Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
People cool off at a beach of the Mediterranean Sea during a heatwave in Alexandria, Egypt, on July 16, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Egypt is experiencing an exceptional heatwave, with high temperatures and humidity posing significant risks to public health and impacting key sectors such as agriculture and industry.
The Egyptian Meteorological Authority said Wednesday’s temperatures on the northern coasts range from 31 degrees Celsius to 32 degrees, in Greater Cairo from 37 degrees to 38 degrees, and in the southern region from 40 degrees to 44 degrees.
The severe heat is expected to persist in the coming days, with both daytime and nighttime temperatures forecast to rise by up to 3 degrees Celsius above seasonal averages, according to Director of Analysis and Forecasts at the Egyptian Meteorological Authority Mahmoud Shahin.
Agriculture and food security
Ibrahim Darwish, professor of Agriculture at Menoufia University, said that rising temperatures pose a serious challenge to food and water security in agricultural countries.
He told Xinhua that high temperatures lead to a decrease in agricultural productivity due to their negative impact on photosynthesis, respiration, and biosynthesis within plants.
Darwish noted that the heatwave is likely to alter planting and ripening times, as high temperatures accelerate the plant’s life cycle, leading to premature and incomplete ripening, which in turn prevents sufficient dry matter formation, especially in grains.
Darwish added that the heatwave may also increase the incidence of insect pests and plant diseases, damage plant tissues, and inhibit root development. Crops require more water to compensate for these effects, reducing water-use efficiency and increasing strain on water resources, he added.
Impact on industry
Engineer Ahmed Abdel-Rashid, a factory manager for air conditioners at Haier Egypt Environmental Complex, said high temperatures will result in a decrease in work efficiency and raise the risk of workplace accidents.
Abdel-Rashid pointed out that the heatwave will also lead to higher electricity consumption due to increased reliance on cooling systems, and raise the risk of breakdowns in heat-sensitive machinery, potentially leading to production delays or shutdowns.
However, Abdel-Rashid pointed out potential upsides, including improved solar energy output from increased solar radiation. The heatwave may also spur demand for air conditioners, fans, and insulation materials — boosting local markets and creating opportunities for innovation in sustainable cooling technologies and energy-efficient building solutions.
Public health risks
Magdy Badran, a member of the Egyptian Society of Allergy and Immunology, said among the most significant negative health impacts citizens may experience during the current heatwave are heat stress and heatstroke.
“These are among the most common health risks in hot weather, resulting from the body losing large amounts of water and salts due to excessive sweating, leading to dizziness, headache, nausea, and general fatigue. If not promptly addressed, the condition can escalate to heatstroke,” he told Xinhua.
He added that the exacerbation of chronic diseases is a common outcome of continuous exposure to high temperatures, noting that heart patients may experience an increased burden due to fluid loss and sudden drops in blood pressure.
“Respiratory patients, such as those with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, may face greater difficulty breathing due to increased humidity or heat-related air pollution. Similarly, patients with high blood pressure are susceptible to severe drops in blood pressure due to excessive sweating,” Bardan warned.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
The UN-led humanitarian response in Gaza has been sidelined since the breakdown of the ceasefire in March, even though the world body was doing a good job, said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Executive Director Catherine Russell on Wednesday.
“For the last several months, the UN-led humanitarian response has been sidelined despite the fact that during the March ceasefire, we were delivering assistance in an efficient and safe manner,” she told a Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Essential vaccines and neonatal care, lifesaving nutrition services, and access to clean water were affected, she said, and asked members of the Security Council to ensure that UNICEF and their humanitarian partners are allowed to do their jobs.
“We have proven that essentials like medicine, vaccines, water, food, and nutrition for babies can reach those in need, wherever they are, when we have appropriate access. We urgently need a return to the functioning UN-led aid pipeline with safe and sustained humanitarian access through all available (border) crossings,” said Russell.
Also, she reiterated the UN secretary-general’s appeal to ensure that all aid delivery is demilitarized and grounded in the principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence.
Russell was referring to the militarized mode of humanitarian aid distribution carried out by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, run by the United States, which set up four sites in the whole of Gaza in restricted Israeli military zones where starving civilians enter through fenced lanes under the eyes of armed security contractors.
Between May 27 and July 7, the UN Human Rights Office recorded the killings of 798 Palestinian civilians, including children, desperate to find food at or near distribution sites and humanitarian convoys, she said.
More than 17,000 children have reportedly been killed and 33,000 injured in Gaza since the outbreak of the war in October 2023, an average of 28 children have been killed each day, said Russell. “Consider that for a moment. A whole classroom of children killed, every day for nearly two years.”
In Gaza, the effects of the violence perpetrated on children have been catastrophic. International law is clear: all parties to the conflict must protect civilians and ensure the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, she said while also calling for unimpeded humanitarian access and a ceasefire, as well as efforts to put an end to the war.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
East China’s Shanghai Pudong New Area received more than 3.14 billion U.S. dollars in actualized foreign investment in the first five months of the year, an increase of 32.3 percent year on year, official data shows.
The area has taken measures to encourage foreign manufacturers to upgrade their factories to high-end, intelligent and green versions, and to attract advanced manufacturing projects to fill gaps in, strengthen links of, and extend the industrial chains.
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche is one of the many companies that have ramped up investment in Pudong. In the first half of this year, Roche built a new production base in Zhangjiang Science City, with a construction area of about 25,000 square meters.
The base is expected to be completed in 2029 and put into operation in 2031. This project will strengthen Roche’s supply chain and local production layout in China and comprehensively enhance the complete medical value chain, according to the company.
China’s large market provides a stage for the development of foreign-funded enterprises. “The implementation of this project marks a significant development in Roche’s local production capacity in China and represents a major breakthrough in the local production of innovative drugs in this important market,” said Vivian Bian, CEO of Roche Pharma China.
This new investment also enables Roche to better meet the needs of Chinese patients and respond to local demands more quickly, Bian added.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) in Beijing, capital of China, July 16, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Hailing China as a “dynamic and innovative” market, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang on Wednesday reaffirmed his long-term commitment to the country during a media briefing in Beijing.
The founder of one of the world’s most valuable tech firms is in the Chinese capital this week for the opening ceremony of the third China International Supply Chain Expo. This is Huang’s third visit to China since the start of 2025, and he plans to make the most of it by also participating in related events.
Noting that China has become a leading technology market and is growing rapidly, Huang told reporters the country is a key market with many dynamic and innovative customers.
If you want to be a great company and a great supplier, you need not only excellent products but also excellent customers. China has that kind of customer, Huang said.
“We are doing our best to serve the market here,” he added.
Eyeing what he called a “great future” in the Chinese market, Huang emphasized the importance of further expanding the company’s presence in China.
“If you want to maintain, you have to invest,” he said. “The market is moving so fast and it’s so competitive — we have to continue to advance ourselves.”
Huang, however, welcomed the rise of Chinese competitors, calling them a force for industry progress.
Huang said that China has formidable companies and the technologies they’ve created are impressive.
“They’re not my enemies, they’re my competitors… and we can make each other better. We can make the market better, we can make the industry better,” he said.
On Tuesday, Huang told a group of journalists that the company will resume the sales of its H20 AI chips to China. Following this announcement, Nvidia’s shares surged 4.04 percent.
Huang revisited this topic at the media briefing on Wednesday. “I hope to get more advanced chips into China than H20. And the reason is that technology is always moving on.”
“Some years from now, we will have more and better technologies. And I think it’s sensible that whatever we are allowed to sell in China will continue to get better over time as well,” he said.
Huang also hailed the talent pool of China, especially in the sector of artificial intelligence.
“There are really extraordinary engineers and professionals in China,” said the senior executive. “We are expanding in China all the time. We continue to advance our technology and our contribution to markets, which will give us an opportunity to hire more people.”
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
A delegation from the automotive working group of the China Chamber of Commerce to the European Union (CCCEU) has urged EU officials to ensure fair market access for Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers.
During discussions with European policymakers on Tuesday and Wednesday, representatives from the CCCEU’s automotive working group voiced concern that external political pressure could exert a “spillover effect” on EU policy decisions, potentially shifting the bloc’s approach from “de-risking” to “decoupling” from China.
They expressed concerns that Chinese products might be labeled as “engaging in trade diversion,” thus having to face restrictions in the European market, and that escalating EU-U.S. trade tensions could affect the stability of the European market.
The CCCEU representatives noted that the European Commission’s decision to impose additional tariffs on Chinese-made EVs contradicts the EU’s climate ambitions by restricting access to affordable zero-emission vehicles.
“Chinese EV companies offer competitive, clean transportation solutions and should be granted fair and equitable market access in Europe,” the group said.
The group expressed hope that negotiations over EV price caps would lead to a mutually acceptable agreement, bringing greater certainty to bilateral and global trade.
In addition, the delegation raised concerns about increasing regulatory barriers facing Chinese investors, citing the EU’s foreign subsidies regulation and foreign direct investment screening framework.
They called for more transparency and impartiality in the development of future legislation, including the upcoming EU automotive industry action plan.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
This aerial drone photo taken on July 13, 2025 shows a view of Yangzhou Port in Yangzhou, east China’s Jiangsu Province. (Photo by Ren Fei/Xinhua)
Despite growing global uncertainties, the Chinese economy continues to chart a course of resilient, high-quality development, posting a robust 5.2 percent year-on-year expansion in the second quarter of 2025.
The world’s second-largest economy achieved 5.3 percent growth in the first half of the year, firmly positioning itself to meet its annual GDP target of around 5 percent. This steady performance underscores the effectiveness of China’s proactive macroeconomic policies, which have successfully maintained economic stability despite mounting external pressures. The outperformance of key economic indicators vividly illustrates the economy’s inherent strength and dynamic potential.
These growth figures serve as a powerful rebuttal to persistent critics of China’s economic model, while reaffirming the nation’s enduring role as a stabilizing force and growth engine for the global economy.
The foundation of China’s economic resilience lies in its thriving consumption sector, which contributed 52 percent to GDP growth in the first half of the year, according to official data. Strategic initiatives like large-scale equipment renewal and consumer goods trade-in programs have effectively stimulated domestic demand, creating sustainable growth momentum.
Equally impressive is the rapid development of new growth drivers. Across China’s diverse regions, development of new quality productive forces suited to the local conditions and the integration of technological with industrial innovation are accelerating the emergence of cutting-edge industries, technologies, and business models. This structural transformation, cultivated through years of quality-focused development, has significantly enhanced the economy’s sustainable development capacity.
China’s commitment to openness remains unwavering despite rising protectionism globally. The country continues to advance high-level opening-up and mutually beneficial international cooperation. This is evidenced by the establishment of 24,018 new foreign-invested enterprises, up 10.4 percent year-on-year, from January to May. It is also highlighted by ExxonMobil’s recent launch of its landmark chemical complex in southern China — the nation’s first wholly U.S.-owned major petrochemical project.
Substantial reforms are further strengthening the country’s economic framework. The implementation of groundbreaking legislation supporting private enterprises ensures fair market access and competition, while this year’s streamlined negative list has significantly reduced market barriers, unleashing new waves of economic vitality across all sectors.
With its pro-growth policies and structural reforms continuing to bear fruit, the Chinese economy — powered by consumption, innovation, reform and opening-up — is well-positioned to maintain its growth trajectory through the remainder of 2025.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China Daily | July 17, 2025
China, which is advancing on its unique path to modernization, has consistently acted as a stabilizing force in and major contributor to global growth, through initiatives such as green transformation and technological innovation, said senior international executives.
Beijing has demonstrated its commitment to sustainable and high-quality development, attracting global investment, said John McLean, chairman of the City of London Branch of the Institute of Directors in the United Kingdom.
With a commitment to high-quality development, China is accelerating green, digital and smart transformation, which, coupled with the country’s sophisticated industrial ecosystem, provides the best testing ground for the latest outcomes of technological revolution and industrial upgrading.
Such transformation has not only boosted domestic economic growth, but also strengthened China’s position as a key player in the global economy, McLean said in an exclusive interview with China Daily.
He said this reflects the consistent perseverance of China’s top leadership to deepen opening-up policies and foster a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for global investors.
During a meeting with more than 40 representatives of the international business community in Beijing in March, President Xi Jinping pledged to strengthen communication with foreign businesses, provide as much convenience as possible for them to trade and invest in China, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of foreign businesses in accordance with the law.
From “Made in China” to “new quality productive forces”, China has empowered industrial transformation and upgrading through innovation, and is set to realize higher-quality and more sustainable development, said foreign business leaders.
For years, China has been attracting global investors with its strong economic growth, adaptability and collaborative potential, McLean said while sharing his perspectives on China’s economic potential, the evolving global trade landscape, and the strengthening of ties between China and the international business community.
Drawing on over 26 years of experience in China, McLean expressed strong confidence in the nation’s economic management and resilience. He highlighted China’s remarkable achievements over the past two decades, including advancements in technology, clean energy and artificial intelligence, which have positioned it as a global leader in innovation.
McLean said China’s economic growth target of around 5 percent for this year is a reasonable and attainable goal that will bolster confidence and stability amid increasing global uncertainty.
“China’s growth has always been under scrutiny — whether it’s 10 percent, 8 percent or 5 percent. But its leadership in global markets has consistently demonstrated the ability to adapt and drive progress,” McLean said, noting that China’s GDP grew 5 percent year-on-year in 2024, ranking among the world’s fastest-growing major economies.
He said China’s recent opening-up policies, such as visa-free travel measures, are helping to reshape perceptions and attract foreign entrepreneurs to conduct business in the country.
To further encourage global exchanges, China has expanded the list of unilateral visa-free countries to 47 and transit visa-free countries to 55. McLean described such policies as “a significant step in the right direction”, emphasizing their role in fostering greater mobility and openness.
These efforts have yielded results. Data from the National Immigration Administration showed that China recorded 163 million passenger trips in the first quarter of 2025, up 15.3 percent year-on-year.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Commerce reported that actual use of foreign direct investment in the Chinese mainland climbed 13.2 percent year-on-year in March. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, 12,603 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, representing a year-on-year rise of 4.3 percent.
Bernd Einmeier, president of the German-Chinese Association for Economy, Education and Culture, said the stable growth momentum of China’s economy serves as an important global public good, helping to buffer uncertainty across international markets.
Foreign business operations and investments in China have driven economic growth and employment, boosted technological and managerial progress and facilitated reform and opening-up. In this process, foreign businesses have thrived and generally enjoyed handsome returns, and they also have achieved win-win results and forged profound friendships with the Chinese people, he added.
During an earlier business trip to China, Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, visited Apple supplier Goertek in Shandong province and praised its use of automated manufacturing and artificial intelligence technology on production lines.
“China is a central part of our critical supply chain, and we’ve been investing here for 30 years,” said Williams. “We will continue to invest in China in a big way.”
Maximilian Butek, executive director and board member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China-East China, said, “Foreign companies can invest here because they find a good business environment, and those investments are also long-term.”
“China’s continuous efforts in modernization and its openness to foreign investment have created a dynamic market that benefits both domestic and international stakeholders,” Butek said.
As China moves forward, its role as a stabilizing force in the global economy will grow stronger, fostering prosperity and deeper collaboration, he added.
Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
[embedded content]
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) today joined President Trump at the White House for the signing of his HALT Fentanyl Act, which gives law enforcement another tool by permanently scheduling fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. FRS have been temporarily scheduled since 2018, but Cassidy’s bill now gives law enforcement the certainty they need to stop fentanyl dealers.
“President Trump and I are committed to stopping fentanyl overdoses and overdose related deaths,” said Dr. Cassidy. “My HALT Fentanyl Act, which he signed today, gives law enforcement one more tool to attack this problem.”
Background
The U.S. Senate passed Cassidy’s bill in March. In February, Cassidy spoke on the U.S. Senate floor amid Senate Democrats’ attempt to undermine his HALT Fentanyl Act.
Drug overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl account for 68 percent of the total U.S. overdose deaths. In the last two fiscal years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) seized record amounts of fentanyl—nearly 50,000 pounds—enough to produce more than 2 billion lethal doses. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2023 there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths—74,702 of which were attributed to fentanyl. This was primarily fueled by synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. In 2022, there were over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), more than doubling the amount seized in 2021.
Source: United States Senator for Connecticut – Chris Murphy
[embedded content]
WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, took to the floor of the U.S. Senate to speak out against President Trump’s unprecedented partisan rescissions package, which would codify devastating cuts to foreign aid and counter-propaganda efforts, surrendering American global power to China and our adversaries. Murphy also argued that Republicans’ bad faith exploitation of Senate rules imperils the bipartisan budget process, eroding longstanding Congressional norms and making it likely that Democrats will do the same when in power.
Murphy highlighted that Trump and Senate Republicans’ actions are unprecedented: “Never before has either party done what Republicans are doing today – pass a partisan rescissions bill, double crossing the minority party and cancelling spending that just months before, both parties had shook hands on…That’s a double cross. That’s immoral. Suckering your partner into a deal, in which you each get something, and then using the back door to cancel the part of the deal you don’t like. That’s immoral. That’s bad faith. And that’s why no party has done this in 40 years.”
Laying out the stakes for longstanding Senate norms and the bipartisan budget process, Murphy continued: “It will become hard, maybe even impossible, to write a bipartisan budget ever again, because the minority party knows they can get double crossed. And believe me, if you do this now, Democrats will do it to you when we are back in charge.”
Explaining why American soft power matters, Murphy said: “You need a lot more than just planes and tanks and ships to protect your interests. You need a powerful military, but adults – in particular, adults who have any experience in national security – know that the octopus of global power has a lot of arms. Military might. But also information might. Economic might. Diplomatic might. Energy might. Humanitarian might. This revisions bill cancels billions of dollars in investments in non-military foreign policy tools. And it is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to destroy almost every tool that protects American interests other than our military…And this military myopia, it makes me remember my 8-year-old self, because it is so childish, so immature, so divorced from reality. Donald Trump’s national security strategy, fund the military and destroy every other way that we confront Russia, China, Iran, non-state actors, it could have been constructed by an 8-year-old. It’s that unsophisticated. And it really amounts to surrender.
Noting how China is fast expanding their global power to capitalize on Trump’s surrender of American leadership, Murphy said: “China is now the preferred economic development partner for many nations. China is now the dominant force in standard-setting boards for global commerce. This is a choice the Trump administration is making, to make China – and to a certain extent Russia, in certain forms – the dominant power when it comes to economic statecraft, information statecraft, energy statecraft.”
Murphy continued: “Trump terminated tens of millions in projects to help upgrade Africa’s power grid. China’s not dumb. They know Africa’s economy is going to boom in the next fifty years. They want Chinese companies, not American companies to have relationships there. They know that many of the critical minerals that are going to be critical to AI and the future of defense come from Africa. They want better relations in Africa to corner those markets. So, what did they do? Trump pulled back $80 million. China stepped in and announced $50 billion in financing for economic development and infrastructure in Africa. Now, a lot of that is bluster and some of the financing is predatory. But it’s something. At a moment when America is just withdrawing from Africa.”
Murphy concluded: “Trump’s national security strategy—fund the military and destroy every other way that we confront Russia and China and non-state actors—could have been constructed by an 8-year-old. It’s that unsophisticated… It’s all surrender. China is throwing a blowout party as we disappear our non-military power from the world.”
A full transcript of his remarks is available below.
MURPHY: “Thank you, Mr. President.
“Mr. President, eight times since 1974, when Congress created the rescissions process, one party has controlled the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives. Eight times. It’s actually four times Democratic control and four times Republican control. Eight times, one party had total control over the elements of the federal government necessary to pass legislation. And never before has either party done what Republicans are doing today: pass a partisan rescissions bill, double-crossing the minority party and canceling spending that just months before both parties shook hands on.
“Why? Why has this never happened before? Well, because this is just an old-fashioned double-cross. It’s a con job. Republicans and Democrats agreed on spending levels. First, in a bipartisan appropriations bill passed in March of 2023, and then again, in multiple bipartisan continuing resolutions.
“When a party controls the White House and both houses of Congress, it always has the power to use the rescissions process to pull a fast one. To agree with the minority party on a budget – because the rules say you need 60 votes to pass a budget – to get majority party priorities funded in exchange for funding minority party priorities, and then to use the rescissions process to just double-cross the minority, by using that process – which only requires 50 votes – to just then cancel the minority party’s priorities.
“That’s immoral. It’s unethical. Suckering your partner into a deal, in which you get something and they get something, and then using the back door to cancel the part of the deal that you don’t like. That’s bad faith. It’s why no party has it since 1972. The power has always existed: eight different times, either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party could have cut a bipartisan spending deal and then then used the rescissions power to just cancel the parts of the deal they don’t like. But it’s never happened. Because it’s bad faith, because it destroys the ability of the Senate to function in a bipartisan way.
“It’s kind of like if you traded baseball cards as a kid and you made a trade with your best friend. And then in the middle of the night, you snuck into his house and you took your cards back. So that you had his cards, and now you had your cards as well. Nobody would think that’s right, but that’s exactly what’s happening here.
“It will become hard, maybe even impossible – Senator Tillis laid this out very well – to write a bipartisan budget ever again, because the minority party now knows that they can get double-crossed. And believe me, if Republicans do this now, Democrats are going to do it when they are in charge. This will become the norm. Sit down, do a bipartisan deal, wink wink, and then a couple months later, just cancel the agreement through a partisan rescissions process.
“And of course, this is now the third time in seven short months that the new Republican majority has made substantial, meaningful changes to Senate rules and norms.
“Senate Republicans created a brand-new rule that massively expands their ability to invalidate actions of the previous Democratic administration.
“Just a couple weeks ago, Republicans walked away from decades of precedent on how Senate bills are scored, and they used new, magic math to create a score that hid the actual cost of their budget bill.
“And now, this double cross.
“But, Mr. President, this isn’t just about breaking the Senate. That’s actually probably the least serious consequence of what is happening here.
“The most serious consequence is what is happening to American power around the world as Donald Trump and Republicans, in part through this rescissions bill, destroy every single non-military tool that we use around the world to protect our interests.
“When I was eight or nine years old, I collected G.I. Joe figures, and one Christmas I remember being so excited because Santa Claus brought me the huge G.I. Joe aircraft carrier. It was awesome. I was obsessed with the military like a lot of boys that age. The planes, the tanks, the ships.
“That’s what I thought American power was – the U.S. military, period, stop.
“And of course, that’s an eight-year-old’s view of the world. The world, as it turns out, is a lot more complicated. You need a lot more than just planes and tanks and ships to protect your interests. You need a powerful military, but adults – in particular, adults who have any experience in national security – know that the octopus of global power has a lot of arms. Military might. But also information might. Economic might. Diplomatic might. Energy might. Humanitarian might.
“This revisions bill cancels billions of dollars in investments in non-military foreign policy tools. And it is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to destroy almost every tool that protects American interests other than our military. Over the last 10 years, the defense budget has grown from about $502 billion to $825 billion. That’s an extraordinary ten-year increase of about $323 billion. Over that same period of time, the State Department budget has grown from $54 billion to $56 billion. – a $2 billion increase. Now if you layer in emergency funds, that increase is more like $30 billion. But you’re still talking about an increase for the military over the past ten years that is ten times the size of the increase for nonmilitary tools.
“And this military myopia, it makes me remember my 8-year-old self, because it is so childish, so immature, so divorced from reality. Donald Trump’s national security strategy, fund the military and destroy every other way that we confront Russia, China, Iran, non-state actors, it could have been constructed by an 8-year-old. It’s that unsophisticated.
“And it really amounts to surrender.
“Because as we stop projecting nonmilitary power around the world, China and Russia, but especially China, they just celebrate and step into the void.
“Secretary Rubio announced on March 10 that 83% of USAID programs will be terminated.
“Meanwhile, China just announced an 8.4% increase in its own diplomatic budget for 2025, committing 500 million additional dollars to the World Health Organization over the next five years – an organization that the United States no longer belongs to. As a result of our cuts standing next to China’s investments in diplomatic power, China will surpass the United States – this year for the first time – as the largest bilateral assistance partner for 40 countries. China is the power at the World Health organization. They call the shots about the standards of global health and pandemic relief.
“China is now the preferred economic development partner for many nations. China is now the dominant force in standard-setting boards for global commerce. This is a choice the Trump administration is making, to make China – and to a certain extent Russia, in certain forms – the dominant power when it comes to economic statecraft, information statecraft, energy statecraft.
“Let me give you a specific example. Today, information is power. If you control information flows, man, you control politics, you control economics, you control culture.
“China spends about $7 billion a year to promote their communist narrative to undermine U.S. leadership around the world and foster a China-friendly media environment globally. Russia, it’s really hard to know how much Russia spends because they’re not publicly reporting much of it. But they certainly spend at least $1.5 billion, but probably double that. And in many countries, Russia and China control the information space. Russian-backed candidates win elections in countries on their periphery simply because of Russian information programs. Asian countries box the United States and U.S. companies out of economic competition because of Chinese information programs.
“And so faced with China and Russia spending somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 billion, when the United States, today, is spending only a fraction of that amount of money, it would stand to reason this would be a moment where we should come together, Republicans and Democrats, and dramatically increase our information warfare investments.
“But of course, we are doing exactly the opposite. Trump is in the middle of a purposeful, relentless campaign to destroy – to destroy America’s global information power.
“The Trump administration just shut down the Global Engagement Center – that is the capacity at the State Department to try to counter Russian and Chinese propaganda around the world – gone, just gone. Global Engagement Center, bipartisan commitment set up years ago by myself and Rob Portman, supported by Marco Rubio when he was a senator, now just doesn’t exist anymore. The administration is dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media – that’s the umbrella arm that oversees our information programs around the world – they laid off 92% of its staff. Voice of America, the Middle East Broadcasting Network, Radio Free Europe, Radio Free Asia, they are on track to disappear. The arm of the VOA that combats Iranian anti-American information – gone. 54 different radio frequencies operated by Radio Free Asia to counter Chinese anti-American propaganda – gone.
At the same time, China is opening up 80 new radio frequencies in multiple languages, including in those regions where America is disappearing. We are handed the world to China and Russia by deciding to view American power only through a military lens. And this rescissions bill makes it worse by enacting billions of dollars of cuts, to diplomacy, to economic development programs, likely to information programs because we actually can’t see the impact of all of these cuts.
“It’s all surrender. China is throwing a blowout party as we disappear our nonmilitary power from the world.
“Trump terminated tens of millions of dollars in projects to upgrade Africa’s power grid. What did China do? They announced $50 billion of new financing for Africa. Africa, a place where the critical minerals exist to power A.I. and future defense systems. Africa, the part of the world whose economy’s going to explode with opportunity – now opportunity that will go to Chinese companies, not American companies, as we withdraw our relationships with that continent. As China steps into the breach.
“This revisions bill, standing next to Trump’s destruction of all of our non-military foreign policy tools, it’s surrender to our enemies.
“This bill is a double-cross. It is. It’s a double-cross. It’s going to harm our ability to ever be able to do a bipartisan budget process in the future. But even worse, this bill is surrender to our adversaries who are chomping at the bit to fill the void that we are creating by adopting the national security strategy of an 8-year-old boy.”
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
SHANGHAI, July 17 (Xinhua) — The enduring mystery of how consciousness originates in the brain appears to have recently gained clarity, with a groundbreaking “road map” thanks to the efforts of an ambitious international “big science” initiative led by Chinese scientists.
Last week, the prestigious international journal Cell and its sister publications published a series of 10 papers revealing breakthrough results in brain mapping, detailing the complex neural connections in species ranging from reptiles and birds to rodents, great apes, and humans.
A collaborative effort by more than 300 scientists from China, France, Sweden and the UK has resulted in a major expansion of the brain atlas, providing key insights into the neural networks that control perception, movement, learning, memory and decision making.
The achievements come at a time when China is actively promoting global scientific cooperation for the benefit of all humanity. From fundamental physics and deep space exploration to marine habitability and life sciences, the country is investing in and leading a number of cutting-edge open science projects where international partnerships are a key criterion.
A comprehensive national science center has been established in the Beijing suburb of Huairou, housing 37 advanced research facilities, 16 of which are already open to scientists from around the world. An additional 430,000 hours of machine time have been allocated for their use in 2024 alone.
The International Meridian Circle Program, a flagship initiative led by China’s scientific community to enhance global space-based weather monitoring capabilities, is one of the international projects being implemented in Huairou Science City.
In June, at the Second Belt and Road Science and Technology Exchange Conference in Chengdu, southwest China’s Sichuan Province, China reaffirmed its support for global projects such as Deep-time Digital Earth (DDE) and Ocean Negative Carbon Emission (ONCE) launched by Chinese scientists.
The DDE program has been hailed by the scientific journal Science as the “Google of geology,” and is set to unravel significant scientific mysteries, including the global distribution of metal ore deposits.
ONCE plans to develop the world’s first carbon neutrality standard for the ocean sector. It was unanimously adopted by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) last November with global support, signaling China’s growing role in the global climate agenda.
The Global Hadal Trench Exploration Program (GHTEP), proposed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was endorsed by the UN this year, opening a new chapter of global cooperation in trench scientific research.
The program involves Chinese scientists and their colleagues from more than 10 countries jointly exploring the deepest unexplored ocean trenches on Earth. To date, 145 scientists from around the world have made 214 dives to the deepest points of nine sea trenches on the planet, including the Mariana Trench and the Kermadec Trench. Exploring the abyss is considered important for answering questions about the origins of life, its fate, and the future of humanity.
“Hadal zone research is only available to a few countries, while the 37 known marine trenches and depressions are scattered around the globe, making closer international cooperation necessary,” said ANC research fellow Du Mengran.
China has also launched the π-HuB project, which brings together scientific teams from 18 countries to map the vast diversity of human proteins and decipher the complex mechanisms underlying bodily functions. It is the next big thing in life sciences after mapping the human genome.
Robert Moritz, a professor at the US Institute for Systems Biology, said the project has the potential to transform the entire field of proteomics.
China also engages with the global scientific community through projects such as the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), the Large High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory (LHAASO), a near-Earth space station, and a series of lunar and deep-space exploration missions.
The China National Space Administration (CNSA) has allocated 200 kg of payload for the Chang’e-8 lunar mission as part of international cooperation. The Chang’e-7 lunar probe will carry payloads from Egypt, Bahrain, Italy, Russia, Switzerland, Thailand and the International Lunar Observatories Association (ILOA) as part of its mission.
Last week, the International Deep Space Exploration Association (IDSEA), an international scientific organization dedicated to deep space exploration, was officially opened in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, East China.
Looking ahead, a Chinese brain mapping team is preparing to launch the International Primate Mesoscale Brain Atlas Consortium in collaboration with international partners. After five to six years of preparatory work by Chinese scientists, the collaboration with the international team will begin in September this year. The goal of this initiative is to create a more complete map of the human brain.
“We call for sustained global scientific collaboration to jointly advance towards the highly ambitious goal of deciphering mesoscale atlases of primate brains, including the human brain,” said Pu Muming, scientific director of the CAS Shanghai Advanced Brain and Intelligence Research Center.
“Scientists from more than 20 countries and nearly a hundred researchers have already expressed their intention to join the consortium and work together,” Pu Mumin added. -0-
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
VIDEO: Sen. Reed speaks out on Senate floor in opposition to Trump’s rescissions package that would eliminate life-saving global health programs, peacekeeping efforts, and economic development abroad, and undercut community-focused TV and radio stations
WASHINGTON, DC – Ahead of a July 18 deadline, Senate Republicans are rushing to pass a rescissions package to claw back roughly $9 billion in humanitarian aid and funding for public broadcasting. Senate Republicans advanced the proposal last night on a 50-50 vote with three Senate Republicans joining all Democrats and Independents opposing the measure, but with Vice President Vance breaking the tie.
U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is urging lawmakers on both sides of the aisle to “oppose this partisan rescission bill because it represents a complete surrender of Congress’s power of the purse. It will hurt America’s standing in the world and it will cost lives,” Reed said today on the Senate floor. “We are considering this package at a time when the Trump Administration has frozen congressionally enacted funds, illegally impounded funds, and threatened to cancel unspent funds at the end of fiscal year. Now, the Administration is back asking Congress to ratify even more cuts.”
Reed is urging Senators to vote for their constituents best interests and against the Trump Administration’s rescission package, which includes cuts to public television and radio funds that Congress previously authorized and appropriated.
The Trump Administration’s attempt to defund public media investment would revoke about $1.1 billion in previously-appropriated funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), including over $1 million annually for Rhode Island TV and radio stations.
Congress provided CPB approximately $535 million in in federal support for each of the next two fiscal years to disburse across nearly 1,500 local radio and TV stations nationwide, as well as programmers and technology infrastructure providers. Cutting this funding in the upcoming two fiscal years could force some local stations off the air, while other stations may have fewer shows to broadcast and fewer resources for local news reporting and educational programming.
Speaking on the Senate floor today, Reed stated: “This bill will eliminate close to $1.1 billion in funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting. This would not simply affect funding for National Public Radio and national PBS, it would result in funding cuts for local stations like Rhode Island PBS and the Public’s Radio, which lose about 10 percent of its funding if this bill passes. The same story will play out in every state with independent local news and civic discourse taking the hit just because of the President’s command to the majority party.”
Reed also noted that public radio is decentralized. Stations in Kansas are covering local issues, with local personalities, differently than public broadcasters in Rhode Island or other states.
Since 2013, public TV stations have helped the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system deliver emergency alerts to people’s cell phones via the stations’ own transmitters when cell companies’ connections fail.
In 2024, over 11,000 alerts were issued by federal, state, and local authorities via the PBS WARN system. Similarly, the Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS), which is managed by NPR, helps send presidential emergency alerts to local public radio stations nationwide—allowing critical communications to reach people, even when the internet or cellular connections fail.
Reed asked: “In the wake of deadly flooding in Texas and elsewhere do my colleagues really want to support a package that cuts funding for emergency alerts?”
The bill would also cut $7.9 billion from the kind of global assistance programs that are crucial to U.S. national security and our efforts to compete with China economically and diplomatically.
These programs are also the embodiment of American idealism and morality. As Catholic Relief Services wrote: “If passed, these rescissions drastically decrease U.S. investment in international assistance programs that support human dignity, protect life and build good will with countries around the world. Not only that, these cuts and other measures to eliminate international assistance programs also represent a retreat of the U.S. as a global leader in addressing poverty around the world. This would undermine decades of work in serving the global community and fostering a peaceful and prosperous world.”
The cuts on the table include $500 million from global health programs, which could affect efforts that have successfully slowed the spread of infectious diseases, along with cuts to lifesaving humanitarian assistance.
One proven program that could see drastic cuts under this rescissions package is the disbursement of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). RUTF is a specialty product used to treat severe malnutrition in children, and could be impacted by the proposed cuts to UNICEF included in Trump’s package.
“Unfortunately, we have already seen this Administration’s disregard for the lifesaving treatment provided by RUTF. Edesia Nutrition, a key manufacturer of RUTF based in Rhode Island, has been forced to curtail production and delay shipments of lifesaving therapeutic food, which has sat in warehouses, unable to get to the children who need it because of the Trump Administration’s needless slow-walking. If OMB really cared about waste, it wouldn’t have this food aid and the millions of tons of wheat and other crops sitting and rotting rather than distributing it,” said Senator Reed, noting these are American-made products made by American workers, using domestically produced food, to prevent millions of at-risk, malnourished children from starving to death.
“These cuts are shortsighted, there is no other way to put it. To paraphrase former Secretary of Defense Mattis, ‘if we don’t fund these soft power and diplomatic programs, then we need to buy more ammunition,’” concluded Reed.
Source: United States Senator for Rhode Island Jack Reed
WASHINGTON, DC—Today, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS), the Ranking Member and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced that they have filed S. 2296, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA).
Senator Reed issued the following statement after filing the bill:
“This year’s National Defense Authorization Act represents a strong, bipartisan commitment to ensuring our military remains focused on its core mission: defending the United States against the growing threats we face around the world. From strategic competition with China and Russia to emerging dangers in cyberspace and space, this bill equips our forces to meet today’s challenges with strength and resolve.
“This legislation also restores important guardrails for the Department of Defense and reaffirms the military’s independence and professionalism. It ensures resources are directed toward real national security priorities, not partisan agendas. I’m proud to have worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get this done, and to ensure that America’s military remains strong, focused, and worthy of the trust the American people place in it.”
The FY26 NDAA authorizes $879 billion for the Department of Defense (DOD) and $35 billion for national security programs within the Department of Energy (DOE).
Highlights include:
Authorizes procurement of five Columbia-class submarines and $2.02 billion for aVirginia-class submarine, an increase of $1.2 billion over the budget request.
Provides a 3.8 percent pay raise for military servicemembers.
Expands efforts to mitigate and treat traumatic brain injuries and blast overpressure-related injuries.
Authorizes full funding for the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI) and provides support to advance the U.S. partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines, and directs an initiative to strengthen security cooperation across the respective defense industrial bases of U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
Extends the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) through 2028 and increases USAI funding to $500 million in FY 2026.
Reaffirms that it is the policy of the United States to assist Ukraine in maintaining a credible defense and deterrence capability, and requires DOD to continue to provide intelligence support, including information, intelligence, and imagery collection to Ukraine.
Limits the use of funds to reduce or consolidate U.S. force presence in Syria unless the Secretary of Defense certifies that Syrian partners forces can still effectively counter the threat from ISIS.
Directs DOD to use all available authorities to provide assistance, including training, equipment, logistics support, and supplies, to support and enhance the military forces of Jordan and Lebanon and provide a plan for how to implement that assistance.
Requires reports and provides greater resources for developing UAS technologies and responding to drone incursions.
Expands DOD’s artificial intelligence (AI) resources and establishes new DOD authorities to coordinate AI initiatives among U.S. allies and partners.
Supports reproductive healthcare by establishing a comprehensive in-vitro fertilization (IVF) healthcare benefit for active-duty servicemembers and their families.
Oversight of the Trump Administration:
Prohibits any reduction in U.S. military force posture in Europe or the Korean Peninsula below 76,000 and 28,500 personnel, respectively, and prohibits any change in the U.S. military leadership of NATO or the Combined Forces Command – Korea without certain conditions. Further directs the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and the Commanders of U.S. European Command, Indo-Pacific Command, and U.S. Forces Korea to conduct independent risk assessments of any such changes.
Fences 25 percent of the travel budget for the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) until the Secretary provides a bilaterally agreed 5-year Taiwan Security Assistance Roadmap and a number of other overdue reports, including a report on DOD efforts to identify, disseminate, and implement lessons learned from the war in Ukraine.
Requires DOD to report its incurred costs from supporting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in immigration enforcement activities; the number of migrants held at DOD installations and the associated costs; approved Requests for Assistance from DHS to support immigration enforcement operations; and the costs of using military aircraft and facilities to support DHS immigration enforcement operations.
Reinstates mandatory training for all military members on rules of engagement, domestic military operations, the code of conduct, and government ethics to protect against escalation during domestic operations.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to implement the renaming recommendations for military bases in Virginia that were adopted by the Naming Commission, and prohibits the Secretary of Defense from changing those names.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to submit a minimum of 5 days notice to Congress if a military Judge Advocate General (JAG) is being removed, and a statement of the reason for the removal.
Requires the President to notify Congress of the removal of a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the reason for the removal not later than 5 days after the removal.
Requires the Secretary of Defense to notify Congress when military officers are removed from selection board reports and lists for reasons other than misconduct.
Source: United States Senator for Hawaii Brian Schatz
WASHINGTON – As the U.S. Senate considers a rescissions package to codify $9 billion dollars in cuts to foreign assistance and public broadcasting, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) spoke out against the Trump administration’s illegal dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the catastrophic consequences the elimination of aid has had on vulnerable people around the world. Schatz, who is the Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations which oversees foreign assistance, noted that over 360,000 people had already died as a result of not having food and medication in the wake of the funding cuts. Schatz also noted that the none of the programs that Republicans have objected to are currently active, and that the funding being rescinded is valid through the end of the next fiscal year and can be reprogrammed by the Trump administration to reflect its priorities.
“Presidents can save lives. They can also cost lives. And while almost every president has chosen to do the former, Donald Trump, aided by a band of loyalists and ideologues, has chosen instead to inflict death and disease and starvation on the world’s most vulnerable,” said Senator Schatz. “We used to be the indispensable nation that people around the world counted on for help. People would see the American flag, whether on the side of a truck or a sticker on a food parcel, and think, ‘The good guys are here. Help is coming,’ But not anymore. We are causing death now. We are spreading disease now. We are deepening starvation now.”
Senator Schatz continued, “We are not going to prevent every death – we know that. We’re not going to be able to feed every child – we understand that. We cannot feasibly help every community that needs help – we accept that. But this is something different altogether. This is knowingly and willingly and needlessly inflicting horrific suffering on millions and millions of the most vulnerable people live anywhere on the planet. And for what? To save money? The idea that any of this is about finding savings, while at the same time, Republicans are exploding the national debt by $4 trillion to cut taxes for billionaires just doesn’t pass the smell test. And to top it all off, the administration is about to incinerate – is about to light on fire – 500 metric tons of food aid because they let it expire while sitting in a warehouse for months.”
“There were a bunch of controversial programs that precipitated this effort to cut USAID. All of those programs were discontinued. This is a budget that was enacted in March. This is Trump’s budget. This is Trump’s State Department. This is economic support funds. This is global public health. This is humanitarian assistance. This is helping our friends in Jordan and elsewhere to maintain the basic stability so that there is not a conflagration in a region. That is what’s being rescinded from this package,” Senator Schatz added.
A transcript of Senator Schatz’s remarks is below. Video is available here.
It all started with the stroke of a pen. Within hours of taking office in January, the president signed what can only be called a death sentence to millions of people all over the world. Executive Order 14 169 simply read, “It is the policy of the United States that no further United States foreign assistance shall be disbursed in a manner that is not fully aligned with the foreign policy of the president of the United States.” The order directed a 90 day pause in payments while foreign assistance was reviewed. But it became clear that this was not a process for reviewing or reforming programs. It was the beginning of the end, a wholesale destruction of the enterprise from top to bottom, in defiance of the law and of logic.
Presidents can save lives. They can also cost lives. And while almost every president has chosen to do the former, Donald Trump, aided by a band of loyalists and ideologues, has chosen instead to inflict death and disease and starvation on the world’s most vulnerable. We used to be the indispensable nation that people around the world counted on for help. People would see the American flag, whether on the side of a truck or a sticker on a food parcel, and think, the good guys are here. Help is coming.
But not anymore. We are causing death now. We are spreading disease now. We are deepening starvation now. And it’s not because it’s saving us huge sums of money, or because saving lives somehow stopped being in our national interest. All of this suffering and misery is because a few people were hellbent on ransacking the government and tearing down whatever it is that they didn’t like or they didn’t understand, to hell with the consequences. To them, the lives lost or just the cost of doing business. Move fast and break things is the ethos of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs. But when you move fast and you break things in the United States Agency for International Development, tens of thousands of people perish.
So let’s start with how we got here. Following Trump’s executive order, Secretary Rubio and Peter Marocco, the new director of the State Department’s Office of Foreign Assistance, issued a stop work order on all 6,200 grants and contracts worldwide. They also ordered an immediate pause on new foreign assistance spending. That meant that partners who had already completed work were not getting paid. Contracts that had already been signed couldn’t be executed. Days later, Marocco, along with a bunch of DOGE staffers, including a 19-year-old and a 23-year-old, physically barged into U.S. aid and forced dozens of senior career officials to be put on leave over so-called insubordination. These people were just doing their jobs. His issue seemingly was with payments that had been approved before the executive order and were then making their way through the USAID payment system. Nevertheless, the career civil servants were escorted out of the building and locked out of their emails.
Anyone who dared to push back or speak up was sidelined, including the acting administrator, who was pushed out to make way for Marocco to become deputy administrator. As he and his team looked for not just savings or efficiencies, but what they called “viral abuse” that would be easy to mock out of context, Fox Mews stepped into the breach to help for days on end. Their chyrons blared: “Viper’s Nest: USAID Accused of Corruption Long Before Trump Administration Took Aim.” “More Ridiculous USAID Spending Revealed.” “Elon Purged DC’s Slush Fund.”
As the smear campaign kicked into overdrive. DOGE locked out all of the agency’s employees, including those working in conflict zones, from their phones and emails. And in early February, Musk tweeted, “USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die.” Days later, after carrying out the destruction, he wrote, “We spent the weekend feeding USAID into the woodchipper.”
And just like that, one of the United States’ primary instruments of soft power over the last 60 years, which has done everything from curing diseases to thwarting terrorism, was decapitated overnight. USAID’s success in moral, political, economic, and security terms was made possible by scores of public servants who felt a responsibility to alleviate suffering, even if that meant putting themselves in harm’s way. But in the end, it was torn down by a bunch of crazed ideologues who saw foreign assistance as an easy target to test drive their project of crippling the government.
Perhaps abolishing the health department or the VA in the first few weeks was a bridge too far. But here was money going to help people in, as Madeleine Albright used to say, faraway places with hard to pronounce names. And no matter how much good it was doing for the people whose lives were saved and communities were built, but also for our national security – none of that mattered when all you had to do was make up some lies to justify the vandalism.
It’s been only a few months and already the loss of USAID and its critical work around the world has been catastrophic. More than 360,000 people have died as a result of the cuts. 360,000 deaths. And so I will be damned if I let a pundit, or Democratic strategist, or Republican strategist tell me that the American people signed up for allowing 360,000 people to die. On purpose. For what? Deficit reduction? And to Patty Murray’s point, two weeks ago, they just blew up the deficit by trillions of dollars. The amount of money that it takes to save a starving child, or to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS from mother to child, is minuscule. And we do this because we’re the good guys. And we do this because it’s cheap. And we do this because when we need something from a friend in a foreign land, they think of us well, because we’re always on the scene to be helpful.
These are not hypothetical or distant outcomes. We are no longer arguing about what might happen in the future. We are talking about what is happening across the planet right now. People are dying right now, not in spite of us, but because of us. We are causing death. We have gone from being the good guys – flaws, mistakes and all – to being a conduit for death and sickness and hunger.
A ten-year-old boy named Peter in South Sudan contracted HIV from his mother at birth. His parents died while he was young, but medication through PEPFAR kept him alive. That was until February, when, without access to medication, Peter fell severely sick and later died. The health outreach worker who had cared for him said simply, “If USAID would be here, Peter would not have died.”
A pregnant woman in a Liberian village hemorrhaged and began to bleed heavily while in labor. But without gas, because of funding cuts, USAID ambulances stood idle, unable to help. And despite her neighbors’ best efforts to carry her ten miles on foot through the jungle to the nearest hospital, she died mid-journey, along with her unborn son.
Dorcas, a ten-year-old in Zambia, had gotten so used to her routine of taking HIV medication every night with her mom that she was confused when it ran out a few months ago. Her mom recounted: “In the past week, she’ll open up the tin and find that it’s empty. So she’ll run down to the clinic and go check if she can collect her medication, and she’ll come back and say, oh, you’re right, the clinic is closed. They’re not there anymore.”
In Sudan, which has been ravaged by war and gripped by famine, a mother watched two of her children under the age of three wither from malnutrition and die after a soup kitchen that had been supported by USAID closed overnight. Days before he died, the older of the two children had asked for porridge. “I told him, we don’t have any wheat to make that,” his mother recalled, adding that the soup kitchen’s daily meal – which the family was shared – was a godsend.
A mother in Nigeria worried about how she would keep her infant alive, having just lost the other twin to malnutrition in the wake of funding cuts. A peanut paste supplement that had been paid for by American foreign assistance had been used to treat her newborns for malnutrition. She wondered about how she’d feed her child. And she said, “I don’t want to bury another child.”
There are thousands and thousands of gut-wrenching stories just like these – from every corner of the planet; with newborns and children and families and communities. And this is only what’s happened in the last few months. Just imagine what’s going to happen if we codify these cuts.
We are not going to prevent every death – we know that. We’re not going to be able to feed every child – we understand that. We cannot feasibly help every community that needs help – we accept that. But this is something different altogether. This is knowingly and willingly and needlessly inflicting horrific suffering on millions and millions of the most vulnerable people live anywhere on the planet. And for what? To save money? The idea that any of this is about finding savings, while at the same time, Republicans are exploding the national debt by $4 trillion to cut taxes for billionaires just doesn’t pass the smell test. And to top it all off, the administration is about to incinerate – is about to light on fire – 500 metric tons of food aid because they let it expire while sitting in a warehouse for months.
They are lighting food on fire. Food grown in the United States, manufactured in the United States, to be sent out to the most vulnerable people on the planet with a sticker with the United States emblem on it. And Making America Great Again, apparently, is doing all of that and then letting it rot in a warehouse and then incinerating it. What the hell are we doing here? You want to have a conversation about debt and deficits? You want to have a conversation about aligning our foreign policy better? You want to have a conversation about whether or not the State Department – not the USAID agency – should have been funding operas and cultural enterprises in foreign countries. Fine. We can have that conversation. But I dare you to justify lighting food on fire.
It wasn’t so long ago that a Republican senator stood on this very floor, talking about those in his party who claimed that cutting foreign aid was an easy way to save money. “A lot of times people will say, well, ‘Cut foreign aid.’ But foreign aid is less than 1% of our budget. Foreign aid can make a difference when properly used. And if you ever have a chance to travel to the African continent, you will meet people who are alive today because the American taxpayer funded antiviral HIV medications that kept them alive. It is not easy to radicalize people who are alive because of the American taxpayer.” That was Secretary Rubio as Senator Rubio.
Why is this happening at all? I worry that there is a very specific and rather dark view about what the United States is capable of. It’s a view of our military. It’s a view of our economic power. It’s a view of our cultural power. And it’s a view of our moral authority. Which is the best path forward, as we decline, is to lock it down, is to not engage with the world, is to not project power militarily, culturally, economically, morally.
We are going from the indispensable nation. And by the way, this is a real thing. If you ever do foreign policy trips, people hang on the words of United States senators who sit on the Foreign Relations Committee. First among equals. People want to know, what’s the United States doing? What’s the United States doing? It doesn’t matter what the issue is. It could be it could be fighting malnutrition. It could be economics and trade. It could be military strategy. Everyone wants to know: what’s the United States doing? You know what has changed in the last six months? They’re moving on from us. They’re not waiting to hear what the United States is doing. They’ve seen what the United States is doing. In Trump 1.0, we could basically be reassuring and say, ‘We’ll be back, don’t worry. We’re going through a rocky time.’
Now, China is in the breech. China has stepped up. It’s not just that America’s retreat is bad for us. It is really good for China. It is great for Russia. It’s great if you’re Hungary. The Kremlin was nearly instantaneous with its praise calling the dismantling of the foreign aid enterprise a smart move. Autocrats in Hungary and El Salvador also celebrated USAID’s demise. Now there’s a basic principle in political campaigns, which is if you are doing something that your opponent loves, you may want to reconsider whether it’s a good strategy. The moment we did this, all the bad guys were like, ‘Very smart. Good job. We’re very happy for you. Excellent.’ China has seized this opportunity with a little more specificity because they have the opportunity to step into this role. They are working on child nutrition and landmine clearing in Cambodia. Health and education in Nepal. Disaster response in Myanmar. Climate resilience in Mongolia. And it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to understand what this will look like in a few years’ time. China will become the partner of choice for countries, big and small, all around the world. It will have increased its funding to global bodies like the World Health Organization, enabling it to win leadership posts and rewrite the rules in its favor. And we will have facilitated that process.
So that’s the background. Now let’s talk about the specifics of what’s in this package. And this point I want to make really clear. And I made this point in the Appropriations Committee. There were a bunch of controversial programs that precipitated this effort to cut USAID. Two points to be made. One, the total dollar amount of all the controversial programs was like in the $100-200 million range. That’s number one.
Number two is all of those programs were discontinued. This is a budget that was enacted in March. This is Trump’s budget. This is Trump’s State Department. This is Trump’s USAID. And so there is not a single thing that was on that Fox chyron that Marco Rubio is continuing to do. So this rescissions package doesn’t have any of that stuff. And by the way, some of my Republican colleagues who understandably weren’t super engrossed in the details, I had to send them a line-by-line of what these rescissions do. And they’re sitting there going, ‘Where’s the opera in Ecuador? Where’s the cultural exchange program or the parade in South Africa? Where’s all the goofy sounding stuff?’
And the answer is a lot of that stuff was made up in the first place. But even if you stipulate to the idea that there was inappropriate spending, it’s literally not in this package. What’s in this package is stuff that 90 out of 100 of us have asked for. And what do I mean by that? I mean, as the ranking member of the State and Foreign Ops Subcommittee – basically as a chair or ranking member of any of the subcommittees – you get a bunch of letters from your colleagues saying: ‘This program is important to me. Could you please take care of it in the coming appropriation cycle?’ And these letters are private and I will protect the confidentiality of these interactions. But suffice it to say, a lot of the people voting for the rescissions are also privately asking for me to fund the thing that they are defunding. So this is all about the momentum that came from DOGE and Trump and some tweets and some animus – real animus – to the foreign aid enterprise.
So let’s go through what’s in it. $4.15 billion for economic support and development assistance. Our economic and development assistance is not charity. It is for countering the influence of the People’s Republic of China or promoting regional stability. This work is in our economic and security interests. If this administration disagrees with some of the projects pursued by the previous administration, the good news is they have pretty broad authority to reprogram the money. Like if we’re doing a program, I don’t want to name a country because it’ll have foreign policy implications. If we’re doing a program in a country and this administration says, you know, that’s not as important. They don’t have to rescind the money. They can reprogram it to China or Russia or Ukraine or whatever it is. They have that flexibility. What they are saying is they want less money to counter foreign influence.
$563 million for treaty dues. Now we’re members of organizations with whom we disagree. That’s kind of the deal, right? Because if we want to be in an international forum, even arguing for our interests, even arguing against other countries, or being frustrated with the body with which we’re interacting, we have two choices. We can either participate. Or if we don’t pay our dues, we relegate ourselves to something called observer status, which basically means we’re on the outside looking in. In order to get in the room, you got to pay your dues to the relevant organization. And that is what we’re doing here. We’re rescinding all the funds for all of the payments to all these international organizations.
Why? Not because it’s in our foreign policy interests. It’s actually not, but because a bunch of ideologues don’t actually understand how foreign policy works. And that’s the thing here. You can have a different view under whatever it is to have an America First foreign policy. But this isn’t that. This is just vandalism, right? I’m not having a disagreement with Jim Risch about how hawkish to be or how much to prioritize global health versus something else. We’re just literally cutting off our nose to spite our face, because what they want is vandalism to the enterprise. And the tools of foreign policy are being shredded. So this isn’t about policy unless you think the policy is: I wish my State Department were weaker. I wish the tools in our toolkit were more limited. I wish our ability to prevent war and keep nations stable were less well funded. I wish that the only tool in our toolkit was military might.
And it is not a small thing that many former Secretaries of Defense have said something along the lines of if you defund foreign aid, I’m going to need more ammunition because this is the cheapest way to prevent war.
$500 million from global health programs. Now, the new Republican proposal protects some of those programs funded by this account, but it leaves out pandemic prevention, family planning, and work on a wide range of issues.
$1.3 billion for migration and refugee assistance and international disaster assistance. This funding supports our efforts to help refugees and other displaced people in conflict zones around the world. You know, most of us at some point out of the 100 of us do some sort of CODEL, some sort of foreign travel, and this is the kind of stuff we visit. And this is the stuff on a bipartisan basis that we all nod approvingly about. It’s great that we’re doing this. It’s great that we’re providing this kind of assistance. And $1.3 billion for refugee assistance is being cut.
And I’ll tell you why. It’s because it’s got the word refugee in it. I mean, that’s how they figured out what they wanted to cut, right? They ran word searches. They’re pretending it’s sophisticated. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. But all they were doing was looking for words like gender. Or looking for words like climate. Looking for words like equity. Looking for words like refugee. And if the program was named in such a way that it mentioned it, just use those words. It was out. Just totally preposterous.
Our contributions to and participate to participation in organizations like UNICEF is being cut. I mean, good luck explaining why you cut UNICEF. I’m pretty good at like imagining what my political competitors on the other side of the aisle would say. But why did you cut UNICEF? Like, are you trying to pretend that some number of hundreds of millions of dollars to prevent starvation among children is like going to do the trick in terms of getting debt and deficits under control? Nobody actually believes that. Why are you cutting UNICEF? If this is about tightening our belts? Why would you cut UNICEF?
$460 million for the assistance for Europe, Eurasia and Central Asia. This account funds a whole bunch of bipartisan foreign policy priorities, including energy security in Ukraine, that will be cut completely if this recession is enacted. If there were programs under the previous administration that the current administration disagrees with, good news: they literally have the authority to reprogram those dollars. This is two-year money. It doesn’t actually have to be spent by the end of the federal fiscal year. They have pretty good authority to reprogram it, but they don’t want to reprogram it to something that they consider important. They want to shred the enterprise.
$125 million for the U.S. Agency for International Development operating expenses. Now, this administration is illegally dismantling USAID and functionally merging it under the State Department. Here’s the problem with the $125 million. And yes, it’s admin expenses. I’ve been in the nonprofit sector and I’ve been in the grant giving side, and nobody loves the idea of paying for administrative expenses. But I know for a fact the State Department didn’t want this in the rescissions package. Because now that they have merged USAID under the State Department, they literally don’t have the money, and they’ve got to absorb $125 million hit.
$100 million for the Transition Initiatives in the Complex Crisis Fund. This is flexible funding and contingency accounts that didn’t expire, and the administration can program it in any way they want.
$83 million for the Democracy Fund. $83 million. Promoting democratic values is directly in our interest and supporting resistance to dictators – resistance to dictators. We’re cutting resistance to dictators. Good for us. Make America Great Again. Ronald Reagan would be proud. The party of Cold Warriors, the party that vanquished the Soviet Union, the party that claims a hawkish mantle is now saying, you know what? This thing which is probably 0.00 whatever of the entire federal spend and an even tinier amount of the debt and deficit of the United States. Let’s defund that, because it’s not our business if dictators maintain power. It’s a real change in policy here.
$27 million for the Inter-American Foundation. This provides small, cost effective grants and technical support for locally led development projects. Strengthening stability and self-reliance in partner countries is in our interest. And this is another one that I get a lot of letters from these guys saying, ‘Please fund it. Dear Ranking Chairman Graham and Ranking Member Schatz, this program is super important. And would you please fund it in the next appropriations cycle?’ That’s the private letter that we get. The public action is to rescind the money.
$22 million for the African Development Foundation. The administration says the African Development Foundation’s work is duplicative of the State Department’s work. But the kind of grants and technical support that the African Development Foundation provides is not available through the State Department.
15 million bucks for the United States Institute of Peace. A creature of statute. A creature of one of the first senators from the great state of Hawai‘i. Mr. Spark Matsunaga.
The through line between all of this is that there’s no correlation between the rationale provided by the administration for these cuts, and what’s actually in the package. And I’ve talked to Eric Schmidt, with whom I have a reasonable, functional working relationship. But we’re like talking past each other. Because every time I talk about what’s actually in this package, he pivots back to what’s actually not in this package and starts naming line items on things that are not in the eight-page rescissions bill. This is not the BBB which took 11.5 hours to read. This thing is eight pages. You can go and see there is no line item for $1.8 billion for operas and festivals and underwater basket weaving and whatever else nonsense people wanted to characterize as the U.S. foreign aid enterprise. This is economic support funds. This is global public health. This is humanitarian assistance. This is helping our friends in Jordan and elsewhere to maintain the basic stability so that there is not a conflagration in a region. That’s what’s in this package. That is what’s being rescinded from this package.
I understand that there is some obligation as a party member to oblige the requests of this party’s president. I get it. But we are still a system with separate, co-equal, independent branches of government. The problem is, if you don’t assert your authority, you don’t functionally have it. So it’s true that we hold the purse strings. It’s true that we’re the Article One branch. It’s true that we’re in charge of whether a bill passes or not. But I will tell you, the thing that is most alarming to me is not the bad policy outcomes – and there are terrible policy outcomes. The thing that is most alarming to me is that I have not yet seen in the last six months, in this final term of Donald Trump, what I saw in the first term of Donald Trump. Which is quietly, not rudely, not provocatively, but occasionally, this branch of government, on a bipartisan basis, stood up for itself and said – and those guys would say – ‘Look, we love you, Mr. Trump. We love you, Mr. President. But on this one, I can’t be with you.’
And on BBB, I understand, like it’s very hard to reject the president’s signature policy accomplishment. But this seemed like one where we could have gotten four no votes. This really did, to me, seem like one where it would be a good opportunity to stand up to the president and just say, like, we’re going to do the appropriating over here. Like, let me show you what Article One says and what Article Two says, and we’re going to defer to you on lots of matters, but not 100% of matters.
And so my question is if they’re going to have the votes to enact this rescission package. When is it that Republicans are going to stand up for their own prerogatives? And why would you run for office? Would you put your family through all of that? Would you go through the difficulty of a campaign? Would you go through the difficulty of being a public figure and subject to scrutiny and criticism, and all of the late nights and the kind of uncomfortable interactions and all that? It really is a sacrifice. It’s certainly an honor, but it’s also a sacrifice. Why would you do that if you don’t get to make up your own mind?
I don’t pretend to be able to get into the mind or the position of a Republican colleague of mine. I’m from Hawaii. It’s different. But I do think that there’s a point at which it’s just not worth it to give this guy every single thing that he wants. And it would be important, and it will age well, and your family will be happy and your staff will be secretly happy, at least some of them, if at some point you establish that there are some limits to the executive branch’s power.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (IA-01)
Washington, D.C. — Today, under the leadership of Secretary Brooke Rollins, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) rolled out its national security plan alongside Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Congresswoman Hinson released the following statement on the Trump Administration’s “Make Agriculture Great Again” Initiative, which includes several efforts that the congresswoman has led for years.
“Farms, food, and supply chains are national security assets—and they should be treated as such. Right now, farmers rely on feed and other inputs from China—compromising the integrity of our food supply and giving China leverage to shut off our access. I introduced bipartisan legislation to secure our agriculture supply chain domestically, and I’m glad President Trump is incorporating my legislation in this key initiative to end our dangerous reliance on China. President Trump’s leadership will change the course of history and ensure America is positioned to win our strategic competition with China on every front.” – Congresswoman Ashley Hinson
Background:
USDA’s National Security Plan includes several priorities championed by Rep. Hinson, including securing American agriculture supply chains from the influence of foreign adversaries like China.
Under the Plan, USDA will create a list of critical ag inputs and materials and conduct regular assessments to identify risks and security vulnerabilities to the ag sector. Rep. Hinson’s bicameral, bipartisan Securing American Agriculture Act requires USDA to conduct annual assessments of vulnerabilities in American food and agriculture supply chains and report to Congress with recommendations to better secure our supply chains.
As a Member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration, Rep. Hinson secured language in the committee-passed FY26 bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture to report on dependency on China for critical agriculture inputs and provide a plan to mitigate potential supply disruptions caused by Communist China.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Cargo throughput at Huanghua Port exceeds 179 mln tonnes in H1
Updated: July 17, 2025 07:48Xinhua
An aerial drone photo taken on July 16, 2025 shows a cargo ship at the container dock of Huanghua Port in north China’s Hebei Province. Huanghua Port saw its cargo throughput exceed 179 million tonnes in the first half of this year. [Photo/Xinhua]A container is lifted at the container dock of Huanghua Port in north China’s Hebei Province, July 16, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]This photo taken on July 16, 2025 shows a cargo ship at the container dock of Huanghua Port in north China’s Hebei Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Chinese villagers busy with farm work
Updated: July 17, 2025 08:13Xinhua
An aerial drone photo taken on July 14, 2025 shows a villager operating machinery to plow the field in Huangjiabu Town of Yuyao City, east China’s Zhejiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on July 15, 2025 shows villagers operating farming machinery to transplant late rice in Hengshan County of Hengyang City, central China’s Hunan Province. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on July 15, 2025 shows a villager airing rice in Hengshan County of Hengyang City, central China’s Hunan Province. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on July 16, 2025 shows villagers operating farming machinery to transplant late rice in Huangjiabu Town of Yuyao City, east China’s Zhejiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on July 15, 2025 shows villagers loading harvested rice in a field in Xiage Town of Xianju County, Taizhou City of east China’s Zhejiang Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
Source: United States Senator for Massachusetts Ed Markey
Resolution Text (PDF)
Washington (July 16, 2025) – On the 80th anniversary of the Trinity test, Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) today introduced a Senate companion to H.Res.317, urging the United States to lead the world to halt and reverse the nuclear arms race. Introduced in the House by Representative Jim McGovern (MA-02), the resolution calls on the President to work with Russia and China to reduce nuclear arsenals; to renounce the first use of nuclear weapons; to limit the President’s sole authority to start nuclear war; to end the production of new nuclear weapons; and to maintain the global moratorium on nuclear testing.
Sens. Markey and Merkley, along with Reps. John Garamendi (CA-08) and Don Beyer (VA-08), who have cosponsored the House bill, are the co-chairs of the bicameral Nuclear Weapons and Arms Control Working Group.
“Eighty years after the Trinity test, much progress has been made to reduce nuclear dangers, but much work remains to be done,” said Senator Markey. “The United States, Russia, and China must work together to reduce their arsenals. In particular, Washington and Moscow must work to replace the New START Treaty before it expires next year. If they do not, we may be on the cusp of a new and more dangerous nuclear arms race. When it comes to reducing the risk of nuclear war, we cannot afford to go backward.”
“The Trinity Test marked the beginning of the Atomic Age, dramatically changing the world as we knew it. Although eighty years have passed since the first nuclear test, the threat of a new nuclear arms race is looming with the imminent expiration of the New START Treaty. We can’t afford to cede any ground in limiting nuclear proliferation in the decades since Trinity. Negotiating a successor to New START must be an immediate priority,” said Senator Welch. “This resolution reaffirms our firm commitment to pursue a world free of nuclear weapons.”
“The Trinity test began the nuclear age, and from that moment onward we have been forced to confront the prospect that we created a weapon that could lead to the end of humanity. Today, 80 years since the day of that test, we should take stock of the slow progress we have made on nuclear nonproliferation and recommit ourselves to reversing the arms race and preventing a nuclear war. We must continue to pursue effective arms control treaties, including the renewal of existing agreements, such as NEW START, that both maintain our national security and the responsible development of nuclear capabilities,” said Senator Van Hollen.
“While the world has changed significantly since I was a nuclear weapons policy analyst at the Pentagon and Congressional Budget Office, the dangers of nuclear weapons have not,” said Senator Merkley. “The ‘Doomsday Clock’ is now 89 seconds to midnight—the closest to global disaster we have ever been. American leadership is critical to reversing course and fostering a more secure future, free of nuclear weapons.”
The United States conducted the first nuclear test 80 years ago today at the Trinity Site in New Mexico. This first test was soon followed by the first and only use of nuclear weapons when the United States dropped two bombs on Japan at the end of World War II. The United States went on to conduct more than 1,000 nuclear tests and produce more than 30,000 nuclear weapons.
Today, thanks to arms control agreements and related actions, the United States and all other nuclear armed states (except North Korea) have ended nuclear testing, helping to stop the spread of the bomb and the harmful environmental and health effects of testing. The United States and Russia have reduced their nuclear arsenals to about 5,000 warheads each, but there is more work to do to reduce the danger of nuclear war.
The House resolution is cosponsored by Representatives Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Nydia Velázquez (NY-07), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Greg Casar (TX-35), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Mark Pocan (WI-02), John Garamendi (CA-08), Judy Chu (CA-28), John Larson (CT-01), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Don Beyer (VA-08) and Chuy Garcia (IL-04).
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 16 — Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Wednesday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied the implementation of key policy measures aimed at strengthening domestic economic circulation and reviewed measures to enhance the regulation of market order in the new energy vehicle (NEV) sector.
The meeting emphasized the need to advance the special initiatives to boost consumption, improve trade-in policies for consumer goods, and provide diversified services that meet various consumption needs of residents.
It called for efforts to expand investment in new quality productive forces and emerging services to fully unleash the potential of domestic demand.
During the meeting, a briefing was heard on the preliminary rectification of problems identified in the audit of the implementation of the 2024 central budget and other fiscal revenues and expenditures.
To spur the high-quality development of the NEV sector and curb irrational competition, the meeting called for stronger regulation of market order, strengthening cost survey and price monitoring, and improving long-term mechanism on regulated competition.
It also reviewed and approved a draft regulation on the entry and exit of foreigners.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, July 16 — As the third China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) opened in Beijing on Wednesday, global business executives and officials voiced a collective need to reinforce supply chains through open markets, innovation, and multilateral engagement.
“This event is much more than an expo. It is a forest of connections between economies, industries, and people,” John Denton, the secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce, said in his speech. “We are here together to advance our shared prosperity.”
Denton’s remarks echoed a widespread consensus among attendees that building trust and deeper integration — spanning AI innovation to global manufacturing collaboration — is essential for effectively navigating the increasing global uncertainties.
Held from July 16 to 20, the 2025 CISCE gathered more than 650 companies and institutions from 75 countries, regions and international organizations, along with over 500 of their upstream and downstream partners.
Foreign exhibitors made up 35 percent of the total participation — an indicator of enduring business interest in the face of rising geopolitical and economic headwinds.
Hosted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), the expo is the world’s first national-level expo dedicated exclusively to supply chains.
In the lead-up to the event, Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at Renmin University of China, said that active engagement from multinational firms reflects the “continued momentum and irreversibility of globalization.”
Wang noted that China, with the world’s most complete and largest industrial system, is playing a growing role in driving global development through digital and green transformation — and is increasingly seen as an innovation lab.
China’s expanding role in global innovation ecosystems, especially in AI, was underscored by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who delivered a speech during his first CISCE appearance.
Calling China’s supply chain “a miracle,” Huang highlighted the country’s fast-growing AI technologies and its global reach. “China’s open-source AI is a catalyst for global progress,” he said, as it enables broader access to innovation and supports international cooperation on standards and safeguards.
In an interview on the sidelines of the expo, Huang reaffirmed Nvidia’s long-term commitment to the Chinese market. “If you want to maintain, you have to invest,” he said. “The market is moving so fast and it’s so competitive — we have to continue to advance ourselves.”
He added that China’s technology market is growing rapidly and remains a key focus for the company, calling it “a very important market with dynamic, innovative customers.”
The expo comes on the heels of China’s announcement of a 5.3 percent economic growth for the first half of the year despite rising challenges and external uncertainties.
“China is entering a new cycle of market opportunity,” said Lin Chunmei, president and general manager of Corning Greater China, in an interview with Xinhua. “With the rise of AI and cloud technologies, the AI infrastructure market is growing faster than ever.”
She noted that China’s steady and resilient economy, along with its stable and open business environment, continues to support the growth of enterprises. “Over the past few decades, we’ve seen consistent improvements in China’s business climate,” she added.
At the opening ceremony, the CCPIT and global business representatives issued a joint initiative calling for supply chain stability and security, digital and green transformation, and stronger international cooperation.
Ren Hongbin, chairman of the CCPIT, said the expo has become a platform for China’s high-standard opening up, urging collective efforts to safeguard multilateralism and build a more interconnected future.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Eyeing China opportunities, multinational giants seek closer supply chain collaboration with Chinese partners
BEIJING, July 16 — As the third China International Supply Chain Expo opened Wednesday in Beijing, multinational companies are looking to strengthen supply chain collaborations in a move that will inject more certainty into the world economy.
The five-day event has attracted 651 companies and institutions from 75 countries and regions. Overseas exhibitors account for 35 percent, a three-percentage-point increase from last year. Among the first-time multinational participants are major players such as Nvidia, Schneider Electric, L’Oreal, Louis Dreyfus and Medtronic.
The growth in global participation highlights mounting confidence in the Chinese market and supply chain. The participating companies see China as both a stabilizing force and an innovation driver in the global supply chain.
“The expo is an important gathering for innovation and collaboration, helping to strengthen the sustainable development of global manufacturing and international supply chains,” said Mohamed Kande, global chairman of PwC.
CLOSER COLLABORATION
The expo comes on the heels of China’s announcement of a 5.3 percent economic growth for the first half of the year despite rising challenges and external uncertainties.
China’s steady economic growth, coupled with its robust supply chain and commitment to further opening up, positions it as a key partner for multinational companies.
Jensen Huang, CEO of U.S. tech giant Nvidia, on Tuesday praised China’s rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) during his visit to Beijing, describing the Chinese market as both “large” and “dynamic.”
While speaking at the opening ceremony of the expo on Wednesday, Huang lauded China’s supply chain as a “miracle.” China’s open-source AI is a catalyst for global progress, giving every country and industry a chance to join the AI revolution, he said.
“China is a very important country where the development of AI will continue to be very fast and we hope to be part of that,” Huang told reporters on Wednesday, adding that there’s so much opportunity and confidence in the Chinese market.
Huang confirmed on Tuesday that Nvidia’s H20 chips will soon be available in the Chinese market again, following the U.S. government’s approval of the company’s filing licenses for shipping H20s to China.
The expo has become a key venue for global firms to forge and expand supply chain collaborations.
The expo serves as a platform for expanding McDonald’s supply chain partnerships, Xu Jansen, head of Impact Strategy at M (China) Co., Ltd. The fast food chain attended the expo for a second straight year, teaming up with 11 suppliers this year.
Xu emphasized the importance of the Chinese market, noting that half of the 2,000 new McDonald’s stores opening each year globally are located here.
The company has built a network of local suppliers and also helped many of them ship products overseas. China serves as a stabilizer to the global supply chain and global economic growth, Xu said in an interview.
For French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi, the expo is also an opportunity to showcase its ecosystem and build collaborations.
“Here, we explore innovative collaborations with our global partners, from R&D to production and patient accessibility enhancement, and share the latest results of localized practices,” said Wayne Shi, president of Sanofi Greater China. Sanofi will continue to support the Healthy China initiative with innovative drugs and vaccines, Shi said.
RESILIENCE
Business executives and experts assert that, given the current global economic climate, no single country can fulfill every role in industrial and supply chains. It is essential for countries to work together to achieve win-win results.
Global firms view China as a pivotal destination for enhancing and diversifying their supply chains, owing to the country’s vast manufacturing capacity, robust industrial ecosystem, and improving business environment.
Xiao Song, chairman, president and CEO of Siemens China, said that at a time when the global industrial landscape is undergoing rapid restructuring, the expo is becoming an important platform to promote the deep integration of all sections of the industrial chain.
Siemens aims to help Chinese firms upgrade with digital and low-carbon technologies, helping build a green competitive edge globally as well as a more resilient and sustainable global industrial and supply chains, Xiao said.
As the world’s first national-level exhibition focusing on supply chains, the expo is an internationally shared public product. First held in 2023, the expo has contributed to building more secure, stable, open and inclusive global industrial and supply chains.
With over 70 special events and new alliances for exhibitors in each of the six supply chains showcased at the expo, the expo helps enterprises find partners, application scenarios and solutions, according to Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the event’s organizer.
Ren called on global business leaders to work together to uphold the multilateral trade system with the World Trade Organization at its core.
Xu Jiabin, a professor at the Business School of Renmin University of China, said that as a manufacturing and trading powerhouse, China has made significant contributions to the stability and resilience of the global supply chain.
“The expo will help mitigate the negative effects of trade barriers and safeguard the global international economic and trade order,” Xu said.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Israeli warplanes intensified their air campaign across southern Syria on Wednesday, striking the Syrian Army General Command headquarters and the presidential palace area in central Damascus.
The Syrian health authorities said one civilian was killed, and 18 others injured in the strikes on the capital, which included at least five separate air raids targeting central Damascus. Footage aired on local TV showed smoke billowing from Umayyad Square, where the army’s main command building is located.
Smoke is seen near the Syrian Army General Command headquarters in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said parts of the headquarters and the defense authorities were destroyed, and additional strikes hit buildings in the upscale al-Malki neighborhood and near the Tishreen Palace. The fate of senior officials inside the facilities remained unknown.
An Israeli military spokesperson confirmed the operation, saying that “the military headquarters in Damascus is the location from which Syrian regime commanders direct combat operations and deploy regime forces to the Sweida area.”
In a statement, the spokesperson added that also “a military target in the area of the Syrian regime’s presidential palace in Damascus was struck.”
A fire truck is seen near a structure damaged in an Israeli airstrike at the Syrian Army General Command headquarters in Damascus, Syria, on July 16, 2025. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
In southern Syria, Israeli strikes also targeted government forces’ convoys and positions in Sweida province, killing at least three senior officers in the village of al-Majimer, according to the observatory. Earlier raids in the region had killed at least seven others, bringing the total toll among government forces to 10.
Additional air raids late Wednesday struck multiple locations in and around Daraa city, including the governor’s palace, the military intelligence branch, and the civil registry office, the observatory said. Further strikes hit the 189th regiment in Jabab and the 132nd brigade west of Daraa, prompting ambulances to rush to the scene.
In the Damascus countryside, Israeli jets also bombed the town of al-Kiswah, though no casualties were immediately reported.
Photo taken on July 16, 2025 shows a building of the Syrian Army General Command headquarters damaged in an Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria. (Photo by Ammar Safarjalani/Xinhua)
The strikes came after the collapse of a ceasefire between Syrian government forces and armed Druze groups in Sweida, the heartland of the Druze community in Syria. The war monitor said at least 248 people have been killed in the area since Sunday.
The Druze are a religious and ethnic minority originating from Islam, living primarily in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, with smaller communities in Jordan and elsewhere.
Israel carried out several waves of strikes in Damascus and Sweida, with the stated aim of preventing the Druze minority from being harmed.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China used a balanced offense to ease past New Zealand 85-51, advancing to the semifinals as the top finisher in Group A at the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup on Wednesday.
The reigning champion completed the group stage with a perfect 3-0 record and will await its semifinal opponent emerging from Japan and New Zealand, who will meet on Friday.
“As our team was just formed three months ago, we aimed to try different lineups through these group games,” China head coach Gong Luming said at a postgame news conference. “We feel that it has taken an initial shape now, but still needs fine-tuning on some details.”
“We hope that in future training, players can build better chemistry and be more familiar with our style of play, to be more creative in our play,” he added.
China took the early initiative with seven unanswered points. Amid the rousing ovation at Shenzhen Sports Center, 18-year-old Zhang Ziyu was subbed in at the 3:46 mark and wasted no time opening her account, scoring a layup eight seconds into her appearance. A 14-2 run propelled China to a 25-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The host began to pull away, leading by 22 points early in the second period. The Tall Ferns tried to respond but never seriously threatened China’s advantage the rest of the way.
After an 11-0 run, the game was all but decided when China raced ahead 53-28 midway through the third quarter.
All 12 Chinese players got on the scoreboard, with Zhang and Yang Shuyu each finishing with 12 points.
“We didn’t start well in these three matches. Hopefully we can improve that in our next game,” Yang said.
“Zhang is our advantage. The opponents will deploy specific defenses against her, and we need to address that,” she added.
Earlier in the day, South Korea cruised past Indonesia 95-62 to finish second in the group with a 2-1 record.
Competing in Division A for the first time, Indonesia showed its grit against the 12-time champion, trailing just 25-22 after the first quarter.
South Korea upped its game with signature 3-pointers in the second, as Lee Myung-kwan and Shin Ji-hyun combined for three consecutive shots from long range to build a 12-point cushion.
With a 48-34 halftime lead, South Korea continued to strengthen its hold on the game. A 24-14 third quarter extended the lead to 24 points, while Indonesia could not mount a comeback.
South Korean guard Park Ji-hyun contributed a game-high 18 points along with seven assists, and Shin added 15. Kim Pierre-Louis led Indonesia with 16 points.
“We didn’t start the game very well. We had a tough first half,” South Korea coach Park Soo-ho said. “But after halftime, our players came back. The next game will be the most important, and we will prepare well for it.”
In Group B, the Philippines notched its first win with a nail-biting 73-70 victory over Lebanon. Naomi Natalie Panganiban scored 15 points, leading five Philippine players in double figures, including Jack Animam’s double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds. Jillian Archer’s game-high 23 points were not enough for Lebanon.
“This win represents everything that we’ve been working hard on for the last 10 years or so,” Philippines coach Patrick Henry Aquino said. “We are glad to be competing, not just staying in Division A, but we still have to improve and we hope that we level up again soon.”
Gilas Pilipinas will vie for a semifinal spot against South Korea on Friday. The winner will face Australia, which advanced with three straight wins in group play.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
China finished second in the women’s 2025 EAFF E-1 Football Championship on Wednesday after a goalless draw with Japan in the final round, while South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 2-0 to win the event’s title for first time in 20 years.
The clash between China and Japan kicked off in rain. China applied high pressing and quick attacking from the start, but neither side could break the deadlock in the first half.
Yoshida Riko (2nd R) of Japan vies with Jin Kun (1st L) of China during the women’s football match between Japan and China at the EAFF (East Asian Football Federation) E-1 Football Championship 2025 Final in Suwon, South Korea, July 16, 2025. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
The second half saw both teams continue to push forward, but heavy rain affected performances of both sides. In stoppage time, Japan’s Takahashi Hana had two chances to score but narrowly missed both. The match ended in a 0-0 stalemate.
With one win and two draws each, China, Japan and South Korea all finished with five points. Chinese Taipei was at bottom after three defeats. The three top teams were tied in points, head-to-head results and goal difference. According to the EAFF competition rules, rankings were then determined by the number of goals scored among the tied teams.
South Korea secured the championship with three goals, followed by China with two and Japan one. It marked South Korea’s second East Asian Cup title, the first since 2005.
China head coach Ante Milicic said after the tournament that he was proud of his team for their effort under difficult weather conditions. “Both teams worked hard despite the climate. I’m proud of the way my team played and fought,” he said.
Reflecting on the last-minute goal conceded against South Korea on July 9, Milicic admitted, “Conceding in the final minute cost us the title. It’s a lesson we must learn — we can’t afford to lose focus in the closing moments of a match.”
Chinese player Wang Shuang told Xinhua that the team improved with each game during the tournament. “Our teamwork and understanding got better throughout the tournament. Today, some of the younger players really impressed with their bravery and confidence,” she said.
“I think the experience we gained from this tournament is more valuable than the results themselves. I believe these younger teammates will grow stronger and more confident as they gain more playing opportunities in the future,” she added.
Source: United States Senator Pete Ricketts (Nebraska)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE) led a group of colleagues in sending a letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on shaping regulations to position the United States as the world capital of artificial intelligence (AI). The letter calls for the administration to release a rule that creates an environment for American innovators to compete and win, while keeping frontier tech out of the hands of America’s adversaries. This rule will be another step in the administration’s work to ensure the United States dominates the global AI ecosystem. The letter reads:
“We can only win the AI race with Communist China if we are wisely limiting our foreign adversary’s opportunities to develop frontier AI and enabling American companies to compete quickly in the global marketplace. Both prongs are important and the balance between them are crucial. America is winning the AI race, but the competition has been hard fought and will continue to be. Steps must be taken quickly since investments happening now will create the world’s tech ecosystem for decades to come.”
The letter follows an April letter led by Senator Ricketts, urging Secretary Lutnick to rescind the Biden Administration’s AI Diffusion Rule. This Biden-era policy created obstacles to innovation and cooperation by applying tiers and caps on allies seeking to access American technology. The Trump administration rescinded the AI Diffusion Rule on May 7.
The letter was also signed by Senators Kevin Cramer (ND), John Kennedy (LA), James Lankford (OK), and Rick Scott (FL).
Read the full letter here or below.
Dear Secretary Lutnick,
Under President Trump’s leadership, the United States is shaping emerging technologies globally and positioned as the world capital of artificial intelligence (AI). The President’s cabinet is unshackling American energy, cutting burdensome red tape, and unwinding Biden’s bad policies. One important example of bolstering American prosperity was your decision to rescind and replace the Biden administration’s AI Diffusion Rule. This rule would have helped China win the AI race, and replacing this rule quickly will provide American innovators a stable environment to compete and win.
The Biden Administration’s AI Diffusion Rule, as accurately stated on the Bureau of Industry and Security’s website, “…would have stifled American innovation and saddled companies with burdensome new regulatory requirements.” The rule undermined relationships with allies and partners around the world. It hamstrung American companies, and the rule ultimately gave friendly nations an incentive to turn to Communist China for their emerging tech needs. Repealing this rule was a step forward for the nation.
While we are currently ahead of Communist China in the AI race, we must continue to help our nation, companies, and innovators succeed. Failure to maintain our lead in AI development means that we could be at the mercy of Communist China for many critical industries. Examples include cryptography, next-generation pharmaceuticals, and advanced defense materials. President Trump has been at the forefront of securing investment during his recent successful trip to the Middle East. He closed deals promoting U.S. technology as the global standard and secured landmark investments in frontier AI development at home. We must continue to capitalize on this momentum by ensuring allies and partners building out their AI investments see the U.S. as the superior, most reliable partner.
One crucial next step in this competition is providing American innovators, exporters, and nations around the world a stable exporting structure. Mr. Secretary, your testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee included key elements of an AI diffusion framework that would enable American AI diffusion around the world while also limiting China’s ability to develop frontier AI. The Trump administration should not return to Biden’s tiers and caps that confused close allies and partners.
Instead, know-your-customer and security controls should be applied to technologies designed to train frontier AI models. This approach, while allowing other American technologies to flow freely, will ensure the United States dominates the global AI ecosystem.
We can only win the AI race with Communist China if we are wisely limiting our foreign adversary’s opportunities to develop frontier AI and enabling American companies to compete quickly in the global marketplace. Both prongs are important and the balance between them are crucial. America is winning the AI race, but the competition has been hard fought and will continue to be. Steps must be taken quickly since investments happening now will create the world’s tech ecosystem for decades to come.
We thank you for your decisive actions so far bolstering American leadership, security, and prosperity. We look forward to working with you and President Trump to make America the AI capital of the world.
Source: United States Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) delivered remarks on the Senate floor detailing the need for the U.S. Senate to pass the $9 billion rescissions package to eliminate wasteful government spending.
Click here to download Senator Blackburn’s remarks on the Senate floor.
REMARKS AS PREPARED
America’s Current Fiscal Path Is Unsustainable, and President Trump Has a Mandate to Rein in Wasteful Spending
Mister President, when I talk to Tennesseans, one of the biggest concerns they have for our nation’s future is our national debt.
After four years of reckless, far-left spending under the Biden administration, it now sits at $37 trillion.
That’s $108,000 for every American citizen.
Today, we are spending more on interest payments on the debt than what we spend to fund our entire military.
Tennesseans and the American people know that this path is unsustainable.
That’s why they returned President Trump to the Oval Office with a mandate to rein in wasteful spending.
And that’s exactly what he has done.
Congress Must Permanently Eliminate Wasteful Spending
Since Inauguration Day, this administration has identified more than $190 billion in potential savings across the federal government—on everything from unused office space to far-left DEI programming.
This is a victory for the American people.
But while President Trump can stop these funds from going out the door, it is Congress’s responsibility to claw them back and make these savings permanent.
Otherwise, a future Democrat President could open the floodgates of wasteful spending once again.
That’s why Republicans are moving forward with a rescissions package this week that will save American taxpayers $9 billion.
With our national debt at unsustainable levels, we must be careful stewards of taxpayer dollars. That means eliminating obvious waste that serves no benefit for the American people.
Rescissions Package Will Eliminate Reckless Spending on Biased Public Media
That’s exactly what this bill accomplishes, and this is only the beginning of the Trump administration’s efforts to eliminate reckless spending.
It eliminates $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
This is the organization that funds NPR and PBS—which have pushed left-wing ideology on the taxpayers’ dime for years.
NPR’s CEO, Katherine Maher, has called President Trump a “fascist” and “deranged racist.”
Ahead of the 2020 election, her outlet refused to cover the revelations about Hunter Biden’s laptop and overseas business deals—which turned out to be entirely true.
As NPR’s leadership put it at the time: “We don’t want to waste the listeners’ and readers’ time on stories that are just pure distractions.”
Rescissions Package Will Cut Billions in Foreign Spending That Undermines American Values
The rescissions package also cuts billions in foreign spending that does absolutely nothing to promote American values and interests abroad:
$4 million for “sedentary migrants” in Colombia;
$3 million for an Iraqi version of Sesame Street;
$1 million for voter ID efforts in Haiti;
$500,000 for electric buses in Rwanda;
$6 million for “Net Zero Cities” in Mexico;
$2.1 million for “climate resilience” in Asia, Latin America, and Africa.
And on and on.
At the same time, the package eliminates $1 billion in funding for international organizations that work against American interests, including:
$135 million for the corrupt World Health Organization, which covered for Communist China throughout the COVID pandemic;
And $8 million for the UN Human Rights Council, which supports dictators and repressive regimes while demonizing our ally, Israel.
Americans Support Fiscal Responsibility
All in all, these savings are just common sense.
The American people support these cuts. They want fiscal responsibility. They want a future where their children and grandchildren do not have to bear the burden of crippling debt. And this rescissions package is an incredible first step in taking on this problem.
Source: United States Senator for New Mexico Martin Heinrich
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich announced that his Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I drugs, under the Controlled Substances Act, has been signed into law. Heinrich introduced the HALT Fentanyl Act in January with U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). Heinrich announced passage of his bill in the U.S. Senate in March and the U.S. House of Representatives in June.
This permanent scheduling will give law enforcement added tools to help get extremely lethal and dangerous drugs off our streets, dismantle organized criminal trafficking operations, and keep New Mexicans safe.
“I’m very pleased that my HALT Fentanyl Act is now law. This bill will help our law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking and keep our communities safe, and allow prosecutors to build stronger, longer-term criminal cases,” said Heinrich, the bill’s lead Democratic sponsor. “I will never stop fighting to deliver the resources to get deadly fentanyl out of our communities and save lives.”
The HALT Fentanyl Act is endorsed by the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents, the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the National Alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies, the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors Association, the National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, and the National District Attorneys Association, as well as state and local law enforcement across New Mexico.
“Fentanyl has negatively impacted the city of Las Cruces in significant ways. In the past five years, we have experienced a substantial increase in crime, homelessness, and quality of life issues. I firmly believe fentanyl has been the biggest driver of these issues. It is time to take meaningful action to reverse the harm caused by this illicit substance,” said Jeremy Story, Chief of the Las Cruces Police Department.
“Like any illegal substance, whether it be opioids or fentanyl use, there are no easy or quick solutions and often combatting their abuse requires a multi-layered approach. The HALT Fentanyl Act is just that, which is why I fully support it. We may be inclined to not concern ourselves with research, for example, but those trafficking in this market do concern themselves with research. Let us endorse this bigger picture approach to help combat fentanyl use in our country,” said Kim Stewart, Doña Ana County Sheriff.
“The HALT Fentanyl Act is another tool to go after transnational gangs and help make our community safer. Legislation is key for law enforcement to do their job,” said John Allen, Bernalillo County Sheriff.
Background:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that there were 107,543 overdose deaths in the United States in 2023. Fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances accounted for nearly 75,000 of those deaths. Since 1999, the overdose crisis has increasingly been characterized by deaths involving these illicitly manufactured synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl-related substances (FRS), which are commonly sold through illicit drug markets for their fentanyl-like effect, and are often mixed with heroin or other drugs, such as cocaine, or pressed in to counterfeit prescription pills. During this same period, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) increased 103-fold. By comparison, overdose deaths involving heroin and prescription opioids increased 2.5-fold and 4.1-fold, respectively.
Traffickers are continually altering the chemical structure of fentanyl to evade regulation and prosecution, sometimes with tragic results. Since 2013, China has been the principal source of fentanyl, fentanyl-related substances, and the precursor chemicals from which they are produced. Chinese product is commonly shipped to Mexico and smuggled into the United States’ illicit drug market via U.S. citizens. Traffickers have favored fentanyl-related substances to skirt around committing the crime of trafficking fentanyl and fentanyl analogues. In 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized nearly 12,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl, including fentanyl powder and more than 78 million pills laced with illicit fentanyl. The 2023 seizures were equivalent to more than 388.8 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
In 2018, as an initial response to this unprecedented crisis, the DEA issued a temporary scheduling order that placed FRS in Schedule I, under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), after classifying it as an imminent hazard to public safety. Previously, Congress has only closed this loophole temporarily by designating fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs. Congress has extended the FRS temporary scheduling order several times, most recently on March 15, 2025, with a measure that would have expired on September 30, 2025.
Heinrich’s HALT Fentanyl Act will finally make permanent the scheduling of illicitly produced fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs and streamline the regulatory process for scientists seeking approval from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to research Schedule I substances.
Clear and Enforceable Criminal Penalties for Fentanyl Trafficking:
A permanent scheduling of FRS is necessary to make penalties for criminals clear and enforceable under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), reducing the supply and availability of illicitly manufactured FRS. The HALT Fentanyl Act places controls and penalties on FRS that have no accepted medical use and a high abuse potential.
Specifically, the HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently impose the following quantity-based federal trafficking penalties on FRS:
Mandatory minimum penalties: 5 years for 10 grams or more (10 years for second offense); and 10 years for 100 grams or more (20 years for second offense).
Discretionary maximum penalties: 40 years for 10 grams or more (life for second offense); and life for 100 grams or more.
Expanded Scientific and Medical Research:
More closely aligning the research and registration process for Schedule I substances, including FRS, with Schedule II substances will facilitate increased FRS research. By accommodating more medical research into fentanyl-related substances, the bill will establish a new, streamlined registration process for research funded by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), or under an Investigative New Drug (IND) exemption from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Specifically, the HALT Fentanyl Act will enhance our understanding of these illicitly manufactured substances by:
Allowing researchers in the same institution to participate in multiple scientific studies.
Permitting researchers with ongoing studies to examine newly added Schedule I substances.
Allowing researchers to manufacture small quantities of FRS without a separate registration.
The text of the HALT Fentanyl Act ishere.
A section-by-section summary of the HALT Fentanyl Act ishere.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Yerevan, July 16 (Xinhua) — Armenia is set to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a press conference in Yerevan on Wednesday.
The head of the Armenian government emphasized that this intention fits in well with the logic of a balanced and equitable foreign policy of Armenia, which must be implemented in practice.
“We will continue to work in this direction. By the way, we have observer status in this organization. That is, we did not decide from scratch that we should become its member. This is also due to substantive and structural changes in the organization, since the possibility of canceling the observer and associate member statuses is being discussed. Of course, this is not the only and main reason, but this is another circumstance,” N. Pashinyan explained.
Earlier, the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced its decision to apply for membership in the SCO. Armenia is a partner country of the SCO. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Two papers published in NEJM look at the use of mitochondrial donation an preimplantation genetic testing for mitochondrial disease.
Dr David J Clancy, Lecturer in Biogerontology, Lancaster University, said:
“This comment is to discuss Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT) in terms of costs and benefits in light of what we now know.
Benefits
“Mitochondrial replacement therapy allows women with pathogenic mitochondrial DNA to have a baby which bears her own chromosomes, while reducing or replacing the pathogenic mtDNA. If the primary purpose is to avoid mitochondrial disease, then women could also have IVF by donor sperm or donor egg (or donor embryo), or they might choose adoption if IVF technologies don’t suit them for clinical or personal reasons.
“In chromosomal dominant diseases like Huntington’s disease, affected people are offered pre-implantation genetic testing (PGT) and they are also offered IVF using donor eggs or embryos if the patient is a woman. For these sorts of genetic disease there is currently no alternative. In these cases a woman cannot have a child bearing her own chromosomes.
“When having a family there are two ways to break genetic lineages – inheritance down generations: one is to adopt and another is to have IVF by donor sperm or donor egg (or donor embryo). It is difficult to value genetic lineage. It will be more valuable to some, less to others. While maternity is never in doubt, paternity often is. Perhaps we should then value maternal genetic lineage more than paternal. Mitochondrial replacement therapy allows unbroken maternal lineage.
I cannot determine whether the Mitochondrial Reproductive Advice Clinic suggests IVF by donor egg or embryo (or adoption). The paper says “Patients with heteroplasmy (part pathogenic mitochondrial DNA, part healthy) were offered PGT, and patients with homoplasmy or elevated heteroplasmy (all or mostly pathogenic mitochondrial DNA) were offered pronuclear transfer.”
Costs
“The money cost is presumably significant. The work was funded by Wellcome and NHS England and carried out by Newcastle University, UK and the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Presumably they could give an idea of the cost. This might be considered important, in an environment of limited resources for national healthcare.
Possible harms
“Because these babies would not exist without the MRT intervention, we want to know about possible problems; in medicine the saying is “First, do no harm”, though in current healthcare, harm is often inevitable. While the babies so far seem probably unaffected, assessing the potential for future harm as they develop by looking at the degree of heteroplasmy in the infants is a large part of the reason for the publications.
“Measurements were on white blood cells so we don’t know about tissue mosaicism, which is where you can have high heteroplasmy in some tissues and low in others, and is common in many mitochondrial diseases. In tissues demanding high energy production (e.g. neurons), lower levels of heteroplasmy can still be symptomatic. In a mouse model, a proportion of >20% energy-deficient neurons in the brain was necessary for observable symptoms.
“Three of eight newborns from MRT had heteroplasmy levels of 5%, 12%, and 16% (the other five were
“All of these things were mostly known before these publications, so apparently the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), who approved it, is happy with the cost-benefit ratio. It also appears that other countries also approve, because the technique is spreading; there is a clinic in North Cyprus, and Prof Mary Herbert, the study’s lead, has moved to a pioneer institution in IVF, Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, partly to introduce a mitochondrial replacement program.”
Prof Joanna Poulton, Professor and Honorary Consultant in Mitochondrial Genetics, Nuffield Department of Women’s and Reproductive Health, said:
“From this study, it isn’t clear that MD (mitochondrial donation) has any advantage over PGT (pre-implantation genetic testing, an alternative strategy) for heteroplasmic mtDNA disorders (where patients have mixtures of normal and mutant mtDNA and severity depends on the “dose” of mutant). The “take home baby” rate and the reduction in mutant load is similar (if anything less good for MD).
“MD has a clear theoretical advantage for homoplasmic disorders (where the mother’s mtDNA is 100% mutant), because while PGT while can be used to reduce risk, it cannot be used to reduce the load of mutant mtDNA. Over half of the MD children were from Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON) families, where the chance of male offspring going blind in adolescence is around 20% but only 4% for females. The risk of blindness can be reduced 5 fold using PGT to select female embryos, but they risk transmitting it to their children. Happily, male identical twins were born by MD with undetectable mutant mtDNA, they will be very low risk for blindness and as males, they will not transmit the problem to their children (because LHON is a maternally transmitted disorder). Slightly worryingly, one baby from a m.4300A>G family, where the mother has a heart disorder (cardiomyopathy) for which she may ultimately need a heart transplant, has an unspecified heart defect: they conclude it is probably unrelated to m.4300A>G but this remains uncertain. Another from a m.3260A>G family had a mutant load of 16% in blood. While this probably means the risk of symptoms is low, one symptomatic m.3260A>G woman had a blood level that was lower than this (11% with 81% in muscle). Happily, male identical twins were born by MD with undetectable mutant mtDNA, they will be very low risk for blindness and as males, they will not transmit the problem to their children because LHON is a maternally transmitted disorder.
“A great deal of research funding has been channelled into the centre that has developed MD. While this has generated fascinating scientific data and this treatment option is now available on the NHS, it hasn’t yet resulted in a dramatic clinical advance. Time will tell.”
Prof Dusko Ilic, Professor of Stem Cell Science, King’s College London, said:
“A remarkable accomplishment! State-of-the-art technology. Kudos to the team!”
Prof Dagan Wells,Professor of Reproductive Genetics, University of Oxford, and Director, Juno Genetics, Oxford, said:
“This is an important study which has been eagerly anticipated ever since the first license to carry out mitochondrial replacement therapy to avoid mitochondrial disease was granted eight years ago.
“The results indicate that established methods for avoiding mitochondrial DNA diseases, such as preimplantation genetic testing, perform well and will be suitable for most women at risk of having an affected child.
“A minority of patients are unable to produce any embryos free of mitochondrial disease, and for those women the study provides hope that they may be able to have healthy children in the future.
“The treatment has succeeded in producing 8 babies, and although mitochondrial DNA mutations can be detected in the cells of most of the children, the great majority of their mitochondria are functional, and consequently they do not have mitochondrial disease.
“The published results are very valuable, but some scientists will be a little disappointed that so much time and effort has, so far, only led to the birth of 8 children.
“Larger studies will be needed to truly understand the value of mitochondrial replacement therapy, and to understand whether there are any risks associated with the treatment.
“Three of the eight children born have some evidence of ‘reversal’, a phenomenon where the therapy initially succeeds in producing an embryo with very few defective mitochondria, but by the time the child is born the proportion of abnormal mitochondria in its cells has significantly increased.
“It is not understood why reversal sometimes occurs. Taking data from the new study as well as previous research, it seems that it may affect as many as one-third of embryos produced using mitochondrial replacement therapy. Importantly, all the children in the study have low levels of abnormal mitochondria in their cells, including those where a degree of reversal has occurred. However, the fact that reversal can happen suggests there is a chance that mitochondrial replacement therapy might occasionally fail, and consequently the procedure should be seen as a way of reducing the risk of mitochondrial disease inheritance, not guaranteeing it.”
Dr Andy Greenfield, Honorary Fellow at the Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health, University of Oxford, said:
“Mitochondria are the energy-producing organelles of the body’s cells. They contain DNA (mitochondrial DNA, mtDNA) and as such are prone to changes to that DNA (mutations) that can disrupt mitochondrial function and cause disease. The paper by Hyslop et al describes the first clinical use in the UK of a technique – mitochondrial donation (MD) – aimed at reducing the risk of transmitting a class of mitochondrial diseases (mtDNA diseases) from mother to offspring. This is an often devastating and life-limiting group of diseases for which no curative treatments exist. The specific technique described, based on IVF, is pronuclear transfer (PNT), one of the two MD techniques made lawful in the UK in 2015. The last preclinical review of the safety and effectiveness of MD, commissioned by the HFEA and published in 2016, recommended its clinical use as a risk reduction strategy – to be used only in those women for whom preimplantation genetic testing (PGT, an established procedure that is used to detect genetic abnormalities, including the amount of disease-causing (pathogenic) mtDNA, in an embryo) followed by selection of an embryo with low levels of pathogenic mtDNA for transfer was unlikely to be a successful strategy i.e. only in those women with high levels of pathogenic mtDNA (elevated heteroplasmy) in all eggs or with exclusively pathogenic mtDNA in their eggs (homoplasmy). This cautious approach is at the heart of this new report, which, along with an accompanying paper by McFarland et al, assesses MD alongside PGT in an integrated programme performed at Newcastle Fertility Centre, UK, under the regulatory framework developed by the HFEA.
“Whilst PGT for mtDNA is an established procedure that acts as a useful comparator, the attention here will be rightly focused on the MD clinical data: 22 women at high risk of transmitting mitochondrial disease to their offspring were treated using PNT, resulting in 8 live births and one ongoing pregnancy. Firstly, this headline result alone is highly significant: PNT is compatible with embryo viability in humans. Secondly, levels of pathogenic mtDNA (in blood) from the infants varied from 0% to 16%. Whilst the last figure hints at a degree of reversion to the maternal mtDNA type, it is also sufficiently low to conclude that the procedure has successfully reduced the risk of mtDNA in all children born. The amount of maternal mtDNA could, however, vary from tissue to tissue and so follow-up of these children is vitally important. McFarland et al report that none of the children has any health condition that could be straightforwardly attributed to the presence of mtDNA disease. As the authors note, there are reasons to be optimistic about the outcome of this first MD treatment in the UK.
“The data in the last paragraph, whilst summarised very briefly, are the culmination of decades of work: from the earliest investigations in mice aimed at understanding the impacts of nuclear transfer, through to targeted experiments in human embryos to provide preclinical evidence of safety and effectiveness. But this is to focus only on some of the scientific/technical challenges that have been overcome. There were parallel activities over a similar time frame concerning ethical inquiry, public and patient engagement, law-making, drafting of regulations and execution of those regulations by committees. And last but not least: the careful establishment of a clinical pathway by which the health of the mothers and infants born could be monitored and they could be cared for (detailed in McFarland et al). This all represents a vast amount of work by a large number of people over a long period.
“The Hyslop et al paper itself is a treasure trove of data, which will likely to be the starting points of new avenues of research and opportunities for refinement. What is the explanation for the somewhat elevated maternal mtDNA levels (still beneath the clinical threshold for disease) detected in two babies born following PNT? Further studies of mitochondrial DNA replication, segregation and interaction with the nuclear DNA may provide clues. The reduction in normally fertilized eggs in the PNT group also requires explanation and may indicate that some mtDNA pathogenic variants can compromise fertilisation of the egg, which is an energy-demanding process. This observation opens up a whole area of research concerning the role of played by mitochondria in fertility. Of course, numbers analysed here are still low and a larger and more diverse cohort will be required to draw firm conclusions about efficacy and safety of MD at a population level. We can look forward to future assessments of maternal spindle transfer (the other lawful MD technique in the UK) and even, possibly, the use of targeted, enzymatic degradation of pathogenic mtDNA to eliminate the risk of carry-over and reversion.
“How do we summarise what this all means? It is a triumph of scientific innovation in the IVF clinic – a world-first that shows that the UK is an excellent environment in which to push boundaries in IVF; a tour de force by the embryologists who painstakingly developed and optimised the micromanipulation methods; an example of the value of clinical expertise, developed over decades of working with children and adults suffering from these devastating diseases, being used to support a new intervention and subsequent follow-up, potentially for many years. And it is so much more, depending on whether one’s perspective is that of an historian, sociologist, ethicist or philosopher. It is tempting to suggest that this report marks the end of a process – but it is actually the beginning, of a new era in which technologies that change how we think about human reproduction are introduced into a tightly regulated environment – the only way in which they should be introduced.
“In time, there will no doubt be retrospective studies and assessments of how all this was done – some critical – and there will be much to learn. It is hoped that other papers will follow, detailing different aspects of the process by which these first UK children were born, because this whole exercise has been a steep learning curve for all involved and future progress relies on such learning being shared. Safety assessment should be at the heart of all these and future reports. Some may wonder about the time taken for these current reports to see the light of day – but that would be to underestimate what is required to transition from preclinical research activities in an academic setting to offering a bona fide clinical service on the NHS (with the spanner of COVID-19 thrown into the works for good measure). Others will wonder whether supporting the desire to have biological children merits all this time and effort, when ‘unmet clinical need’ is the focus and budgetary constraints are the norm. But this evaluation unnecessarily attempts to marginalise a human activity – ‘having children’ – that is actually central to the health and wellbeing of a significant proportion of the population. And those ordinary resemblances that parents and children often share also matter to them. Of course, the results of clinical follow-up of the children born using PNT will be a major determinant of the future prospects for mitochondrial donation in the IVF clinic, as this report acknowledges.
“There will be many responses to this work, but I see these reports, despite their matter-of-fact understatement, as an extraordinary reminder of what well intentioned science, collaborating with medicine, can do to improve the lives of human beings.”
Mr Stuart Lavery, Divisional Clinical Director Women’s Health and Consultant in Reproductive Medicine/Honorary Associate Professor, University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“The concept of nuclear transfer has attracted much commentary and occasionally concern and anxiety.
“The Newcastle team have demonstrated that it can be used in a clinically effective and ethically acceptable way to prevent disease and suffering.
“The HFEA has shown that regulation need not always be restrictive, and that permissive regulation can lead to innovation at the highest level, allowing scientists to push boundaries, patients to be successfully treated and the public to be reassured.
“This truly represents the very best of British science and regulation.”
Prof Bert Smeets, Professor in Clinical Genomics with focus on Mitochondrial Diseases, said:
“These are papers, the scientific community has waited for, for a long time, as they describe the experience of the Newcastle team on pronuclear transfer to prevent the transmission of mtDNA disease, for which they got approval in 2017. The papers describe the current experience in PNT and PGT for preventing the transmission of mtDNA disease. It is good to present a reproductive care pathway, although it is not fully complete and some of the criteria might be reevaluated based on the presented data. The care pathway starts with carriers of mtDNA mutations. I would also include women who have affected children with de novo mtDNA mutations. This concerns about 25% of the mtDNA patients. The recurrence risk is low and generally prenatal diagnosis is offered for reassurance. Furthermore, women with a very low mtDNA mutation load, with skewing mtDNA mutations or large scale deletions could also opt for prenatal diagnosis. For a reproductive care pathway for mtDNA disease, these groups should be included as well. It is clear that for the remainder according to the HFEA guidelines PNT should only be offered if PGT is unsuitable. It is great that the PNT as an addition to the reproductive choices for mtDNA disease seems to deliver as 8 children without the mtDNA condition were born. However, there are still concerns, as 2 PNT children had a higher mutation load than the carry-over, which means that reversal can occur and could be a risk for having affected children in future treatments. Also, two children had rare medical complications, which according to the authors were not related to the treatment, as this would then be expected for all of them. I do not think that is true as technical variation occurs and donors will be different. It is good to carefully monitor this, as one of the aims of HFEA guided clinical application is to find-out if PNT by itself is safe, not only to prevent mtDNA disease. The discussion on this is not very strong. Finally, a key unanswered question is why it took so long to come out with these results. Eight births with no mtDNA disease in 7 years deviates largely from the expected150 yearly births, as described by the same group in NEJM in 2015, if all women would opt for this procedure. It seems that the children born are quite recent (only one >18 months), so one wonders if there is a learning curve, change in procedure or whatsoever, explaining the increasing success rate. It would be fair to discuss this in more detail as it would make it much clearer and more realistic which women of the target group will benefit from MD. And that is still a positive message.”
Comments on the broader story:
Kevin McEleny, Chair, British Fertility Society, said:
“These landmark papers provide compelling evidence that mitochondrial donation through pronuclear transfer can massively reduce the transmission of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA variants and are a terrific example of how a regulatory framework can be adapted to permit world-leading scientific discovery. Although the number of babies conceived through this novel treatment is small and their long-term follow-up will be required, the study provides hope to people affected by mitochondrial DNA disease and their loved ones.”
Sarah Norcross, Director of the Progress Educational Trust (PET), said:
“We could not be more delighted by the news that eight babies with donated mitochondria have been born in the UK, and that all of these children have made normal developmental progress.
“Our charity spent many years campaigning for UK law to be changed, to permit the use of mitochondrial donation in treatment. We salute the patients who had the courage to attempt these novel treatments, and we thank the team at Newcastle for justifying patients’ confidence in them.
“Mitochondrial donation will not necessarily be appropriate for every patient who carries disease-causing mitochondrial DNA mutations – rather, its appropriateness depends on various factors that are explored in detail in the new studies. Importantly, the studies place mitochondrial donation within the context of a broader NHS care pathway, that offers a variety of options for people carrying mitochondrial DNA mutations who wish to have children.
“Nonetheless, the studies demonstrate that mitochondrial donation is a feasible option – indeed, a positive reproductive choice – for some patients. An important consideration is that women considering mitochondrial donation are advised to start their fact-finding early, because of the decline of egg quality with age.
“The medical and scientific work at Newcastle, and the policy and legal work that preceded it, have set a high standard for introducing new reproductive technology in a careful and scrupulously regulated way. We are pleased to see that Australia is following a similarly responsible path, having recently introduced its own law that permits the use of mitochondrial donation for the purpose of avoiding mitochondrial disease.
“The work at Newcastle will no doubt inform – and in future, will perhaps also be informed by – the mitoHOPE pilot programme for mitochondrial donation in Australia.”
Nick Meade, Chief Executive Genetic Alliance,said:
“Most rare conditions do not yet have a cure or treatment, so for families affected, reproductive choice techniques are the only opportunities to take control of the impact of the condition. For serious conditions caused by nuclear DNA, these opportunities have existed for many years (through preimplantation genetic testing), with today’s news, we know more families have that opportunity now. These techniques have the potential to work for hundreds of conditions caused by mitochondrial DNA, and they are an example of how innovative research can be applied to take steps forward for multiple rare conditions in parallel. With more than 7,000 rare conditions affecting people in the UK, we need this kind of progress.”
Beth Thompson, Executive Director for Policy & Partnerships at Wellcome, said:
“This is a remarkable scientific achievement, which has been years in the making and we are overjoyed for the families of the eight children born so far.
“The pioneering work behind mitochondrial donation is a powerful example of how discovery research can change lives. The UK has led the way and has demonstrated the importance of science grounded in close and careful co-ordination between researchers, funders and regulators – and, very importantly, working closely with families affected.
“Wellcome has proudly supported this work since the earliest days, including advocating for legislation and licensing. As the science progresses, we will continue championing brave investment in science and for policy and regulation to keep pace. The success of this research should inspire us move forward on other updates, opening the way for further innovation. The groundwork for review of Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act, for example, has been done, it now needs to move forward. We must ensure the UK stays a world leader in life sciences.”
Danielle Hamm, Director of the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, said:
“Today we have seen the first evidence that for a small number of UK families the use of pronuclear transfer (PNT) to prevent the transfer of maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA disorders has resulted in what everyone hoped it would: children who are thriving and appear free of the devastating symptoms of mitochondrial disease.
“The Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ landmark ethical review of techniques for the prevention of maternally inherited mitochondrial disorders has been instrumental in creating the right regulatory environment to allow this innovative treatment to reach the clinic and change lives for the better.
“The HFEA’s licensing conditions followed our recommendation and ensured that PNT is only available through a specialist centre. The establishment of the NHS Highly Specialised Mitochondrial Reproductive Care Pathway has ensured that families referred to the service are fully supported and have access to appropriate information, and that long term follow up of participants has been secured.
“We welcome this great progress, but continued follow-up is crucially important to inform our understanding of the long-term efficacy of the treatment.”
Peter Thompson, Chief Executive of the HFEA, said:
“Ten years ago, the UK was the first country in the world to licence mitochondrial donation treatment to avoid passing the condition to children. For the first time, families with severe inherited mitochondrial illness have the possibility of a healthy child. Although it’s still early days, it is wonderful news that mitochondrial donation treatment has led to eight babies being born.
“Only people who are at a very high risk of passing a serious mitochondrial disease onto their children are eligible for this treatment in the UK, and every application for mitochondrial donation treatment is individually assessed in accordance with the law. These robust but flexible regulatory processes allow the technique to be used safely for the purposes that Parliament agreed in 2015.”
Prof Frances Flinter, Chair of the HFEA’s Statutory Approvals Committee, said:
“We are pleased to see the peer-reviewed papers published in the New England Journal of Medicine that explain what has happened to those patients who the HFEA authorised to have mitochondrial donation treatment at the Newcastle Centre at Life. These are patients for whom there was no other option to have a healthy baby who is genetically related to them, and we are delighted for those families.
“The HFEA will continue to oversee the safe use of mitochondrial donation treatment and assess each application as families come through the programme. These results are testimony to how the UK continues to be a world leader in the use of new medical techniques to change lives.”
Comment from the editor of the journal the papers are published in (so NOT third party):
Eric Rubin, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief, The New England Journal of Medicine, said:
“These studies unite scientific rigor, clinical innovation, and deep ethical reflection to illustrate the full research continuum from bench to bedside. At the New England Journal of Medicine, we chose to publish this work in its full context, not only to highlight the outcomes, but also to surface the critical questions it raises about translating breakthroughs into patient care. Where allowed by government regulations, this research has the potential to prevent serious inherited disease and gives parents truly meaningful new options for their children. Its publication also reminds us that preserving the infrastructure and integrity of biomedical research in the U.S. and around the world is essential if we are to continue delivering such transformative treatments to patients.”
Comments via colleagues at other international SMCs:
Prof. Dr. Marcus Deschauer, Head of the Working Group on Rare Hereditary Neurological Diseases and Senior Physician at the Clinic and Polyclinic for Neurology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich (TUM), said:
“To my knowledge, this is the first publication of a larger cohort of families/mothers with mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) disorders who have given birth to children after pre-implantation genetic diagnosis or mitochondrial donation. The work is therefore very important for assessing the effectiveness and risks of these methods in practice.”
“Per se, the study includes well-studied families with reliable data, but it was not possible to prevent the transmission of the disease-causing mtDNA variants in all families.””A certain carry-over of mtDNA with a disease-causing variant occurs during pre-cell nucleus transfer. It cannot be ruled out that the proportion of mutated mtDNA will continue to increase over the course of a lifetime after carry-over. However, this is unlikely: for example, in patients with the m.3243A>G variant, the degree of heteroplasmy in the blood decreases over the course of life.“
”The follow-up periods are not yet sufficient to assess the risks of later disease. Manifestation of an mtDNA disease at a later stage is conceivable in children.””A pathological mtDNA variant is identified in women who can pass it on by means of molecular genetic testing if the woman has symptoms of a mitochondriopathy. There are also cases in which molecular genetic diagnostics are performed for another indication – such as the search for another genetic disease – and a pathological mtDNA is detected. However, according to the ACMG recommendations, this should not be disclosed by genetic laboratories.“
”Until now, the lack of data has made it difficult to advise women with mitochondrial diseases on their desire to have children. The DGN guideline ‘Mitochondrial Diseases’ states: ‘Human genetic counselling is particularly complex when it comes to the desire to have children. Prenatal diagnosis can be routinely performed for nuclear mutations, but is more limited for mutations of mitochondrial DNA. The data on preimplantation diagnosis as a means of preventing or reducing the risk of inheritance of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations is extremely limited, and the method is subject to the Preimplantation Diagnosis Ordinance in Germany. These two studies from Newcastle are helpful for counselling.“
”Whether a woman with mtDNA disease can expect an uncomplicated pregnancy also depends on the manifestation/severity of the woman’s disease. In cases of significant muscle weakness (including respiratory muscle weakness), this may increase during pregnancy. Natural childbirth may be difficult, making a caesarean section necessary.”
“If the mitochondrial donation procedure were also permitted in Germany, this would be an option for selected women with an mtDNA disease to significantly reduce the risk of passing on a disease-causing mtDNA variant with a heteroplasmy level above a disease-causing threshold. This would increase the chances of healthy children for families.”
“However, the data from Newcastle do not suggest that the methods used can guarantee that the disease will not be passed on. In some mtDNA variants, the severity of the disease clearly depends on the degree of heteroplasmy in the blood, so that a reduction in the degree of heteroplasmy in such cases could lead to a milder form of the disease in children.”
“In the short term, there are no good therapeutic methods for treating mtDNA diseases, so preventing the transmission of mtDNA diseases is the better option. I also consider it difficult to successfully treat children who have inherited an mtDNA variant in the medium term, as gene therapy must reach the DNA in the mitochondria. There is the example of 5q-associated spinal muscular atrophy, in which infants diagnosed in newborn screening can be treated very successfully. Unfortunately, this is not expected to be the case for mtDNA diseases in the near future.””I consider it unlikely that the two children who were symptomatic have a maternally inherited mitochondriopathy. In the case of the child with epilepsy, I would even classify this as very unlikely. I consider the authors’ assessment that the reproductive technology procedure itself or pregnancy complications or metabolic disorders in the mother may be responsible for the symptoms of the two children to be plausible.”
Nuno Costa-Borges, researcher and embryologist, scientific director and CEO of Embryotools, Barcelona Science Park, says:
“As a pioneering center in mitochondrial replacement therapies (MRT), Embryotools welcomes the recent publication by Hyslop et al. in The New England Journal of Medicine, reporting outcomes from pronuclear transfer (PNT) to prevent the transmission of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) disease. The study reports the birth of eight babies—four girls and four boys, including one set of identical twins—born to seven women at high risk of transmitting severe mtDNA disorders. Importantly, all infants are healthy and show no signs of mitochondrial disease. However, the detection of low-level postnatal mtDNA heteroplasmy (“reversal”) in 3 of the 8 infants (5%–16%) deserves particular discussion.
“Due to UK regulations that prohibit testing for heteroplasmy in embryos, the timing of this reversal could not be pinpointed. Their analysis relied on arrested embryos and blood samples from newborns, which limits interpretation. In contrast, our recent pilot trial using maternal spindle transfer (MST)—a form of MRT where mitochondrial replacement occurs in the oocyte before fertilization—in infertile patients led to seven live births, two of which also showed reversal, a comparable frequency. However, our approach included direct assessment of heteroplasmy in blastocysts and, longitudinally, in multiple tissues including amniotic fluid. This allowed us to accurately define that reversal occurred between the blastocyst stage and mid-gestation (~15 weeks), reinforcing the importance of prenatal testing to detect reversal early and guide clinical decision-making. In our study, all infants are also healthy and have been followed up showing no adverse events.
“This phenomenon—mtDNA ‘reversal’—has previously been described in human cells in vitro but not in MRT-derived children. Minimal levels of maternal mtDNA carryover can expand substantially, potentially compromising the efficacy of MRTs to prevent mitochondrial disease. The biological mechanisms underlying this selective amplification remain unclear but appear to occur early in development, and instances may therefore be detectable using prenatal testing. It is worth noting that the impact of mtDNA reversal in infertility treatments is likely less concerning, as maternal mtDNA in these cases does not carry pathogenic mutations. Moreover, with appropriate matching of mtDNA haplotypes between the mother and donor, the biological consequences of low-level heteroplasmy could be further minimized or even rendered clinically irrelevant.
“Currently, only the UK and Australia have regulated the use of MRT to prevent transmission of mtDNA mutations. We believe that other countries should adopt similar regulatory models. In particular, MRT should also be contemplated for infertility treatment. Infertility is a disease recognized by the WHO, and MRT can offer a genetic link to the mother for patients who would otherwise rely on egg donation. This justification aligns with the ethical principles underpinning MRT for disease prevention. As a pioneer group in this technology, Spain should lead in regulating these applications to ensure patient safety and prevent reproductive tourism to countries where such techniques may be offered without appropriate oversight.
“In light of these findings, we reaffirm the urgent need to continue performing well-regulated, larger, long-term studies to fully evaluate the safety, efficacy, and clinical implications of MRTs. Ongoing research under appropriate oversight is essential to ensure the responsible development of these technologies, improve genetic counseling, and support informed decision-making by patients and clinicians alike.
“We also advocate for thoughtful regulatory evolution that upholds patient autonomy, scientific excellence, and the principle of reproductive justice.”
Dr. Dunja M. Baston-Büst, Deputy Head of the IVF Laboratory, UniCareD Cryobank, and UniKiD Research, University Hospital Düsseldorf, Germany, said:
“Since there are currently no curative therapies for mitochondrial diseases, advances in assisted reproductive technology open up new possibilities for reducing the transmission of such variants. Preimplantation genetic diagnosis, which is commonly used to detect defects in nuclear DNA, can also be used to identify embryos with a low proportion of maternal pathogenic mitochondrial DNA variants, thereby reducing the risk of disease.
“The replacement of the donor’s zygote pronuclei with the patient’s pronuclei was successful in 127 of 160 cases (79.4 per cent). Of the 127 embryos resulting from this, 122 (96.1 per cent) were still intact on the following day (day 1). The number of intact zygotes per pre-nuclear transfer performed (33 procedures in total) ranged from zero to seven.
“In 37 of the 39 patients (95 per cent) in the preimplantation diagnosis group, the embryos were assessed on the third day after intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). For preimplantation diagnosis, a blastomere was biopsied on day three of embryonic development and transfer was usually performed in the fresh cycle after analysis of the mitochondrial DNA from the blastomere.
“Implementation in Germany is not possible under the current legal requirements (Embryo Protection Act), as egg donation is prohibited.
“The earlier and more severe a mitochondrial disease occurs, the earlier patients can be identified. Patients in Germany receive comprehensive human genetic or interdisciplinary counselling in accordance with the current S1 guideline ‘Mitochondrial Diseases’. A decision regarding the options for reproductive measures and possible preimplantation diagnosis is made in consultation with the patients and depending on the degree of heteroplasmy. Pre-implantation genetic screening is not possible in Germany due to the ban on egg donation. The alternatives are egg donation abroad or adoption.
“A patient registry for mitochondrial diseases was established in Germany in 2009. It would be beneficial for reproductive medicine if reproductive outcomes were also collected there, or analysis results if preimplantation diagnosis was performed. Unfortunately, there is no cross-linking between the registries. “Furthermore, the search for biomarkers is generally supported in Germany in order to increase the diagnostic accuracy for mitochondrial diseases.
“For reproductive medicine, I currently see no application of the technology presented in the study in Germany without a comprehensive revision of the Embryo Protection Act and the legalization of egg donation.
“The new EU SOHO Regulation will come into force in the next few years. Its main purpose is to provide greater protection for the genetic background of children born from egg and sperm donation (in addition to the amendments to the sperm donation register), so that many questions will still arise in the case of three-parent constellations.
“In mitochondrial donation using pre-nucleation transfer, the nuclear genome is transferred from a fertilized egg cell of the affected woman to an enucleated, fertilized egg cell from a healthy donor. The pronuclei are removed individually from the patients’ zygotes and, after brief treatment with a fusion agent (haemagglutinating virus from the Japanese shell), are placed together under the zona pellucida (protective shell around the egg cell; editor’s note) of the enucleated donor egg cell. Based on findings from preclinical studies, it is standard practice to freeze (vitrify) the eggs of patients for whom pre-nuclear transfer is planned, as donor eggs are not always available at the same time and in sufficient quantities.
“Pathological variants of mitochondrial DNA can be either homoplasmic (present in all mitochondrial DNA copies) or heteroplasmic (present in only some of the copies). Homoplasmic variants are passed on completely to all offspring, but their expression (penetrance) can vary from individual to individual.
“Clinical pregnancies were confirmed in eight of 22 patients (36 per cent) who underwent intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as part of preimplantation genetic testing, and in 16 of 39 patients (41 per cent) who underwent ICSI as part of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD). Pronuclear transfer resulted in eight live births and one ongoing pregnancy. PGD resulted in 18 live births.
“Heteroplasmy levels in the blood of the eight infants after pronuclear transfer ranged from undetectable to 16 per cent. Compared to the enucleated zygotes, the proportion of diseased maternal mitochondrial DNA was reduced by 95 to 100 percent in six newborns and by 77 to 88 per cent in two newborns. Heteroplasmy data were also available for ten of the 18 infants after preimplantation genetic diagnosis, with values ranging from undetectable to seven percent.
“For reasons that are still unclear, the small amount of transferred maternal mitochondrial DNA can rise to homoplasmic levels in about 20 per cent of embryonic stem cell lines derived from embryos after mitochondrial donation. In addition, one in six infants born after maternal spindle transfer for the treatment of infertility had elevated heteroplasmy levels (40 to 60 per cent) of maternal mtDNA. These observations raise the question of whether mitochondrial donation can reliably prevent the transmission of diseased mitochondrial DNA in all cases, especially in homoplasmic variants.
“Approximately one in 5,000 people develop a mitochondrial disease, making it one of the most common hereditary diseases, although the symptoms can often vary greatly. The symptoms of mitochondrial diseases are very diverse and can affect various organs, for example the muscles with muscle weakness and pain, the nervous system with encephalopathy, epilepsy and neurological disorders, the heart with heart muscle disease, the eyes with blindness and visual impairment, the ears with hearing loss and the endocrine system with diabetes mellitus.
“Other examples of mitochondriopathies with named syndromes include: autosomal dominant optic atrophy (ADOA) with slowly progressive, usually bilateral, central vision loss; Kearns-Sayre syndrome with cardiac conduction disorders, degenerative changes in the retina, and external ophthalmoplegia; chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, which is an incomplete form of Kearns-Sayre syndrome and is characterized by external ophthalmoplegia; MERRF syndrome with cerebellar ataxia, myoclonus, generalized seizures, short stature, and dementia; MELAS syndrome with seizures, dementia, and headaches.
“In addition to the disease entities listed here, there are a number of other, sometimes very rare syndromes that can be classified as mitochondriopathies but have often been little researched or not yet described.”
Dr Holger Prokisch, Head of the Mitochondrial Genetics Research Group, Helmholtz Centre Munich – German Research Centre for Health and Environment, Munich, said:“The field of mitochondrial medicine has been eagerly awaiting the results of this study. The robust data describe a real breakthrough for women with a (nearly) homoplasmic pathogenic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variant in terms of their ability to probably have healthy genetically related children. The risk of the children to develop the disease after preimplantation genetic testing is minimal. All gene variants tested require very high heteroplasmy for the disease to manifest, or are typically homoplasmic.“”There is an observation in the literature that in a few cases, the mother’s mutated DNA is revised. Interestingly, this also involves an LHON mutation (Leber’s hereditary optic neuropathy) [3][4], which is almost always homoplasmic in the population and, according to recent data, has a low penetrance of less than five percent for LHON disease [5](only five percent of gene carriers also develop the disease; editor’s note). In this respect, the selection of mutation carriers for this study with four LHON mutations is not entirely fortunate. The homoplasmy of the LHON variants suggests that they may offer a selective advantage [6]. Since mitochondrial transfer does not eliminate the mutation, there is a risk that the mutation will be passed on to the next generation. This often leads to significant shifts in heteroplasmy, sometimes to the detriment of patients. However, disease-causing variants tend to have a selection pressure [6].“Human studies show no risk of incompatibility between the donor mtDNA and the parents’ nuclear DNA.””There is no newborn screening for mitochondrial DNA mutations. Women are identified as mutation carriers when they or one of their children develop the disease. Prediction or risk assessment for the next generation is difficult for mtDNA mutations in the mother. Many centers for mitochondrial diseases work with the group in Newcastle to provide information about the options available there or to offer preimplantation genetic diagnosis.”[3] Hudson G et al. (2019): Reversion after replacement of mitochondrial DNA. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1623-3. [4] Kang E et al. (2016): Mitochondrial replacement in human oocytes carrying pathogenic mitochondrial DNA mutations. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature20592. [5] Mackey DA et al. (2022): Is the disease risk and penetrance in Leber hereditary optic neuropathy actually low?. The American Journal of Human Genetics. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajhg.2022.11.014. [6] Kotrys AV et al. (2024): Single-cell analysis reveals context-dependent, cell-level selection of mtDNA. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07332-0.
Prof. Dr. Nils-Göran Larsson, Group Leader “Maintenance and expression of mtDNA in disease and ageing”, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska-Institut, Stockholm, Schweden, said: “The study in NEJM is very important and represents a breakthrough in mitochondrial medicine. It should be remembered mitochondrial diseases can be devastating and cause substantial suffering in affected children, sometimes leading to an early death. Families are profoundly affected and the paper in NEJM describe how birth of affected children can be prevented by mitochondrial donation.
“This advanced procedure is not a disease-treatment but rather an intervention that minimizes the transmission of mutated mtDNA from mother to child. For affected families this is a very important reproductive option. The paper describes a relatively small series of 8 babies born after mitochondrial donation by pronuclear transfer. The paper is carefully done and of very high quality but as always in science the results need to be confirmed by independent studies. Also, long-term clinical follow-up studies of born babies will give additional information about the safety and efficacy of mitochondrial donation.”
“Before this procedure was applied to human reproduction there was a very long development and evaluation process. There has been a lot of constructive discussion in the scientific community, and the UK Parliament approved legislation allowing mitochondrial donation in 2015.”
“Mitochondrial donation by the pronuclear transfer procedure always leads to carry-over of some mitochondria from the mother and mutant mtDNA can be transferred. The data presented in the NEJM paper shows that mutant mtDNA was not detected in blood of 5 of the born children. However, in three children, low levels of mutant mtDNA were detected in blood. These low levels of mutant mtDNA are unlikely to cause mitochondrial disease but additional follow-up studies are needed. As pointed out by the authors, the mitochondrial donation by pronuclear transfer should be regarded as a risk-reduction strategy. As always, when it comes to new medical procedures there is a need for validation by independent studies. Also, additional long-term follow-up studies of children born after mitochondrial donation will be needed.”
“The authors report that the transferred mtDNA has no mutations and the donor mtDNA is therefore unlikely to cause disease or impact ageing. During normal ageing, mtDNA acquires mutations (somatic mutations), e.g., during the massive cell division when the embryo is formed and develops. These mutations are typically present at low levels but accumulate to high levels in a subset of cells in many different ageing tissues. The mitochondrial donation involves transfer of mtDNA without mutations and there is no reason to believe that the donor mtDNA will additionally impact the ageing process.”
“When it comes disease-causing mtDNA mutations that are present in all copies (i.e., homoplasmic mtDNA mutations) there is currently no alternative to mitochondrial donation to prevent transmission of mutated mtDNA from mother to child. It is possible that alternate methods will be available in the future, e.g., correction of mutant mtDNA by gene editing techniques. There are currently a few promising pharmacological therapies for mitochondrial disease, e.g., nucleoside therapy for mtDNA depletion disorders. It is likely that more treatments will be available in the near future because this field is rapidly developing.”
Prof. Dr. Heidi Mertes, Associate Professor in Medical Ethics, Department of Philosophy and Moral Sciences, Ghent University, Belgien, said:
“I am happy to see that the first results from the Newcastle University group are now finally published, after being granted a license by the HFEA in 2017, and that the eight resulting children are in good health. However, while the results show that the technique is feasible and can lead to a substantial reduction of the mutation load in the resulting children, it also shows that we need to tread very carefully.”
“In line with previous research by the group of Nuno Costa-Borges [1], this research confirms the possibility of reversal (meaning that although there is only a small fraction of the intended mother’s mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) in the embryo, this fraction sometimes increases substantially as the foetus develops), which could still result in mitochondrial diseases in the resulting children. Fortunately, preliminary research does indicate that while the mutation loads appear to increase between the embryonic phase and birth, they appear to remain stable after birth.”
“These are very important results as there was a lot of uncertainty over the safety of MRT. Using PGT when possible and reserving MRT for those cases in which PGT cannot offer a solution was a prudent approach given the experimental nature of MRT. It will be interesting to see more data in the future on whether reversal is more frequent in MRT or PGT, so that the safest procedure can be selected.”
“Although the heteroplasmy-levels are limited in this study, it does show that reversal is a real danger for the offspring, which can have serious health implications. At least three things follow from this.”
“First, people entering into this and future clinical trials will need to be extensively counselled that this is not a risk-elimination treatment, but a risk-reduction treatment.” “Second, we need more research into the mechanisms that trigger reversal, so that it can be prevented before this technique is implemented in routine care + We need follow-up research in the children born after MRT.”
“Third, it is important to keep in mind that by framing this as a risk-reduction strategy, we are ignoring the possibility of conceiving through a traditional egg donation procedure. While genetic parenthood is evidently important to many people, the trade-off that we are making here is that between a genetically related child with a high risk of mitochondrial disease (natural conception), a genetically related child with a reduced risk of mitochondrial disease (PGT or MRT) and a non-genetically related child with the near-absence of a risk of mitochondrial disease (through donor conception). If people who would have chosen for donor conception now opt for MRT, this is actually a risk-increasing technology, rather than a risk-reducing one.”
“This strategy lowers the risk of mitochondrial disorders in the children when the point of comparison is natural reproduction by the parents, but the safest option is still donor conception, which eliminates the risk of passing on the mitochondrial condition, rather than reducing it.”
“While the donor plays an essential role in the birth of the child, attributing them a parenthood-status based on a small genetic contribution appears unwarranted. At the same time it would be correct to call them a ‘genetic progenitor’ or ‘genetic contributor’.”
“While the group of Nuno Costa-Borges ([1] [2]) received a lot of backlash for performing their MRT clinical trial in people with repeated IVF failure, rather than people with mitochondrial diseases, we must acknowledge in hindsight that given the phenomenon of reversal, their approach might have been the more prudent one. In their study they observed reversal in one infant going from
Prof David Thorburn, co-Group Leader of Brain & Mitochondrial Research at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne, said:
“Mitochondrial donation was legalised in the UK in 2015 and in Australia in 2022. It was clearly a complex process in the UK to develop the approvals processes, the clinical and lab pathways, cope with delays from COVID and accumulate sufficient outcomes to publish them without impinging on the privacy of the families involved.So it is very exciting to see the first publications describing results for the first 8 babies born in the UK program. The initial results demonstrate that the approach is effective in reducing the risk of having a child with mitochondrial DNA disease for women who are at high risk. For about three quarters of couples participating in the pronuclear transfer method, at least one suitable embryo was generated. About 40% of these couples had a baby and all were healthy and had undetectable or low levels of the abnormal mitochondrial DNA. Three babies had short-term symptoms that resolved and did not appear to relate to mitochondrial disease. All babies are developing normally to date, with the oldest 5 years of age.The studies emphasise that longer-term followup needs to be performed, and the efficiency of the method could be further improved to achieve higher pregnancy rates. They demonstrate the value of offering the program in conjunction with other reproductive options, such as pre-implantation genetic testing, which can be effective in women with lower risk. I regard these results as very encouraging and supporting the ongoing development and use of mitochondrial donation in the UK and Australia.
Dr Santiago Restrepo Castillo, biomedical engineer and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin (USA), said:
“Mitochondrial diseases are a group of chronic metabolic disorders that can be fatal. These diseases are caused by mutations in the human genome, which consists of nuclear DNA and mitochondrial DNA. In particular, metabolic disorders caused by mutations in mitochondrial DNA, which affect one in five thousand people, are maternally inherited and currently incurable. In recent years, there have been major advancements in the development of strategies for the treatment or prevention of genetic disorders caused by mutations in nuclear DNA. In contrast, similar strategies for diseases caused by alterations in mitochondrial DNA have remained largely understudied. Aiming to establish a preventive strategy for metabolic diseases caused by mitochondrial DNA mutations, the authors of this pair of studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine developed an integrated program of preimplantation genetic testing and pronuclear transfer (PGT and PNT, respectively). In this program, female patients carrying mitochondrial mutations underwent PGT to identify embryos with low levels of mitochondrial DNA mutations. In cases where an embryo with these characteristics was identified, the embryo was implanted in the patient and the course of the pregnancy was monitored. In addition, in cases where it was not possible to identify embryos with low levels of genetic alterations, the patients underwent PNT, a procedure in which mitochondrial DNA without mutations is obtained from a donor. Encouragingly, through this integrated PGT and PNT program, at the time of publication, the authors have already demonstrated a significant reduction in the maternal transmission of mitochondrial mutations in eight cases. Furthermore, the children born from these cases have shown normal development. In conclusion, this study represents a major advancement in the field of medical genetics and genomics. Understanding the current limitations of mitochondrial gene editing, which would allow genetic alterations to be corrected in different contexts, the authors chose to explore a procedure that cuts the problem off at the root by preventing the transmission of the mutated genetic material. Furthermore, this pair of studies demonstrates clinical benefits in children who, without the integrated PGT and PNT program, would likely have been born with debilitating or fatal genetic mutations. It will be exciting to see if the benefits are maintained over time, and it will be critical to further develop this integrated process to increase its success rates”.
Prof Lluís Montoliu, Research Professor at the National Biotechnology Centre (CNB-CSIC) and at the CIBERER-ISCIII, Spain, says:
“In 2016, John Zhang, a specialist doctor at an assisted reproduction clinic in New York called the New Hope Fertility Center, crossed the border into Mexico to perform a procedure that was banned in the US and not yet regulated in Mexico. A couple from Jordan had come to this clinic hoping to have viable offspring. The couple had already had two children who had died from Leigh syndrome, one of several mitochondrial diseases that are often devastating and untreatable. Mitochondria (our energy factories) are usually inherited from the mother, from the egg. The mother had approximately 25% of her mitochondria affected, and these were the ones she had passed on to her two deceased children. Dr. Zhang did not use the procedure pioneered in the UK because of the couple’s Muslim faith, which opposed the destruction of human embryos. Instead, he chose to extract the nucleus from the mother’s egg (actually the metaphase plate, an incomplete nuclear division, which is the stage at which all eggs are ready for fertilization) and transferred it to the egg of another woman (with healthy mitochondria), from which he had also previously removed the nucleus. Once the nucleus from the mother had been transferred to the egg of the second woman, he used this resulting egg to perform in vitro fertilization with sperm from the father to obtain embryos. Dr. Zhang created five embryos in this way, only one of which developed normally, was implanted in the mother’s uterus, and resulted in the birth of a healthy baby. It was the first newborn obtained using the “three-parent technique”: two mothers and one father.
“In the United Kingdom, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) had approved another procedure in 2015, technically different but also called the “three-parent technique,” to solve problems related to mitochondrial diseases. In this case, the father’s sperm is used to fertilize (through intracytoplasmic sperm injection, ICSI) two eggs, one from the mother carrying the affected mitochondria and one from another woman with healthy mitochondria. After fertilization begins, the two pronuclei (paternal and maternal) that appear temporarily are destined to fuse and form the first nucleus of the zygote. Before this happens, researchers can extract the two pronuclei from the in vitro fertilization between the mother’s egg and the father’s sperm and transfer them to the egg of the woman fertilized by the same sperm from the father, from which the pronuclei will have been previously removed. The result is that the egg with the woman’s healthy mitochondria hosts the two pronuclei of the couple, whose baby will be born without the mitochondrial genetic disease and will be genetically from both the father and the mother. The healthy mitochondria will come from the female donor. In this procedure, which is methodologically somewhat more aggressive than the previous one but less risky, one embryo is destroyed to create another, something that the Muslim couple assisted by Dr. Zhang considered unacceptable. The first baby in the United Kingdom obtained through the authorized British three-parent procedure was born in 2023.
“Ten years later [after the approval of this technique in the UK], a team of British and Australian doctors and researchers published the results of applying the British “three-parent” technique to 22 women carrying pathogenic mutations in their mitochondria (and therefore at high risk of having children born with these incurable diseases) in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Of the 22 women treated, only 8 gave birth (36%), and one more pregnancy is still in progress. The eight babies born are healthy, with no signs or very low levels of affected mitochondria, which are not sufficient to cause the disease. So far, all eight children are doing well. Only a couple of them developed minor clinical problems, initially unrelated to the procedure, which were resolved with treatment or spontaneously. In addition, the researchers applied a second technique (preimplantation genetic testing, or PGT) to women with heteroplasmy (a mixture of healthy and affected mitochondria) to assess the percentage of affected mitochondria in babies obtained through in vitro fertilization and select those with lower values of affected mitochondria. In this case, they obtained 16 pregnancies from 39 women (41%) with the result of 18 babies born with a percentage of affected mitochondria of less than 7%.
“In Spain, our Law 14/2006 of May 26 on assisted human reproduction techniques does not explicitly refer to this technique (which did not exist when this legislation was passed), so sensu stricto the procedure is neither expressly prohibited nor explicitly authorized in our country. Essentially, it is not regulated. The legal and ethical doubts that remain have so far prevented the three-parent technique from being applied in Spain.However, this new study shows that the technique has a remarkable success rate (36%) that could well be offered to couples in which the mother is a carrier of affected mitochondria to have offspring free from terrible mitochondrial diseases. Personally, I believe that we should allow this technique in our country in assisted reproduction clinics that have adequate training in this sophisticated method of embryo intervention.”
Dr Paul Wuh-Liang Hwu, Professor, College of Medicine, Pediatrics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan / Distinguished Research Fellow, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, said:
“In this week’s New England Journal of Medicine, two research articles published by groups of researchers from the UK describe the success of mitochondrial donation treatments for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) diseases. Each human cell contains a few hundred mitochondria. The mitochondrion is a double membrane-bound organelle, and each mitochondrion contains a few copies of double-stranded, circular DNA molecules of around 16,500 genetic units (base pairs).
“Mitochondria are responsible for energy (ATP) production, fatty acid oxidation, and some other functions for the cells. Pathological variations or deletions of mitochondrial DNA can impair mitochondrial function, and when the proportion of defective mitochondria (heteroplasmy level) is high, cause serious symptoms involving the brain, muscle, and metabolism. During reproduction, all mitochondria are inherited from the mother (the egg). However, the level of defected mitochondria in offspring can be very different from their mothers, leaving reproduction planning almost impossible.
“In the two studies, mitochondrial donation by pronuclear transfer (PNT) was conducted to reduce the reproductive risk of women with mitochondrial diseases. Both the mitochondrial donor and patient eggs were fertilized first. The nucleus of the donor’s fertilised egg was removed and discarded, leaving behind a fertilised egg without a nucleus but with healthy mitochondria. The nucleus from the patient’s fertilised egg was then transferred into this enucleated donor egg.
“The PNT zygote was then cultured and implanted to continue pregnancy. All live births were in good health and with low levels of defective mitochondria. PNT has been widely used in animal research and now proved to be safe and efficient in humans. This breakthrough gives a reproductive choice for women affected with mitochondrial diseases, which is very important for the patients and their families. However, this study also broke the ban for continuing pregnancy of genetically manipulated human embryos. One argument is that PNT does not really touch the genetic materials but only provides normal mitochondria. The excellent outcome of this study also eases the concerns of nuclear/mitochondrial genome compatibility and other safety issues. Nevertheless, one may still worry if this technology will be abused to improve human physiological quality, for example, creating a body with more efficient energy production. Then, how about adding a little bit of normal, or good, DNA to the nuclear genome, if we can do that safely?
“As doctors and researchers who take care of patients with genetic disease, we welcome inventions, including reproduction medicine, that can help patients. Certainly, before the safety of new treatments can be confirmed, they should be used in patients with no other choices, or with a favorable benefit over risk. Recently, gene therapies, including gene editing treatments, are rapidly developing, offering hope to patients who previously have no option for treatment. However, we need to ask people to restrain themselves, not to apply PNT or gene therapy to improve the health of people without a medical condition, but to let these new treatments be developed to rescue lives of patients.”
Prof Lee Chung-HisProfessor, Graduate Institute of Health and Biotechnology Law, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan, said:
“Pronuclear Transfer Technology: Advancing with Cautious Innovation and International Consensus. While early clinical results show promise in reducing the level of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA in newborns, the application of Pronuclear transfer (PNT) raises significant ethical and regulatory questions that must be addressed through both national oversight and international dialogue. From a bioethical standpoint, germline modification—defined as altering genetic material in a way that affects future generations—has long been met with caution. This is because it involves irreversible changes to the human genome, with potential consequences not only for the individuals born from such interventions but also for society’s understanding of what it means to be human.
“Pronuclear transfer, however, occupies a unique space in this debate. It targets mitochondrial DNA, which, although essential for cellular energy production, contributes relatively little to traits traditionally associated with identity, such as physical appearance, personality, or intelligence. Because of this limited influence on key phenotypic characteristics, PNT is viewed by some as an acceptable “ethical testing ground” for germline-level intervention. Rather than resorting to high-risk gene therapy after the onset of a hereditary disease, using PNT technology to reduce the likelihood of disease is a more ethically acceptable option. It provides a possible pathway to explore the responsible use of reproductive technologies without crossing the bright-line boundaries typically drawn around nuclear DNA modification.
“Nonetheless, mitochondrial DNA modification is not without ethical complexity. Even if its direct functional role is narrower, it still involves heritable changes and the creation of embryos with genetic contributions from three individuals—the intended mother and father, and a mitochondrial donor. This raises questions about identity, kinship, and the rights of the resulting child, especially regarding disclosure and autonomy. Moreover, the long-term health effects of such interventions remain unknown. To prevent a gradual erosion of ethical boundaries, transparent ethical review processes and long-term clinical monitoring must be established as foundational requirements for any country considering the use of PNT.
“From a clinical perspective, preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) should remain the first-line option for reducing the risk of mitochondrial disease transmission. PGT is a more established and less invasive method that allows for the selection of embryos with minimal or undetectable levels of pathogenic mitochondrial DNA. In many cases, this approach has proven effective and carries fewer biological and ethical uncertainties than PNT. In contrast, PNT is a more complex and experimental procedure that combines nuclear DNA from the parents with mitochondrial DNA from a donor egg, and it may result in lower fertilization rates or higher embryonic loss. Therefore, in keeping with the precautionary principle in bioethics, PNT should be considered only when PGT is not feasible or has been shown to be ineffective.
“The United Kingdom currently leads in the clinical implementation of PNT, having established a strict licensing and regulatory regime through the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The UK’s model reflects a commitment to enabling scientific advancement while maintaining ethical vigilance. However, reproductive technologies such as PNT are inherently transnational. If only a few countries offer access to such procedures, it may prompt “reproductive tourism”, whereby patients travel abroad to seek unregulated or less strictly governed treatments, potentially undermining safety standards and ethical norms.
“For this reason, a coordinated international approach is urgently needed. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Medical Association (WMA) are well-positioned to initiate global discussions and help formulate shared ethical guidelines and governance frameworks. These discussions should encompass not only scientific and medical dimensions but also social, cultural, and legal implications. Establishing minimum ethical standards and oversight mechanisms will help ensure that the benefits of PNT are pursued responsibly and that global health equity and ethical integrity are preserved.”
‘Mitochondrial Donation and Preimplantation Genetic Testing for mtDNA Disease’ by Louise A. Hyslop et al. and ‘Mitochondrial Donation in a Reproductive Care Pathway for mtDNA Disease’ by Robert McFarland et al. was published in The New England Journal of Medicine at 22:00 UK time on Wednesday 16th July.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2415539
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2503658
Declared interests
Dr David J Clancy: No interests to declare
Prof Joanna Poulton: Nothing to declare
Prof Dusko Ilic: No conflicts of interest
Prof Dagan Wells: I don’t think I have any declarations relevant to this.
Dr Andy Greenfield: Andy was a member of the board of the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority (HFEA) from 2009 to 2018; he was a member of its Scientific & Clinical Advances Advisory Committee (SCAAC) and Chair of its Licence Committee. He chaired the 3rd and 4th preclinical scientific reviews of the safety and efficacy of mitochondrial donation, in 2014 and 2016. Andy chairs the Independent Advisory Committee of the MitoHOPE Program in Australia. He is also a member of the board of the Human Tissue Authority (HTA), the Regulatory Horizons Council (RHC), the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP) and Singapore’s Ministry of Health Regulatory Advisory Panel. Andy’s programme of research in developmental genetics was funded by the Medical Research Council at its Harwell Unit from 1996 to 2021. All opinions expressed are his own and not necessarily shared by any organisations with which he is associated.
Mr Stuart Lavery: No DOIs
Prof Bert Smeets: I am scientific advisor for the HFEA on PNT applications.
Sarah Norcross: PET – https://www.progress.org.uk/ – is a charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions, and that campaigned for the introduction of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Mitochondrial Donation) Regulations 2015 into UK law.
Beth Thompson: Wellcome funded research into mitochondrial donation and co-funded the clinical trial to assess the safety and effectiveness of the treatment.
Danielle Hamm: The Nuffield Council on Bioethics conducted an ethical review of new techniques that aim to prevent the transmission of maternally-inherited mitochondrial DNA disorders in 2012. The report and key findings of the review are available here.
HFEA: As of 1 July 2025, 35 patients have been given approval for mitochondrial donation treatment by the HFEA Statutory Approvals Committee. These decisions are made on an individual case by case basis where there are no other options for the families involved and in strict accordance with the law. The published papers set out that 25 of those patients have undergone pronuclear transfer (mitochondrial donation treatment.)
Prof. Dr. Marcus Deschauer: “Apart from the fact that I spent six months as a researcher in the Mitochondrial Research Group over 20 years ago and subsequently collaborated with the group on scientific projects, and that I am of course well acquainted with some of the co-authors of the two papers, I have no conflicts of interest.”
Dr. Dunja M. Baston-Büst: “I have no conflict of interest.”
Dr Holger Prokisch: “I have no conflicts of interest.”
Prof. Dr. Nils-Göran Larsson: “I have no conflicts of interest with this work.”
Prof. Dr. Heidi Mertes: “I have no conflicts of interest.”
Prof David Thorburn: David has declared he has no financial conflicts of interest and has the following unpaid positions:
Board Member of the Mito Foundation (the major relevant mito advocacy group) and he played a prominent role in their advocacy for legalising mitochondrial donation in Australia.
He is also a Member of the MitoHOPE Executive, funded by the Medical Research Future Fund to deliver an Australian clinical trial of mitochondrial donation.
Dr Santiago Restrepo Castillo: No conflicts of interest
Prof Lluís Montoliu: He declares that he has no conflicts of interest
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
Legislation Would Help Businesses Bring On Mid-Career Workers Seeking To Return To Or Transition Into STEM Jobs
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ) introduced the STEM Restoring Employment Skills through Targeted Assistance, Re-entry, and Training (RESTART) Act. This bipartisan legislation would provide funding to support mid-career internships, known as “returnships,” for workers seeking to return to or transition into the STEM workforce. Representatives Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) and Jim Baird (R-IN) have also introduced identical bipartisan legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“When we invest in STEM education and workforce development, we can open the door to successful careers in some of the most in-demand industries,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m glad to introduce this bipartisan bill to help give workers the training and tools they need to enter new STEM careers. I’ll keep working across party lines to make sure all Nevadans have the skills needed to fill good-paying jobs.”
“Many skilled professionals step away from the workforce, but face significant barriers when trying to return, especially in technical fields where innovation moves fast,” said Senator Hyde-Smith. “Our legislation equips small and mid-sized businesses with the tools to tap into this valuable talent pool. This will help hardworking Americans reconnect with meaningful careers while growing the STEM workforce in states like Mississippi and beyond.”
“Arizona’s 21st century economy depends on a strong STEM workforce, and that means making sure talented workers who’ve taken time away or are looking to transition into STEM fields have a real pathway back in,” said Senator Kelly. “This effort will help small businesses tap into an underutilized talent pool while giving Arizonans the support they need to reenter the workforce and succeed in high-paying careers.”
“As a former Air Force engineer and chemistry teacher, I know that building a strong STEM workforce is essential not only for creating good-paying jobs, but also for safeguarding our national security,” said Representative Houlahan. “Whether it’s biotechnology, quantum computing, or clean energy, the global race for innovation is accelerating, and we can’t afford to leave talent on the sidelines. The bipartisan STEM RESTART Act will help mid-career professionals and those returning to the workforce enter high-demand STEM fields so we can strengthen our economy, compete globally, and protect America’s leadership in emerging technologies. I’m proud to reintroduce this commonsense legislation, which is a win for both businesses and workers across our Commonwealth and country.”
“If we want to maintain our global competitive edge and continue to lead the world in innovation, we must ensure we have a well-equipped STEM workforce now and empower future generations in STEM fields,” said Congressman Baird. “A robust STEM workforce is also vital to our economic prosperity and national security, especially when up against the threat of Communist China. I thank my colleagues in the House and Senate for their work on this bipartisan legislation to equip Hoosiers who want to return to the STEM workforce with the tools they need to fill job openings and build the greatest economy in history.”
“The STEM RESTART Act is a forward-thinking investment in our nation’s workforce,” said Chris Heavey, Interim President of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “By supporting mid-career professionals reentering the STEM fields, this bill strengthens innovation, expands opportunity, and ensures that talent and experience are not left behind.”
“The Society of Women Engineers is thrilled to see the STEM RESTART Act reintroduced in 2025. As the nation continues to rebuild a strong and inclusive STEM workforce, this legislation is more critical than ever. Hundreds of thousands of STEM professionals have stepped away from technical careers in recent years, and research shows most want to return—but face steep barriers. Grants for structured ‘returnships’ give mid-career professionals real, paid pathways back into meaningful STEM roles,” said Karen Horting, Executive Director & CEO of the Society of Women Engineers. “SWE and our 50,000 plus members fully support this bipartisan, bicameral effort to bridge talent gaps, bolster small and midsize businesses, and drive innovation. We urge lawmakers to pass the STEM RESTART Act as soon as possible and reaffirm our collective commitment to supporting women and others who pause their careers, as well as the country’s economic growth and global competitiveness.”
The STEM RESTART Act has been endorsed by the Society of Women Engineers, STEM Education Coalition, AnitaB.org, Nevada System of Higher Education, College of Southern Nevada, Vegas Chamber, Henderson Chamber of Commerce, Nevada State University, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Senator Rosen has been a leader in advocating for tech innovation and improving access to STEM careers. She helped pass the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act, which invests $52 billion in domestic computer chip manufacturing to help address the current shortage. Additionally, Rosen helped write the broadband section of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which is delivering $65 billion to make high-speed internet more available and affordable to Americans. In 2020, Senator Rosen’s bipartisan Building Blocks of STEM Act, which breaks down barriers to allow more young girls to study computer science, was signed into law.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Moscow, July 16 /Xinhua/ — Russia will work on the construction of motor vehicle approaches to the state border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. This was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.
“We intend to continue actively developing the Vostok highway – it is to be extended to Tyumen and connected to the updated backbone road network of Siberia and the Far East. This is what I meant at the very beginning when I said that the launch of this section is not everything,” V. Putin said during the opening ceremony of the M-12 highway section via videoconference.
“Of course, issues of building motor transport approaches to the state border with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea will be worked out. This will significantly increase our transit capabilities,” the head of state said.
According to him, the route will be integrated into the international transport architecture and “will become an important, competitive logistics artery.” –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.