minister wore a controversial – and meme-worthy – dress that featured the Jerusalem skyline in support of Israeli claims of sovereignty over the holy city, despite the unresolved status of Jerusalem under international law.
Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev wears a dress featuring the old city of Jerusalem during the Cannes Film Festival in 2017. Antonin Thuillier/AFP via Getty Images
At the 2024 Academy Awards, a number of attendees, including Billie Eilish, Mark Ruffalo and Mahershala Ali, wore red pins in support of a ceasefire in Gaza, and pro-Palestine protesters delayed the start of the ceremonies.
So even though a film like “No Other Land” addresses a topic of clear interest to many people in the U.S., it faces an uphill battle to finding a distributor.
I wonder whether a win at the Oscars would even be enough.
Drew Paul does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Library of Celsus was a famous landmark in its time – and today.Myrsini Mamoli
Here in Atlanta, the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum has been part of my daily life for years. Parks and trails surrounding the center connect my neighborhood to the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park downtown and everything in between.
At the end of December 2024, thousands of people walked to the library to pay their respects to the former president as he lay in repose. The cold, snow and darkness of the evening were a stark contrast to the warmth of the volunteers who welcomed us in. Our visit spiraled through galleries exhibiting records of Carter’s life, achievements and lifelong work promoting democracy around the world.
U.S. presidents have been building libraries for more than 100 years, starting with Rutherford B. Hayes. But the urge to shape one’s legacy by building a library runs much deeper. As a scholar of libraries in the Greek and Roman world, I was struck by the similarities between presidential and ancient libraries – some of which were explicitly designed to honor deceased sponsors and played a significant role in their cities.
Trajan’s library
The Ulpian Library, a great library in the center of Rome, was founded by Emperor Trajan, who ruled around the turn of the second century C.E. Referenced often by ancient authors, it could have been the first such memorial library.
Today, someone visiting Rome can visit Trajan’s Column, a roughly 100-foot monument to his military and engineering achievements after conquering Dacia, part of present-day Romania. A frieze spirals from bottom to top of the column, depicting his exploits. The monument now stands on its own. Originally, however, it was nestled in a courtyard between two halls of the Ulpian Library complex.
Most of what scholars know about the library’s architecture comes from remains of the west hall, an elongated room almost 80 feet long, whose walls were lined with rectangular niches and framed by a colonnade. The niches were lined with marble and appear to have had doors; this is where the books would have been placed. Writers from the first few centuries C.E. describe the library having archival documents about the emperor and the empire, including books made of linen and books bound with ivory.
Trajan dedicated the column in 113 C.E. but died four years later, before the library was complete. Hadrian, his adoptive son and successor, oversaw the shipment of Trajan’s cremated remains back to Rome, where they were placed in Trajan’s Column. Hadrian completed the surrounding library complex in 128 C.E. and dedicated it with two identical funerary inscriptions to his adopted parents, Trajan and Plotina. Scholars Roberto Egidi and Silvia Orlandi have argued that Trajan’s remains could later have been transferred from the column into the library hall.
Memorial model
Either way, I would argue that Trajan’s decision to have his remains included in the library complex, instead of in an imperial mausoleum, established a model adopted by other officials at a smaller scale. In the eastern side of the Roman empire – what is now Turkey – at least two other library-mausoleum buildings have been identified.
One is the library at Nysa on the Maeander, a Hellenistic city named for the nearby river. Under the floor of its entry porch is a sarcophagus with the remains of a man and a woman, possibly the dedicators, that dates to the second century C.E., the time of Hadrian’s reign.
The ruins of the library at Nysa on the Maeander. Myrsini Mamoli
Another is the Library of Celsus, the most recognizable ancient library today, found in the ancient city of Ephesus. Named after a regional Roman consul and proconsul during the reign of Trajan, the building was founded by Celsus’ son, designed as both a place of learning and a mausoleum.
The library’s ornate, sculpted facade contained life-size female statues, making it an immediately recognizable landmark. Inscriptions identify the statues as the personifications of Celsus’ character, elevating him into a role model: virtue, intelligence, knowledge and wisdom.
Upon entering the room, the funerary character of the library became quite literal. The hall was designed like the Ulpian Library, but a door gave access to a crypt underneath. This held the marble sarcophagus with the remains of Celsus, the patron of the library. The sarcophagus itself was visible from the hall, if one stood in front of the central apse and looked down through two slits in the podium.
An endowment covered the library’s operational expenses in ancient times, as well as annual commemorations on Celsus’ birthday, including the wreathing of the busts and statues and the purchasing of additional books.
The life-size statues on the facade of the Library of Celsus. Myrsini Mamoli
Power and knowledge
These two provincial libraries highlight how sponsors hoped to be associated with the virtues a library fosters. Books represent knowledge, and by dedicating a library, one asserted his possession of it. Providing access to learning was an instrument of power on its own.
Beyond the handful of memorial libraries, many other ancient Roman public libraries were great cultural centers, including the Forum of Peace in Rome, dedicated by Emperor Vespasian; the Library of Hadrian in Athens; and the Gymnasium in Side, a city in present-day Turkey.
The most magnificent libraries combined access to manuscripts and artworks with spaces for meetings and lectures. Several had great leisure areas, including landscaped sculptural gardens with elaborate water features and colonnaded walkways. Literary sources and material evidence testify to the treasures that were held there: busts of philosophers, poets and other accomplished literary figures; statues of gods, heroes and emperors; treasures confiscated as spoils of war and exhibited in Rome.
Like the Ulpian Library itself, they continued the long tradition of Hellenistic public libraries, established by the most famous library of antiquity: the Library of Alexandria. Founded and lavishly endowed by the Hellenistic kings of Egypt, the Ptolemies, the building was meant to portray the king as a patron of intellectual activities and a powerful ruler, collecting knowledge from conquered civilizations.
In ancient Greece and Rome, anybody who could read had access to public libraries. Rules of use varied: For example, literary sources imply that the Ulpian Library in Rome was a borrowing library, whereas an inscription from the Library of Pantainos in Athens explicitly forbid any book to be taken out.
But these buildings were also meant to shape their sponsors’ legacies, portraying them as benevolent and learned. Presidential libraries in the United States today follow the same principle: They become monuments to the former presidents, while giving back to their local communities.
Myrsini Mamoli does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Brittany Friedman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, University of Southern California
Black and Latino communities are disproportionately affected by mass surveillance, studies show.Vicente Méndez/Getty Images
Mass surveillance is the widespread monitoring of civilians. Governments typically target specific groups – such as religious minorities, certain races or ethnicities, or migrants – for surveillance and use the information gathered to “contain” these populations, for example by arresting and imprisoning people.
We are experts in social control, or how governments coerce compliance, and we specialize in surveillance. Based on our expertise and years of research, we expect Trump’s second White House term may usher in a wave of spying against people of color and immigrants.
Trump is already actively deploying a key tactic in expanding mass surveillance: causing moral panics. Moral panics are created when politicians exaggerate a public concern to manipulate real fears people may have.
Building on his rhetoric about crime and immigration, Trump frequently connects the two issues. He has said that migrants murder because they have “bad genes,” echoing beliefs expressed by white supremacists. During the 2016 campaign, Trump’s coinage “bad hombre” invoked stereotypes of dangerous migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to steal jobs and sell drugs.
The president has similarly connected Black communities with crime. At an August 2024 rally in Atlanta, Georgia, Trump called the majority-Black city “a killing field.” The month prior, he said the same thing about Washington, D.C.
Another early form of moral panics escalating to spying and mass surveillance were southern slave patrols, which emerged in the early 1700s after pro-slavery politicians proclaimed that Black escapees would terrorize white communities. Slave patrols tracked down and captured not only Black escapees but also free Black people, whom they sold into bondage. They also imprisoned any person, enslaved or not, suspected of sheltering escapees.
Once a group of people becomes the subject of moral panics and targeted for government surveillance, our research shows, the effects are felt for generations.
These 21st-century numbers reflect decades of targeted surveillance.
In the 1950s, the FBI under Director J. Edgar Hoover created the counter-intelligence programs COINTELPRO, allegedly for investigating communists and radical political groups, and the Ghetto Informant Program. In practice, both programs broadly targeted people of color. From Martin Luther King Jr. to U.S. Rep. John Lewis, Black activists were identified as a threat, spied on, investigated and sometimes jailed.
President Lyndon Johnson’s “war on crime,” a sweeping set of federal changes that militarized local police in urban communities, continued this mass surveillance in the 1960s. Later came the “war on drugs,” which an aide to President Richard Nixon later said was designed explicitly to target Black people.
These early examples of mass surveillance lacked the technology that enables spying today, such as CCTV and hacked laptop cameras. Nonetheless, past U.S. administrations have been remarkably effective at achieving social control by creating moral panics then deploying mass surveillance to contain the “threat.” They enlisted droves of police officers, recruited informants to infiltrate groups and locked people away.
These textbook surveillance methods are still routinely used now.
Police fusion centers
For many Americans, the term “mass surveillance” evokes the Department of Homeland Security, which was founded after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This national agency, which forms part of a federal intelligence apparatus of more than 20 agencies focused on surveillance, has played a key role in mass surveillance since 2001, especially of Muslim Americans.
But it has local help in the form of police units known as fusion centers. These units feed identification information and physical evidence such as video footage to federal agencies such as the FBI and CIA, according to a 2023 whistleblower report from Rutgers Law School.
The New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center, for example, is a police fusion center overseeing New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It employs advanced military technology to gather massive amounts of personal data on people perceived as potential security threats. According to the Rutgers report, these “threats” are highly concentrated in Black, Latino and Arab communities, as well as areas with a high concentration of political organizing, such as Black Lives Matter groups and immigrant aid organizations.
The New Jersey police fusion approach leads to increased arrest rates, according to the report, but there’s no real evidence that it prevents crime or terrorism.
Guantanamo and black sites
Given Trump’s pledges to further militarize border enforcement and expand U.S. jails and prisons, we anticipate a rise in spending on fusion centers and other tools of mass surveillance under Trump. The moral panics he’s been stirring up since 2015 suggest that the targets of government surveillance will include immigrants and Black people.
Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event on April 2, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Mich. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The Guardian reported in 2015 that Chicago police had been temporarily “disappearing” people at local and federal police “black sites” since at least 2009. At these clandestine jails, under the guise of national security, officers questioned detainees without attorneys and held them for up to 24 hours without any outside contact. Many of the victims were Black.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
For decades, many U.S. immigrants have received subpar health care, and asking about immigration status can make those disparities worse.Maskot via Getty Images
Since arriving in the United States four years ago, Alex has worked at a primary care office. He has witnessed firsthand how difficult it was for immigrants to access preventive care.
When he heard of the implementation of Florida’s Senate Bill 1718, Alex feared it would have dire consequences for the patients he served.
Alex is a pseudonym for one of our research subjects.
SB 1718, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in May 2023, imposed sweeping restrictions aimed at discouraging unauthorized immigration. Among its provisions, it requires hospitals that accept Medicaid funds to question patients about their immigration status and share data about how many immigrants they are serving within the state.
After the law passed, Alex told his patients that they could refuse to divulge their legal status when asked on hospital forms. But he says his reassurances didn’t work. He watched as many immigrant patients hesitated to access necessary medical care for themselves and their children – or even left the state.
Alex had legal documentation to be in the country, but as his immigrant community shrank, he wondered if he, too, should leave Florida.
“I was very sick recently and needed medical care, but I was scared,” one survey participant told us.
While hospitals cannot deny care based on a patient’s immigration status, our data shows that anticipating they would be asked deterred not only immigrants lacking permanent legal status but also those with legal status, including U.S. citizens, from seeking care.
We believe U.S. citizens are affected by spillover effects because they are members of mixed-status families.
Our survey took place during the intense 2024 presidential election season when anti-immigrant rhetoric was prevalent. The immigrants we surveyed also reported experiencing discrimination in their everyday lives, and these experiences were also associated with a reluctance to access health care.
Laws like SB 1718 amplify preexisting racial and structural inequities. Structural inequities are systemic barriers within institutions — such as health care and employment — that restrict access to essential resources based on one’s race, legal or economic status.
Supporters of immigrants’ rights protest against U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on Feb. 7, 2025 in Homestead, Florida. Joe Raedle via Getty Images
Elizabeth Aranda is affiliated with American Sociological Association.
Deborah Omontese is affiliated with American Sociological Association
Elizabeth Vaquera is a member of the American Sociological Association and has previously received funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health,
Emely Matos Pichardo is affiliated with the Southern Sociological Society.
Liz Ventura does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The Conversation U.S. politics editor Jeff Inglis spoke to James Perry, a scholar of public affairs at Indiana University, Bloomington, to understand what the order is trying to achieve and how it would affect federal workers, the government and the American public. What follows is an edited transcript of the discussion.
Andrew Jackson, depicted here giving a speech, believed the president should be in control of most federal workers. PHOTOS.com / Getty Images Plus
What is the standard situation for government employees?
In the 1820s and 1830s, President Andrew Jackson popularized the idea that the president could, and should, hire supporters into government jobs. But by the early 1880s, there was concern on the parts of both Democrats and Republicans that the victor would control a lot of workers who would serve the president, not the American people whose tax dollars paid their salaries.
So the parties came together in 1883 to pass the Pendleton Act stipulating that government workers are hired based on their skills and abilities, not their political views. That law was updated in 1978 with the Civil Service Reform Act, which added more protections for workers against being fired for political reasons.
Those rules cover about 99% of staff in the federal civil service. Currently, there are just about 4,000 political appointees. I’ve seen various estimates that this new executive order would shift at least 50,000 positions from career positions to the political-appointments list.
This argument is not backed by strong evidence. The evidence supporters offer is that human resources directors, who are often appointees of the governor who changed the statute, claim no one has complained about the change in policy. But that doesn’t include people who are likely to have a different perspective.
It could be that nobody is talking about people being fired for political reasons in these states because they are afraid of getting fired themselves.
What does this executive order change, and why?
The rationale for the new policy is that the administration wants to get rid of federal workers whom leaders perceive as either intransigent or insubordinate – or who they fear might oppose Trump’s policy initiatives. This sets up a conflict between how government workers see their duties and how Trump appears to view them.
But taking action against only 50,000 of the 2 million-plus federal employees isn’t going to address such a wide problem.
There’s a stereotype that in government it can be hard to discipline or fire workers who are not competent at their jobs. The flip side of that stereotype is, however, false: Private businesses are not better at holding poor performers accountable. Survey evidence shows the private sector has just as much difficulty as the government with getting workers to perform effectively.
There’s room for legitimate disagreement about how far federal employees have to go to comply with presidential directives. The people who think loyalty is the key to merit still might not agree on whether that loyalty is owed to the person sitting in the Oval Office or to the Constitution.
Protests against the Trump administration have been widespread, including against its policies aimed at federal workers. AP Photo/Sejal Govindarao
In the first round of this effort under the first Trump administration, it seemed that most of the people affected would be at the top of the federal hierarchy, probably mostly based in Washington, D.C.
Most of the workers in the federal civil service, though, are not there. They work for the Social Security Administration, giving out checks in Bloomington, Indiana, or other departments and offices around the country. It would be very difficult to classify them as influencing political policy or advocating for policies.
But there are people who are not Senate-confirmed who do have an influence on policy. For instance, at the Department of Justice, assistant and deputy assistant secretaries have influence on civil rights policy or other policies that affect the president’s ability to pursue his agenda. The February 2025 resignation of Danielle Sassoon from her role as U.S. attorney in New York is an example of legitimate divergence between an appointee and the president’s policy direction.
Any workers who lost their protections would likely feel threatened with losing their job and their livelihood. They might, out of fear, be more responsive to the dictates of their superiors.
That might sound good – that if you do what your boss says, you’re doing a good job. But it’s different if your obligations are to the public interest and the Constitution.
The U.S. has attracted to government service workers who are good at their jobs and able to remain politically neutral at work. Saying that’s no longer important would change the relationship between government workers and their jobs. And it would hurt the nation as a whole if government cannot attract the best and the brightest, or if it sends the best and the brightest packing because they are not comfortable with their work situation, or if they stay but their performance declines.
James L. Perry does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Anthony Pereira, Director of the Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University
The former president looked disappointed on Jan. 18, 2025, after a judge denied his request to travel to the U.S. for Donald Trump’s inauguration.Evaristo Sa/AFP via Getty Images
Brazilian politics are getting more dramatic again.
The South American country’s attorney general filed five criminal charges against former President Jair Bolsonaro and 33 others in its Supreme Court on Feb. 18, 2025, detonating political shock waves. The charges include plotting a coup d’état to prevent Luíz Inácio Lula da Silva’s presidency. The other defendants include several former prominent officials, including a former spy chief, defense minister, national security adviser and Bolsonaro’s running mate.
Lula took office in Brazil for a third time in January 2023, after he defeated Bolsonaro in the 2022 presidential election. Bolsonaro, a right-wing politician allied with U.S. President Donald Trump, had served the previous four-year term. Bolsonaro and his codefendants are also charged with trying to poison Lula and assassinate his vice presidential running mate, Geraldo Alckmin, and Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes; participating in an armed criminal organization; and seeking to violently overthrow the democratic rule of law. He denies doing anything wrong.
As a professor of Brazilian politics, I believe that Bolsonaro’s legal troubles threaten to definitively end his political career. There’s also a possibility that the 69-year-old former president will be sentenced to prison. But, at the same time, the charges could also galvanize Bolsonaro’s base – playing into a narrative that sees the right-wing leader as stymied, unfairly, by the government he used to run.
No sash passed
Bolsonaro’s behavior before, during and after his second presidential campaign was unusual for any president seeking another term. He claimed, when he was still in office, that Brazil’s electronic voting system was not secure and predicted that fraud might crop up in the 2022 elections.
Although he never produced any evidence to support this claim, he promoted it on social media, fostering skepticism about the election among some voters.
That meant Bolsonaro was not in Brazil when thousands of his supporters rampaged through and vandalized three government buildings in Brasília on Jan. 8, 2023. The incident was strikingly similar to Trump supporters’ assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The new charges accuse Bolsonaro of taking part in a conspiracy to delegitimize the elections. The indictment also alleges that after the results were announced, Bolsonaro and the other defendants encouraged protests and urged the armed forces to intervene, declare a state of siege and prevent the peaceful transition of power from Bolsonaro to Lula.
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro can still draw crowds of supporters, as happened on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro on April 21, 2024. Buda Mendes/Getty Images
Possibility of prison
The evidence in this indictment is based, in part, on plea-bargained testimony by one of the alleged conspirators, the former presidential adviser and army Lt. Col. Mauro Cid.
President Lula, wearing a hat, walks alongside Brazil’s first lady, Rosangela Janja da Silva, in a pink suit, during a rally in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2025 – two years after supporters of his predecessor staged a failed coup attempt. Claudio Reis/Getty Images
Narrow path
Bolsonaro and his supporters have long criticized Brazil’s Supreme Court, arguing that it has exceeded its constitutional powers and become a judicial “dictatorship.” They have also pushed for Congress to grant amnesty to everyone who took part in or helped carry out the Jan. 8 attacks, including Bolsonaro.
So, although the example of Donald Trump returning to the presidency and pardoning the participants in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol inspires Bolsonaro’s supporters, his path to achieving a similar result is narrower than was Trump’s.
Meanwhile, Trump’s media company, which owns Truth Social and Rumble, sued Moraes, the judge Bolsonaro is accused of plotting to kill, for ordering the suspension of social media accounts and thereby undermining the First Amendment rights of U.S. citizens. The case was filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, on Feb. 19.
Any trial of Bolsonaro and the other alleged coup plotters could spark a political struggle.
Brazil’s right wing is currently divided between advocates of hard-line Bolsonarismo – a disruptive ideology that advocates social conservatism, a lightly regulated economy, militarism and a strong executive branch – and a more pragmatic conservatism that works within the conventional rules of politics and is mainly focused on patronage and the management of the spoils of office.
Should Bolsonaro and his fellow defendants be tried in the Supreme Court, those hard-liners could be mobilized and energized.
They would see the trial as the political establishment’s persecution of their political hero. And a struggle to find Bolsanaro’s successor, most likely between his son Eduardo and the former president’s wife, Michelle, would ensue.
The successor would claim the mantle of opposition to Lula, who is eligible to seek a fourth presidential term and claims to want to run for reelection in 2026 – when he would be about to celebrate his 81st birthday.
High stakes
There are, to be sure, some Brazilian politicians who are more moderate than Bolsonaro and would also like to run against Lula next time. They would bring much less baggage to that presidential race.
Their candidacies might offer a possible return to the relative political stability Brazil had experienced for almost two decades before 2013, when the main dividing line in Brazilian politics was between coalitions led by the center-right Social Democratic Party and the center-left Workers’ Party.
To be clear, it’s hard to overstate the potential consequences of the Supreme Court’s deliberation and judgment in this case.
The trial, should it occur, would be televised and also have a geopolitical dimension, because it would be closely watched by advocates of hard-right populism in other countries across the Americas and beyond. The stakes are high.
In the meantime, I have no doubt that Bolsonaro’s supporters will try to use his legal woes to rally his political movement. The judgment of Brazil’s Supreme Court, should it decide to hear this case, could therefore end Bolsonaro’s political career. However, no matter what happens, I believe that Bolsonarismo would still be alive and well as a political force in Brazil and a factor in the 2026 elections.
Anthony Pereira has received funding in the past from the British Academy and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) of the UK.
I am a senior fellow at Canning House, a think tank based in London. This is an unpaid position.
The Sun periodically ejects huge bubbles of plasma from its surface that contain an intense magnetic field. These events are called coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. When two of these ejections collide, they can generate powerful geomagnetic storms that can lead to beautiful auroras but may disrupt satellites and GPS back on Earth.
The northern lights, as seen here from Michigan in May 2024, are caused by geomagnetic storms in the atmosphere. Shirsh Lata Soni
Two merging CMEs triggered the largest geomagnetic storm in two decades, which manifested in brightly colored auroras visible across the sky.
I’m a solar physicist. My colleagues and I aim to track and better understand colliding CMEs with the goal of improving space weather forecasts. In the modern era, where technological systems are increasingly vulnerable to space weather disruptions, understanding how CMEs interact with each other has never been more crucial.
Coronal mass ejections
CMEs are long and twisted – kind of like ropes – and how often they happen varies with an 11-year cycle. At the solar minimum, researchers observe about one a week, but near the solar maximum, they can observe, on average, two or three per day.
During the solar maximum, solar flares and coronal mass ejections are more common.
When two or more CMEs interact, they generate massive clouds of charged particles and magnetic fields that may compress, merge or reconnect with each other during the collision. These interactions can amplify the impact of the CMEs on Earth’s magnetic field, sometimes creating geomagnetic storms.
In my research team’s study, published in May 2024, we found that CMEs that do interact or collide with each other are much more likely to cause a geomagnetic storm – two times more likely than an individual CME. The mix of strong magnetic fields and high pressure in these CME collisions is likely what causes them to generate storms.
During solar maxima, when there can be more than 10 CMEs per day, the likelihood of CMEs interacting with each other increases. But researchers aren’t sure whether they become more likely to generate a geomagnetic storm during these periods.
Scientists can study interacting CMEs as they move through space and watch them contribute to geomagnetic storms using observations from space- and ground-based observatories.
In this study, we looked at three CMEs that interacted with each other as they traveled through space using the space-based observatory STEREO. We validated these observations with three-dimensional simulations.
The CME interactions we studied generated a complex magnetic field and a compressed plasma sheath, which is a layer of charged particles in the upper atmosphere that interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.
When this complex structure encountered Earth’s magnetosphere, it compressed the magnetosphere and triggered an intense geomagnetic storm.
Four images show three interacting CMEs, based on observations from the STEREO telescope. In images C and D, you can see the northeast flank of CME-1 and CME-2 that interact with the southwest part of CME-3. Shirsh Lata Soni
This same process generated the geomagnetic storm from May 2024.
Between May 8-9, multiple Earth-directed CMEs erupted from the Sun. When these CMEs merged, they formed a massive, combined structure that arrived at Earth late on May 10, 2024. This structure triggered the extraordinary geomagnetic storm many people observed. People even in parts of the southern U.S. were able to see the northern lights in the sky that night.
These resources, coupled with advanced modeling capabilities, provide timely and effective ways to investigate how CMEs cause geomagnetic storms. The Sun will reach its solar maximum in the years 2024 and 2025. So, with more complex CMEs coming from the Sun in the next few years and an increasing reliance on space-based infrastructure for communication, navigation and scientific exploration, monitoring these events is more important than ever.
Integrating the observational data from space-based missions such as Wind and ACE and data from ground-based facilities such as the e-Callisto network and radio observatories with state-of-the-art simulation tools allows researchers to analyze the data in real time. That way, they can quickly make predictions about what the CMEs are doing.
These advancements are important for keeping infrastructure safe and preparing for the next solar maximum. Addressing these challenges today ensures resilience against future space weather.
Shirsh Lata Soni does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
In the toxic male technique, genetically engineered male insects would implant semen containing toxic venom into the female insects during mating.Madugrero/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
The stakes are high. Mosquitoes carry viruses such as dengue, West Nile and Zika, as well as parasites that cause malaria. Researchers estimate that mosquitoes have caused the deaths of 52 billion people overall – nearly half of all the humans that have ever lived.
Other insects cause major crop damage, jeopardizing the food supply and driving up prices. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 20% to 40% of global crop production is lost to pests annually at a cost of US$70 billion.
Pesticides have been the front-line defense against insects, but many bugs have evolved resistance to these chemicals. Some pesticides can indiscriminately kill beneficial insects, harm the environment and endanger human and animal health. Some researchers worry that certain pesticides can cause cancer or have damaging effects on human nervous and endocrine systems.
I’m a microbiology researcher studying infectious disease. New solutions that do not harm humans and the environment to control disease-carrying insects and agricultural pests could lead to fewer people contracting dangerous diseases. In the past few years, a variety of genetic engineering approaches have emerged as promising tactics to combat problematic insects.
Genetic biocontrol entails genetically modifying insects to curb their populations.
The idea to suppress an insect population by flooding it with sterile males has been around for decades. Since the 1950s, scientists have been using radiation to create infertile male mosquitoes. These sterile males mate with females but produce no offspring. Since females are engaged in a lot of unproductive mating, the overall population tends to decline.
In the past two decades, genetic engineering has been used to introduce dominant lethal genes into insect populations. In this approach, the offspring of genetically modified males inherit a gene that kills them before they reach reproductive age. A field trial in Brazil found that this strategy reduced the target mosquito population up to 95%. Another approach on the horizon involves releasing insects genetically modified to be poor carriers of pathogens that cause disease.
Despite these advances, a key shortcoming to current genetic biocontrol methods is that they take time. At least one generation needs to be born before the population suppression begins. This means the female insects continue to be a disease vector or agricultural pest until they die a natural death. An ideal technique would neutralize the females immediately, especially during outbreaks.
A faster approach
Biologists Samuel Beach and Maciej Maselko at Macquarie University in Australia sought to solve this dilemma by genetically engineering male insects to make poisonous semen. The poisonous semen would kill the female quickly, reducing the population faster than previous biocontrol methods.
To test this idea, the team used fruit flies called Drosophila melanogaster, which are easy to genetically modify and study in the lab.
The genetically modified fly produces and stores venom proteins in its male accessory gland – a fly’s prostate – along with other seminal fluid proteins. Upon mating, the fly deposits the venomous semen into the female’s reproductive tract. The researchers named this approach the toxic male technique.
The Mediterranean snakelocks anenome, Anemonia viridis. Diego Delso
After mating, the seminal toxins seep into the female’s body and attack her central nervous system. The toxins bind to proteins called ion channels on cellular membranes, which nerve cells use to communicate with one another. This quickly leads to paralysis and respiratory arrest. You could say these genetically engineered Romeos literally take her breath away.
The lifespan of female flies that mated with toxic males decreased – up to 64%. A computer simulation of the toxic male technique for Aedes aegypti, a mosquito that transmits several viruses, predicted that this approach could work better than current methods.
Safety and effectiveness
While promising and innovative, there are some important challenges that researchers developing the toxic male technique will need to overcome. For example, the technique has been shown to work only in fruit flies. Whether it will work in mosquitoes or other insect pests remains an open question.
In addition, the technique reduced the female lifespan by only 37% to 64%. To improve the rate of killing, the researchers suggested that other venom formulations might work better. Researchers could try thousands of venom genes from spiders, snakes, scorpions and centipedes. Each new venom they try will require tests to ensure the modified males tolerate them – if they become weak, unmodified males may outcompete them for mating opportunities.
As with all genetic biocontrol methods, this technique may be too expensive to implement for low-income countries. Nations would need to finance the costs of breeding and deploying the mosquitoes safely.
Insects also pollinate plants and serve as food sources for other animals, such as bats. If these insects vanish, the ecosystem could face unforeseen adverse effects. Monitoring these potential effects on the environment will also be expensive.
Other researchers are experimenting with using venom toxins to control parasites that female insects spread through biting. Called paratransgenesis, this technique alters an insect’s gut bacteria to produce a toxin that kills the parasite, leaving the insect unharmed. Since the insect population remains unaltered, paratransgenesis may pose less risk to ecosystems.
Insects tend to adapt quickly to the methods humans use to control them, so it is advantageous to have multiple strategies at our disposal. The toxic male technique may one day become a valuable new weapon in the arsenal to combat insect pests.
Bill Sullivan receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.
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