ADVISORY – HARRISBURG – State Treasurer Announces Second Round of Money Match Checks Issued to Pennsylvanians
Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity will announce that the second round of Pennsylvania Money Match checks, totaling more than $9.2 million, have been issued and will encourage Pennsylvanians to cash them. Pennsylvania Money Match is a new program that allows Treasury to return certain unclaimed property to rightful owners automatically.
WHAT: A press conference to announce the mailing of the second round of checks as part of Treasury’s Pennsylvania Money Match Program to return unclaimed property automatically to rightful owners. Treasurer Garrity, Senator Frank Farry (R-6) and Representative Ryan Bizzarro (D-3) will give remarks. Media is invited to attend.
WHO: Treasurer Stacy Garrity Sen. Frank Farry (R-6) Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D-3) Nina Hard, Pennsylvania Money Match check recipient
WHEN: Tuesday, June 24, 2025 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Capitol Media Center State Capitol, Room 01 – East Wing Harrisburg PA, 17120
NOTE: If you’re unable to attend, video and images from the event will be available on pacast.
Media contact: Heidi Havens, Director of Public Affairs, 717-884-4761 or hhavens@patreasury.gov
ADVISORY – DAUPHIN COUNTY – Governor Shapiro to Join LeSean McCoy, Local Leaders for Ribbon Cutting at New Affordable Housing Development in Uptown Harrisburg
Governor Josh Shapiro will join LeSean McCoy, state and local leaders, developers, and community members to celebrate the ribbon cutting of JMB Gardens, a newly developed 41-unit, $16.7 million affordable housing community in uptown Harrisburg.
Developed by Vice Capital, LLC – the real estate investment and development firm led by Harrisburg native and former NFL player LeSean McCoy – JMB Gardens is a major investment in affordable housing and neighborhood revitalization in the city.
Supported by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (PHFA), the project delivers safe, affordable housing for Harrisburg families and reflects the Shapiro Administration’s commitment to ensuring more Pennsylvanians have a safe, affordable place to live.
WHO: Governor Josh Shapiro LeSean McCoy, Owner, Vice Capital, LLC Robin Weissmann, PHFA Executive Director and CEO Senator Patty Kim Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams Brian Hudson, former PHFA Executive Director
WHERE: JMB Gardens 2309 N. 6th Street Harrisburg, PA 17110
WHEN: Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at 10:00 AM
LIVE STREAM: pacast.com/live/gov governor.pa.gov/live/
RSVP: Press who are interested in attending must RSVP with the names and phones numbers for each member of their team to ra-gvgovpress@pa.gov.
Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Rand Paul
Dr. Rand Paul to Host 2025 Fall Service Academy Information Fair for Kentucky Students
A very rewarding aspect of representing our Commonwealth is the opportunity to nominate young men and women from across the state to attend our nation’s prestigious service academies.
I will be hosting a 2025 Fall Service Academy Information Fair for Kentucky students on Thursday, August 28th, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. CST. Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. CST.
Please RSVP to my State Office at (270) 782-8303.
The 20th annual meeting of the Internet Governance Forum is hosted by the Government of the Norway in Lillestrøm from 23 to 27 June 2025. The Forum’s overarching theme is: Building Digital Governance Together.
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The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) serves to bring people together from various stakeholder groups as equals, in discussions on public policy issues relating to the Internet. While there is no negotiated outcome, the IGF informs and inspires those with policy-making power in both the public and private sectors.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Order dated June 9, 2025 No. 1479-r
In 2025–2027, more than 33 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget to a number of regions to create a network of modern university campuses as part of the new national project “Youth and Children”. The order on the distribution of these funds was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The funds will be sent to the regions whose applications for the creation of campuses were approved by the Ministry of Education and Science as a result of a competitive selection. These are Perm Krai, Novgorod and Tyumen Oblasts.
Document
Order dated June 9, 2025 No. 1479-r
The campuses will be multifunctional spaces with co-working spaces, classrooms, sports facilities, libraries, accommodation for students, postgraduates, teachers and researchers, and technology parks. The creation of such student campuses will not only provide additional opportunities to improve the level of research and education, but will also contribute to the development of areas adjacent to the campus and ensure cultural interaction between the city and university environments.
Part of the funds for the creation of campuses will be invested by businesses and the regions themselves. Interaction with investors will be built on the model of public-private partnership or on the basis of concession agreements.
The decision taken was discussed atmeeting with deputy prime ministers on June 23“By 2030, 25 such spaces should be put into operation, intended primarily for the implementation of significant educational and scientific projects, deepening the relationship between education, science and the economy, taking into account the specifics of the region where the campus is located,” noted Mikhail Mishustin.
The head of government called this project large-scale, complex and extremely important and instructed Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko to personally monitor the quality of the implementation of planned activities, the efficiency of spending funds provided by the federal budget, and compliance with established deadlines.
Work on creating university campuses based on public-private partnerships is being carried out on the instructions of the head of state, which he gave following a joint meeting of the State Council and the Presidential Council for Science and Education, held in 2021.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: Government of the Russian Federation – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev held a working meeting with the head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) Aisen Nikolayev. The main topics were issues of agriculture and ecology of the region.
Dmitry Patrushev congratulated the head and residents of the republic on an important date: on June 21, the main Yakut holiday was celebrated – Ysyakh, which symbolizes the beginning of summer and the new year.
The parties discussed the progress of seasonal field work. The Deputy Prime Minister noted that in order to carry it out efficiently, the region’s farmers must be provided with everything necessary.
The topic of forest fires was raised separately. The head of the region thanked the deputy prime minister for support in this area. This year, the Government has additionally allocated more than 5 billion rubles to the most fire-prone regions, including Yakutia, to combat forest fires.
The meeting also discussed issues of subsoil use. The region has a significant number of deposits where minerals are traditionally mined.
Dmitry Patrushev and Aisen Nikolaev also discussed the results of the implementation of the national project “Ecology” in Yakutia. More than 1.5 billion rubles were allocated for its activities. In the republic, work was carried out to eliminate the most dangerous objects of accumulated damage to the environment, to reform the system of handling solid municipal waste, and measures were implemented to preserve forests. Within the framework of the national project “Ecological Well-Being”, which was launched this year, work in these areas will be continued. Special attention will also be paid to the improvement of regional water bodies.
Please note: This information is raw content directly from the source of the information. It is exactly what the source states and does not reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
Tbilisi, June 23 /Xinhua/ — Prospects for further development of trade and economic ties between Georgia and Armenia were the main topic of the meeting between First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Levan Davitashvili and Armenian Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan, who is on a working visit to Tbilisi, the Georgian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development reported.
The parties discussed the current state of bilateral cooperation and expressed their readiness to further deepen partnership in various economic sectors. During the conversation, the importance of intensifying interaction between the business circles of the two countries was emphasized, and the possibilities of implementing joint projects within the framework of regional and international initiatives were considered.
Following the meeting, L. Davitashvili noted that Armenia is an important trade and economic partner of Georgia. According to him, despite the progress achieved, the potential for bilateral cooperation remains significant. –0–
A couple of weeks ago, a neighbour mentioned our son’s school might be moving. I couldn’t find anything about this online.
But I did find plenty of news from down south. While the erosion of democracy in the United States is something to pay attention to, some news outlets appear to be capitalizing on its sensational aspects.
But there’s really not much we can do about American democracy.
A poster on a lamp post that says ‘Good News is Coming.’ Jon Tyson/Unsplash, CC BY
Still, U.S. media reports have contributed to news burnout. Many Canadians are tuning out from their regular news sources. Forty per cent of Canadians responding to a survey from the 2025 Reuters Digital News Report said they were sometimes or often avoiding the news, as compared to 28 per cent eight years earlier.
Hearing about problems we can’t do much about is disempowering, according to a study on solutions journalism. Researchers found that readers who were treated as active civic participants rather than passive consumers felt more empowered.
The news about my kid’s school is something that profoundly impacts my family. And I can do something about it, at least in theory. I can attend public meetings and organize my neighbours to take a stand, in hopes of affecting the outcome of the discussions.
Local news can help me do that. It’s the very stuff that can help rebuild frayed community ties and mis- and disinformation. Without access to quality local news, malicious entities can more easily step into communities with misinformation designed to sway or mislead.
But local news is increasingly in trouble. Local news outlets are closing — 566 across Canada, to be precise, between 2008 and April 2025. That’s compared to the 283 that opened and remain in operation in that same period, according to the Local News Research Project.
Through case studies, I documented — along with my research assistant, Jessica Botelho-Urbanski, and supported by our research team at OCADU — the early signs of a growing movement of Canadian community foundations supporting local journalism.
And some communities are starting to fund their local news outlets.
For example, the Toronto Foundation made a rare, 10-year commitment to support The Local, a non-profit news outlet founded in 2019 that describes itself as “unabashedly Toronto, reporting from corners of the city that are too often ignored or misunderstood.”
Screenshot of a story on ‘Moss Park’ from the digital news outlet The Local. The Local
Sharon Avery, Toronto Foundation’s president and CEO, says the organization hadn’t spent much time prioritizing journalism because “the dots have not been connected …that a healthy local journalism equals a healthy community.” But she grew convinced of the essential links between local news and democracy, and realized local news is a powerful tool.
The Winnipeg Foundation has been interested in local news for a while. Most recently, it funded the salary for one reporter, shared between Winnipeg’s The Free Press, a major local newspaper, and The Narwhal, an environmentally focused digital news startup that had been looking to expand its coverage in the Prairies.
This kind of collaboration can improve the quality of work produced while also increasing the attention garnered by the resulting journalism in a way that is truly a win-win for all partners.
How to support local journalism
All of this is happening alongside government support, delivered through solutions like the Local Journalism Initiative, which funds journalists to report on under-covered topics, and the Canadian Journalism Labour Tax Credit, which covers a portion of salaries of eligible journalists.
Our report also includes recommendations on how place-based foundations can turn these initiatives into a movement to support local journalism. Community foundations could start by getting to know their local news ecosystems. What news organizations exist? What audiences do they serve?
They should also consider policies to direct some of their ad spending to local media, following the lead of the provincial government in Ontario, which has its four largest agencies allocate at least one-quarter of their annual advertising budgets to Ontario publishers.
Perhaps the most powerful — and most challenging — of our recommendations includes working with other local players to set up a community news fund.
This would enable funders to pay into a pool allocated to local news. This approach has generated millions for local news ecosystems in the U.S., Europe and South America.
Community foundations have the power to promote journalistic collaboration, which can help to combat mis- and disinformation.
To improve the quality of life and information for Canadians from coast to coast to coast, supporting local journalism is a must.
The contribution of the research assistant on the report described here was funded by a SSHRC grant obtained by the Canadian philanthropy partnership research network (PhiLab). The work was also supported by the Cultural Policy Hub at OCADU.
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Sarah Burns, Associate Professor of Political Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
President Donald Trump is seen on a monitor in the White House press briefing room on June 21, 2025, after the U.S. military strike on three sites in Iran. AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In the wake of the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, 2025, many congressional Democrats and a few Republicans have objected to President Donald Trump’s failure to seek congressional approval before conducting military operations.
They note that Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and say that section required Trump to seek prior authorization for military action.
The Trump administration disagrees. “This is not a war against Iran,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, implying that the action did not require approval by Congress. That’s the same view held by most modern presidents and their lawyers in the Office of Legal Counsel: Article 2 of the Constitution allows the president to use the military in certain situations without prior approval from Congress.
By this reading of the text, presidents, as commander in chief, claim the power to unilaterally order the military to initiate small-scale operations for a short duration. Members of Congress may object to that claim, but they have done little to limit presidents’ unilateralism. What little they have done has not been effective.
As I’ve demonstrated in my research, even though the 1973 War Powers Resolution attempted to constrain presidential power after the disasters of the Vietnam War, it contains many loopholes that presidents have exploited to act unilaterally. For example, it allows presidents to engage in military operations without congressional approval for up to 90 days. And more recent congressional resolutions have broadened executive control even further.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the U.S. declaration of war against Japan on Dec. 8, 1941. U.S. National Archives
A long tradition of executive authority
Presidents can even overcome the loopholes in the War Powers Resolution if the operation lasts longer than 90 days. In 2011, a State Department lawyer argued that airstrikes in Libya could continue beyond the War Powers Resolution’s 90-day time limit because there were no ground troops involved. By that logic, any future president could carry out an indefinite bombing campaign with no congressional oversight.
President Trump’s decision to bomb Iranian nuclear sites without consulting Congress falls in line with precedent from both Democratic and Republican leaders for decades.
Much like his predecessors, Trump did not, and likely will not, provide Congress with more concrete information about the legality of his actions. Nor are congressional lawmakers effectively holding him accountable.
After 9/11, Congress quickly gave up more of its power. A week after those attacks, Congress passed a sweeping Authorization for Use of Military Force, giving the president permission to “use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001.”
Congress regularly discusses terminating those authorizations, but has yet to do so. If Congress did, the loopholes in the original War Powers Resolution would still exist.
Those actions may have ruffled congressional feathers, but they were in keeping with a long U.S. tradition of targeting members of terrorist groups and protecting members of the military serving in a conflict zone.
Demonstrators outside the U.S. Capitol in January 2020 call on Congress to limit the president’s powers to use the military. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana
Now, the U.S. attacks on Iranian nuclear sites have revived both fears of war and renewed questions about the president’s authority to unilaterally engage in military action. Presidents since the 1970s, however, have effectively managed to dodge definitive answers to those questions – demonstrating both the power inherent in their position and the unwillingness among members of the legislative branch to reclaim their coequal status.
Sarah Burns does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: United States Senator for Kentucky Mitch McConnell
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement regarding the passing of FedEx founder, Fred Smith:
“I was saddened to learn of the passing of my friend, Fred Smith, whose pioneering entrepreneurship helped transform how the world does business. Fred’s vision led FedEx from domestic delivery to the cutting edge of global logistics.
“Fred’s distinguished corporate leadership, along with his decorated combat service as a U.S. Marine, attracted repeated calls to serve his country in government at the highest levels. But continuing to lead half a million employees, generous philanthropic efforts, and a growing brood of grandchildren kept our friend busy doing what he loved. My thoughts are with Fred’s wife, Diane, and their family as they mourn a great man.”
Around one hundred young people, including thirty-seven women from Kinshasa’s four districts, took part on 14 June in a series of activities aimed at promoting peace, security, and tackling disinformation. The initiative was supported by MONUSCO’s Civil Affairs Section, in partnership with the National Technical Secretariat for Resolution 2250 and civil society.
This gathering marked the conclusion of a process launched in 2022 to implement UN Security Council Resolution 2250, which recognizes the essential contribution of youth to peacebuilding.
“This initiative followed a call from the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Ms. Bintou Keita, who encouraged all MONUSCO sections to intensify efforts around Resolution 2250.” explained Phil Wani, Civil Affairs Officer.
Discussions focused on the link between economic empowerment and peace. Job creation was highlighted as key to preventing youth from joining armed groups. “We introduced a coaching component to provide participants with practical skills to develop sustainable projects, some of the proposals are already ready for funding.” Wani added.
The National Technical Secretariat emphasized the importance of proximity-based and inclusive approaches. “Beyond technical guidance, we ensured coordination, the aim is to enable genuine and inclusive youth participation in the resolution’s implementation.” said Anna Jacquie, national coordinator.
Participants expressed appreciation for being heard on an issue where youth perspectives are often overlooked. “As a young person, I felt heard, there’s support and follow-up, which motivates me, too often, youth are unfairly associated with misconduct.” shared Acacia.
Artists were also inspired. “We were shown how to verify online information, it made me want to launch awareness projects in my community.” said musician and writer Antonio Lufyaulusu.
This initiative reflects MONUSCO’s commitment to strengthening the role of young people in peace efforts in the DRC by highlighting their ideas and encouraging long-term engagement.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mission de l’Organisation des Nations unies en République démocratique du Congo (MONUSCO).
General practices are set to benefit from the largest funding boost in New Zealand’s history – because frontline care starts with your local GP, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.
“This Government is focused on real results. When you are able to see your doctor or nurse earlier, you stay healthier and out of hospital. That’s better for patients, better for the system, and exactly what we are here to deliver,” Mr Brown says.
“Too many New Zealanders have struggled to get care because their local GP isn’t taking new patients, or the next available appointment is weeks away. This funding boost is about turning things around. It’s part of our $1.37 billion investment in Health New Zealand through Budget 2025 – backing your local family doctor to see more patients, reduce wait times, and deliver care faster to those who need it most.
“The funding agreement reached with the sector yesterday reflects another significant step forward and will support GPs to continue to improve access to timely, quality healthcare.”
Under the agreement, GPs will receive a 13.89 per cent funding uplift this year. This brings the total Government funding increase for GP clinics this financial year to $175 million – more than double the highest annual increase seen since capitation was first rolled out.
“This reflects our ongoing commitment to strengthen and invest in frontline services to ensure New Zealanders can get access to the timely, quality healthcare they deserve.
“We have already announced major investments to boost the number of doctors and nurses working in primary care. This funding boost will enable GP clinics to recruit and retain the additional workers as they graduate.”
This funding increase provides:
$59 million capitation increase for the number of patients enrolled with individual general practices
$60 million for improved patient access to appointments, and to encourage practices to provide more data to enable more performance-based funding
$30 million performance-based funding for improved immunisation outcomes, specifically ensuring more babies receive their first vaccine doses at the six-week milestone
$26 million in additional funding to help GPs keep fees capped for community service card holders and those on low incomes and to prevent fee increases for under-14s.
“Supporting GP clinics to deliver minor planned care procedures closer to patients in the community takes pressure directly off our hospitals.
“That’s why a further $5 million to expand access to minor planned care procedures in the community will be made available to the sector once implementation details are worked through. This will reduce wait time for procedures such as minor gynaecological procedures, skin excisions, iron infusions, and oncology infusions.
“Childhood immunisations are a key priority for this Government. We want to see 95 per cent of enrolled children fully immunised and we know GPs play a critical role in achieving that. That’s why this agreement includes performance payments for clinics that lift childhood immunisation rates by up to ten percentage points, or to 95 per cent of their enrolled population, with partial payment for partial achievement.
“This agreement marks a significant and positive step forward for the primary care system. It responds directly to consistent feedback from the sector over the past year about the need for a more sustainable and responsive funding model.
“I expect this investment to deliver real results – including shorter wait times, easier access to care, and better health outcomes for patients.”
The collection of more primary care data will further support a more effective funding approach and ensure resources are targeted at improving patient outcomes.
“This is part of the Government’s broader plan to rebuild and strengthen the foundations of our health system, with primary care at the centre, and to focus on performance and delivery.
“This is the largest investment in general practice in decades – but more importantly, it’s tied to better results. Shorter wait times. Higher immunisation rates. More patients getting the care they need in the community.
“This is how you rebuild a health system – not with slogans, but with funding, focus, and delivery.
“I would like to thank the primary care sector representatives, including GenPro, GPNZ and Kāhui Tautoko who have worked with Health New Zealand in good faith on this record uplift,” Mr Brown says.
Source: US Department of Health and Human Services
WASHINGTON, DC—JUNE 23, 2025—U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oztoday met with industry leaders to discuss their pledge to streamline and improve the prior authorization processes for Medicare Advantage, Medicaid Managed Care, Health Insurance Marketplace® and commercial plans covering nearly eight out of 10 Americans.
Baltimore, Maryland– Travis Sentell Howell, 46, of Baltimore, Maryland, pled guilty to distributing 80 kilograms of cocaine.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty plea with Acting Special Agent in Charge Amanda M. Koldjeski, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Baltimore Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Ibrar A. Mian, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) – Washington Division.
According to the guilty plea, beginning in fall 2022, the FBI and DEA investigated a drug trafficking conspiracy involving several individuals distributing cocaine in the Baltimore area, including Howell. During the investigation, investigators obtained court-authorized wiretaps for Howell’s phones. Investigators intercepted telephone calls during which Howell and co-conspirators used coded language to discuss distributing cocaine, arranging meetings, and obtaining cash proceeds from the conspiracy. Based on wiretaps and surveillance work, law enforcement observed Howell and co-conspirators conducting suspected drug transactions in various locations in Baltimore.
Investigators learned that, during the conspiracy, Howell obtained kilogram quantities of cocaine from the west coast. After the cocaine arrived, Howell redistributed it to customers in the Baltimore area. He paid for the cocaine by, among other things, traveling to the west coast and providing hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to couriers.
On June 4, 2024, investigators executed federal search warrants on several residences associated with suspected members of the drug trafficking organization, including a residence associated with Howell. During the search, investigators recovered approximately $13,182 in cash, a money counter, gold Rolex watch, and other jewelry. At the locations associated with other members of the conspiracy, investigators recovered more than five kilograms of cocaine, a pill press and pill press parts, empty glassine wrappers, gas mask, Narcan, cutting agents, digital scales, and cash.
After the execution of the search warrant, Howell acknowledged that for multiple years he received multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine and redistributed it to other individuals in the Baltimore area. Howell stated that during the time of the investigation, he obtained approximately 80 kilograms of cocaine and redistributed it to other individuals. He also explained that during a trip to Los Angeles, the week before the search warrant, Howell transported $180,000 of U.S. Currency, which he provided as payment for cocaine to transport back to Baltimore for distribution. Howell admitted that he made multiple short trips to Los Angeles, which he explained was to provide payment for cocaine and that all payments were for at least $100,000 or more.
The parties agree that if the Court accepts the plea agreement, Howell will be sentenced to nine years in federal prison. Sentencing is scheduled for August 18.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
U.S. Attorney Hayes commended the FBI and DEA for their work in the investigation. Ms. Hayes also thanked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Simpkins who is prosecuting the case.
ABERDEEN – United States Attorney Alison J. Ramsdell announced today that U.S. District Judge Charles B. Kornmann has sentenced a Peever, South Dakota, man for Assault with a Deadly Weapon.
On June 16, 2025, Terry Wayne Sterling Heminger, age 27, was sentenced to five years and ten months in federal prison with three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay a special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund in the amount of $100.
Heminger was indicted by a federal grand jury in March 2024. He pleaded guilty on September 30, 2024. His conviction stemmed from an incident on December 23, 2022, when Heminger assaulted his spouse with a hammer. The victim sustained serious bodily injuries to her skull resulting in complete vision loss in one eye and 54% loss in the other. The victim also had to undergo the placement of several metal plates to treat the injuries.
This matter is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office because the Major Crimes Act, a federal statute, mandates that certain violent crimes alleged to have occurred in Indian Country be prosecuted in federal court as opposed to State court.
This case was investigated by the FBI and the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Law Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth A. Ebert-Webb prosecuted the case.
Heminger was immediately remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.
MINNEAPOLIS – Abdiaziz Farah, who was convicted of fraud after the first Feeding Our Future trial, has pleaded guilty to his role in providing a cash bribe to a juror in that same trial, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson.
On April 22, 2024, seven defendants went to trial before U.S. District Judge Nancy E. Brasel for their roles in the Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. During the trial, Abdiaziz Farah, 36, of Savage, MN, conspired with his co-defendants, Abdimajid Nur and Said Farah, also well as with two other people, Abdulkarim Farah and Ladan Ali, to provide a cash bribe to one of the jurors in exchange for returning a not guilty verdict in the trial.
“The attempted bribery of a Feeding Our Future juror sent shockwaves throughout Minnesota,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. “Abdiaziz Farah did what few criminal defendants have ever had the audacity to do—he and his co-conspirators tried to buy a not guilty verdict. They were thwarted by Juror 52, who could not be bought, and by the excellent work of law enforcement. Farah and all involved in this despicable scheme will be held to account.”
“Juror bribery is an attack on the integrity of our justice system,” said Special Agent in Charge Alvin M. Winston Sr. of FBI Minneapolis. “Farah’s actions directly undermined the rule of law. In partnership with our law enforcement colleagues, the FBI is unwavering in our pledge to safeguard the incorruptibility of our judicial process and ensure those who threaten that process must answer for their actions.”
According to court documents, after the conspirators identified and decided to bribe Juror 52, at least one of Farah’s co-conspirators conducted surveillance of Juror 52 at Juror 52’s house. At or around the same time, Ladan Ali was recruited to deliver the bribe money to Juror 52. Farah worked with his co-conspirators to gather the funds necessary for the bribe. In the early morning of June 2, 2024, in furtherance of that effort, Farah sent a message to his brother and co-defendant Said Farah using an encrypted messaging app. Abdiaziz Farah told Said Farah to “[p]lease have the money ready by 10 please. It’s very important for everything we have.”
Later on June 2, 2024, Farah instructed his co-defendant Abdimajid Nur to meet him at Said Farah’s business, Bushra Wholesalers, to pick up the bribe money. Abdimajid Nur did so. However, Farah and Said Farah did not fully trust Ladan Ali, and they remained concerned that Juror 52 would not follow through with an acquittal. As such, a co-conspirator directed Abdulkarim Farah to drive Ladan Ali to Juror 52’s house and record a video of her delivery of the bribe money.
After meeting Ladan Ali not far from Juror 52’s house, Abdulkarim Farah and Ladan Ali drove to a nearby Target store where Abdulkarim Farah purchased a screwdriver to remove the license plate from Ladan Ali’s rental car prior to delivering the bribe to Juror 52 in an effort to avoid detection.
At approximately 8:50 p.m. on June 2, 2024, Abdulkarim Farah drove Ladan Ali to Juror 52’s house to deliver the bribe. Abdulkarim Farah took a video recording as Ladan Ali approached Juror 52’s house with a gift bag containing the bribe money. Ladan Ali handed the gift bag to a relative of Juror 52 and explained there would be more money if Juror 52 voted to acquit the defendants.
After Ladan Ali delivered the bribe, Abdulkarim Farah sent the video he had taken to his brother, Abdiaziz Farah. Abdiaziz Farah then forwarded that video to the third Farah brother, Said, in a message that said, “watch and delete.”
On June 3, 2024, Farah was present in court when prosecutors announced law enforcement’s discovery of the bribe attempt. Minutes later, after being ordered by Judge Nancy Brasel to surrender his phone to law enforcement, Farah conducted a factory reset of his iPhone in order to delete the messages, video, and other evidence of the bribe attempt from his phone.
Abdiaziz Farah pleaded guilty on June 17, 2025, in U.S. District Court before Judge David S. Doty to one count of bribery of a juror. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled at a later time.
This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI with assistance from IRS – Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew S. Ebert, Harry M. Jacobs, and Daniel W. Bobier are prosecuting the case.
We know surprisingly little about the lives of children in ancient Egypt.
And what records we do have about them often concern the lives of the elite – the young king or the children of senior officials. They are more prominent in surviving material evidence, especially funerary art. Infant mortality rates were high in ancient Egypt.
As a result, much of the work in Egyptology on representations of childhood in ancient Egypt is dominated by evidence for the lives of boys and young adult men.
But what were the lives of ordinary girls like in ancient Egypt? And how did they make their way in a deeply patriarchal culture?
Finding hieroglyphic words for girls
An initial problem in studying girls’ lives in ancient Egypt is answering the question: who was a girl in ancient Egypt?
Chronological age was not always recorded by ancient Egyptians in their letters or inscriptions.
Instead, more general words and hieroglyphic signs tended to accompany images of men, women and children to indicate their social roles.
These words and signs were only loosely associated with biological development.
Hieroglyphic words for infants and small children, for instance, could be marked with an image of a small, seated child – sometimes with a finger held to its mouth.
Among the words used to describe young girls – talking, walking, and participating alongside adults in their work – was sheriyt.
This is the word often found in ancient accounting documents recording payments of wages, indicating a girl-child worker. They are distinguished from older women in these documents, although it is difficult to know precisely how young they might have been.
In this way, written administrative records and archaeological evidence reveals girls of many social classes were integrated into economic production from an early age.
Payment for work
Elephantine, a town at Egypt’s southern frontier near modern-day Aswan, provides a unique window into the urban life of some girls who worked in textile workshops during the ancient Egyptian Middle Kingdom, which dates approximately 2030–1650 BCE.
First published in 1996, archaeologists found a ceramic bowl repurposed as a writing surface in a house in the densely packed urban settlement.
The excavators initially dated the bowl to the reign of King Amenemhat III, who ruled almost 3,800 years ago. However, based on the style of writing and the types of names listed, some scholars have also dated it earlier. It contains lists of payments of provisions of grain for textile workers over the course of a month.
What makes this document so important is that it names at least 18 child workers. Of these, 11 are girls, clearly marked with the Egyptian word sheriyt, working alongside 28 adult women.
The list shows adult women in this workshop received between 50–57 heqat (around 240–274 litres) of grain – although it’s not entirely clear if this was a one-off payment, a payment per month, or something else. The girls earned smaller but still significant wages of 3–7 heqat (around 14–34 litres).
Some other adult women seem to have also received comparable provisions to the girls, although without further information it is difficult know their social status or age.
This document not only confirms that girls received payment for their labour. It also suggests a structured apprenticeship system where young girls (and boys) worked alongside experienced craftswomen.
Archaeological evidence suggests textile production occurred both within homes and in dedicated workshops.
Evidence from the excavations at Elephantine suggests homes had several rooms with multiple purposes, including courtyards, entrance vestibules, kitchens with ovens (recognisable by blackened walls and ash deposits), and possible stairs leading to roof spaces.
Privacy would have been limited. Daily life would have included close interaction with animals, as evidenced by attached animal pens.
More recently, close to the house where the provision list was discovered, archaeologists found needles, spindles, shuttles, and remains of pegs for a large loom.
These were found both inside houses and in the courtyards attached to them.
It’s hard to know what exactly these buildings were for; they probably served multiple purposes.
Lives shaped by class and legal status
Not all girls at Elephantine had the same experience of life. The town’s position at Egypt’s southern frontier in this period meant it was home to diverse populations, which included migrants, enslaved people and transitory workers.
A letter dating to the reign of King Amenemhat III documents some families, including women and children, arriving at Elephantine seeking work during a famine in their home region.
This evidence can be compared to a legal document from the same time period but from another Egyptian town, El Lahun. This document mentions the purchase and transfer of enslaved women and infants who are called Aamut, referring to a region in West Asia. The document shows they have been given new Egyptian names.
These documents remind us factors such as class and legal status have always profoundly shaped girls’ lives.
Valuing the work of girls
Accessing the everyday thoughts, feelings, and perspectives of many ancient people, especially children, is challenging for historians. We don’t, for instance, have a wealth of personal diaries from ancient Egypt to learn about girls’ interior lives.
But what’s clear is that girls were not merely passive participants in society. They were active economic contributors, who often received formal compensation for their work.
Historians must always look beyond elite contexts to incorporate diverse evidence types – administrative documents, archaeological remains, and artistic representations – to construct a more complete picture of ancient lives.
Julia Hamilton does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
But the situation is perhaps not as rosy for the animal itself. Domesticated animals often live longer than their free-living counterparts, but the quality of those lives can be compromised. Pets can be fed processed foods that can lead to obesity. Many are denied a sexual life and experience of parenthood. Exercise can be limited, isolation is common and boredom must be endured.
Is this the best life for the species we feel closest to? This question was raised for me when I heard the story of Valerie, the dachshund recaptured in April this year after almost 18 months living on her own on South Australia’s Karta Pintingga/Kangaroo Island.
Is being a pet the best life for the species we feel closest to? Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Valerie: the story that captivated a nation
Valerie, a miniature dachshund, escaped into the bush during a camping trip on Kangaroo Island in November 2023. After several days of searching, her bereft humans returned to their home in New South Wales. They assumed the tiny dog, who had lived her life as a “little princess”, was gone forever.
Fast-forward a year, and sightings were reported on the island of a small dog wearing a pink collar. Word spread and volunteers renewed the search. A wildlife rescue group designed a purpose-built trap, fitting it out with items from Valerie’s former home.
After several weeks, a remotely controlled gate clattered shut behind Valerie and she was caught.
Cue great celebrations. The searchers were triumphant and the family was delighted. Social media lit up. It was a canine reenactment of one of settler Australia’s enduring narratives: the lost child rescued from the hostile bush.
A dog’s-eye view
But imagine if Valerie’s story was told from a more dog-centred perspective. Valerie found herself alone in a strange place and took the opportunity to run away. She embarked on a new life in which she was responsible for herself and could exercise the intelligence inherited from her boar-hunting ancestors.
No longer required to be a good girl, Valerie applied her own judgement – that notorious dachshund “stubbornness” – to evade predators, fill her stomach and pass her days.
Some commentators assumed Valerie must have been fed by anonymous benefactors – reflecting a widely held view that pets have limited abilities.
Veterinary experts, however, said her diet likely consisted of small birds, mammals and reptiles she killed herself – as well as roadkill, other carrion and faeces.
Valerie was clearly good at life on the lam. Unlike the human competitors in the series Alone Australia, she did not waste away when left in an island wilderness. Instead, she gained 1.8 kg of muscle – and was so stocky she no longer fit the old harness her humans brought to collect her. She had literally outgrown her former bonds.
Valerie could have sought shelter with the island’s humans at any time, but chose not to. She had to be actively trapped. Once returned to her humans, she needed time to reacclimatise to life as a pet.
Not all missing pets thrive in the wild. But all this raises the question of whether Valerie’s rescue would be better understood as a forced return from a full life of freedom, to a diminished existence in captivity?
A long history of pets thriving in the wild
Other examples exist which suggest an animal’s best life can take place outside the constraints of being a pet.
Exotic parrots have fled lives in cages to form urban flocks. In the United States, 25 species initially imported as pets have set up set up self-sustaining, free-living populations across 23 states.
Or take the red-eared slider turtle, which is native to parts of the US and Mexico. It’s illegal to keep the turtles as pets in Australia, but some of those smuggled in have later been released into urban wetlands where they have established large and widespread populations.
Cats are perhaps the most notorious example of escaped pets thriving on their own in Australia. They numbers in the millions, in habitats from cities to the Simpson Desert to the Snowy Mountains, showing how little they need human assistance.
One mark of their success is their prodigious size. At up to 7kg, free-living cats can be more than twice the weight of the average domestic cat.
Of course, I am not advocating that pets be released to the wild, creating new problems. But I do believe current pet-keeping practices are due for reconsideration.
A dramatic solution would be to take the animal out of the pet relationship. Social robots that look like seals and teddy bears are already available to welcome you home, mirror your emotions and offer up cuddles without the cost to other animals.
A less radical option is to rethink the idea of animals as “pets” and instead see them as equals.
Some people already enjoy these unforced bonds. Magpies, for example, are known to have strong allegiances with each other and are sometimes willing to extend those connections to humans in multi-species friendships.
As for Valerie, she did make “her little happy sounds” when reunited with her humans. But she might look back with nostalgia to her 529 days of freedom on Kangaroo Island.
Nancy Cushing receives funding from the State Library of New South Wales as the Coral Thomas Fellow. She is a member of the executive committee of the Australian Historical Association.
However, their experiences with medicinal cannabis remain under-explored in research and overlooked in policy and regulation. As our work shows, they face several gender-specific barriers to accessing medicinal cannabis. Some of these hurdles lead women to seeking cannabis from illegal markets.
New Zealand introduced the medicinal cannabis scheme five years ago to enable access to legal, safe and quality-controlled cannabis products for any condition a doctor would deem suitable for a prescription.
A recent analysis found the number of medicinal cannabis products dispensed has increased more than 14-fold since 2020, with more than 160,000 prescriptions administered during 2023/2024.
In the first two years of the scheme, women were the primary recipients of medicinal cannabis prescriptions. Between 2022 and 2023, the number of prescriptions issued to female patients doubled to 47,633.
Our findings from a large-scale national survey show that although women perceive physicians as supportive of prescribing medicinal cannabis, they were less likely to have prescriptions than men. This is similar to findings from Australia.
Women were also more likely not to disclose their medicinal cannabis use to others, citing it would be less accepted by society because of their gender.
Gendered risks in illegal cannabis markets
Our latest study aligned with Australia in finding that women often seek cannabis from illegal sources because of perceived lower prices. Many could not financially sustain accessing legal prescriptions because medicinal cannabis is not funded by New Zealand’s drug-buying agency Pharmac.
Study participants discussed the health risks of accessing illegal cannabis such as consuming products without knowing how strong they are or whether they have been contaminated with harmful substances.
They also characterised illegal cannabis markets as unsafe and intimidating for women, with little legal protection and the presence of predatory male sellers. Some even described gender-specific experiences of physical assault, intimidation and sexual harassment, particularly when cannabis buying occurred in drug houses or locations controlled by the seller.
Women accessing medicinal cannabis in illegal markets increasingly relied on female suppliers, viewing them as safer and more reliable. Some also helped connect others to these suppliers and used social media to warn other women of unsafe male suppliers. This created informal women-led support networks for access.
Accessing legal prescriptions
Women increasingly use cannabis clinics to access pain treatments. Getty Images
One of our recent studies found many women begin their journeys with medicinal cannabis online via social media, often leading them to cannabis clinics with a strong digital presence. Women are now a growing demographic for specialised medicinal cannabis clinics in New Zealand and in other countries.
Cannabis clinics have a reputation among medicinal cannabis consumers for being more knowledgeable and positive about treatments than general practitioners and other health providers. Women have been encouraged by positive online testimonies from other women using cannabis treatments for gynaecological and other conditions.
Female medicinal cannabis patients also described the financial burden of accessing a prescription, including consultation fees and the costs of products as barriers to access.
Their relationships with their GPs strongly influenced their decision to seek a prescription. Those with prior experiences of having their pain underestimated or misdiagnosed in mainstream care were more likely to source legal medicinal cannabis from cannabis clinics.
Policy and practice
The current scientific evidence for using medicinal cannabis for gynaecological conditions is still emerging. Clinical trials are under way in Australia to evaluate cannabis treatment for endometriosis and period pain.
Women’s reliance on online sources and personal recommendations to learn about medicinal cannabis highlights a gap in public awareness and government education about the legal prescription scheme. Hesitance to discuss and recommend cannabis treatment among GPs also persists as a barrier to access.
Online peer networks on social media platforms are promoting women’s agency and informing their decision making around medicinal cannabis, but also raise the risks of misinformation.
Although marketing of medicinal cannabis to women may improve their engagement with the prescription scheme, it may also put them in a vulnerable position where they are encouraged to pursue expensive treatment options which may not be effective.
The collective findings from our studies indicate complex financial, social and systemic factors affecting safe and equitable access to medicinal cannabis for women. To improve women’s engagement with New Zealand’s medicinal cannabis scheme, we suggest GPs should have informed and non-stigmatising discussions with female patients to explore when medicinal cannabis might be an appropriate treatment option.
Better access to good official consumer information about medicinal cannabis and greater investment in clinical trials for gynaecological conditions would also improve and support women’s decision making about their health.
Vinuli Withanarachchie receives funding from the Health Research Council for research on cannabis policy reform.
Chris Wilkins receives funding from the Health Research Council for studies on cannabis policy and vaping.
Marta Rychert receives funding for cannabis research from the Royal Society of NZ and the Health Research Council.
Have you had a tonsillectomy (your tonsils taken out), appendectomy (your appendix removed) or lumpectomy (removal of a lump from your breast)? The suffix “ectomy” denotes surgical removal of the named body part, so these terms give us a clear idea of what the procedure entails.
So why is the removal of the uterus called a hysterectomy and not a uterectomy?
The name hysterectomy is rooted in a mental health condition – “hysteria” – that was once believed to affect women. But we now know this condition doesn’t exist.
Continuing to call this significant operation a hysterectomy both perpetuates misogyny and hampers people’s understanding of what it is.
From the defunct condition ‘hysteria’
Hysteria was a psychiatric condition first formally defined in the 5th century BCE. It had many symptoms, including excessive emotion, irritability, anxiety, breathlessness and fainting.
But hysteria was only diagnosed in women. Male physicians at the time claimed these symptoms were caused by a “wandering womb”. They believed the womb (uterus) moved around the body looking for sperm and disrupted other organs.
Because the uterus was blamed for hysteria, the treatment was to remove it. This procedure was called a hysterectomy. Sadly, many women had their healthy uterus unnecessarily removed and most died.
The word “hysteria” did originally came from the ancient Greek word for uterus, “hystera”. But the modern Greek word for uterus is “mitra”, which is where words such as “endometrium” come from.
uterine prolapse (when the uterus protrudes down into the vagina)
adenomyosis (when the inner layer of the uterus grows into the muscle layer)
cancer.
However, in a survey colleagues and I did of almost 500 Australian adults, which is yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, one in five people thought hysterectomy meant removal of the ovaries, not the uterus.
It’s true some hysterectomiesfor cancer do also remove the ovaries. A hysterectomy or partial hysterectomy is the removal of only the uterus, a total hysterectomy removes the uterus and cervix, while a radical hysterectomy usually removes the uterus, cervix, uterine tubes and ovaries.
There are important differences between these hysterectomies, so they should be named to clearly indicate the nature of the surgery.
Research has shown ambiguous terminology such as “hysterectomy” is associated with low patient understanding of the procedure and the female anatomy involved.
Uterectomy should be used for removal of the uterus, in combination with the medical terms for removal of the cervix, uterine tubes and ovaries as needed. For example, a uterectomy plus cervicectomy would refer to the removal of the uterus and the cervix.
This could help patients understand what is (and isn’t) being removed from their bodies and increase clarity for the wider public.
Other female body parts and procedures have male names
There are many eponyms (something named after a person) in anatomy and medicine, such as the Achilles tendon and Parkinson’s disease. They are almost exclusively the names of white men.
Eponyms for female anatomy and procedures include the Fallopian tubes, Pouch of Douglas, and Pap smear.
The anatomical term for Fallopian tubes is uterine tubes. “Uterine” indicates these are attached to the uterus, which reinforces their important role in fertility.
The Pouch of Douglas is the space between the rectum and uterus. Using the anatomical name (rectouterine pouch) is important, because this a common site for endometriosis and can explain any associated bowel symptoms.
Pap smear gives no indication of its location or function. The new cervical screening test is named exactly that, which clarifies it samples cells of the cervix. This helps people understand this tests for risk of cervical cancer.
In line with increasing awareness and discussions around female reproductive health and medical misogyny, now is the time to improve terminology. We must ensure the names of body parts and medical procedures reflect the relevant anatomy.
Theresa Larkin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Australia is in the grip of a teacher shortage. Teachers are burning out, warning the job is no longer sustainable and leaving the profession.
We know this is due to excessive workloads, stress and abuse. But research suggests there is another element at play: some teachers are also experiencing moral injury.
Moral injury occurs when teachers are forced to act against their values – leaving them feeling disillusioned and complicit in harm. In my study of 57 Australian teachers, many shared emotionally-charged accounts of being put in impossible situations at work.
What is moral injury?
Moral injury is when professionals cannot act in line with their values due to external demands.
It differs from burnout or compassion fatigue: burnout stems from chronic stress and compassion fatigue comes from emotional overload.
Moral injury was initially developed in military psychology but has since been applied to healthcare and education – professions where high-stakes ethical decision-making and institutional failures often collide.
Previous studies on moral injury in schools have shown how rigid disciplinary policies, high-stakes testing regimes and chronic underfunding often force teachers to act in ways that contradict their professional judgement. This can lead to frustration, guilt and professional disillusionment.
Recent studies have reframed moral injury as a systemic issue rather than an individual psychological condition. This is because institutional constraints – such as inflexible accountability measures and bureaucratic inefficiencies – prevent teachers from fulfilling their ethical responsibilities.
My new study
This research stems from an initial study, which looked at burnout in Australian teachers.
The initial study included a national sample of 2,000 educators. This new study is a subset of 57 teachers who participated in follow-up surveys and focus groups. The teachers were a mix of primary and secondary teachers and some also held leadership positions within their schools.
While the original study focused on compassion fatigue and burnout, a striking pattern emerged: teachers repeatedly described moral conflicts in their work.
‘It feels like I’m being forced to harm a child’
A key theme of the new research was teachers having to enforce school or departmental policies they believed were harmful. This was particularly the case when it came to discipline. As one teacher described:
The policy says I should suspend a student for attendance issues, but their home life is falling apart. How does that help? It feels like I’m being forced to harm a child instead of helping them.
Others talked about having to focus on standardised tests (for example, NAPLAN), rather than using their professional judgement to meet children’s individual needs. This is a contentious issue for teachers.
As one high school teacher told us:
We’re asked to push students through the curriculum even when we know they haven’t grasped the basics […] but we’re the ones who carry the guilt.
A primary teacher similarly noted:
Teaching to the test means leaving so many kids behind. It’s not what education should be.
‘It’s heartbreaking’
Teachers also spoke about teaching in environments that were not adequately resourced. In some schools, teacher shortages were so severe that unqualified staff were delivering classes:
We’ve got classes being taught by teacher aides […] but that’s because we don’t have enough staff.
Or in other classes, students were not getting the help they needed.
Larger class sizes and fewer staff mean that the kids who need the most attention are getting the least. It’s heartbreaking.
The emotional impact was profound, as one high school teacher told us:
At some point, you stop fighting. You realise that no matter how many times you raise concerns, nothing changes. It’s like the system is designed to wear you down until you just comply.
What can schools do to prevent moral injury?
While these findings are confronting, teachers also gave positive examples of what can buffer against moral injury in the workplace. This involved listening to teachers and including them in policies and decisions.
One primary teacher told us how their school had changed their disciplinary approach:
Our school’s push for restorative justice instead of punitive measures has been a game changer. It lets us address the root causes of issues instead of just punishing kids.
Others talked about being asked to collaborate with school leadership to address discipline issues. As one primary teacher said:
We helped create a new behaviour management framework. Having a say in the process made all the difference.
What now?
My research indicates when teachers are consistently asked to compromise their ethics, they don’t just burn out, they question the integrity of the entire system.
This suggests if we want to keep teachers in classrooms, we need to do more than lighten their workloads. We need to make sure they are no longer placed in positions where doing their job means going against their professional values.
This means teachers need to feel heard, respected and empowered in classrooms and schools.
Glenys Oberg does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dean J. Miller, Senior Lecturer, Appleton Institute, HealthWise Research Group, CQUniversity Australia
Many smartwatches, fitness and wellness trackers now offer sleep tracking among their many functions.
Wear your watch or ring to bed, and you’ll wake up to a detailed sleep report telling you not just how long you slept, but when each phase happened and whether you had a good night’s rest overall.
Surfing is done in the ocean, planes fly in the sky, and sleep occurs in the brain. So how can we measure sleep from the wrist or finger?
The gold standard of sleep measurement
If you’ve ever had a sleep study or seen someone with dozens of wires attached to their head, body and face, you’ve encountered polysomnography or PSG.
Eye movements, muscle tone, heart rate and brain activity are measured and assessed by experts to detect which stage of sleep or wakefulness a person is in.
When we sleep, we cycle through different stages, generally classified as light sleep, slow-wave sleep (also known as deep sleep), and rapid eye movement or REM sleep.
Each stage has an effect on brain activity, muscle tone and heart rate – which is why sleep scientists need so many wires.
Accurate? Absolutely. Convenient? Like two left shoes.
This is where the convenience of wearable at-home sleep trackers comes in.
What sensors are in sleep trackers?
Since the 1990s, sleep researchers have been using actigraphy to measure people’s sleep outside the laboratory.
An actigraphy device is similar to a wristwatch and uses accelerometers to measure the person’s movement. Coupled with sleep diaries, actigraphy assumes a person is awake when they’re moving and asleep when still. Simple.
While this is a scientifically accepted method of estimating sleep, it’s prone to mislabelling being awake but at rest (such as when reading a book) as sleep.
There’s one key addition that makes wrist-worn sleep trackers more accurate – PPG or photoplethysmography.
It’s hard to pronounce, but photoplethysmography is a key driver in the explosion of wearable health tracking.
It uses those little green lights on the skin-side of the wearable to track the amount of blood passing through your wrist at any given time. Clip-on pulse oximeters used by doctors are the same type of tech.
The addition of PPG to a wrist tracker allows for the measurement of raw data like heart rate and breathing rate. From this data, the wearable can estimate a number of physiological metrics, including sleep stages.
Since fitness wearables already have accelerometers and PPG to track your physical activity and heart rate, it makes sense to use these sensors to track sleep too. But how accurate are they?
Many fitness trackers leverage the sensors used to measure your fitness activities and heart rate for sleep tracking. The Conversation
How do scientists test sleep trackers?
Two main factors determine the accuracy of sleep trackers. How well does the device detect whether you’re asleep or awake? And how well can it distinguish the sleep stages?
To answer these questions, sleep scientists conduct validation studies. Participants sleep overnight in a laboratory while wearing both a sleep tracker and undergoing PSG.
Then, scientists compare the data from both methods in 30-second blocks called “epochs”. That means for a nine-hour sleep there will be 1,080 epochs to compare.
If both the device and PSG indicate “sleep” for the same epoch, they’re in agreement. If the device indicates “wake” and PSG indicates “sleep” for the same epoch, that’s considered an error. The same is done for sleep stages.
How accurate are sleep trackers?
In a 2022 study of several popular trackers, most correctly identified more than 90% of sleep epochs. But because light sleep and restful wake are so similar, wearables struggle more to estimate wakefulness, correctly identifying between 26% and 73% of wake epochs.
When it comes to sleep stages, wearables are less precise, correctly identifying between 53% and 60% of sleep stage epochs. However, for some devices and some sleep stages the precision can be greater. A recent validation study showed that a latest generation ring-shaped wearable didn’t differ from PSG for estimating light sleep and slow wave sleep.
In short, most modern sleep trackers do a decent job of estimating your total sleep each night. Some are more accurate for sleep staging, but this level of detail isn’t essential for improving the basics of your sleep.
Do I need a sleep tracker?
If you’re struggling with sleep, you should speak to your doctor. A sleep tracker can be a useful tool to help track your sleep goals, but ultimately your behaviour is what will improve sleep.
Keeping regular bedtimes and wake-up times, having a distraction-free sleep space, and keeping home lighting low in the evenings can all help to improve your sleep.
If you love tracking your sleep, make sure your device has been independently validated. While sleep stage data may not be essential, devices that perform well in estimating sleep stage also tend to be more accurate at detecting when you’re asleep or awake. When reviewing your data, look at long term trends in sleep rather than day-to-day variability.
If you don’t love your sleep tracker, you can take it off or ignore it. For some people, access to sleep data can negatively impact sleep by creating stress and anxiety for getting a perfect night’s sleep. Instead, focus on improving your healthy sleep strategies and pay attention to how you feel during the day.
Dr Dean J. Miller is a member of a research group at Central Queensland University that receives support for research (i.e., funding, equipment) from WHOOP Inc, a smart device maker.
Last week, one of the dark web’s most prominent drug marketplaces – Archetyp – was shut down in an international, multi-agency law enforcement operation following years of investigations. It was touted as a major policing win and was accompanied by a slick cyberpunk-themed video.
But those of us who have studied this space for years weren’t surprised. Archetyp may have been the most secure dark web market. But shutdowns like this have become a recurring feature of the dark web. And they are usually not a significant turning point.
The durability of these markets tells us that if policing responses keep following the same playbook, they will keep getting the same results. And by focusing so heavily on these hidden platforms, authorities are neglecting the growing digital harms in the spaces we all use.
One of the most popular dark web markets
Dark web markets mirror mainstream e-commerce platforms – think Amazon meets cybercrime. These are encrypted marketplaces accessed via the Tor Browser, a privacy-focused browser that hides users’ IP addresses. Buyers use cryptocurrency and escrow systems (third-party payment systems which hold funds until the transaction is complete) to anonymously purchase illicit drugs.
Usually these products are sent to the buyer by post and money transferred to the seller through the escrow system.
Archetyp launched in May 2020 and quickly grew to become one of the most popular dark web markets with an estimated total transaction volume of €250 million (A$446 million). It had more than 600,000 users worldwide and 17,000 listings consisting mainly of illicit drugs including MDMA, cocaine and methamphetamine.
Compared to its predecessors, Archetyp enforced enhanced security expectations from its users. These included an advanced encryption program known as “Pretty Good Privacy” and a cryptocurrency called Monero. Unlike Bitcoin, which records every payment on a public ledger, Monero conceals all transaction details by default which makes them nearly impossible to trace.
Despite the fact Archetyp had clearly raised the bar on security on the dark web, Operation Deep Sentinel – a collaborative effort between law enforcement agencies in six countries supported by Europol and Eurojust – took down the market. The front page has now been replaced by a banner.
While these publicised take-downs feel effective, evidence has shown such interventions only have short-term impacts and the dark web ecosystem will quickly adapt.
A persistent trade
These shutdowns aren’t new. Silk Road, AlphaBay, WallStreet and Monopoly Market are all familiar names in the digital graveyard of the dark web. Before these dark web marketplaces were shutdown, they sold a range of illegal products, from drugs to firearms.
Yet still, the trade persists. New markets emerge and old users return. In some cases, established sellers on closed-down markets are welcomed onto new markets as digital “refugees” and have joining fees waived.
What current policing strategies neglect is that dark web markets are not isolated to the storefronts that are the popular target of crackdowns. These are communities stretched across dark and surface web forums which develop shared tutorials and help one another adapt to any new changes. These closures bind users together and foster a shared resilience and collective experience in navigating these environments.
Law enforcement shutdowns are also only one type of disruption that dark web communities face. Dark web market users routinely face voluntary closures (the gradual retirement of a market), exit scams (sudden closures of markets where any money in escrow is taken), or even scheduled maintenance of these markets.
Ultimately, this disruption to accessibility is not a unique event. In fact, it is routine for individual’s participating in these dark web communities, par for the course of engaging in the markets.
This ability of dark web communities to thrive in disruptions reflects how dark web market users have become experts at adapting to risks, managing disruptions and rebuilding quickly.
The other emerging issue is that current policing efforts treat dark web markets as the core threat, which might miss the wider landscape of digital harms. Illicit drug sales, for example, are promoted on social media, where platform features such as recommendation systems are affording new means of illicit drug supply.
This is all alongside the countless cases of celebrities and social media influencers caught up in crypto pump-and-dump schemes, where hype is used to artificially inflate the price of a token before the creators sell off their holdings and leave investors with worthless tokens.
This shows that while the dark web gets all the attention, it’s far from the internet’s biggest problem.
Archetyp’s takedown might make headlines, but it won’t stop the trade of illicit drugs on the dark web. It should force us to think about where harm is really happening online and whether current strategies are looking in the wrong direction.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
SGI has released its 2024-25 Annual Reports, detailing a year marked by resilience, innovation, strategic investments, and a continued commitment to community safety and customer service.
“In 2024-25, SGI faced economic pressures, caused by rising claim costs, inflation, higher vehicle repair costs and extreme weather,” Minister Responsible for SGI Jeremy Harrison said. “Despite this, SGI’s strategic investment approach delivered affordable auto insurance rates and an $18.0 million dividend to support our government’s investments in services and infrastructure that benefit Saskatchewan families, communities and businesses.”
Saskatchewan Auto Fund*
Despite challenges, the Auto Fund maintained its commitment to affordability, customer service and traffic safety.
Auto Fund highlights for 2024-25 include:
$1.170 billion in total net claims incurred.
$1.127 billion in gross premium written.
$181.1 million in discounts to customers through the Safe Driver Recognition (SDR) and Business Recognition programs.
$257.7 million in investment earnings.
The Auto Fund continued to provide customers among the lowest auto insurance rates, on average, in Canada.
The Provincial Traffic Safety Fund grant program awarded $2.9 million in grants to 137 Saskatchewan community projects for road safety improvements.
$726.9 million in the Rate Stabilization Reserve, after a reduction of $198.0 million.
*The Saskatchewan Auto Fund is the self-sustaining, compulsory auto insurance plan administered by SGI on behalf of the province. The Auto Fund operates on a break-even basis over time.
SGI CANADA**
SGI CANADA reported solid financial performance, achieving net income of $43.2 million. This allowed the company to return a dividend of $18.0 million to the people of Saskatchewan.
Other SGI CANADA highlights in 2024-25:
$1.425 billion in gross premium written.
Premium growth of 3.8 per cent (all provinces).
$132.9 million in investment earnings.
$97.3 million in net catastrophe claim losses.
A multi-year, $2.0 million commitment to YWCA Regina to help fund the healing lodge at the new kikaskihtânaw Centre for Women and Families.
**SGI CANADA is the competitive side of SGI, offering property and casualty insurance in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia. SGI CANADA sells products through a network of close to 300 brokers who operate in more than 1,800 locations.
To see SGI’s full annual reports, visit:
Auto Fund: sgi.sk.ca/news-title=2024-25-financial-statements.
Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan’s (LGS’s) 2024-25 Annual Report, released today, shows net income before payments to the province’s General Revenue Fund (GRF) of $358.5 million on revenue of $742.6 million. Payments to the GRF were $135.0 million, resulting in net income after payments to the GRF of $223.5 million.
The report, covering LGS’s first full year of operations, also shows dividends to LGS’s shareholder, Crown Investments Corporation (CIC), of $190.0 million, which is the largest annual dividend declared by any commercial Crown corporation in CIC’s history.
LGS delivered this success on behalf of the people and businesses of Saskatchewan in partnership with its four gaming operators – SaskGaming, the Saskatchewan Indian Gaming Authority (SIGA), Western Canada Lottery Corporation (WCLC), and Sask Sport.
“The record payments provided by Lotteries and Gaming Saskatchewan in 2024-25 delivered a better quality of life for Saskatchewan families,” Minister Responsible for LGS Jeremy Harrison said. “More than 12,000 sport, culture and recreation groups benefited from $71.9 million in payments and $7.8 million in charitable gaming grants supported over 2,700 non-profit and charitable organizations throughout our province. Historic dividends also enabled our government to make important investments in priority areas including affordability, health care, education and community safety.”
“These stellar results were driven by increased guest spending in land-based casinos, online gaming, and VLTs resulting from strong economic conditions in the province,” LGS President and CEO Susan Flett said. “LGS also delivered for local businesses across the province this fiscal year with commissions totalling $61.1 million earned by VLT site contractors and lottery retailers.”
In 2024-25, proceeds from gaming in Saskatchewan were delivered as follows:
$190.0 million in total dividends declared by LGS to be paid to CIC (much of this flows to the GRF to help fund government priorities).
$81.2 million to the First Nations Trust which distributes proceeds to Saskatchewan First Nations for a range of purposes that benefit communities.
$71.9 million to Sask Sport, SaskCulture, and the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association to help support more than 12,000 sport, culture and recreation groups in communities across Saskatchewan.
$47.4 million in commissions earned by more than 560 VLT site contractors across the province.
$32.7 million to Community Development Corporations which distribute a portion of profits generated by casinos to First Nation and non-First Nation organizations in the communities in which SIGA casinos are located.
$13.7 million in commissions earned by about 1,000 lottery retailers across the province.
$11.1 million in community sponsorships and exhibition association payments from Saskatchewan’s two land-based casino operators SIGA and SaskGaming.
$7.8 million in charitable gaming grants paid by LGS to nonprofit and charitable organizations across the province.
$7.2 million to the Community Initiatives Fund which offers financial support to Saskatchewan community projects.
$6.7 million from the lottery licensing fee (paid by Sask Sport to LGS) to the GRF to help fund government priorities.
$4.2 million to the Clarence Campeau Development Fund which helps support Métis businesses, entrepreneurs and communities.
$3.0 million to the First Nations Addictions Rehabilitation Foundation.
LGS was established in 2023 as the provider of conduct and management for casinos, VLTs, lotteries and online gaming in Saskatchewan, including oversight of PlayNow, the province’s only legal online gaming platform.
A California man pleaded guilty today to laundering more than $4.6 million in connection with a years-long scheme to defraud Medicare of nearly $16 million through sham hospice companies.
According to court documents, Mihran Panosyan, 46, of Winnetka, worked with others to launder the proceeds of a massive Medicare fraud scheme, transferring the fraudulently obtained funds between multiple accounts before spending them. The scheme comprised three parts. First, three of Panosyan’s co-defendants used the identities of foreign nationals no longer in the United States to operate several sham hospice companies. Panosyan and his co-defendants maintained fraudulent identification documents, bank accounts, checkbooks, and credit and debit cards in the names of purported foreign owners. Second, the co-defendants caused the submission of false and fraudulent claims to Medicare for hospice services for patients who were not terminally ill and who never requested nor received hospice services. As a result, Medicare paid the sham hospices nearly $16 million. Third, Panosyan and his co-defendants laundered the proceeds of the scheme to conceal the source of the funds and their control over them. Panosyan transferred proceeds of the Medicare fraud between accounts in the names of the purported foreign owners, the sham hospices, and other shell corporations, laundering more than $4.6 million in fraudulently obtained funds that he used to purchase real estate, pay for private school for his minor child, and pay for other personal expenses.
Panosyan pleaded guilty to money laundering and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 8. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Panosyan’s co-defendant, Petros Fichidzhyan, previously pleaded guilty to health care fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering. Last month, Fichidzhyan was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Trial against the other three defendants in this case is scheduled to begin July 29.
The guilty plea today is the most recent conviction in the Justice Department’s ongoing effort to combat hospice fraud in the greater Los Angeles area. Last year, a doctor was convicted at trial for his role in a scheme to bill Medicare for hospice services patients did not need, and two other defendants were sentenced for their roles in a hospice fraud scheme.
Matthew R. Galeotti, Head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, Assistant Director in Charge Akil Davis of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office, and Acting Special Agent in Charge Omar Pérez Aybar of the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) Los Angeles Regional Office made the announcement.
The FBI and HHS-OIG are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Michael Bacharach, Sarah E. Edwards, and Allison L. McGuire of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section are prosecuting the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara B. Vavere of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California is handling asset forfeiture.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of 9 strike forces operating in 27 federal districts, has charged more than 5,800 defendants who collectively have billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $30 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Jennifer L. Bengston Cook, 56, of Greer, was sentenced to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud. She was also ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution.
According to statements made in court, Cook was a part-time bookkeeper for a small business in Duncan for more than a decade. During her employment she wrote checks to herself from the company’s bank accounts without permission and deposited them into her personal bank account. To disguise her theft, in the business’ ledger she listed the checks as void, and in QuickBooks she listed the checks as either void, paid to other employees, or paid to vendors. On the memo line of some of the checks, she wrote it was for payroll and listed the payroll dates. In some instances, she paid herself three payroll checks for the same pay period. On some checks, she wrote on the memo line that it was a reimbursement. Cook also used the company’s bank account to pay her personal credit card bills.
The criminal conduct was discovered when Cook was on vacation and her supervisor needed to find a record of a vendor payment. After the discovery, Cook’s employment was terminated, and law enforcement was notified. She was charged with multiple counts of wire fraud in federal court.
U.S. District Judge Jacquelin D. Austin presided over the case and sentenced Cook to 36 months in federal prison and ordered her to pay $2,276,830.09 in restitution. There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the FBI Columbia Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Watkins handled this prosecution.
Source: United States Senator for New Hampshire Jeanne Shaheen
Grantee
Purpose
Amount
Coos County Family Health Services
To relocate and expand Coos County Family Health Services’ existing North Country dental clinic to a location in downtown Berlin. This new construction is the result of increased demand from the expansion of the adult Medicaid dental benefits in New Hampshire in 2023. The facility will be approximately 3,000 square feet, fully handicapped accessible, equipped for the work of visiting dental surgeons or other specialists, and feature space for student training of dental professionals.
$222,437
HealthFirst Family Care Center
To renovate a recently acquired 2200 sq ft neighboring building, and connect it to their 7500 sq ft existing facility. This expansion is motivated by the 200 new patient requests per month that HealthFirst received in 2024. In the same year, the Franklin location served 3,054 patients with 7,961 visits. Of these patients, 1,679 were low-income. The expansion will add 5-10 permanent new full-time positions.
$1,000,000
Town of Boscawen – Feasibility Study
The Town of Boscawen is pursuing funds from the NH Park’s Land & Water Conservation Fund, for which they have received preliminary approval. This feasibility project will produce an engineered site plan, surveying, architectural services, and meet other technical requirements for the grant. Through the full funding from NHDP, the project will culminate in a 50×30′ timber framed outdoor picnic pavilion, a Merrimack River overlook, new restroom facilities, major redesign and reconstruction of the park access road, additional parking, and full ADA accessibility to existing and new facilities.
$39,000
Franconia Children’s Center
Franconia Children’s Center will acquire the building they have rented for over a decade and renovate that building to bring it up to current standards. This will allow them to add 30 new childcare slots. They are one of four centers within a 30-mile radius that accepts children under the age of three. Their service area includes 73 employers. Without acquisition, the trust that owns the building will sell the property and displace the childcare center, preserving an important childcare resource in the Franconia area.
$428,629.72
Town of Newport- Unity Road Waterlines
The Town of Newport will continue a Phase 2 replacement of water lines on Unity Road, with the final goal of replacing nearly 4000 feet of line. Much of the existing system is over 100 years old, with some portions having been replaced in the 1960s. This water line is the sole water distribution system connecting the Gilman Pond and Pollards Mill sources to the downtown. It serves over 1600 homes and businesses, including Sturm Ruger, a local employer that employees 1200 people in the region.
$512,000
New Hampshire Boat Museum
The NH Boat Museum will renovate their 6,500 sq ft main floor, to include community educational and meeting spaces, flexible exhibition spaces, offices, and conference areas. This is a Phase 2 renovation, building on a successful Phase 1 renovation in 2024 that increased their number of visitors, group tours, and venue events by 50%. The renovation will allow the museum to accept new community space uses, for which they presently do not have capacity. In addition to community meeting space, the renovation would allow for year-round operation of the museum. The facility is located in Moultonborough’s West Village Overlay District, slated for further economic and housing development.
$250,000
Littleton Community Center
Littleton Community Center will renovate the carriage house adjacent to their main house behind Main St in Littleton. This project will revitalize the carriage house, repairing the roof and some structural issues, as well as work on the grounds and the installation of energy efficient HVAC, gutters, fire/security systems, and internet/ AV utilities. This will enable the community center to host large events of between 50-100 people.
$1,000,000
Town of Bow – Bow Mills Redevelopment Feasibility Project
This project would determine the feasibility of a municipal water line extension, to activate 175 acres of developable land in the South St/Exit 1 area of Bow. Funds will support public engagement processes to better understand community priorities around the types of development planned. This project seeks to capitalize on the NH DOT I-89 Exit 1 redesign and reconstruction, which would construct direct driveway access to the development area from the exit ramp.
$52,265
Franklin Pierce University
Franklin Pierce University will expand their wastewater treatment facilities in light of new environmental regulations, adding a third Rapid Infiltration Basin. This will increase their capacity for future occupancy and usage. Franklin Pierce currently enrolls around 1000 undergraduate students annually, 250 of whom are receiving training for healthcare roles in nursing, as physicians’ assistants, and in physical therapy.
$960,000
Town of Groton – Salt and Sand Sheds
The Town of Groton will construct salt and sand sheds on the property of their recently USDA funded Public Works Building. The Public Works Building was originally slated to include these sheds, but budget constraints resulted in the project being phased, to pursue additional funding. Relocation of their sheds and public works building became necessary following increased flooding in their current location.
$125,000
Town of Plymouth – Low Service Zone Tank Replacement
The Town of Plymouth will replace one of two large water tanks serving numerous businesses, various public service providers, a significant portion of Plymouth State University’s campus, and most shops and restaurants along Main St. The 2.5-million-gallon concrete storage tank receives water pulled up by a well pumping facility. It was constructed in 1972 and relined in 2009, but a 2015 assessment demonstrated significant deterioration, and a 2023 assessment showed critical deterioration.
$1,000,000
Partnership for Public Health
The Partnership for Public Health will renovate their existing community public health building in Laconia to make it ADA-compliant, install new electrical & HVAC systems and enhance operational security through both physical security systems and a generator. This renovation will ultimately reduce operational costs, increase their capacity, and improve emergency response capabilities for the emergency preparedness group hosted by PPH. In addition, PPH offers health education, drug use prevention, chronic disease management, and resource navigation programs.
$399,050
Newport Chamber of Commerce
The Newport Chamber of Commerce will renovate their historic railroad station, built in 1897, into a Welcome Center and home for the Chamber of Commerce, which presently has no dedicated space in the town. The railroad station is located just behind the center of Newport’s Main Street. The renovation will include a rental space to support the costs of maintaining the building, and as a community resource and meeting space. The project will bridge the Town’s Main Street to other local amenities, such as the Community Center, Meadow Park, Community Garden, Dog Park, and the Newport-Claremont rail trail.
$500,000
Main Roof Replacement – John Hay Estate at the Fells
The Fells nonprofit will replace the roof of the Main House at the John Hay Estate, built in 1891. The roof was last replaced in the early 1990s. This project would shingle the roof in historical wood shingles and fix sections of copper roofing. The Estate hosts arts events, educational programs, weddings and ceremonies, and family festivals. Open to the public year-round, the estate has around 10,000 visitors each year. In addition to the property being open for nature hikes, they host around 30 classes, workshops and other programs annually, specializing in ecology, nature, horticulture, history, and art.
Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) today urged their colleagues to reject proposed Republican Medicaid cuts that are projected to inflict severe harm on millions of families, citing a new analysis estimating that the GOP’s plans to slash health care would push 5.4 million people – including 2.2 million people currently on Medicaid and 3.2 million people with coverage through the Affordable Care Act – into medical debt and increase the total medical debt that Americans owe by $50 billion – a 15 percent jump.
“Health coverage is prevention. It’s not just treating illness; it’s protecting families from financial ruin. Republicans are trying to gut Medicaid to give tax breaks to the wealthy, and working families will pay the price with their health, their homes, and their financial futures. We should be focused on expanding access to health care and lowering costs, not ripping coverage away and sticking people with thousands of dollars in new debt. We’re calling on our Republican colleagues to drop this dangerous proposal before it’s too late,”said the senators.
Recent analysis published by Third Way, a centrist think tank, found that families losing coverage because of the Republican health care cuts could see their medical debt increase by as much as $22,800. The analysis found that, if the GOP plan is enacted, 107,001 more people in Virginia will be saddled with medical debt, and the amount of medical debt across Virginia would increase by $1,001,789,466.
Medical debt already affects 100 million people in the U.S., amounting to $269 billion in unpaid medical bills. According to a recent Gallup survey, 31 million Americans report having to borrow nearly $74 billion between 2023 and 2024 to pay for health care, and 58 percent of Americans believe they would experience medical debt if faced with a health event. Despite that, Republicans in Congress are pushing a package that, if enacted, will impose the largest cuts to health care in U.S. history and lead to 16 million people in the U.S. losing health insurance coverage.
Sens. Warner and Kaine have been sounding the alarm about the effects of the GOP plan on Virginia families if Republicans in Congress continue to insist on gutting vital programs in order to pay for tax breaks for the richest Americans, noting that the GOP bill would strip health insurance from more than 302,000 Virginians, cut SNAP benefits, raise energy costs for Virginia households, jeopardize more than 20,000 Virginia jobs, raise taxes on minimum wage workers while giving the richest 0.1% a $188,000 tax cut, make tax filing more expensive, explode the deficit, and devastate rural communities.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
PM meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine: 23 June 2025
The Prime Minister welcomed President Zelenskyy to Downing Street this afternoon.
The Prime Minister welcomed President Zelenskyy to Downing Street this afternoon.
The Prime Minister began by sharing his condolences with President Zelenskyy on the deaths of five Ukrainians following Russian strikes overnight.
Looking ahead to the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, the leaders welcomed the Secretary General’s focus on the Alliance’s steadfast support, including through significant pledges of financial support from Allies.
The Prime Minister reiterated the importance of ensuring Ukraine’s Armed Forces had the defensive equipment they needed to push back Russian forces, while also working towards a just and lasting peace.
Discussing how the UK and Ukraine could go further on military cooperation, the leaders discussed opportunities to expand industrial collaboration between defence companies in both countries.
Turning to Coalition of the Willing planning, the leaders agreed the grouping should convene virtually in the coming weeks to update members on next steps.
Both looked forward to seeing one another again at The Hague Summit tomorrow.
