Priority question for written answer P-001393/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Lefteris Nikolaou-Alavanos (NI)
These days, residents from almost every corner of Greece are witnessing the same scene unfold time and time again, watching on as the odd burst of heavy rain leaves streets, homes and shops flooded and crops destroyed in the blink of an eye. The islands of the Cyclades, such as Paros and Mykonos, and Crete, particularly Chania, were particularly affected. There were also serious problems in mainland Greece, including in Mesolongi, Corinth and Ilia.
As is acknowledged in the directive on the management of flood risks (Directive 2007/60/EC) itself, Member States should base their assessments, maps and plans on appropriate best practice and best available technologies not entailing excessive costs in the field of flood risk management.
Can the Commission therefore answer the following:
1.What view does it take of the request for full direct compensation for those affected – waiving the unacceptable rules of the EU Solidarity Fund – and for the mobilisation of additional funds?
2.What view does it take of the fact that even the very limited funds available under the Cohesion Fund for the regions – which are also used for flood protection projects – are being handed over to the defence industry to meet the needs of the EU’s war economy, exposing the people of Europe to incalculable risks?
3.What view does it take of the fact that the cost-benefit criterion, as described also in Directive 2007/60/EC, means that basic infrastructure projects are either put on hold for years or not implemented at all, leaving people unprotected?
European Union Global Gateway strategy supports investments in mobile broadband networks in Tanzania and Madagascar.
The project will notably double 4G coverage in both Madagascar and Tanzania; and will continue the roll-out of 5G sites.
The European Investment Bank (EIB Global) today announced a financing package of US$ 100 million to AXIAN Telecom to support the expansion of its mobile broadband network infrastructure across Madagascar and Tanzania. The project will expand 4G mobile broadband network infrastructure across the two countries as well as continuing the introduction of 5G coverage.
This new Global Gateway investment, backed by a budgetary guarantee of the European Commission, will enhance access to high-speed communications, accelerate inclusive digitalisation, and drive sustainable development across the two countries. This investment will help reduce geographic inequality of telecom access in Africa and emerging markets.
AXIAN Telecom is a leading pan-African telecommunications company with a strong market position in its core areas of operation. AXIAN Telecom currently serves over 44 million subscribers and is present in nine Sub-Saharan African countries with its key mobile and fixed operations being in Tanzania, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo and Comoros.
US$ 60 million of the financing will benefit Tanzania and US$ 40 million will go to Madagascar. AXIAN Telecom operates under the Yas brand in both countries.
AXIAN Telecom’s CEO, Mr Hassan Jaber said, “The US$ 100 million EIB Global financing will help us expand mobile phone infrastructure in Madagascar and Tanzania and benefit millions of people. This new large-scale network investment will pave the way for socio-economic growth, digital inclusion, and better opportunities.”
“Digital connectivity opens doors for education, business, healthcare and social inclusion,” stated European Investment Bank Vice-President Ambroise Fayolle. “This new investment demonstrates the EIB’s commitment to empowering communities, fostering sustainable development, and driving positive change through enhanced access to affordable high-speed communications.”
Improved connectivity plays a pivotal role in advancing socio-economic development, and this investment under the European Union Global Gateway Strategy aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By expanding a resilient and energy efficient mobile broadband infrastructure, the new EIB Global investment will unlock numerous SDG benefits, including sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, leading to the creation of quality jobs. Fragile communities will gain access to the tools and resources necessary to connect with the wider world, fostering knowledge sharing, e-commerce, and innovation.
The European Union Ambassadors to Madagascar and Tanzania have expressed their support for the EIB’s investment and its significant impact on the countries’ development.
Deputy Head of the EU Delegation to Madagascar and the Union of the Comoros Laurent d’Ersu stated that “This commitment from the EU through the EIB further demonstrates, in difficult times, our desire to contribute to the sustainable development of Madagascar through private investments in the formal sector and thereby generate growth and open up opportunities for all.This investment will enhance mobile broadband connectivity and bring vital opportunities for economic and social growth to all corners of Madagascar. The expansion of 4G and the introduction of 5G in a context of fair competition between telecommunication operators will be key drivers of digital inclusion, supporting education, innovation, and the creation of new jobs.”
EU Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Christine Grau, said, “The European Union is a key partner for Tanzania in advancing the government’s digital transformation agenda. Our partnership is broad, covering policy support as well as infrastructure and investments. This EIB Global investment in AXIAN Telecom, made possible through a European Union guarantee, is a concrete example of our commitment to invest in digital connectivity. The European Union believes that in the area of connectivity, reinforcing public-private partnerships is crucial for a human-centric model of digital transformation to ensure that no one is left behind.”
EIB Global is a key financier for telecom and digitalisation in Africa and emerging markets. The current project supports the objectives of the EU’s Digital4Development (D4D) initiative launched in 2017. It feeds into the Global Gateway strategy for Africa that seeks to mobilise up to €150 billion by 2030 for the development of physical and digital infrastructures across the continent. By collaborating with local stakeholders, telecom operators and government agencies, EIB Global aims to create a comprehensive and inclusive digital ecosystem
Though AXIAN Telecom is operating in a highly competitive market, the burgeoning youth population across countries of operation is expected to accelerate growth of demand for mobile communications and digital services.
Background information
About EIB Global
The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances investments that contribute to EU policy objectives.
EIB Global is the EIB Group’s specialised arm devoted to increasing the impact of international partnerships and development finance, and a key partner of Global Gateway. We aim to support €100 billion of investment by the end of 2027 — around one-third of the overall target of this EU initiative. Within Team Europe, EIB Global fosters strong, focused partnerships alongside fellow development finance institutions and civil society. EIB Global brings the EIB Group closer to people, companies and institutions through our offices across the world. High-quality, up-to-date photos of our headquarters for media use are available here.
About Global Gateway
The Global Gateway strategy is the EU’s positive offer to reduce the worldwide investment disparity and boost smart, clean and secure connections in digital, energy and transport sectors, and to strengthen health, education and research systems. In a Team Europe approach that brings together the European Union, EU Member States, and European development finance institutions, together we aim to mobilise up to €300 billion in public and private investments from 2021 to 2027, creating essential links rather than dependencies, and closing the global investment gap.
The EU-Africa Global Gateway investment package consists of €150 billion in investments to help accelerate Africa’s digital and green transition as well as support sustainable jobs growth and stronger health systems. More information on the investment package as well as country specific flagships can be found here.
About AXIAN Telecom:
AXIAN Telecom is a pan-African telecommunications service provider operating in nine markets through its subsidiaries and affiliates in Tanzania, Madagascar, Togo, Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, Réunion, Mayotte, and the Comoros. It operates across three key business segments, providing mobile and fixed networks as well as digital infrastructure and mobile financial services.
AXIAN Telecom has unified its mobile network operators in Madagascar, Comoros, Senegal, Togo and Tanzania under a single brand, Yas, while its fintech operations in Tanzania, Togo and Senegal are now branded as Mixx by Yas. The Yas brand aligns to AXIAN Telcom’s aim to create a pan-African powerhouse which brings a more streamlined customer experience and innovations that are solutions driven with real impact.
Yas positions itself as a trusted partner, dedicated to helping customers unlock their digital potential. By uniting its operations under one brand, AXIAN Telecom can better serve its customers leveraging the combined resources and assets of a strong, unified pan-African business under one brand.
AXIAN Telecom is Africa’s 6th largest mobile operator serving more than 44 million customers and is a market disruptor, having expanded through active acquisitions and heavy network investments since 2015. The group systematically ensures that its businesses have a sustainable and positive impact on the daily lives of millions of people.
Question for written answer E-001334/2025 to the Commission Rule 144 Şerban Dimitrie Sturdza (ECR)
In 1993, the Hungarian Parliament adopted Act LXXVII on the Rights of National and Ethnic Minorities, which officially recognised 13 minorities: Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, German, Greek, Polish, Roma, Romanian, Rusyn, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian and Ukrainian.
The Jewish minority, which is estimated at around 200 000 people, is the second largest minority in Hungary after the Roma minority, and is the largest Jewish minority in any EU country in comparison to the overall number of members of society. However, the Jewish minority is not officially recognised in Hungary, the only EU country not to do so.
Before the Holocaust, Hungary was home to between 756 000 and 800 000 Jews, almost 600 000 of whom died during the Nazi and Hungarian persecution. In 1946, there were a total of 185 000 Jewish survivors in Hungary, and 224 000 Jewish survivors in territories controlled by Hungary and under Hungarian administration during the Second World War.
1.Has the Commission referred to its services, at any point since 1993, this specific case of non-recognition of the Jewish minority in Hungary?
2.What steps will the Commission take in the political dialogue with Hungary to ensure the official recognition and protection of the Jewish minority in Hungary?
1. The Commission stepped up actions on crime prevention through the ‘EU Roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime’[1] and is engaging with stakeholders to strengthen cooperation among competent authorities and with Internet companies through the EU Internet Forum[2]. The Commission presented the ProtectEU Internal Security Strategy on 1 April 2025[3] and announced that it will develop an Action Plan on the Protection of Children against Crime, encompassing the online and offline dimensions. In addition, the Commission adopted the ‘BIK+ Strategy’[4] to protect and empower children and young people online, designed ‘A comprehensive approach to mental health’[5] and will carry out an EU-wide inquiry on the impacts of social media on mental health and wellbeing, focusing on young people.
2. Under the Digital Services Act ( DSA ), online service providers must take appropriate measures to ensure a high level of privacy, safety and security for minors[6], and the Commission is preparing Guidelines. Providers of very large online platforms (VLOPs) and search engines (VLOSEs) must assess the risks that the design and functioning of their services may have on minors, adopt proportionate and effective risk mitigation measures, and submit a risk assessment report yearly.
3. The Commission has opened formal proceedings to assess whether TikTok, Facebook and Instagram may have breached the DSA in areas related to the protection of minors. The Commission is continuously monitoring compliance of VLOPs and VLOSEs with their obligations under the DSA and remains ready to open additional formal investigations when needed.
[1] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council on the EU roadmap to fight drug trafficking and organised crime, Brussels, 18.10.2023 COM(2023) 641 final.
[2] EU Internet Forum Senior Officials Meeting ‘Tackling online harms’, 12 December 2024, 14:00 — 17:30, Brussels and online, and EU Internet Forum Technical Meeting ‘Preventing the online recruitment of minors by criminal networks’, 5 March 2025, 10:30 — 12:30, online. For further information, see https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/networks/european-union-Internet-forum
[4] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on A Digital Decade for children and youth: the new European strategy for a better Internet for kids (BIK+), Brussels, 11.5.2022, COM(2022) 212 final.
[5] Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a comprehensive approach to mental health, Brussels, 7.6.2023 COM(2023) 298 final. For further information, s ee also https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promoting-our-european-way-life/european-health-union/comprehensive-approach-mental-health_en; https://health.ec.europa.eu/document/download/6317c605-5f5d-4d4f-9c8a-d5c93e869814_en?filename=ncd_tracking-framework-mh_en.pdf
[6] Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 October 2022 on a Single Market for Digital Services and amending Directive 2000/31/EC (Digital Services Act) (Text with EEA relevance).
Source: US Senator for New Mexico Ben Ray Luján
New Mexico Delegation Moves to Protect Sacred Site for Years and Generations to Come
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and U.S. Representatives Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), and Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) reintroduced the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, legislation to protect Chaco Canyon and the greater sacred landscape surrounding the Chaco Culture National Historical Park. The legislation will prevent future leasing and development of oil, gas, and minerals on non-Indian federal lands within a 10-mile buffer zone around the park. This proposed Chaco Protection Zone will preserve the sacred sites and cultural patrimony within Chaco Canyon and the surrounding landscape for generations to come.
Located in northwestern New Mexico, the Greater Chaco landscape is a region of great cultural, spiritual, and historical significance to many Pueblos and Tribes that contains living sacred sites. Chaco was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is one of only 24 such sites in the United States.
In 2023, the Biden administration announced it would commence a 20-year Administrative Withdrawal of non-Indian federal lands in the 10-mile buffer zone. That welcome step has been successful and is still in place but is under threat from the Trump Administration and Republicans in Congress. By contrast, this legislation would provide permanent protections for the Greater Chaco Region by withdrawing non-Indian federal lands from new mineral development in perpetuity.
“Chaco Culture National Historical Park – and the Greater Chaco Region – is one of the world’s greatest treasures that must be protected for our future generations. Chaco holds deep spiritual and cultural significance for Tribes and Pueblos and is one of only a handful of World Heritage Sites in the United States,” said Luján. “With the New Mexico Delegation, I am proud to reintroduce legislation to permanently protect the Greater Chaco Region. This legislation is a longstanding priority for Pueblo and Tribal communities, environmental advocates, and the New Mexico Delegation to ensure we protect our sacred sites. I look forward to working with my colleagues to protect Chaco Canyon and the Greater Chaco Region for generations to come.”
“Chaco Canyon is one of the most important living cultural landscapes on the planet. It holds deep meaning for many communities and Pueblos across New Mexico,” said Heinrich. “Our Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act will prevent new oil and gas development in the vicinity of Chaco Culture National Historical Park and permanently protect the Chaco Canyon landscape. I am proud to stand alongside the Pueblos, Tribal Nations, and New Mexicans who have called for permanent protection of this irreplaceable and sacred landscape.”
“When we visit Chaco Canyon and the Greater Chaco Region, we better understand America’s ancient history and wisdom about astronomy. It is a sacred area that educates, inspires, and compels us to reflect on our shared history and the communities we love today,” said Leger Fernández. “I am reintroducing the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act, along with my colleagues in the New Mexico Congressional Delegation, so that we may preserve this irreplaceable, living landscape that so many Indian Tribes and Pueblos still use for traditional purposes. I will continue to work with surrounding communities and Tribal nations to preserve this jewel of New Mexico so future generations may be humbled by its beauty.”
“Pueblo and Tribal leaders have fought to protect the sacred and ancestral lands of Chaco Canyon for generations, and the United States government must step up to ensure these lands remain protected,” said Stansbury, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee. “This legislation will protect sacred lands and sites for future generations, but we must not stop here. Protecting places like Chaco Canyon from the Trump Administration takes all of us. I am proud to join Pueblo and Tribal leaders, and the New Mexico delegation to re-introduce this critical piece of legislation.”
“Chaco Canyon is sacred to Tribal communities and vital to our understanding of the Southwest’s cultural and environmental heritage. I’m proud to stand with leaders across New Mexico to permanently protect this irreplaceable site from future drilling and destruction. We have a responsibility to honor the voices of Indigenous leaders, safeguard our public lands, and preserve Chaco’s legacy for generations to come,” said Vasquez.
“This legislation reflects the APCG’s long-standing commitment to protect Chaco Canyon and the Greater Chaco Region. Through countless meetings, cultural resource studies, and tireless advocacy, we have guided this effort forward. We extend our profound appreciation to Senator Luján, Representative Leger Fernández, our New Mexico Congressional Delegation, and all who stand with our Pueblos in ensuring these sacred landscapes remain a source of inspiration and cultural continuity for generations to come,” said James R. Mountain, Chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors.
“As a Diné allottee and community organizer, I welcome the reintroduction of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act as a critical step to defend our land, air, water, and sacred sites. For too long, extractive industries have threatened our health, culture, and future generations. This Act moves us closer to honoring the deep spiritual and cultural significance of Chaco while protecting the integrity of our homelands,” said Joseph Franklin Hernandez, Indigenous Energy Organizer, Naeva, Navajo Nation.
“We are thankful and grateful for the reintroduction of the Chaco Cultural Heritage Protection Act. This would enhance our connections to the land and tell the generations ahead of the history of ancestral knowledge in astronomy, architecture, and independence. All of this in the time of pillage and extraction, the tourism economy will be enhanced. To Our Congressional Leaders, you have our vote of endorsement,” said Former Navajo Councilman Daniel Tso.
To ensure Indian lands and non-federal lands retain rights to develop their lands as the surrounding area is protected, this legislation strengthens protections for infrastructure and development on private, state, and Tribal lands, including Navajo allotments. According to a 2022 federal assessment of the proposed 10-mile buffer zone, only 10 Navajo allotments will be highly impacted by a withdrawal.
The Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act is supported by the All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG), Archaeology Southwest, Native Lands Institute, New Mexico Wild, Nuestra Tierra Conservation Project, New Mexico Wildlife Federation, New Mexico Voices for Children, The Wilderness Society, Conservation Lands Foundation, Environment New Mexico, Sierra Club, and the National Wildlife Federation.
Other supporting quotes can be found here.
A summary of the bill is available here. Full text of the bill is available here.
Source: United States Senator for Vermont – Bernie Sanders
WASHINGTON, April 10 – As the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress plan massive cuts to Medicaid, which supports home care for millions of seniors and Americans with disabilities, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today announced he would join hundreds of care workers, domestic workers, family caregivers, and people with disabilities for a Care Workers Town Hall on Friday.
Details
What: Care Can’t Wait Town Hall with Sen. Bernie Sanders and the National Domestic Workers Alliance
When: Friday, April 11, 10:00 a.m. ET
Where: Location available upon RSVP. The town hall will also be livestreamed on Sanders’ social media.
Press RSVP: Press interested in attending should RSVP with press@sanders.senate.gov.
Source: United States Senator for Virginia Tim Kaine
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) and his Senate colleagues introduced the Gas-Operated Semi-Automatic Firearms Exclusion (GOSAFE) Act and the bipartisan Banning Unlawful Machinegun Parts (BUMP) Act, two pieces of legislation that will help protect communities from gun violence by limiting large capacity ammunition feeding devices and prohibiting the sale of bump stocks, devices that are used to turn semiautomatic weapons into machine guns by increasing their rate of fire.
“No Virginian should live in fear of a mass shooting,” said Kaine. “There is so much more Congress can and must do to reduce the risk of gun violence, and I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing these bills to strengthen regulations on semiautomatic firearms and outlaw modification devices that can turn legal firearms into tools for mass shootings.”
The GOSAFE Act would regulate firearms based on their inherently dangerous and unusually lethal mechanisms, as opposed to focusing on a particular model of firearm or cosmetic features that can be easily modified. This would limit large capacity ammunition feeding devices and keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of individuals who should not have them.
The bipartisan BUMP Act would prohibit the sale of bump stocks and other devices or modifications that allow semiautomatic firearms to increase their rate of fire and effectively operate as fully automatic weapons.
Text of the GOSAFE Act is available here.
In addition to Kaine, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), John Fetterman (D-PA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).
Text of the BUMP Act is available here.
In addition to Kaine, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Susan Collins (R-ME), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Fetterman (D-PA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Jack Reed (D-RI), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Tina Smith (D-MN), Angus King (I-ME), Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Patty Murray (D-WA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Kaine has long supported legislation to prevent gun violence, including his Virginia Plan to Reduce Gun Violence Act, which would federally enact a series of commonsense gun violence prevention measures adopted by Virginia. This legislation would mandate reporting of lost and stolen firearms, prevent children from accessing firearms, and implement a one-handgun-a-month policy. In 2022, Kaine helped pass the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, landmark legislation passed in the wake of the horrific mass shootings in Uvalde, TX and Buffalo, NY to improve background checks, strengthen safeguards for victims of domestic violence, and create incentives for states to take the initiative to remove firearms from individuals who pose a high risk of harming themselves or others.
Source: United States Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock – Georgia
Senator Reverend Warnock’s New Legislation to Support Working Families with Most Ambitious Expansion of Child Tax Credit to Date
The American Family Act would nearly double the Child Tax Credit (CTC) from its current rate
The bill would also provide a “Baby Bonus”, a $2,400 one-time payment for newborns
The legislation adjusts for inflation and makes the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for low-income parents
If no action is taken and current provisions expire at the end of the year, the CTC will be slashed in half
Since entering the Senate in 2021, Senator Reverend Warnock has been a leading advocate for expanding the CTC to support working families and lift children out of poverty
Senator Reverend Warnock: “Expanding the Child Tax Credit is not only the right thing to do morally, but also the smart thing to do economically; I will keep fighting to get this done and ensure Congress invests in our children and families with more urgency than we invest in our country’s millionaires and billionaires”
Above: Senator Reverend Warnock meets one of his smaller constituents
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-GA), alongside Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO), led the introduction of ambitious legislation to provide the most generous expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to date. Relative to the current CTC, the American Family Act would double the CTC for children under 6 years old and nearly double it for kids 6 and up. The bill would also provide a “Baby Bonus”, a $2,400 one-time payment for newborns.
Under current law, the CTC is $2,000 per child ages 0-16. If no action is taken and current provisions expire at the end of the year, that would be cut in half to $1,000 per child. Senator Warnock’s proposal would increase this tax cut for families in Georgia and across the country by providing a $4,320 credit for children under 6 years old, and a $3,600 credit for children 6-17, as well as providing the Baby Bonus.
“With the most ambitious expansion of the Child Tax Credit to date, this legislation would put more money back into the pockets of working families while helping lift millions of children out of poverty,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “Expanding the Child Tax Credit is not only the right thing to do morally, but also the smart thing to do economically; I will keep fighting to get this done and ensure Congress invests in our children and families with more urgency than we invest in our country’s millionaires and billionaires.”
America’s families and their pocketbooks are being squeezed like never before. From the rising cost of groceries and child care to the ever-growing challenge of affording rent and health care, the basic expenses of raising children continues to outpace wages. As families try to stay afloat, Senator Warnock believes the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) is one of the most effective tools we have to combat child poverty and support working parents.
The legislation also makes the Child Tax Credit fully refundable for low-income parents. Right now, many low-income parents only receive $1,700 of the $2,000 CTC. The regular credits only lower a family’s tax bill, so if they do not owe much, they miss out. This bill changes that so they get the full amount. This provision is important for ensuring working-class families and children in poverty get ample support too, not just wealthier households.
In 2021, Congress passed legislation temporarily expanding the Child Tax Credit, which lifted 165,000 Georgia children out of poverty, 2.9 million children across the country, and cut the national child poverty rate in half. Currently, there are more than 11 million children living below the poverty line in the United States. If no action is taken and current provisions expire at the end of the year, then the Child Tax Credit will be slashed in half and working families will be further strapped for cash at a time when this administration is taking reckless actions that will raise costs for Americans.
Since entering the Senate in 2021, Senator Reverend Warnock has been a leading advocate for expanding the CTC to support working families and lift children out of poverty. Senator Warnock successfully pushed to include an expansion of the CTC in the American Rescue Plan, which helped cut child poverty across the country in half until Congress let the tax cut expire. In 2022, Senator Warnock called on Congress to extend the tax cuts for working families and urged the Biden Administration to secure an extension of the expanded CTC as a centerpiece of any subsequent negotiations on economic legislative priorities. In February 2024, Senator Warnock questioned former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on the economic benefits, for both states and families, of the CTC. Continuing his efforts in August 2024, Senator Warnock spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate advocating for legislation to expand the CTC.
Bill text of the American Family Act can be foundHERE.
A one-pager on theAmerican Family Actis availableHERE.
Source: United States Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.)
What They Are Saying: State and Local Election Officials Echo Senator Padilla’s Concerns About Republicans’ SAVE Act That Would Disenfranchise Millions of Americans
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration and California’s former Secretary of State, highlighted the growing chorus of Secretaries of State and other key election officials who have expressed concerns about the devastating potential impacts of Republicans’ Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on this week. The outpouring of concern follows Senator Padilla’s letter to bipartisan state election officials across the country warning them about how the SAVE Act threatens to disenfranchise millions of eligible American voters by creating overly burdensome documentation requirements, which would make registration harder for new voters, married women, rural voters, servicemembers abroad, and the tens of millions of Americans who register to vote online or by mail.
Here is what they are saying:
Michigan Department of State: “Secretary Benson is grateful to U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla for sounding the alarm on the SAVE Act. As California’s former Secretary of State, Sen. Padilla knows how this failed policy could block U.S. citizens from voting as it did in Arizona and Kansas and make it even harder for election officials to do their jobs. Congress is set to vote on the SAVE Act this week.”
New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver: “Thank you @SenAlexPadilla. The right to vote is the foundation of our democracy & ensuring every eligible American can cast their ballot freely & fairly is key. The so-called SAVE Act will harm voters & make our elections less secure. Learn more here.”
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes: “Thank you to @SenAlexPadilla for clearly stating why Congress should reject the SAVE Act. Not only does it ignore the lessons learned by Arizona’s Prop 200, but its ripple effects are also nothing short of suppression.” Read his full statement here.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon: “It’s my job to defend the freedom to vote. @SenAlexPadilla is right– the SAVE Act would be a disaster for American elections, and could shut out tens of millions of eligible American voters (these are U.S. citizens) who won’t be able to comply.”
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows: “We know is that with divorced women in particular, but also married women, they may not think to bring their marriage certificate or their own marriage certificate to the polls on election day. … The Save Act would require that every election official, under penalty of criminal prosecution, require that every voter updating their voter registration or registering to vote for the first time bring documentary proof of their citizenship.”
Democratic Association of Secretaries of State: “REMINDER: If passed, the SAVE Act would strip millions of eligible Americans of their right to vote.”
Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder-Registrar of Voters Kristin Connelly: “As a local election official, I have the responsibility to ensure that all eligible voters can participate freely and fairly in elections. That’s why I want voters to understand the harm that would be caused by passing the SAVE Act. … The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act claims to solve a problem that doesn’t exist. It’s based on false information that spread ahead of the 2024 election, suggesting that noncitizens are voting in large numbers. That’s simply not true.”
Santa Cruz County Clerk Tricia Webber: “Election offices will not receive federal or state funding to implement these new changes or perform outreach to voters in order to educate them on the new process. Voters will have to take time off from work to obtain the necessary documentation and come in person to register to vote, as well as spend funds to get the necessary documentation, drive to and from their home to the elections office at least once every time there is a change to their registration.”
Senator Padilla has led the charge opposing President Trump and Republicans’ reckless attempts to restrict the right to vote. Last week, Padilla led 11 Senators in introducing the Defending America’s Future Elections Act to repeal Trump’s illegal anti-voter executive order and prevent the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing sensitive voter registration data and state records. Padilla also led 14 Democratic Senators in calling on Trump to revoke his illegal anti-voter executive order and issued a statement slamming the order when it was announced.
[. Central to these efforts is the province’s fire weather network, which plays a vital role in predicting fire conditions and detecting fires earlier.
That is why Alberta’s government is investing an additional $900,000 over three years, bringing the total to $1.9 million over three years for upgrades to the network and to add new stations to key locations. These improvements will ensure that Alberta Wildfire teams are equipped with the tools they need to respond to wildfire risks quickly and effectively.
“Our government is continuing to make strategic investments to enhance our wildfire-fighting capabilities. By better predicting how fire risks evolve throughout the season, we’re not only helping Alberta Wildfire teams respond more effectively – we’re also helping communities reduce their exposure to wildfires. This technology is vital to keeping our firefighters safe, and to helping protect lives and livelihoods across the province.”
Alberta’s fire weather network includes 150 strategically placed weather stations that collect information on environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, wind conditions and moisture levels. This real-time data helps Alberta Wildfire stay one step ahead of potential threats, guiding response teams and ensuring resources are deployed to where they’re needed most. New weather station locations will be determined in the near future, as Alberta Wildfire teams work to identify areas lacking weather monitoring coverage.
“FortisAlberta is privileged to be tasked with providing safe and reliable electricity to customers and communities living in some of the most environmentally diverse and beautiful parts of Alberta. Investing in wildfire mitigation technology is not only the right thing to do to protect our communities, but it also helps protect customer affordability. We are very pleased to see the expansion of Alberta’s fire weather network and look forward to working with Minister Loewen and his team to manage wildfire risks for the benefit of all Albertans.”
Improved monitoring is especially important during the spring thaw, when melting snow can lead to drier conditions and increase wildfire risk. New sensors will track snowfall accumulation throughout the winter, providing Alberta Wildfire with valuable insights into how dry conditions might be as the season begins. These upgrades will not only enhance fire danger monitoring but also support more efficient resource planning, ensuring firefighting efforts are deployed effectively from the outset of the wildfire season.
“Clearwater County is pleased by the province’s investment in Alberta’s fire weather network, which directly benefits our region. With 85 per cent of our county within the Forest Protection Area, real-time data is crucial for reducing wildfire risk. Our fire services team already collaborates closely with Alberta Wildfire, using its expertise to make informed decisions, such as pre-positioning resources for structure protection. The more data we receive, the better prepared we are to respond quickly and efficiently together, ensuring stronger protection for our residents and first responders, and the landscapes we call home.”
“This investment in Alberta’s fire weather network, and the inclusion of our region as a strategic location, will provide Alberta Wildfire teams with timely, accurate data to anticipate and respond to risks more effectively. For a community that understands the realities of wildfire, this kind of infrastructure is more than welcome – it’s essential. We’re grateful for this support and the continued efforts to protect our region and strengthen our resilience.”
Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.
Quick facts
Alberta’s legislated wildfire season runs from March 1 to October 31.
Budget 2025 also provides:
$160 million for the base wildfire budget, an increase of $5 million from 2024.
$15 million for the Community Fireguard Program administered by the Forest Resource Improvement Association of Alberta.
$10.8 million in FireSmart programming, ensuring Albertans have access to education and resources that enhance wildfire prevention, preparedness and mitigation efforts.
Related information
·Alberta Wildfire
Map of weather stations
Images of weather stations
Related news
Alberta is ready for the 2025 Wildfire Season (March 4, 2025)
Start of 2025 wildfire season: Minister Todd Loewen (Feb. 28, 2025)
Headline: N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is a winner in 2025 Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards contest for Best Aquarium
N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is a winner in 2025 Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards contest for Best Aquarium jejohnson6
The N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is honored and thrilled to announce that it is a winner in the 2025 Newsweek Readers’ Choice Awards contest for Best Aquarium. Nominees from across the United States were selected by an editorial panel of travel experts and Newsweek contributors. Polls closed after a public voting period of 28 days during the month of March. The top ten winners were announced on April 3.
Newsweek’s description of the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island praised the Aquarium’s flagship Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation Center, also known as the S.T.A.R. Center. “Known for its stellar sea turtle rehab center, the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island has something for everyone, from the alligators and turtles of the Outer Banks to the Atlantic’s sharks, jellies and of course, sea turtles,” the panelists stated. The national publication, which reaches 100 million people each month, also highlights the Aquarium’s impressive Graveyard of the Atlantic exhibit, a 285,000-gallon ocean habitat featuring a model of the Civil War–era USS Monitor that serves as a home to sand tiger sharks, tarpon, sheepshead, Atlantic spadefish and more.
Responding to the win, Larry Warner, director of the Aquarium said, “The entire team at the Aquarium takes the work they do for our animals and our guests extremely seriously and with a great deal of pride. It is an honor to be a nominee, but to then be voted by the public as a Best Aquarium winner for Newsweek’s Readers’ Choice Award is a validation of the team’s pride and passion.”
A 61,000 square-foot facility sited on 16 acres, the Aquarium welcomes an average of 320,000 guests each year, including volunteers and students on school field trips. The 3,000-square-foot S.T.A.R. Center provides medical care and rehabilitation assistance to sea turtles, mostly loggerhead, Kemps ridley and greens. During the winter of 2024-25, the Aquarium provided care to nearly 800 cold-stunned sea turtles and has since successfully rehabilitated and released over 600 of those sea turtles into the warmer waters of the Gulf Stream. Founded in 1976, the Aquarium is celebrating its 50th Anniversary in 2026.
About the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island
Located on the Outer Banks, the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is part of N.C. Aquariums, which includes four attractions along North Carolina’s coast and is a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Close to Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, the Aquarium is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Admission: ages 3–12, $10.95; ages 13–61, $12.95; ages 62 +, $11.95. Children 2 and under and North Carolina Aquarium Society members are admitted free of charge. For more information, visitwww.ncaquariums.com/roanoke-island
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov
Headline: Prominent Educator Nathan C. Newbold to be Featured on N.C. Highway Historical Marker
Prominent Educator Nathan C. Newbold to be Featured on N.C. Highway Historical Marker jejohnson6
A prominent education leader who worked with African American students soon will be recognized with a North Carolina Highway Historical Marker.
The marker commemorating Nathan C. Newbold will be dedicated during a ceremony Friday, April 25, at 1 p.m., at the corner of Hillsborough Street and West Park Drive in Raleigh.
Newbold, an educator, public servant, reformer, and longtime director of the Division of Negro Education in North Carolina was born in Pasquotank County, near Elizabeth City, on Dec. 27, 1871. He enrolled at Trinity College (later renamed Duke University) in 1894. He began his public service as a teacher and principal in eastern North Carolina and served as superintendent of schools in Asheboro, Roxboro, and Washington County.
In 1913, Newbold moved to Raleigh and became the state’s first state agent for Negro Education where he sought to expand educational opportunities for Black students. He convinced the state legislature and local governments to allocate matching funds to build rural schools.
Newbold’s enthusiasm for education led him to contact Julius Rosenwald and arrange for funding for a school to be built in Chowan County. This was one of the first Rosenwald Schools to be built outside of the Tuskegee area in Alabama. Over the years, Newbold and his team secured funding for over 843 Rosenwald Schools in North Carolina, more than any other state.
In 1920, following a state educational survey, he outlined to the State Board of Education a plan to create an entire Division of Negro Education. The plan was approved, $15,000 in funding was appropriated by the General Assembly, and Newbold was named division director in 1921. He retired from that position in 1950, 29 years later.
Newbold was a founding member of the North Carolina Commission for Interracial Cooperation and served as the director of the Division of Cooperation in Education and Race Relations, a project sponsored by the State Department of Public Education, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina.
He died at his home in Raleigh on Dec. 23, 1957, at the age of 85, after having given a full life to work across race and religious lines.
The marker describes Newbold as a “White advocate for Black opportunities within the system of segregation.” For more information about the historical marker, please visit https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2024/06/27/nathan-newbold-1871-1957-h-127, or call (919) 814-6625.
The Highway Historical Marker Program is a collaboration between the N.C. departments of Natural and Cultural Resources and Transportation.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI Crime News (b)
T. LOUIS – A man from St. Louis County, Missouri on Wednesday admitted fraudulently obtaining a student visa and admission to the University of Missouri and admitted using the visa to obtain a Social Security card, a driver license, a bank account and an apartment.
Mercy Ojedeji, 24, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to one count of unlawful use of fraudulent immigration documents and one count of wire fraud.
Ojedeji admitted using counterfeit academic transcripts, recommendations, a resume and a report about his English language proficiency to obtain a student visa from the University of Missouri and admission to the chemistry PhD program in the fall of 2023. Ojedeji also obtained a stipend and a tuition waiver worth more than $49,000. Ojedeji presented his student visa and other documents to the Social Security Administration to obtain a Social Security card and used the fraudulently-issued Social Security number and other documents to open a bank account. He also used the Social Security number and documents produced by his paramour to rent an apartment. After Ojedeji failed to attend classes, his assistantship or join a research group, the university terminated him from the graduate program in January 2024. This also resulted in the termination of his student visa. On Feb. 26, 2024, Ojedeji used his fraudulently-obtained and now invalid visa and other documents to obtain a Missouri driver license.
The investigation into Ojedeji began when the U.S. Postal Inspection Service received complaints that romance fraud victims were mailing packages containing cash and gift cards to the home of Ojedeji’s paramour. Between Dec. 19, 2023, and Jan. 4, 2024, 35 Express Mail packages that had been tracked by Nigerian internet protocol addresses were delivered to the paramour’s address. A court-approved search of the home resulted in the discovery of packages sent pursuant to a Nigerian romance fraud scheme. A total of 193 packages were sent to the home through the Postal Services Express Mail, Federal Express, and United Parcel Service during Ojedeji’s relationship with the woman. At sentencing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will argue that the total intended loss is more than $1 million, based on the $94,150 contained in the 17 packages seized by law enforcement. Ojedeji continues to deny any involvement in romance fraud.
A judge will ultimately determine the loss amount at Ojedeji’s sentencing hearing, scheduled for July 10. Wire fraud carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both prison and a fine. The immigration charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and the same fine.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is dedicated to defending the nation’s mail system from criminal activity, preserving the integrity of the U.S. Mail, and protecting United States Postal Service employees. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service values our law enforcement partners for supporting our mission to protect the integrity of the U.S. Mail,” said Ruth M. Mendonça, Inspector in Charge of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the case, with the assistance of the FBI and the Town and Country Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Review PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar Schemes, Emphasize on Effective Implementation,Uttar Pradesh Reaffirms Commitment to Achieve 22 GW Solar Energy Capacity Target Union Minister Inspects Wheat Procurement Centre at Mohanlalganj Mandi, Engages with Farmers to Assess Benefits of Welfare Schemes
“The Prime Minister’s vision is to make farmers energy self-reliant and promote low-cost farming,” : Shri Pralhad Joshi
Posted On: 10 APR 2025 7:22PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and New and Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi today held a review meeting in Lucknow with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to assess the progress of wheat procurement, PM-KUSUM, and PM Surya Ghar schemes. The meeting was also attended by Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister Shri A.K. Sharma and Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, Smt. Nidhi Khare.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his gratitude and said, “I thank Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi for taking time out of his busy schedule to ensure the effective ground-level implementation of these ambitious schemes that benefit farmers and citizens from low- and middle-income groups.”
Visited Village Duggaur, Lucknow and saw how farmers are benefiting from PM-KUSUM. The scheme empowers them with solar-powered irrigation, enhances rural livelihoods and promotes clean, #sustainableenergy in agriculture—a strong step towards a green Bharat.#RenewableEnergypic.twitter.com/GDJqhY5C4w
During the meeting, Uttar Pradesh reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the ambitious target of 22 GW solar energy capacity of the state. Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi acknowledged the state’s leading role in the effective implementation of flagship central schemes like PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar. He stated that “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi envisions maximum benefit to farmers through these initiatives. Under PM-KUSUM, farmers are no longer solely dependent on conventional electricity and are instead using clean and affordable solar energy for agriculture.” He added that the Central Government provides up to 90% subsidy under this scheme, enabling farmers to adopt solar systems at significantly lower costs.
Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi also visited Duggaur village in Bakshi Ka Talab tehsil of Lucknow to inspect a solar pump project established under PM-KUSUM C-1 scheme. Local resident Mohammad Ahsan Ali Khan has installed an 11.2 kW on-grid solar power plant for his private 7.5 HP irrigation pump. The total cost of the project is ₹6,23,909, of which ₹1,87,173 was provided as central subsidy, ₹3,74,345 as state subsidy, and only ₹62,391 was contributed by the beneficiary.
Since installation, the solar plant has generated a total of 8,945 kWh of electricity, out of which 7,100 kWh has been exported to the grid, while 1,845 kWh has been used for irrigation. This has not only given Ahsan energy independence but also enabled him to earn additional income by selling surplus power to the grid. This project stands as an inspiring model for other farmers to adopt sustainable and income-generating agricultural practices through solar energy.
Energy Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri A. K Sharma thanked Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Shri Pralhad Joshi for handholding Uttar Pradesh and providing an allocation of 3.7 lakh pump allocation under the PM-KUSUM Scheme (Component C – Feeder Level Solarization).
Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi visited the wheat procurement center at Mohanlalganj Mandi in Lucknow, where he observed the process of wheat procurement, cleaning, and weighing being carried out through the e-POP (Electronic Point of Procurement) machine. During his interaction with farmers, he learned how the use of this technology by the central and state governments has made the process of selling their produce more transparent, efficient, and convenient. The farmers shared that with the introduction of e-POP, weighing has become accurate, and payments are being processed quickly, enhancing their confidence in the government’s procurement system.
In Village Duggaur, Lucknow visited @PMSuryaGhar beneficiary homes and interacted with the new age power producers. Under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji, this scheme is bringing clean energy to rural homes, ensuring savings, sustainability and… pic.twitter.com/dFfzdoWKEZ
Ministry of Ayush Brings Together Global Homoeopathy Fraternity on World Homoeopathy Day 2025 in a mega convention at Gandhinagar On this World Homoeopathy Day, we reaffirm our commitment to expanding its scope through research, education and public outreach: Ayush Minister, Shri Prataprao Jadhav
Convention Souvenir, 8 Books, E-Portals of CCRH Library & Homoeopathy Archives, and a Documentary Film on Drug Proving Released
Posted On: 10 APR 2025 6:49PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of Ayush, Government of India, celebrated World Homoeopathy Day 2025 with great fervour at the Mahatma Mandir Convention and Exhibition Centre in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. The two-day event was organised by the Ministry through its apex research and academic institutions—Central Council for Research in Homoeopathy (CCRH), National Commission for Homoeopathy (NCH), and National Institute of Homoeopathy (NIH)—bringing together leading global voices in Homoeopathy to commemorate the 270th birth anniversary of Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the founder of Homoeopathy.
The grand celebration underscored the theme ‘Education, Practice and Research in Homoeopathy’, and witnessed participation of over 8,000 delegates from across India and abroad, including academicians, clinicians, researchers, students, and industry professionals. The event featured panel discussions, exhibitions, scientific paper presentations, and deliberations on advancing Homoeopathy as an integral component of global and national healthcare systems.
The Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel, inaugurated the event in the presence of Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Ayush and Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare, Shri Prataprao Jadhav. The event was also graced by Shri Rushikesh Patel, Health Minister, Government of Gujarat; Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush; and other senior officials.
Shri Prataprao Jadhav, Union Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Ayush, highlighted India’s leadership in global traditional medicine systems. He said, “Homoeopathy is not merely an alternative—it is a science rooted in compassion and evidence. On this World Homoeopathy Day, we reaffirm our commitment to expanding its scope through research, education and public outreach.” He also emphasized CCRH’s vital role in standardizing homoeopathic medicines and preserving botanical knowledge, noting the Council’s work in pharmacognosy, physicochemical studies, and the digitization of 17,000 herbarium sheets.
In his inaugural address, Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Bhupendra Patel applauded the Ministry of Ayush for selecting Gujarat as the host state for this historic event. He emphasized Homoeopathy’s growing relevance in modern healthcare and lauded the Ministry’s efforts to integrate Homoeopathy into public health services and national health programmes. He remarked that “This scientific and evidence-based therapy has the potential to transform public health outcomes. Gujarat is proud to contribute to this movement, especially as it is home to WHO’s Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in Jamnagar.”
Delivering the keynote address, Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Secretary, Ministry of Ayush, stated that “This occasion is a tribute to Dr. Hahnemann’s visionary system of healing. With the global demand for evidence-based, integrative, and patient-centric healthcare on the rise, Homoeopathy stands well-positioned to serve future generations. The Ministry of Ayush remains committed to furthering its impact through robust research, education, and policy.”
During the inaugural ceremony, the dignitaries released a Convention Souvenir, eight new publications, e-portals of the CCRH Library and Homoeopathy Archives, and a documentary film on drug proving, showcasing the remarkable research and documentation work undertaken in the field.
The symposium also featured the largest-ever exhibition of the Homoeopathy industry, bridging academia and enterprise, and hosted a first-of-its-kind national-level competition to foster innovation among students and practitioners.
This week, the negotiation committee representing over 600 IAM Union members working at three separate United Launch Alliance (ULA) sites opened negotiations in Huntsville, Ala.
United Launch Alliance engineers, manufactures, launches, and supports various space exploration vehicles, including the current Atlas and Delta rockets. Since 2006, IAM Union members have helped successfully launch over 150 missions.
“This negotiation team has been preparing for this negotiation since last year, and the entire IAM is behind our members at ULA,” said IAM Southern Territory General Vice President Craig Martin. “From all the departments at Headquarters to the resources at the William W. Winpisinger Education Center for bargaining preparation class, the mission is clear – bring home a fair and equitable contract.”
Since 2008, Local 44 (District 75) in Decatur, Ala., Local 610 (District 166) in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Local 2786 at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., have operated under a single agreement as a strategic benefit between the three facilities.
A single agreement provides the IAM membership the advantage of strengthened bargaining power at the table.
“Our members are the foundation of the aerospace and defense industries, and there’s no question they are the best in the business,” said IAM Western Territory General Vice President Robert “Bobby” Martinez. “Their skill, dedication, and commitment to excellence drive innovation and ensure the safety and security of our nation. We will fight for a respectable agreement that aligns with the caliber of their craft.”
This week also saw the completion of critical certifications for ULA to remain competitive, further solidifying the commitment by IAM Members to ensure that ULA remains a substantial, formidable space and defense company in the future.
“Our members at ULA are not looking for takeaways; they have committed to securing the company’s future success and only ask for an agreement commensurate to that success,” said IAM Aerospace Coordinator Bobby Barnwell. “This committee will ensure that all three locations have an agreement we can take back to the membership to vote on.”
Today’s IAM membership is looking for much of the same as in 2022 when the negotiating team secured wage increases, health care plan improvements, 401(k) gains, strengthened progression rates, and more.
This time around, however, more focus will be on these top priorities:
Wage improvements that remain in line with inflation and the cost of living.
Improve the progression rates or the time it takes to achieve top-of-pay.
Maintain current benefits without increases.
Work-life balance improvements in terms of vacation, earned time off, etc.
“The IAM stands firm in its commitment to securing fair wages, benefits, and job security for our members,” said IAM International President Brian Bryant. “Together, we will work to ensure that the hard work and dedication of the employees who contribute to the success of the ULA are recognized and rewarded.”
The current agreement will expire at midnight on May 1, 2025. The committee will determine the timing for bringing any tentative agreement to the membership for a vote at a later date.
Headline: Creating better healthcare outcomes with Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Foundry
Read how healthcare providers are streamlining tasks, accelerating research, and improving patient care with Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Foundry.
The healthcare industry has consistently been at the forefront of technological advancements, continuously seeking ways to improve patient care and outcomes. In recent years, the integration of AI into healthcare has opened new avenues for innovation and efficiency. Azure OpenAI Service is a leading contributor to this transformation, empowering healthcare providers to create better outcomes through advanced AI capabilities, such as Azure AI Content Safety, which helps to keep content safe by monitoring content with advanced language and vision models.
Here, we look at a few healthcare providers who have successfully adopted Azure OpenAI Service to save time, streamline workflows, and increase focus on patients.
Build custom generative AI solutions with Azure OpenAI Service
Kry reduces administrative tasks, increases focus on patient care
In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital transformation, healthcare companies like Kry are at the forefront of adopting advanced technologies to streamline administrative tasks and enable medical professionals to focus more on patient care. With more than 200 million patient interactions to date, Kry has become Europe’s largest digital-first healthcare provider, boasting a high patient satisfaction rating of 4.8 out of 5.0.
Partnering with Azure OpenAI Service, Kry is leveraging generative AI to revolutionize patient access to healthcare. The result has reduced administrative burdens on clinicians, optimized healthcare resources, and enhanced the overall quality of patient care. By analyzing patient data and enabling patients to choose the type of healthcare they need (such as a video consultation, self-care advice, physiotherapy, and other services), Kry efficiently navigates patients among primary, urgent, and secondary care to match them with the most appropriate medical providers. Notably, 60% of Kry’s patients are female. Using Kry, they are benefiting from improved female health services and quality medical content.
The partnership between Kry and Azure OpenAI Service is solving inefficiencies in healthcare delivery and changing the future of healthcare for the better. As technology advances and AI continues to evolve, Kry’s commitment to leveraging cutting-edge solutions will help ensure a more accessible, sustainable, and efficient healthcare experience for patients and healthcare professionals alike.
Design and manage AI apps and agents with Azure AI Foundry
Ontada unlocked 150 million unstructured medical documents with Azure OpenAI Service
Healthcare systems globally face a pressing data-related challenge—how to unlock the contents of volumes of unstructured, inaccessible healthcare data including clinical notes, lab reports, medical images, and operational data. Knowing that each data point can make a life-changing difference for cancer patients, Ontada, a McKesson business dedicated to oncology data and evidence, needed to analyze 150 million unstructured oncology documents to generate key insights for cancer patients. When done manually, this process is time-consuming, cost-prohibitive, and error-prone.
Ontada chose Azure AI Document Intelligence and Azure OpenAI Service to implement language models that target nearly 100 critical oncology data elements across 39 cancer types. The result significantly increased its ability to rapidly extract important data and clinical details. They also developed a novel data platform solution called ON.Genuity that combines structured and unstructured data to provide a comprehensive view of patient information, enhancing drug development and treatment adoption. They use Azure Databricks for their data pipeline to process both types of data, as well as Azure AI Document Intelligence to extract text from PDFs and other documents. The platform can provision and analyze data in less than 45 minutes. As a result, they were able to process 150 million documents in three weeks and reduced processing time by 75%. Using Microsoft Azure AI, Ontada has already accelerated its life science product development, speeding up time to market from months to just one week.
Simple, secure data extraction with Azure AI Document Intelligence
Shriners Children’s implements more efficient, secure solutions
Information used by healthcare professionals to diagnose and treat patients is often stored on outdated systems that may not be very secure or easy to operate. But for clinicians to treat patients promptly, they need efficient solutions that minimize errors. Previously, Shriners Children’s had to rely on their analytics team to provide insights from patient clinical notes and history, which were often outdated or even handwritten, making them difficult to use. This process was time-consuming, inefficient, and error-prone.
To fix this process, Shriners Children’s implemented an AI platform using Azure OpenAI Service and Azure AI Search to securely house and organize patient data. Now, clinicians can easily and securely navigate patient data in a singular location. The solution, called ShrinersGPT, leverages Azure OpenAI Service in addition to Azure Blob Storage, Azure AI Search, and Azure Monitor Log Analytics, to create a seamless, easy-to-use experience for clinicians to access patient information.
This solution is more efficient and secure; clinicians can now quickly find patient symptoms and conditions without relying on the analytics team, and data is more securely stored and accessible only by authorized personnel. Perhaps most importantly, patient care is enhanced through improved access to data, which helps create well-informed treatment plans.
Deliver relevant responses with Azure AI Search
In addition, Shriners Children’s is now set up to scale with ease as they look to incorporate Microsoft Fabric data analytics platform within their ShrinersGPT solution. Microsoft Fabric features a comprehensive set of analytics experiences designed to work together seamlessly for better data insights, so Shriners doctors and researchers can tailor insights as needed. They also look to expand to other healthcare clinics in their ecosystem and plan to enhance the chatbot to answer a wider variety of health questions.
From enhancing patient care and streamlining administrative tasks to accelerating medical research and improving diagnostic accuracy, Azure AI is helping to drive innovation and efficiency in healthcare, creating better outcomes for both patients and caregivers.
Our commitment to trustworthy AI
Organizations across industries are leveraging Azure AI and Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities to drive growth, increase productivity, and create value-added experiences.
We’re committed to helping organizations use and build AI that is trustworthy, meaning it is secure, private, and safe. We bring best practices and learnings from decades of researching and building AI products at scale to provide industry-leading commitments and capabilities that span our three pillars of security, privacy, and safety. Trustworthy AI is only possible when you combine our commitments, such as our Secure Future Initiative and our Responsible AI principles, with our product capabilities to unlock AI transformation with confidence.
As trade threats escalate, Alberta is taking decisive action to secure new global markets, driving diversification and growth to protect the province’s economic future. Alberta is broadening its trade horizons – to reduce risk and build a more resilient economy, ready to weather any storm.
Despite U.S. tariffs, Alberta’s economy is outperforming expectations, driven by its robust oil production, increased home construction and a diversified economic base.
Alberta’s economy is built to last, anchored by three powerful pillars – diversifying trade, breaking down barriers and attracting investment. Together, they are driving future success for an economy that leads and outperforms.
“During challenging economic times, Alberta is strengthening its economy by opening new global markets, eliminating trade barriers, and securing investments that generate jobs and ensure sustained growth.”
Unlocking Global Trade
As the U.S. continues to introduce new barriers to trade, Alberta is focused on expanding its economic pathways elsewhere, such as in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
In 2024, Alberta’s total trade with non-U.S. countries totalled almost $36 billion, an increase of 10 per cent over 2023. Alberta’s government will continue investing in this growth for the future. Between 2023 and 2024, Central Asia, South and East Asia, South America and Europe all increased the amount of goods they are buying from Alberta. This proves the world relies on Alberta’s high-quality goods and products. Alberta’s top-tier export performance fuels economic growth, creates high-paying jobs and enhances Canada’s global competitiveness, benefiting all Canadians.
“Expanding our markets is critical to the future of oil and gas in Alberta and we are actively working towards this. The Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission is exploring selling our oil and gas throughout Asia and Europe. Countries like Japan and Korea view our natural gas, hydrogen and ammonia as key to their future economies and transitioning from thermal coal.”
Alberta also doubled the 2025-26 budget for the Alberta Export Expansion Program, funding small- and medium-sized businesses and non-profits to promote their products globally. In 2024-25, the program helped more than 450 Alberta companies and organizations join 28 government-led trade missions to countries like Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Philippines and Germany. In 2024-25, Alberta’s government facilitated more than 800 business-to-business meetings on trade missions that connected Alberta companies to global partners, to make substantial international deals.
Leading Interprovincial Trade
Alberta remains Canada’s leader in interprovincial trade and continues to lead the way by cutting red tape and reducing regulatory burdens, making it easier for businesses and workers to thrive across provincial borders. Since 2019, Alberta has eliminated almost 80 per cent of its party-specific exceptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, unlocking smoother interprovincial trade and securing better opportunities for Albertans.
Alberta is tearing down trade barriers to boost both the province’s and Canada’s economies. In February 2025, Alberta joined counterparts across the country in endorsing bold new commitments to further reduce regulatory barriers, implement mutual recognition for goods and services and create new economic opportunities for businesses and consumers. Alberta’s government is bulldozing internal trade barriers – turning roadblocks into smooth highways for Alberta industry.
Attracting Job-Creating Investments
When investors set their sights on Alberta, it is a win-win for companies, workers and Alberta’s economy. For example, thanks to the Investment and Growth Fund (IGF), Alberta’s government has secured more than $820 million in capital, created 1,250 jobs and leveraged $25 in private investment for every $1 spent. The IGF is attracting global giants like Lufthansa Technik from Germany, which is bringing 330 new jobs and $120 million in investment, along with NewCold from the Netherlands, which is adding 250 jobs and a $222 million boost to Alberta’s economy.
“NewCold’s multi-million investment is a direct result of Alberta’s targeted approach to attracting global businesses through tools like the Investment and Growth Fund. With this support, we’re building one of the most advanced cold storage facilities in North America – right here in Alberta.”
Through strategic investment, Alberta is securing its future by diversifying export markets and expanding global partnerships, because when opportunity knocks, Alberta always answers.
Alberta’s plan goes beyond braving changing trade-winds – it is about driving economic growth with a strategy built to endure any storm. By diversifying its international trade partners, tearing down barriers to internal trade and bringing in substantial investments, Alberta’s government is forging ahead on a path to an economically unstoppable future.
Quick facts
Alberta’s exports to international markets in 2024 saw a 4.3 per cent increase year-over-year, with a total value of $182 billion.
Despite representing less than 12 per cent of Canada’s population, Alberta ranks second in exports nationwide, accounting for more than 25 per cent of the country’s total exports.
In 2024, Alberta exports, imports, and total trade with non-U.S. countries totalled $20.7 billion, $15.1 billion, and $35.8 billion, respectively.
Between 2023 and 2024, Alberta’s exports to Central Asia increased by 42.8 per cent, Southeast Asia increased by 41.4 per cent, South Asia increased by 39.9 per cent, East Asia increased by 15.9 per cent to $11.2 billion, Europe increased to $2.2 billion and South America increased by 6.1 per cent to $1.4 billion.
Alberta’s government has doubled the Alberta Export Expansion funding from $1 million to $2 million to support more businesses in their efforts to expand into global markets.
Recently, the IGF provided $2 million to Crust Craft, a high-capacity bakery company, to support its $51-million expansion in Alberta.
In this case, Alberta was competing with a U.S. jurisdiction for Crust Craft’s expansion.
Source: United States Senator for Commonwealth of Virginia Mark R Warner
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined 43 of their Senate colleagues in introducing the Tax Cut for Workers Act and the American Family Act, legislation that would cut taxes for workers and families by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and permanently expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC), respectively.
“As the Trump administration continues to sow chaos with policies that help his billionaire friends and hurt everyday Americans, I’m proud to introduce legislation that will cut taxes for the middle class and working families,” said Sen. Warner. “By increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and permanently expanding the Child Tax Credit, we can provide financial relief to hard-working Americans and their families, ensure that parents have resources to help their children thrive, and encourage economic growth.”
“Hard-working American workers and their families deserve a tax break. That’s why I’m glad to help introduce these bills to nearly triple the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers who do not have children and permanently expand the Child Tax Credit for those who do,” said Sen. Kaine. “At a time when the Trump Administration’s policies are centered around tax cuts for billionaires paid for by senseless tariffs and cuts to social services, this legislation is even more important. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join us in focusing on cutting taxes for the middle-class.”
Specifically, the Tax Cut for Workers Act would nearly triple the maximum EITC for childless workers, and extended eligibility to workers over age 65 and qualifying workers under age 25.
The CTC is one the most effective tools to reduce poverty and put money back in the pockets of working families. The American Family Act would increase the value of the CTC from the current level of $2,000 per child to $6,360 for newborns, $4,320 for children ages one through six, and $3,600 for children age six through 17. It would also end the longstanding, discriminatory policy that reduces the value of the CTC for low-income families, ensuring that the families of 17 million low-income children left out of the CTC under current law will receive the same credit as families in the middle class. In addition, the legislation would provide for monthly delivery of the credit so families have access to the credit as bills arrive and index the CTC for inflation to preserve the value of the credit moving forward.
Sens. Warner and Kaine have long supported policies that would help working-class families. Both senators provided key votes for the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021, which dramatically reduced child poverty through an expansion of the Child Tax Credit. The senators both helped pass the landmark Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, which helped families in Virginia and across the nation through expanded subsidies for health insurance, clean energy tax credits for homes and automobiles, and investment in job creation. This month, Sens. Warner and Kaine successfully passed bipartisan legislation in the Senate to roll back President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods.
Full text of the bills are available here and here.
Recent military actions by Israel are undermining Syria’s political transition and the chances of a new security pact between the two countries, a senior UN official told the Security Council on Thursday.
“Syria’s opportunity to stabilise after 14 years of conflict must be supported and protected, for Syrians and for Israelis,” said Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs.
“This is the only way regional peace and security can be realized.”
Transition under threat
Mr. Khiari and the head of UN Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, briefed ambassadors on recent Israeli violations of the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement with Syria.
The accord ended the Yom Kippur war and established an area of separation in the rocky plateau region known as the Golan, along the border between the two countries.
It also authorised the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to supervise the agreement, and peacekeepers to monitor the buffer zone.
Mr. Khiari said that hundreds of reported Israeli airstrikes have taken place across Syria since the fall of the Assad regime on 8 December 2024, namely in the southwest, the Syrian coast, northeastern Syria, Damascus, Hama, and Homs.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also publicly confirmed that it has built multiple positions in the elevated area of separation on the Golan, while Israeli officials have spoken of the country’s intentions to stay in Syria “for the foreseeable future,” he added.
“Such facts on the ground are not easily reversed. They do threaten Syria’s fragile political transition,” he warned.
Multiple airstrikes reported
Most recently, Syria informed the council of reports of multiple Israeli airstrikes on 3 April, including in Damascus, the Hama Military Airport, and the T4 military airport in Homs. Simultaneous attacks in Daraa reportedly resulted in nine civilian casualties.
The Syrian interim authorities condemned the attacks, calling them a blatant violation of international law and Syrian sovereignty and an attempt to destabilize the country.
“Let me also recall earlier indications by the Damascus authorities, as had been published in numerous media outlets, of not presenting threats to its neighbours and seeking peace on their borders,” said Mr. Khiari.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Defence Minister was quoted describing airstrikes as “a warning for the future”, and that Israel would “not allow Syria to become a threat” to its security interests.
Respect Syria’s sovereignty
In light of these developments, Mr. Khiari pointed to the council’s presidential statement dated 14 March which reaffirmed strong commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity.
It also called on all States to respect these principles and to refrain from any action or interference that may further destabilize the country.
“This council’s commitment to Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity grows in importance by the day,” he said.
He further recalled that UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen addressed Israeli military escalation in a statement on 3 April, saying such actions undermine efforts to build a new Syria.
“Syria is at a crossroads and deserves a chance to continue to work towards an inclusive political transition, where the Syrian people can overcome the conflict, revive their economy, realize their legitimate aspirations, and contribute to regional stability,” Mr. Khiari said.
“Furthermore, short-term and tactical security actions and gains should not derail prospects for peace agreement between the two neighbours and long-term stability at their internationally recognized border.”
Volatile security situation
Mr. Lacroix briefed the council on developments in the UNDOF area of operations, where the situation remains volatile and characterized by violations of the 1974 Agreement.
The IDF currently occupies 12 positions that they established on the Bravo side, located east of the area of separation. Ten are in the zone and the others are in the vicinity.
“They also continue to construct counter-mobility obstacles along the ceasefire line, and have flown, on several occasions, aircraft across the ceasefire line and helicopters into the area of separation,” he said.
The Israeli forces also continue to impose some restrictions of movement on UNDOF and the Observer Group Golan, comprised of military observers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO). Local residents have also had their movements curtailed, prompting protests.
Explosions and engagement
“In recent weeks, UNDOF personnel have noted multiple explosions on the Bravo side, which they deem to be significant kinetic activity linked to the efforts of the IDF to, and I quote, ‘demilitarize the south of Syria,’” said Mr. Lacroix
In the meantime, UNDOF continues to liaise with both parties and engage on specific issues impacting its operations as well as complaints conveyed by residents in the separation zone.
“In their engagement with the UNDOF leadership, senior IDF officials have restated that their presence in the area of separation was necessary to secure it from what they describe as ‘terrorist elements’ and informed that Israel had no territorial ambitions in Syria,” he said.
“They have reiterated Israel’s expectation of the demilitarization of the area southwest of Damascus,” he added.
He reported that on the Bravo side, UNDOF is reinforcing its coordination mechanism through new liaison arrangements with Syrian authorities, which includes enhancing information sharing and regular consultative meetings.
Uphold 1974 Agreement
“It remains critical that all parties uphold their obligations under the 1974 Disengagement of Forces Agreement, including by ending all unauthorized presence in the areas of separation and limitation, as well as refraining from any action that would undermine the ceasefire and stability on the Syrian Golan,” he said.
“There should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation, other than those of UNDOF. All actions that are inconsistent with the agreement are unacceptable.”
He said the Security Council’s continued support for the Force is “needed now more than ever in is difficult time.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Yvette D Clarke (9th District of New York)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 10, 2025
MEDIA CONTACT:
e: jessica.myers@mail.house.gov
c: 202.913.0126
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09) issued the following statement on the passage of the House Republicans’ budget bill:
“The sickening budget bill just passed by House Republicans is nothing more than a reckless and reprehensible attack on American families. Within this rotten legislation are trillions of dollars in horrific cuts to Medicaid, veterans benefits, school lunches, and other safety nets Americans rely on just to survive, all to fund tax breaks for mega-corporations and the billionaire donors who own them. Moreover, this bill will astronomically increase the federal budget deficit that my Republican colleagues are so eager to address whenever Democrats are in power.
“Let’s be clear: the only purpose of this historically bad bill is to line the pockets of the fabulously wealthy with the hard-earned money of working Americans. While my Republican colleagues continue to act as though they care for everyday Americans, and as they curse anyone who dares suggest what we can all plainly see, this bill will stand as a lasting testament to the depths of Republican hypocrisy and greed. The American people will not soon forget that House Republicans sold them out today. I’m proud to say that I voted no and did not contribute to their cruel betrayal.”
Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), and John Hickenlooper (D-CO) today introduced a Senate resolution expressing support for designating April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. This resolution is endorsed by more than 20 national and state organizations, including Prevent Child Abuse America, Buckner International, Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Now, Children At Risk, Children’s Trust Fund Alliance, Dallas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), Family Compass, First3Years, Healthy Families America, Illuminate Colorado, National Association of Counsel for Children, Tennessee Voices, TexProtects, The Kempe Foundation, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, United Ways of Texas, and Zero to Three. Text is below, and the full resolution can be viewed here.
“Whereas children are fundamental to the success of the United States and will shape the future of the United States;
Whereas elected representatives and leaders in the communities of the United States must be ever vigilant and proactive in support of evidence-based means to prevent child abuse and neglect, and to support families;
Whereas adverse childhood experiences (referred to in this preamble as ‘ACEs’) are traumatic experiences that occur during childhood with lasting effects and include experiences of violence, abuse, or neglect;
Whereas at least 5 of the top 10 leading causes of death are associated with ACEs;
Whereas preventing ACEs could reduce many health conditions and long-term negative effects on life, opportunity, and well-being, including—
(1) up to 21,000,000 cases of depression;
(2) up to 1,900,000 cases of heart disease; and
(3) up to 2,500,000 cases of overweight and obesity;
Whereas every child is filled with tremendous promise, and we all have a collective responsibility to prevent ACEs, foster the potential of every child, and promote positive childhood experiences;
Whereas preventing child abuse and neglect can reduce the costly lifetime economic burden associated with child maltreatment;
Whereas, in 2023, an estimated 7,782,000 children were referred to child protective services agencies, alleging maltreatment;
Whereas each year approximately 1 in 7 children in the United States experiences child abuse, neglect, or both;
Whereas reports indicate that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys will become victims of child sexual abuse before their 18th birthday;
Whereas 93 percent of child sexual abuse victims are abused by a person they know and trust;
Whereas children who are sexually abused, especially when not provided appropriate treatment and support, often suffer lifelong consequences, such as physical and mental health challenges and higher risk of drug and alcohol misuse and suicide;
Whereas, in 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline received nearly 36,200,000 reports of suspected online child sexual exploitation, a 12-percent increase from 2022, the highest number of reports ever received in 1 year;
Whereas education and awareness of possible signs of child abuse and neglect should be prioritized for purposes of prevention; and
Whereas, by intervening to prevent adversity and build resilience during the most critical years of development of a child, voluntary, evidence-based, home-visiting programs have shown positive impact on—
(1) reducing the recurrence of child abuse and neglect;
(2) decreasing the incidence of low-birthweight babies;
(3) improved school readiness for children; and
(4) increased high school graduation rates: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) supports the designation of April 2025 as ‘National Child Abuse Prevention Month’;
(2) expresses support for the goals and ideals of National Child Abuse Prevention Month;
(3) recognizes that child abuse and neglect and child sexual abuse are preventable, and that a healthy and prosperous society depends on strong families and communities;
(4) supports efforts to increase the awareness of, and provide education for, the general public of the United States, with respect to preventing child abuse and neglect and building protective factors for families;
(5) supports the efforts to help survivors of childhood sexual abuse heal;
(6) supports justice for victims of childhood sexual abuse; and
(7) recognizes the need for prevention, healing, and justice efforts related to childhood abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse.”
Source: United States Senator for Texas John Cornyn
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) today introduced the Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act, which would move the Space Shuttle Discovery from Virginia to its rightful home near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston:
“Houston played a critical role throughout the life of the space shuttle program, but it is clear political favors trumped common sense and fairness when the Obama administration blocked the Space City from receiving the recognition it deserves,” said Sen. Cornyn. “I am proud to lead the effort to finally bring Discovery home to Houston, where future generations of Texans and Americans can come to learn about the city’s integral role in our nation’s space shuttle program.”
“Home to the Johnson Space Center and its famed Mission Control, Houston has an unparalleled reputation and history in the exploration of the new frontier,” said Sen. Cruz. “It is past time that the Space Center Houston Museum houses a space shuttle, given the unique relationship between the entire program and its support staff in Houston. Bringing the Discovery to its final home will offer hundreds of thousands of visitors each year the opportunity to engage with a living piece of NASA’s history and understand why Houston is known worldwide as ‘Space City.’”
“Since its very inception, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston has been the epicenter for manned spaceflight, propelling Texas as the national leader in the U.S. space industry,” said Gov. Abbott. “The first word spoken from the moon was ‘Houston.’ To honor that legacy, it’s long overdue for a retired NASA Space Shuttle to rest at Houston’s Johnson Space Center so Texans can see, learn from, and enjoy it for generations. I thank Senator John Cornyn and Senator Ted Cruz for spearheading this effort to bring this historic Space Shuttle to Texas, the proud home and command center of NASA’s space operations.”
Background:
Mission Control at NASA’s Johnson Space Center led all of the space shuttle flights throughout the program’s history, and the astronauts who flew aboard the shuttles lived and trained in Houston. Four space shuttles were retired from NASA in 2010, and one of them was expected to go on display in the Space City.
Congress stated in the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 that the four space shuttles were to be given to states with a “historical relationship with either the launch, flight operations, or processing of the Space Shuttle orbiters or the retrieval of NASA-manned space vehicles, or significant contributions to human space flight.” Unfortunately, this directive was unlawfully ignored by the Obama administration, who played politics to keep Houston from getting one of the shuttles. Notably, the administration gave one of the four shuttles to New York City, which has not made any major contributions to the nation’s history of space exploration and is not home to a NASA center—unlike Houston.
The Space Shuttle Discovery is the only shuttle still owned by the federal government and able to be transferred to Houston. This legislation would authorize the movement of the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia to a nonprofit near the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Ted Lieu (33 District of California)
WASHINGTON– Today, Congressman Ted W. Lieu (D-Los Angeles County) issued the following statement after the release of Ksenia Karelina, a L.A. resident and U.S. Citizen unjustly held in Russia.
“I am profoundly relieved that Ksenia Karelina, a U.S. citizen and constituent, has finally returned safely to the United States after being wrongfully detained in Russia for 15 months. Russia illegally detained her because she made a modest donation to a U.S.-based nonprofit supporting Ukraine. After more than a year of hardship, Ksenia can now begin the long process of healing and reclaiming her life. Today is a day of joy and gratitude for Ksenia, her loved ones, and the Southern California community.
“Our office and other advocates worked on her case, and we thank President Trump, Secretary Rubio, and the staff at the State Department for securing her release.
“And while we celebrate her return, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to bring home all Americans unjustly held abroad. Their freedom must continue to be a top diplomatic priority.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By James Hague, Senior Lecturer (in Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics and Biophysics), The Open University
Lab-grown meat causes heated debates. Proponents see benefits for the climate and animal welfare. Opponents worry about a Frankenstein food they regard as risky and unnatural. Whatever your opinion, the technology underpinning cultivated meat is moving fast to create large pieces of muscle tissue.
The fact that artificial meat starts as a living tissue means that, as it gets bigger and better, the technologies involved could have a huge impact on medical research.
Lab-grown meat is a sort of engineered tissue. It aims to replicate the meat grown in an animal by dividing a small number of animal cells to create muscle. Meat is mostly made up of muscle cells (myocytes), plus a mix of fat cells (adipocytes) and cells that add structure through materials such as collagen (known as fibroblasts).
The arrangements and proportions of these cells give meat its overall taste and texture. We call the meat grown in a bioreactor “cultivated meat”. Other common terms are “cultured meat”, “lab-grown meat” and “artificial meat”, and the production process is also called “cellular agriculture”.
Cultivated meat is real meat grown in bioreactors rather than animals (it’s very different to plant-based products such as soya burgers). Some companies are also trying to grow other animal tissues, such as liver to replace foie gras. Key benefits of cultivated meat include avoiding animal slaughter and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
One day, engineered tissue could be used to give us new livers, help to rebuild tissues damaged in accidents and select personalised treatments for cancers.
Shared challenges
Just like muscle, other tissues in the body such as organs also contain cells and things like collagen that give them structure.
The cells in tissues are carefully organised according to their function. For example, in muscle, the cells are all lined up so they contract in the same direction during movement.
A big difference between tissues cultivated for meat and those grown for medical applications is this tissue functionality. Cultivated meat does not need to be able to contract like muscle and, once grown, does not need to be kept alive. Meanwhile, engineered tissue for medical applications needs to work just like its counterpart in the body.
Despite this, some of the lessons learned from cultivated meat growth could be applied to regenerative medicine. Fibroblasts, the “structure” cells, are important during wound healing. Techniques to cultivate muscles and liver could be modified to grow working tissue.
A shared design challenge when growing cultivated meat and engineered tissue is to control tissue organisation, which is essential to grow large cuts of meat such as steaks, but also for replacement tissue and organs for the body. Possibilities include holding the tissue under tension using tethers, adding scaffolds, and using 3D printing.
The process of designing ways to control a tissue can take months or years of careful trial and error. Recent computer simulations of tissue growth, including those carried out by myself and colleagues, can help with the difficult task of controlling cell organisation to improve things like texture and production efficiency.
Developing this control can help to engineer body tissues used in early pharmaceutical testing, which could improve success rates in clinical trials while reducing animal testing. This would be better for trial participants and could help to reduce drug development costs.
Another major unsolved problem for both cultivated meat and regenerative medicine is how to supply larger tissues as they grow. Smaller tissues can get the oxygen they need from the atmosphere, or grow in a nutrient bath. Steaks are too large for this and would need to be kept alive with vessels similar to arteries to deliver oxygen and nutrients.
Natural blood vessels form branching networks to supply tissue. Computational techniques can predict this style of network and 3D bioprinting could be used to create similar vessels. Lessons learned by growing networks of vessels in steaks could be directly applied to tissues for regenerative medicine (and vice versa).
I expect pressure for cheap, cultivated meat will decrease the price of currently expensive technologies, such as 3D bioprinting and bioreactors. This will ultimately benefit medical applications.
Coming to a shop near you
As these issues are solved, cultivated meat will become widely available and more like farmed meat. Since cultivated meat will ultimately be indistinguishable from farmed meat, there’s no reason to believe that one should be more or less healthy than the other. Currently, many products are undergoing regulatory processes.
So far, a few countries have approved cultivated meat products for human consumption, and approval applications are being submitted worldwide. UK regulators recently announced a two-year timeline to approve (or not) cultivated meat for human consumption. Lab-grown meat is already approved for consumption by dogs.
Overall, there are important links between cultivated meat and cultured tissue applications in medicine. Both applications have similar challenges, and the technologies developed for one field can push forward the other.
Both fields can benefit animal welfare, removing the need for animal slaughter and reducing the need for animal testing.
I expect cultivated meat will come to a supermarket near you within the next few years. Whether you want to buy it or not, think about how the technology used to create it could be a step towards better medicines and lab-grown organs for transplant.
Donald Trump has partially walked back on his so-called “liberation day” tariffs on nearly all US imports after fears mounted that the move would result in a global recession and much higher borrowing costs for the US government.
On Wednesday, April 9, a mere 13 hours after his higher rate of “reciprocal tariffs” had come into effect, Trump announced they would be paused for 90 days.
“I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line, they were getting yippy, you know … a little bit afraid,” Trump said to reporters outside the White House. Markets soared immediately upon hearing the news.
But at the same time, a volatile new stage in America’s trade war with China has emerged. The White House has excluded China from the pause and has hiked tariffs on all Chinese imports to 125%. This, Trump says, is because Beijing has shown “disrespect” to Washington and global markets.
Beijing, which has declared it will “fight to the end if the US side is bent on going down the wrong path”, was quick to respond. It has announced duties of 84% on American products and services, and has even floated the possibility of banning the import of Hollywood films.
What China’s response has shown is that it is no longer the same country as it was in 2017, when Trump managed to obtain some trade concessions from it by imposing tariffs. Beijing seems more willing to strike back at Washington, as well as showing signs of being more proactive in its response to American measures.
The impact of China’s response has not yet been fully realised, but tariffs have already raised the spectre of increased prices in the US. Many of the clothing and consumer electronics that Americans buy are shipped from China. It’s possible that far from boosting Trump’s popularity, these tariffs may eventually end up reversing it.
At a fundraising dinner in Washington, less than a day before he shelved plans to hike tariffs on US trading partners, Trump insisted: “I know what the hell I’m doing.” But his subsequent loss of face in pausing tariffs for other countries may mean he has no option but to double down on a tit-for-tat trade war with China.
China is his administration’s go-to villain, and any delay or reversal in responding to Chinese retaliation will be a humiliation to Trump’s strongman image. This suggests a tumultuous period ahead for relations between China and the US.
Expect more hostility
The tariffs will probably have a mobilising effect on the Chinese population. A 2022 survey on public opinion in China found that people born after 1990 are more likely to hold an unfavourable view of the US compared with previous generations. The survey concluded that Trump’s actions during his first term were much more to blame than propaganda.
Beijing has also traditionally invoked the history of the “unequal treaties” forced upon its ailing Qing dynasty in the late 19th century as a means to mobilise its population against western policies. This has been aided by how the economic demands made by Trump to China are, in the mind of the Chinese leadership, reminiscent of the demands made by the western powers of that period.
Fears of again falling prey to foreign powers play a significant role in Beijing’s policies, encapsulated by what is known as China’s “never again mentality”. This mentality could be used as a means to unify the Chinese population against an outside enemy, in a way similar to how many US politicians have attempted to cast China as a foe.
Beijing appears to be banking on the Chinese population’s supposed ability to withstand greater hardships than western consumers as being able to give it a key advantage over Washington. However, with China’s prosperity being a comparatively recent development, this ability will be put to the test.
Trump’s tariffs against traditional American allies will also play into Beijing’s hands on the international stage. Tokyo has discussed reducing its holdings of American treasuries, while simultaneously bolstering trade ties with China. These moves would have been unthinkable even a year ago – Japan has long been a key US ally and a regional rival of China.
Equally unthinkable is the possibility that the EU will follow a similar path. Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has called on Brussels to review its relationship with China. Moves aimed at sidelining China may end up isolating the US instead.
And, perhaps most concerningly, the tariffs may also undermine America’s ability to prevent a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. One of the key factors deterring an invasion was the threat of a 100% tariff on Chinese goods. With Trump’s tariffs on China already exceeding this, Beijing has less incentive to not go after Taipei.
What liberation day has shown us is that the Chinese-American relationship has entered a stage of protracted competition, a phase that Beijing has been preparing for over the past decade. Faced with a choice between humiliation on the international stage or economic disaster at home, it would appear neither side is willing to back down.
Tom Harper does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Source: The Conversation – UK – By William E. Donald, Associate Professor of Sustainable Careers and Human Resource Management, University of Southampton
If you have a long-term health condition or you’re a disabled person in the UK, you might be able to claim a benefit called personal independence payment (Pip). As the name suggests, Pip is designed to help with the additional costs of disability – regardless of employment status.
But the government recently announced changes to the payment, which will make it harder for people to access support.
As a disabled person, I know that it costs more to live with disability or illness. It has been calculated that disabled households need an extra £1,010 per month to maintain the same standard of living as non-disabled households. This gap arises from things like transport costs (because of inaccessible public transport), the need for expensive mobility aids, and water, electric and gas costs at home.
The World Health Organization recommends a minimum indoor temperature of 18°C for healthy people and 20°C for those with chronic conditions. Yet, with soaring energy prices, many disabled people are forced to choose between heating their homes and other disability-related necessities.
Despite these realities, the maximum annual Pip payment is £9,747.40, well below the additional £12,120 that disabled households typically need annually. Only those qualifying for the highest level of support receive this amount. Most get considerably less.
So, what is the government’s justification for tightening eligibility? Together with changes to universal credit, it claims it will save £5 billion a year by the end of 2030 and get more people, including sick and disabled people, into work. But will it?
Government figures from March 2024 show that 24% of people in the UK aged 16 to 64 are disabled. Within this group, the employment rate is 54.2%. For comparison, non-disabled adults of working age have an employment rate of 82%. Even when disabled people are employed, the disability pay gap is 12.7%. This gap reaches 27.9% for autistic workers and 26.9% for those with epilepsy.
The same figures also show that 42.6% of disabled people are economically inactive. This is sometimes portrayed as people who are capable of working but choose not to. But this does not align with the facts.
The latest figures on Pip claims show that last year the rate of fraud was so low that the Department for Work and Pensions recorded it as 0%.
Anyone like me, who has experienced the lengthy and complicated Pip application process, will find these figures unsurprising. Cutting access to Pip will not push this group into employment but will plunge them deeper into financial hardship.
The Resolution Foundation think tank estimates that up to 1.2 million disabled people could lose between £4,200 and £6,300 per year by 2029-30 due to these changes.
The government is particularly focused on claimants with mental health conditions, especially younger people. As such, it is crucial to acknowledge the dire state of mental health services in the UK.
Patients are waiting far longer for mental health treatment than for physical healthcare. chayanuphol/Shutterstock
Eight times as many people wait more than 18 months for mental health treatment compared to physical healthcare.
This crisis is compounded by broader challenges facing young people, who were disproportionately affected by COVID lockdowns. Three in four university students and recent graduates reported lower levels of wellbeing in September 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels. These same young people face a competitive labour market, alongside soaring rent, energy and food costs.
Noble goal but a harmful method
Nevertheless, supporting disabled people and the long-term sick to access employment is a worthy goal. Government figures suggest 5.6% of disabled people are unemployed. Many of these people want to work. This is also true of many in the economically inactive group who simply cannot.
But we have to be realistic. Previous government schemes resulted in fewer than one in five people getting work. This highlights the systemic barriers that disabled people face in work beyond their agency. The new approach raises concerns that people might be pressured into unsuitable jobs simply to reduce unemployment figures.
Even when disabled people find employment, they continue to face discrimination and workplace biases. The legal system places the burden on individuals to challenge unfair treatment and the disability wage gap just exacerbates inequalities.
While remote work has been a game-changer for many disabled workers, the previous government pressured its own workforce of civil servants back into offices. Many business leaders continue to advocate for the same.
Cutting Pip will not necessarily reduce the welfare bill. But it will drive more disabled people into poverty. Those with savings will exhaust them, ultimately qualifying for even more means-tested government assistance.
Others will be priced out of work entirely. Many may end up needing more support from public services like the NHS, as their mental and physical health deteriorates. This means the claim of saving £5 billion a year is also likely flawed.
So, what needs to change? Here are five ideas.
Reverse Pip cuts and restrictive eligibility criteria. The government must listen to disability charities and ensure that financial support reflects the true cost of living with a disability.
Hold employers accountable. Systemic barriers such as bias in the recruitment process must be removed, the disability pay gap addressed and remote work established as a long-term option.
Increase disabled representation in decision-making. Disabled people must have a seat at the table in government and industry to ensure policies reflect real experiences.
Integrate healthcare and social care. Linked to this, ensure essential utilities such as water, gas and electricity are always affordable for disabled and elderly people – perhaps via a government-backed special tariff.
Pay carers fairly. Carer’s allowance is £83.30 per week for a minimum of 35 hours of care, just £2.38 per hour. This just exacerbates financial insecurity for disabled households.
If these failures are not addressed, the consequences will be catastrophic. The government’s approach is making life harder, not easier, for disabled people. It is time for real action, not rhetoric and infantilising talk of “pocket money”. Disabled people deserve better. We all do.
William E. Donald 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.
You have to marvel at Donald Trump’s prescience. After his announcement of America’s new tariffs regime on April 2, “liberation day”, the stock markets plummeted, causing faint hearts around the world to quail. Nerves fluttered particularly hard when bond yields started to rise rapidly this week, suggesting a growing lack of confidence in US 30-year debt – traditionally the gold standard for security.
“I don’t want anything to go down,” Trump told a reporter at the weekend. “But sometimes, you have to take medicine to fix something.”
The US president remained bullish on Wednesday morning, taking to his TruthSocial social media platform at 9.37am EDT to proclaim his confidence in US stocks.
Sound advice, as it turned out (time shown is BST). TruthSocial
And so it proved. Hours later, Trump announced to his followers that he had decided to pause the tariff hikes on all but China while keeping the 10% baseline tariff on all imports. The markets bounced back with alacrity, closing up 9.5% by the end of trading. (Incidentally, Trump Media and Technology Group, the parent company of TruthSocial, closed up 22.67%.)
It just goes to show, faith may or may not be able to move mountains, but Donald Trump can certainly move markets.
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Now it’s all eyes on China to see how the world’s second-largest economy will react to a yet-higher tariff on its exports to the US of 145%.
Announcing to the world he was targeting China, the US president wrote that he was basing his decision on the “lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets”, and that “hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable”.
But based on Beijing’s initial reaction, it’s unlikely that Xi Jinping will be joining all the other world leaders who Trump says queued up over the past couple of days to “kiss his ass”. The messages from China’s leadership are that two can play at that game, and that Trump’s gambit “will end in failure”.
China had imposed an immediate 84% tariff on all US exports, while reassuring the White House that the “the door to dialogue is open”.
China expert Tom Harper of the University of East London believes Xi is now a different, more confident Chinese president than the one who granted some small concessions to Trump when he first imposed tariffs on China in 2017. Harper sees the likelihood of a “tumultuous period ahead for relations between China and the US” – and warns that the Chinese people may be more resilient to the economic shock a trade war brings than the US public.
Looking back at what China considers a period of humiliation at the hands of western powers (notably Great Britain) in the 19th century, Harper says there’s a strong sense of “never again” in the Chinese psyche, which may well be triggered by this latest US aggression.
But why roll back on the tariffs on the rest of the world? Australian economists James Giesecke and Robert Waschik believe the answer is simple: the harm that would have been done to the US economy. Their modelling suggests that “the US would have faced steep and immediate losses in employment, investment, growth and, most importantly, real consumption, the best measure of household living standards”.
Giesecke and Waschik conclude the damage would have been serious and long term, increasing US unemployment by two-thirds and reducing US long-term GDP, resulting in a “permanent reduction in US global economic power”.
The aim of the Trump administration in introducing tariffs is to stimulate a return of manufacturing to the US – which is why they applied them to goods only while ignoring services. James Scott of King’s College London believes a lot of countries fetishise manufacturing as a sort of deeply ingrained throwback to when “pre-historic experiences of finding food, fuel and shelter dominated all other activities”.
But most western economies have developed beyond heavy goods manufacturing, for the simple reason that countries with larger and lower-paid workforces are able to produce and ship goods at a fraction of the cost. Tik-Tok user Ben Lau posted this disturbingly funny vision of the return of large-scale manufacturing to the US.
Scott believes it’s highly unlikely to come to this – and in any case, that it’s pointless to blame globalisation for the loss of US manufacturing jobs when rising productivity in other countries and automation have had much more impact.
The lesson from history, writes Scott, is that with the retreat of colonialism came the industrialisation of the countries that had been major markets for manufactured goods produced by the western powers. In short, he concludes: “President Trump is mistaken if he really believes that tariffs will bring a new golden age of manufacturing. The world has changed.”
Iran has had a rough 18 months or so. Its economy is on the floor thanks to western sanctions, the “real” currency rate (the rate you get on the street) is now close to 1 million rials to the US dollar, and large sections of the population are very unhappy with their leadership.
So, when Iran’s foreign minister arrives in Oman for talks with the US at the weekend, there’s plenty of incentive to strike some kind of deal – even without the US president’s warning that Iran will be in “great danger” if the negotiations fail to deliver an agreement for Tehran to scrap its nuclear programme.
Ali Bilgic, a Middle East specialist at Loughborough University, writes that while both sides have their reasons for wanting progress at the talks, things are likely to be hampered by a lack of trust on both sides. And it’s no coincidence that while Trump announced the talks after a meeting with Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Iranian deputy foreign minister travelled to Moscow this week, where he met his counterparts from China and Russia. With hardliners currently in the ascendancy in Tehran and the Trump-Netanyahu axis very much in evidence in Washington, a lot could go wrong.
America’s other allies, Nato, gathered in Brussels at the end of last week for a foreign ministers meeting ahead of June’s summit at The Hague. As Amelia Hadfield – a defence and security policy expert at the University of Surrey – reports, there’s a growing air of urgency among the allies that they need to find a way to avoid a unilateral withdrawal of the US from the alliance, and that they’ll need at least some answers before meeting at The Hague.
Hadfield walks us through the gradual but growing distance between Washington and the rest of the alliance, which has come to a head under Trump but has been some years in the making.
Since the incoming Trump administration announced it was freezing most USAID programmes as of January 20 for at least 90 days, vital lifelines keeping many thousands, if not millions, of desperate people in the poorest countries around the world have been cut off.
One such country is Sudan, where a bitter and bloody civil war has raged for two years, leading to the situation being described by the United Nations as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Naomi Ruth Pendle, an expert in humanitarian development at the University of Bath, works closely with aid workers in South Kordofan, a region on the border with South Sudan which is collapsing under the weight of refugees from the civil war – and which faces a bitter famine unless the aid freeze is lifted immediately.
Her moving account of the plight of the Sudanese people is made more vivid by accounts provided by people working on the ground in South Kordofan, where the aid freeze couldn’t have come at a worse time. January, when the freeze was announced, is usually the best time to increase the flow of humanitarian aid in the region – as the supplies from last year’s harvest begin to dwindle, and just before the rains make roads impassable.
Pendle writes: “I’m now getting reports from South Kordofan of households not lighting a fire for up to four days at a time, which means the family is not eating. And, as ever, it is the children and the elderly who are particularly vulnerable.”
I spent a happy year living in Khartoum in the mid-1980s teaching English at the university there. During that time, I was able to travel widely around Sudan and developed an enduring affection for the people and respect for their resilience and ingenuity in the face of often terrible hardships.
So I found Justin Willis’s account of the decades of conflict that have riven Sudan particularly compelling. Willis, a professor of history at Durham University, looks back through the country’s history – from its foundation through conquest in the 19th century by the Egyptian branch of the Ottoman empire, via British control, to independence. And after independence, pretty much non-stop wars.
Willis believes that Sudan’s main problem is that its army commanders have always believed they are the natural rulers of the country. The current conflict is between two rival army commanders and their followers.
The official army, the Sudanese Armed Forces, recaptured Khartoum at the end of March. There have been reports of savage violence against civilians in the fortnight since. Meanwhile, the rival Rapid Support Forces continue to murder with seeming impunity in Darfur in western Sudan – where I once spent an unforgettable week trekking in the extinct volcano, Jebel Marra.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Julia Brownley (D-CA)
Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Julia Brownley (D-CA) issued the following statement on her vote against the House Republican budget resolution (H.Con.Res.14).
“My Republican colleagues should be ashamed for advancing such a self-serving budget that continues to prioritize the interests of billionaires and big corporations over hard-working American families. This budget is not a serious plan for our nation’s future nor a responsible framework for government spending. It is a reckless giveaway to the ultra-wealthy that guts vital programs that millions of Americans rely on to survive.
“Rather than providing relief to struggling families, Republicans are handing out an average tax cut of over $300,000 to the wealthiest one percent – all while pushing the costs of these tax breaks onto everyone else and plunging millions of Americans into financial hardship. This budget isn’t just fiscally irresponsible – it is an economic disaster.
“So-called ‘fiscal conservatives’ would add $7 trillion to the national debt to pay for these tax breaks for the rich, while mortgaging our children’s future and raising costs for everyday Americans. This is an outright betrayal of working families and future generations.
“And how do Republicans justify this scheme? By defunding Medicaid. By defunding food programs that feed 15 million children. By gutting the VA. And by cutting funding for public schools and special education programs.
“The Republican budget is an all-out attack on the very people who keep this country running – working families, seniors, veterans, and children. While Americans face record-high inflation and rising costs, Republicans have done nothing – absolutely nothing – to ease the pain or address the escalating economic crisis. In fact, they are actively making things worse by blindly backing Trump’s disastrous tariffs and dragging our economy toward a recession.
“This budget is the largest tax hike on working Americans in 50 years and will cost the average household $3,800 a year.
“That is why I voted no. House Democrats are working for the American people, and I will continue fighting to protect the interests of hard-working families across this country.”
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congressman Greg Steube (FL-17)
April 10, 2025 | Press ReleasesLegislation Protects the Independence of Our Nation’s Nonprofit Organizations WASHINGTON — U.S. Representative Greg Steube (R-Fla.) today introduced the Safeguarding Charity Act to clarify that tax-exempt organizations should not be treated as recipients of federal financial assistance. The legislation protects tax-exempt organizations from a perilous line of litigation in federal courts that could subject every church, nonprofit, and private school in America to burdensome federal regulations.“Radical judges do not have the authority to twist federal law and force religious institutions to choose between their convictions and compliance,” said Rep. Steube. “The Safeguarding Charity Actreaffirms that tax-exempt status does not mean an organization is receiving federal financial assistance. This bill is about protecting churches, religious schools, and charities from federal overreach. I’m grateful to Senator Lankford for his leadership on this important effort in the Senate.”U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. Senate.“Tax-exempt organizations should not live in fear of federal control every day because courts want to redefine the meaning of tax-exempt status. Tax-exempt status is not the same as receiving federal funding, and it should not be used as political leverage against the nonprofits that feed, clothe, house, and counsel those in need in Oklahoma and across the nation,” said Senator Lankford. “We should be focused on enabling the work of these organizations—not burdening them with unnecessary and costly federal requirements.”Supporting organizations include: Alliance Defending Freedom, Philanthropy Roundtable, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, Agudath Israel of America, Seventh-day Adventist Church, American Association of Christian Schools,Association for Biblical Higher Education, Association of Christian Schools International, Family Research Council, Citygate Network, Christian Employers Alliance, and National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.Alliance Defending Freedom“Charities and other nonprofits provide invaluable services to their communities. In part to recognize their critical work, nonprofits are tax-exempt so that they can devote scarce resources to serving those in need. Until recently, no one really thought that their tax-exempt status was the sort of “federal financial assistance” that triggered the application of several burdensome federal statutes and regulations. But some courts have embraced this unfounded view, and Congress needs to set things straight. Let’s be clear: a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status should not be considered government funding and thus should not trigger multiple burdensome federal laws under which charities and other nonprofits could lose their tax-exempt status. ADF commends Sen. Lankford and Rep. Steube for introducing the Safeguarding Charity Act to protect nonprofits from these financially crushing burdens so that nonprofits can continue to serve their communities free from unfair and unexpected government overreach.” – Greg Baylor, ADF Senior Counsel Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission“The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) strongly supports the Safeguarding Charity Act, which provides essential clarification that tax-exempt status is not equivalent to receiving federal financial assistance. Recent court decisions have wrongly conflated these two ideas, endangering vital religious liberty protections and subjecting churches and faith-based nonprofits to harmful, undue federal regulations. The ERLC urges Congress to uphold this longstanding precedent and protect religious organizations’ freedom to operate in accordance with their faith, free from government interference.” – Brent Leatherwood, ERLC President.Association of Christian Schools International“ACSI commends Senator Lankford and Congressman Steube for their leadership in introducing the Safeguarding Charity Act. This legislation is critical to set the record straight: an organization’s non-profit status is not the receipt of federal financial assistance. It never has been. It is not now. Politically motivated lawsuits based on this false premise must stop, or else all non-profits will be at risk. We urge every member of Congress to support the Safeguarding Charity Act.” – P. George Tryfiates, VP for Public Policy and Legal Affairs at the Association of Chrisitan Schools International.Agudath Israel of America“Agudath Israel of America is pleased to support the ‘Safeguarding Charity Act (SCA),’ introduced by Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Representative Greg Steube (R-FL). This legislation is vitally important to nonprofits across the country, including synagogues, religious schools and charities within the Jewish community. It will enshrine into law that which has generally been understood that ‘tax-exempt status’ does not constitute ‘federal financial assistance.’” – Rabbi Abba Cohen, VP for Government Affairs of Agudath Israel of America Read full bill text here.
