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Doctors: Florida plan to repeal vaccine rules a 'direct threat' to health
Florida’s medical community came out in force on Friday at a Department of Health workshop in Panama City on vaccine requirements in Florida.
NSF announces new initiative to launch and scale a new generation of transformative independent research organizations to advance breakthrough science
The U.S. National Science Foundation Directorate for Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (NSF TIP) on Friday announced the launch of a new initiative designed to launch and scale a new generation…
Doom Studio id Software Unionizes To Secure AI Protections, Benefits: ‘We See The Direction The Industry Is Headed’
"People decided that it was time that we took our future into our own hands"
Kirby Air Riders team is disbanding soon, but game could get another balance patch
According to director Masahiro Sakurai, the team behind Kirby Air Riders will be disbanding soon. At this point there largely isn’t a reason to keep everyone together. Development is finished, and as previously announced, the game isn’t getting DLC. However, we’re likely to get one more balance patch. Sakurai shared the following on social media: “As discussed in Air Riders...
Rachel Reeves to blame for economy shrinking before budget, Tories claim
Shadow chancellor says unexpected contraction is ‘direct result of Labour’s economic mismanagement’
City Colleges of Chicago Director and ISU Health Sciences alumna becomes first Black person in Illinois to hold a doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science
When she learned she was the first Black person in Illinois to hold a *Doctorate in Clinical Laboratory Science (DCLS) she was “flabbergasted,” and not because she earned the doctorate, but because she knows it’s a catalyst for “something much bigger than me."
Public Health Faculty Slam Harvard’s Removal of FXB Center Director Mary Bassett | News
Public Health Faculty Slam Harvard’s Removal of FXB Center Director Mary Bassett | News | The Harvard Crimson
FBI official says antifa is top domestic concern. He couldn’t say why.
Michael Glasheen, operations director of the National Security Branch at the FBI, called antifa the agency’s 'primary concern right now.'
Alexei Navalny’s wife and political heir still has ‘big hopes’ for Russia
The exiled widow of Russia’s late opposition leader Alexei Navalny told POLITICO on Thursday that remaining hopeful about her home country is part of her job. “I really have big hopes for Rus…
Amendment 29: F.6 Science Activation Final Text and Due Date.
The Science Mission Directorate Science Activation Program encourages all people to actively participate in science through activities and resources developed
Jury convicts Netflix director Carl Rinsch in $11 million fraud case
Prosecutors accused Carl Rinsch, who directed the Keanu Reeves-starring "47 Ronin," of fraud after an ambitious sci-fi Netflix project collapsed.
Senate Deadlocks Over Obamacare Subsidies in Dueling Votes
Republicans blocked Democrats’ effort to extend the expiring subsidies while Democrats thwarted a G.O.P. proposal to replace them with direct payments for basic health coverage.
There’s no room for hunger at UC Berkeley School of Public Health
In 2021 UCBPH launched a food pantry run by the Dream office, which quickly grew to encompass direct stipends, and personal and home care products.
Thirty Years of Onion Politics: Bosnia and Herzegovina on the 30th anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement
The Dayton Peace Agreement ended the Bosnian War, establishing the constitutional framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It achieved its immediate aim of ending direct violence, yet ended up creating a state apparatus that obstructs social equality and economic sovereignty. This Spotlight argues that the evaluation of its success must take two problems into account: the cementation of ethnic categories as foundational levels of governance and the resulting failure to address or transform war legacies; and the institutionalized international involvement undermining democratic self-determination.
The New WHO Pandemic Treaty and Global Health Governance: Incorporating Common but Differentiated Responsibilities into PABS - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
On May 20, 2025, the World Health Assembly unanimously adopted the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement, an international treaty designed to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The product of three years of arduous negotiations, the treaty marks a new era of global cooperation in public health. However, core aspects of the agreement remain unresolved—notably the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) System, which is intended to ensure equitable access to pandemic-related materials and benefits. To support the successful implementation of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” should be formally incorporated into the negotiating agenda of the PABS annex. Introduction For the first time, an international treaty has enshrined the principle of “One Health,” the compelling idea that the health of animals, humans, and the environment all contribute to pandemic risks. SARS (2003), H1N1 (2009–10), Ebola (2014–16), and COVID-19 all emerged through zoonotic spillover from animal hosts—respectively, civets, hogs, and bats. Together, they underscore the need for a coordinated, cross-sectoral approach. The Pandemic Agreement responds to this call, requiring state parties to acknowledge the ecological interplay and commit to a comprehensive “One Health” strategy. Specifically, Article 5 charges governments to address “the drivers of pandemics and the emergence and re-emergence of infectious disease at the human-animal-environment interface,” including wild animal markets, deforestation, and antibiotic overuse. Yet the effectiveness of this “One Health” vision depends equally on the free flow of scientific information and data among countries and institutions. Just as environmental and animal health factors have been neglected in past global frameworks, so too has data sharing been marginalized, despite its centrality to timely detection and response. The Pandemic Agreement takes an important step by requiring governments to enhance data collection and cooperate with the World Health Organization (WHO). However, these provisions will remain aspirational without a robust Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) annex. The PABS system will determine whether countries and researchers can rapidly exchange pathogen samples and genetic data while ensuring equitable access to resulting research and development, including diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines. Without such mechanisms, the treaty’s promise to operationalize “One Health” and strengthen global preparedness will risk becoming largely symbolic, echoing earlier failures to translate shared principles into coordinated action. Equity Concerns When the 2025 Health Assembly adopted the Pandemic Agreement, it left the difficult question of access to pathogens and the sharing of resulting benefits to be addressed in a separate agreement. Negotiations on this separate agreement, PABS, are now underway in Geneva. Yet governments remain divided over fundamental questions of equity between the countries that primarily contribute to the system and those that primarily draw from it—and consequently benefit. For example, wildlife in countries bordering the equator is likely to produce PABS materials, but companies in Europe are likely to use them to develop lucrative products. The most likely contributor countries are likely to be those biodiverse countries around the equator, such as Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia, where the number of human-mammalian viral host interactions is large. Conversely, countries most likely to benefit from this material are those with the technology, investors, and infrastructure to capitalize on genomic data, such as the United States, EU member states, and Japan. This imbalance reflects a broader pattern seen in prior international frameworks. Now, as in the past, the wealthiest countries in the world (a useful heuristic is membership of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)) disproportionately benefit from systems in which pathogens and genomic sequencing data are contributed to a common source. Under the International Agreement on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the “Plant Treaty” or “Seed Treaty”) and the Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (PIP) Framework, companies from Europe and North America disproportionately withdraw biological samples and data for development into lucrative medical products. Their governments and companies have both statutory and contractual claims to the products that those companies correspondingly produce. PABS appears poised to follow the same pattern. The text calls for strong language on access to pathogens and associated data, but the corresponding benefits that should flow to poorer countries are couched in equivocal or non-binding language. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities To address these inequities, the principle of “common but differentiated responsibilities” should be formally incorporated into the negotiating agenda of the PABS annex. Common but differentiated responsibilities are often a feature of climate change negotiations. The basic principle is that, even though all countries should reduce carbon emissions, governments that became rich and powerful through massive carbon emissions (e.g., France, the United Kingdom, the United States) should have a greater obligation to address the resulting crises. Applied to PABS, it would require that governments hosting and supporting companies developing lucrative products carry greater obligations toward the cost of running the PABS system; share benefits or final medical products; and transfer technology to help countries worldwide develop their own capacities to innovate and manufacture vaccines during an emergency. For example, an annex could mandate that any company based in an OECD country that withdraws PABS material would be obligated to donate the resulting diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines to the WHO during a public health emergency or pandemic. Questions remain about how robust those donations would be, but the principle is that they should deliver highly significant lifesaving benefits to be equitably shared. Theoretically, this approach mirrors the PIP Framework, in which companies withdrawing influenza samples are required to pay half of the operating costs. In practice, however, the framework has fallen short. The PIP Framework Secretariat has struggled to secure payments from companies, with companies often disagreeing over how much is owed. Additionally, without another pandemic influenza to test the strength of the agreement during a public health emergency, corporate compliance with sharing mechanisms remains unknown. Even if these limitations did not characterize the PIP Framework, partially paying for operating expenses does not address the inequity in access to genetic data and pathogen samples that left less developed countries last in line for COVID-19 vaccines (and, before them, H1N1). Common but differentiated responsibilities would go further, addressing governments’ legitimate grievances regarding information sharing. It would make withdrawals of PABS material and resulting products more transparent, building trust across the board. Enforcement and Enduring Success A key implication of this approach is that the governing mechanism of the PABS must have real enforcement authority. The WHO Pandemic Agreement delegates its core governance responsibilities to a Conference of the Parties (COP)—a governing body composed of one representative from each participating government, similar to those established under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. The proposed WHO Pandemic Agreement COP is charged with oversight functions but ultimately possesses no real authority to compel a government to take any action it does not wish to take. The text does not give the COP the ability to, for example, sanction a party that does not comply with either textual obligations or PABS provisions. In other words, there are no effective mechanisms in place to ensure compliance. Perhaps just as significant, establishing a meaningful enforcement mechanism within the PABS system would strengthen the WHO’s credibility and its ability to ensure compliance across global health governance. By setting a precedent for accountability, such a mechanism could enhance the organization’s authority not only within the Pandemic Agreement but also in enforcing the revised International Health Regulations and other frameworks for public health emergencies. Conclusion The PABS annex can—and should—be different. It should establish clear responsibilities for funding as well as for sharing the diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines that result from contributions to the system. The system, in turn, must include a dedicated body empowered to hold governments and the corporations they sponsor accountable for their responsibilities before, during, and after pandemics. Doing so would restore trust in the broader agreement, which was eroded as commitments were repeatedly diluted while parties scrambled to meet their own self-imposed deadlines during the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. A robust PABS Annex would cement a grand social bargain. Wealthier countries and their corporations would gain unimpeded access to scientific information essential for developing and manufacturing lifesaving medical products. As such, they would stand to gain considerable economic benefit. Yet that privilege must be matched with responsibility. The grand bargain must include not only the right to innovate, but also the duty to ensure that innovation serves all. As medical products are developed and produced through collective contributions, every person must have equal access. All human beings deserve an equitable chance to survive—to save their own life, the lives of their families, and the well-being of their communities. … Sam Halabi, JD, MPhil, is the Bette Jacobs Endowed Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Health and the Director of the Center for Transformational Health Law at Georgetown Law. He serves as the co-lead for the WHO’s Working Group on Regulatory Consideration on AI and Health’s training workstream. He earned his JD from Harvard, his MPhil from Oxford, and undergraduate degrees from Kansas State University. Lawrence Gostin, LLD (Hon.), JD, BA, is University Distinguished Professor and Founding Director and Timothy and Linda O’Neill Professor of the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law. He is the author of Global Health Security: A Blueprint for the Future (Harvard University Press, 2021); Global Health Law (Harvard University Press, 2014); Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint (University of California Press, 3rd ed., 2016); Public Health Law and Ethics: A Reader (University of California Press, 3rd ed., 2018); Law and the Health System (Foundation Press, 2014); Principles of Mental Health Law & Practice (Oxford University Press, 2010). He also directs the WHO Collaborating Center at Georgetown University. Image Credit: United States Mission Geneva, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
GLOBE Expands with Landsat Land Cover Comparisons
The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program has launched a new feature that connects citizen scientists directly to Landsat observations.
Netflix director takes the stand, recounts 5-week scramble to save sci-fi project at heart of his $11 million fraud trial
Carl Rinsch, the director behind "Ronin 47" with Keanu Reeves, took the stand in his own defense. He faces up to 90 years in prison if convicted.
Harvard Dismisses Director of FXB Center for Health and Human Rights | News
Harvard Dismisses Director of FXB Center for Health and Human Rights | News | The Harvard Crimson
Northampton boss Dowson & coaching duo agree new deals
Director of rugby Phil Dowson, head coach Sam Vesty and senior coach James Craig agree contract extensions with Northampton Saints.
Certified industrial development land is dedicated at Holmen business parks
New industrial sites are becoming available in Holmen. LADCO hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, to dedicate property that is ready for development at two business parks north of downtown Holmen. The sites have been certified by state officials as ready for new construction. Vicki Markussen, the executive director of LADCO, says the two new development […]
IRS Issues Guidance For Expanded Health Savings Accounts Under New Tax Law
The IRS has issued guidance on HSAs, answering questions about telehealth services, bronze and catastrophic plans under the ACA, and direct primary care arrangements.
Big 12 commissioner says Notre Dame AD's behavior toward ACC is 'egregious'
Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark slammed Notre Dame athletic director Pete Bevacqua, saying his comments criticizing the ACC are 'egregious'
I’m Trans and Playing Sports Changed Me for the Better
By Sasha Buchert, Lambda Legal Counsel, Nonbinary & Trans Rights Project Director For as long as I can remember, people have been throwing wiffle balls, basketballs, footballs, dodgeballs, volleyballs, frisbees, hockey pucks, and boomerangs at me. As an adult, I’m now part of an adult softball league, where I get softballs hurled at me all...
Senate Republicans offer counter-proposal on Obamacare subsidies
The GOP plan would replace expiring ACA subsidies with a new program that directly funds health savings accounts for eligible patients
Massachusetts is seeing more people drop health insurance
“In the first month of open enrollment, we’ve seen over 10,000 people terminate their coverage for 2026," says Audrey Morse Gasteier, Health Connector Executive Director.
Graduating LA fashion business student says ASU is ‘the right place to grow’
For fashion business student Emily Vuduris, creativity was the only direction that made sense for her.Vuduris, who graduates with a Bachelor of Arts in fashion (merchandising) this fall from ASU FIDM after having previously received her associate degree in fashion design from legacy FIDM, originally thought that meant following in her aunt’s footsteps with a career in interior design.
Entertainment jackpot: Larchwood casino enhances entertainment
LARCHWOOD—Grand Falls Casino & Golf Resort northwest of Larchwood wants to be known as “the entertainment destination,” according to marketing director Greta Brower, especially as its growing “exponentially” in 2026.
Vitable Health and DirectShifts Partner to Expand Clinicians’ Access to Care and Coverage
PHILADELPHIA, December 09, 2025--Vitable Health, an all-in-one health benefits platform redefining care for the American workforce, today announced a new partnership with DirectShifts, a leading clinician staffing platform, to make it easier for clinicians nationwide to access everyday healthcare and insurance coverage.
Disney’s Entertainment Model Stumbles as Amazon Doubles Down on AI Infrastructure Spending
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Disney (NYSE: DIS) just reported earnings revealing two companies moving in opposite directions. Amazon delivered 13.4% revenue growth and accelerating cloud momentum. Disney posted flat revenue, down 0.5% year-over-year, as streaming gains failed to offset legacy media weakness. Is it odd that I’m comparing what are now two drastically different companies ... Disney’s Entertainment Model Stumbles as Amazon Doubles Down on AI Infrastructure Spending
Does college sports need a CBA? Some ADs are starting to think so
A growing number of athletic directors say they are interested in exploring a once-unthinkable option.
Trump voices concern over Europe's political direction
Ties between the US and the EU are under pressure as Donald Trump questions Europe's trajectory and Brussels defends its recent regulatory decisions.
School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt wins Dana Foundation grant for curriculum on smartphones and cognition in teens
How do smartphones affect the brains of teenagers? That question is at the core of a new grant awarded to the School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt (SSMV) by the Dana Foundation, which works to advance neuroscience in alignment with community values and societal priorities. Menton Deweese, director of the SSMV, and Pamela Popp, […]
Trump says money should go to people, not health insurers
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday criticized insurance companies while calling for funds to go directly to individuals rather than insurers, as Democrats push for a three-year extension of expiring subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans.
Trump Says Money Should Go to People, Not Health Insurers
WASHINGTON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday criticized insurance companies while calling for funds to go directly to individuals rather than insurers, as Democrats push for a three-year extension of expiring subsidies for Affordable Care Act health plans. Trump made his ...
Google's AI try-on app Doppl adds a shoppable discovery feed
The tech giant says the idea behind the new feed is to display recommendations so users can discover and virtually try on items. Nearly everything in the feed is shoppable, with direct links to merchants.
Congress moves to ban trans women from military academy sports
The move is part of several anti-trans measures directed by the Trump administration.
I tried Google’s prototype smart glasses and it almost made me forget about my phone
How often do you reach for your phone to get directions, answer a video call or Google something? Probably more times than you can count.
Ohio State football: Sports information director Jerry Emig through years
Jerry Emig has been with Ohio State for 23 years, serving as the primary football spokesman since 2011. He is retiring after the 2025 season
Sports Marketing & Media Grad Finds Her Path to the NFL
Sports Marketing & Media grad Tahira Bellot has channeled her Boston-born passion for sports into a career as Director of Premium Service for the Las Vegas Raiders.
Some Memphis businesses suffer amid federal Task Force presence
MEMPHIS — Saturday lunch is usually peak busy at La Guadalupana restaurant, one of the city’s oldest sit-down Mexican taquerias along a busy commercial strip in the city’s diverse Berclair neighborhood. But on one recent Saturday, owner Juan Castelan gestured in the direction of mostly empty tables. Business is down 30% to 40% since the […]
GSPM director to confront enrollment challenges in shifting political, higher education landscape
Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a former member of Congress and university official, said she is aiming modernize the school and increase enrollment amid declines and heightened political polarization.
Rangers left fuming at refs after questionable calls put them in...
It is always a shame when officiating seemingly sways a game in one direction or another.
As Congress fights over ACA subsidies, economist argues for expanding care
Craig Garthwaite, Director of the Program on Healthcare at Northwestern University and co-author of a new paper from the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, talks about reforms that could make healthcare cheaper and more efficient.
Director Jameis Winston Live On Set 🎬
Director Jameis Winston Live On Set 🎬
Graeagle business owner takes Hot August Nights helm
Hot August Nights announces Lisa Jansen as its new executive director, bringing fresh leadership to one of Nevada’s most iconic annual events as it gears
In Focus Maine: Biddeford
@BiddMECity Mayor-elect, Liam LaFountain, @heartbiddeford Exec Director Deliliah talk with In Focus host @Bree.Driscoll about Biddeford’s revitalization, the holidays and the future.
Passenger Jet Suddenly Dropped From Sky for a Wild Reason, Airbus Says
Apologies to our art director, who must depict a plane plunging after being blasted by cosmic rays, which is something that actually happened.
Judge temporarily blocks Justice Department’s use of evidence in dismissed Comey case
A federal judge on Saturday temporarily locked down the Justice Department’s access to some evidence used in its criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, just as the Trump administration prepares to seek a new indictment after the dismissal of previous charges early last week.
Apple Is Hemorrhaging Vice Presidents
Amid rumors that Tim Cook may leave soon, many of his direct reports are retiring or otherwise moving on.
Winter Meetings will show if Twins are serious about competing
Minnesota must choose a real direction and stop drifting through another season.
Sydney Sweeney Issues Direct Response to American Eagle Jeans Ad Backlash
The ‘Euphoria’ star is making her stance a little more clear after months of non-answers.
Sydney Sweeney Issues Direct Response to American Eagle Jeans Ad Backlash
The ‘Euphoria’ star is making her stance a little more clear after months of non-answers.
'Get all that Hermes stuff now': Netflix director accused of $11 million fraud rushed to buy luxury goods, texts show
Netflix director Carl Rinsch purchased a Swedish mattress that a trial witness said comes with a "bed doctor" who visits your house to massage it.
Pharrell Addresses Backlash Over Recent Comments About Politics and Diversity: ‘I’m Lumpenproletariat’
The Men's Creative Director for Louis Vuitton used his 'Shoe of the Year' speech at the FNAA's to comment on the criticism he's been receiving online.
Roy Kramer, former commissioner who led SEC’s rise to top of college sports, dies at 96
Kramer became SEC commissioner in 1990, after 12 years as Vanderbilt's athletic director, and ran the league until his retirement in 2002.
Trump’s NIH director visits with Mass. scientists, health care executives affected by research funding cuts
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said he wants Iowa and Nebraska to have equal opportunities for research funding as Massachusetts.
Trump’s NIH director visits with Mass. scientists, health care executives affected by research funding cuts
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said he wants Iowa and Nebraska to have equal opportunities for research funding as Massachusetts.
Giant sunspot on par with the one that birthed the Carrington Event has appeared on the sun — and it's pointed right at Earth
A massive new sunspot complex, dubbed AR 4294-4296, has emerged on the sun and is facing directly at Earth. The dark patch is on par with the infamous sunspot that birthed the 1859 Carrington Event — but, for now, it's staying quiet.
Are you a swing voter? We want to hear how you're feeling about politics
Do you think the country is going in the right or wrong direction? Are you happy with your vote last year or do you have any regrets? Or maybe you sat the election out? NPR wants to speak with swing voters across the political spectrum.
Anthony Letai pledges to ensure stability for extramural and intramural cancer science
Stepping into the NCI director’s job at the end of a nerve-racking year, Anthony Letai wants you to know that the federal government is not going out of the business of cancer research. To access this subscriber-only content please log in or subscribe.If your institution has a site license, log in with IP-login or register […]
Scientists Discover The First Single Gene to Directly Cause Mental Illness
Surprisingly simple.
Seahawks-Falcons Preview
ATLANTA (AP) Talk about two teams heading in opposite directions.
Czech billionaire Babiš will become PM after disposing of agri-business conflict
President Petr Pavel applauds the anti-establishment tycoon for resolving an issue with the Agrofert holding that had overshadowed the election aftermath.
A Ferrari and over 480 takeout orders: FBI details spending spree of Netflix director in $11 million fraud case
Netflix earmarked $11 million to finish a futuristic sci-fi show. Prosecutors say director Carl Rinsch used it for cars and a lot of Uber Eats.
Endgame Entertainment Producing ‘Digital Dunkirk’ Doc From Director David Check, Also Developing Narrative Feature Adaptation
'Digital Dunkirk,' a doc from Endgame Entertainment, which is also developing a narrative adaptation, is in the works.
Weekend Entertainment | ‘Brier Hill’ Film Hits the Mark
It has been a long time since a locally made movie attracted audiences as powerfully as “Brier Hill,” directed by Jimmy Taaffe of Struthers.
Jackson selected as editor for the Planetary Science Journal
Brian Jackson, professor of physics at Boise State University and Director of the Central Idaho...
The overdiagnosis debate in mental health misses the point
“Focusing on who ‘counts’ as mentally ill will ultimately send us down the wrong path,” Miranda Wolpert, director of mental health at Wellcome, writes.
Strategies to Help Students Embrace Science Instruction (Opinion)
Knowing how to redirect science denial in your classroom is a strong way to start.
City leaders face questions as lawsuit alleges corruption in entertainment hub rejection
KFOX14/CBS4 went directly to Sunland Park City Hall in an attempt to question city leaders named in a new lawsuit that accuses them of improperly blocking a mul
Jury hears how Netflix director lost a fortune on options trades — days after streamer sent him $11M for 'visionary' show
In the weeks after Netflix wired him $11M, director Carl Eric Rinsch made so many failed, seven-figure option bets that his broker tried to stop him.
K-State AD Gene Taylor rips state of college sports after football coach Chris Klieman's retirement
Kansas State athletic director Gene Taylor was vocal in his criticism of college sports on Wednesday, blaming it in part for driving football coach Chris Klieman into retirement.
PAHO Director and President of the Dominican Republic Strengthen Health Cooperation and Address National Priorities
Santo Domingo, December 3, 2025 (PAHO) – The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Jarbas Barbosa, met today with the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader, at the Presidential Palace to deepen bilateral cooperation and review strategic areas to continue strengthening the country’s health systems.The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Public Health, Víctor Atallah; PAHO’s Representative in the Dominican Republic, Alba María Ropero Álvarez; and the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rubén Silié.
RWJBarnabas Health’s Mark E. Manigan and George Helmy Named 2026 BINJE Power Players
Mark E. Manigan, President and Chief Executive Officer, and George Helmy, Executive Vice President, Chief External Affairs and Policy Officer of RWJBarnabas Health, the largest, most comprehensive academic health care system in New Jersey, have been recognized as 2026 Power Players by BINJE. The BINJE Power Players List honors more than 100 CEOs, principals, managing partners and executive directors who are shaping the future of business in New Jersey.
PEOPLE: Jeff Shultz to join Radial Entertainment’s C-suite next year
Also, Kidscreen alum Nelson Huynh will manage content sales in the Americas for Mattel on contract in 2026, and Paramount has added LatAm to franchise director Lee Harris-Gibbs' remit.
Prime Video introduces a dedicated news destination for customers
Customers can now conveniently access local, national, and world news from major networks directly from the Prime Video homepage.
Eva Kaili to Mogherini: Belgium ‘not a safe place’ for politicians
Former MEP embroiled in Qatargate scandal speaks out on fraud probe involving EEAS and College of Europe.
Mulvaney addresses future of politics and populism at Brooks School event
Director Mick Mulvaney, the 2025–26 Nixon Distinguished Policy Fellow, delivered a keynote on the rise of populism in America to a full lecture hall of Cornell students, highlighting shifts in U.S. politics and engaging in wide-ranging discussion on contemporary policy challenges.
Ex-Netflix executive details how a 'visionary' project slowly unraveled into an alleged $11 million fraud
Former Netflix exec Peter Friedlander described how director Carl Rinsch's ambitious sci-fi project turned into a Hollywood debacle and alleged fraud.
Director Ken Burns almost turned down an offer from Steve Jobs 20 years ago. They struck a different deal.
Ken Burns and Steve Jobs made a $1 million deal to bring the "Ken Burns Effect" photo technique to iMovie in 2002.
Worcester health official sounds alarm over mpox cases in city
The recent emergence of two cases of mpox in Worcester raises concerns especially among the homeless population, the city's medical director says.
Elden Ring Nightreign's DLC is "definitely a little bit harder" than the main game, "but it's not ridiculous", says director
The Forsaken Hollows, the forthcoming DLC for Elden Ring spin-off Nightreign, is "definitely a little bit harder" than the main game, its director has admitted.
Christopher Vitullo Promoted to Sports Performance Coach
LOWELL, Mass. – Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance Marcus Williams has announced the promotion of Chris Vitullo to Sports Performance Coach.
Cancer. COVID. Strikes. After a 9-year journey, 'A Little Prayer' was still worth the wait
Writer-director Angus MacLachlan explains how his tiny indie surmounted so many hurdles — and why he still feels the 'Movie Gods' smiled upon him.
Ubisoft's Splinter Cell remake gets another new game director, but it's the original director returning
Ubisoft's Splinter Cell remake has landed itself a new game director, and it's a name you may recognise.
UK mulls ban on crypto cash in politics — putting Farage in firing line
Nigel Farage’s Reform UK was the first U.K. political party to accept donations in cryptocurrency — and now the government is considering a ban.
Cubs' Marquee Sports Network eliminates GM position among cuts
The network significantly reduced its digital-content team, including cutting director of content Tony Andracki and reporter Andy Martinez.
Justice Department could present a new indictment against James Comey to a grand jury this week
No matter what, prosecutors will likely present new indictments against the former FBI director and New York Attorney General Letitia James to grand juries in the Eastern District of Virginia.
PAHO Director calls for strengthened health legislation and primary care during visit to the Dominican Republic
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, December 1, 2025 (PAHO) – The Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, today urged countries in the region to strengthen health legislation and reinforce primary health care, key pillars for more equitable, resilient, and sustainable health systems.
Top 5 Entertainment News: From Samantha Ruth Prabhu's wedding with Raj Nidimoru to Delhi HC directing CBFC to consider Major Mohit Sharma's parents' concerns about 'Dhurandhar' | Hindi Movie News - The Times of India
In a recent interview, Kamal Haasan put to rest any speculation about his retirement, emphasizing that it is ultimately his fans who will determine hi
Dr. Willie Lockett to Serve as Guest Speaker at Health Sciences Short-
Coahoma Community College is proud to announce that Dr. Willie Lockett, Jr., Director of Respiratory Care at Coahoma Community College, will serve as the guest speaker at the Short-Term Programs Pinni
Netflix Makes Screencasting From Phones To A Bigger Screen Almost Impossible
If you wanted to watch Netflix on a TV, you could always screencast a show or movie from your phone directly to a smart TV. That's no longer possible.
Clinical Research Unit moves environmental health research forward
New medical director Lawrence Kirschner highlights the CRU’s role as a hub for translational studies connecting environmental exposures, genetics, and human health.
Science must move from materialism to mystery
Theoretical physicist and neuroscientist Àlex Gómez-Marín argues that modern science has become trapped in a framework that mistakes matter for the whole of reality. In this wide-ranging interview, Gómez-Marín challenges the foundations of materialism, defends the scientific study of near-death experiences, and calls for a new type of science grounded in mystery and a renewed sense of the sacred. He suggests that abandoning materialism could open the door to a deeper understanding of consciousness, death, and the purpose of human existence. Simon Custer: You are both a theoretical physicist and a neuroscientist, and you have also been fiercely critical of materialist theories of mind and consciousness. What do you think the ultimate nature of reality is?Àlex Gómez-Marín: I don't know what the ultimate nature of reality is, but what I try to first assess is whether the stories that they [mainstream science] have told us about it are right, or maybe whether there are other alternatives. That's why I've been a fierce critic of materialism. As a scientist, I realized that they had sold us this idea that to be a good scientist you also had to subscribe to many other -isms, like materialism, reductionism, and even secularism. And so first I think one needs to unmount these -isms, and then, as is happening today in consciousness studies, we have a huge landscape where there isn't only one game in town, the idea that matter is the only thing that really exists. But because we are studying the hard problem of consciousness, it may be the case that other views of reality, like idealism, or even dualism, or other theories like dual aspect monism... these are philosophical ideas that now, I think, have room in science to be taken seriously. How does something like materialism relate to dualism or idealism? What is materialism in the first place?Well, materialism is the philosophical position that matter is the only really ‘real’ thing in the universe. And I think that worked kind of well because science started 400 years ago and Galileo made that split, I call it the foundational wound. It was a great business move.He said, let's start doing science on that portion of reality that lends itself more easily to mathematization and measurement. So, for some reason, the solidity of this table or the movement of planets lend themselves very well to this foundational idea of science. But as time went on, 400 years later, we realized that we had forgotten the other side, which is what really matters.What really matters is pain, is love, is feelings, sensation, consciousness, which is very hard to define, but very intimate. We all know what it is. It's that thing that disappears when we go into deep sleep and comes back in the morning. SUGGESTED VIEWING On the edges of knowledge With Michael Shermer, Rupert Sheldrake, Güneş Taylor It's what it is like to be, as Nagel said. It's the feeling of being alive. So, materialism is good to study certain things, but then when it ossifies into this ideology and then is dressed like science, now it's preventing us from understanding these key questions that are really that everybody wants to know.Why are we here? Why do we feel reality? Where do we go when we die? And so we need other ways. We need pluralism. I'm only asking for having more options on the table and taking them seriously. Why does materialism fail to explain consciousness? For example, if you were to lobotomize me, I would not be a functional human being. What do you say to someone who might think that materialism adequately explains the mind?Well, here we could speak about different things. We could talk about physics or about neuroscience. I happen to have training with both.For instance, for neuroscientists, 99% of them, I'm not included in that portion, believe that the brain can only be a productive organ. It's an organ that somehow, somewhere, consciousness emerges. It's like a lamp. And then something happens, magic happens, and then consciousness emerges.That's the position you need to be if you're a materialist because if the only really ‘real’ thing is matter, then you need to say, just give us some more time and money and we'll figure out how mind emerges or is produced from matter. There are many philosophically sophisticated ways of criticizing this.Now there's another option, which is the brain as a permissive organ. This was said by William James more than 100 years ago.Now then the brain wouldn't be like this machine, like for instance, a heat engine whose smoke is consciousness, which is what we would have in the first big model, the productive model. But in the permissive model, the brain would be a kind of a filter. And so the brain would still have a very important role in consciousness, but it wouldn't be a productive role.It would be permissive, much like a filter or much like a prism which would receive light. And - I'm speaking metaphorically - it would receive the light of the mind and then it could reflect it and refract it.Now, with these two big options on the table, I think we can make progress into what I call the edges of consciousness, which are all these experiences, weird experiences that many people have, but we don't talk about enough, like near-death experiences, precognitive dreams, synchronicities. These experiences are very important for humans and they have a place in the permissive hypothesis and they are literally impossible in the productive hypothesis. So that's yet one more reason to explore alternatives to materialism. There may be anecdotal evidence for near-death experiences, but is there robust evidence that would be accepted by the majority of scientists who subscribe to the scientific method?Sure. And the plural of anecdotes, someone said, is data.And there's a lot of data. Actually, this year is the 50th anniversary, half a century, since Dr. Raymond Moody realized that we have two ears and one mouth and started listening to what his patients had to say about their experiences while they were clinically dead.The heart had stopped, breathing had stopped in these patients. These patients would come back and tell him these amazing stories that some people may say are hallucinations, but for the patients were hyper-real, like seeing light at the end of the tunnels, seeing deceased family members waiting for them, feeling bliss.___I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain.___And so he and others started taking them seriously and writing their accounts down. And then you can do a science based on that material of experience that people have. Now, on the more objective side, more recently people have started to measure what's going on in the brain when people are clinically dead and brought back. This has opened a proper field of study, which is near-death studies.Evidence is a difficult word, because sometimes people think that when you say evidence, this is just the final proof. Evidence is like in a jury. You bring testimony, you bring pieces of data that point in one direction or another.I would say the evidence suggests that the mind can survive the death of activity of the brain. When brains are broken or shut off, there can still be mind going on. And that's revolutionary.That would entail that when we die, it's not game over, which, by the way, is the thesis of materialism. If consciousness survives, materialism dies. It's game over for materialism if something of us continues after we die. Do you think that there is mental continuity after death?Well, I think so, and I believe so, and I could also say I may have experienced it myself, because four years ago I had a near-death experience. I was in the hospital, I lost a lot of blood, and I saw those beings at the end of the tunnel, three beings, and there was yellow light. I was in a well, I was looking upwards, and I hadn't read about NDEs by then, but when I came back from this experience, I decided I would try to integrate this also in my professional life. Not just my personal life, of course, but my professional life as a physicist and as a neuroscientist. So I may have had the experience of glimpses of what an afterlife would be, and I'm not ashamed to say it in this way, and then one can do science of it, and then one can do philosophy of it.One can think about what -isms we were discussing, what views on reality would allow those experiences to be really ‘real,’ as opposed to, well, poor guy, the brain was kind of broken, it must have been a hallucination. Do you have a view about whether individuality or “the ego” persists after death, or whether we sort of merge into some sort of cosmic consciousness instead?I don't know, but my view would be along those lines you're suggesting. I think we could speak about a kind of universal mind, and then the problem is not how we emerge from matter, but how we fragment from a more holistic consciousness into these individual eddies and then when we die, this kind of dissipates.But I'm not sure. For instance, idealism would promote that view, but then what would survive of us after these eddies just vanish and become again the big Consciousness, I'm not sure what that would be. I don't know for sure, but I would tell you I believe something of us survives.And there are other lines of research, not just near-death experience, that can address this really hard question of survival. For instance, there are children who remember previous lives. This was studied by Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia for more than 50 years.___Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.___It's amazing research. He went all over the world, especially in the East, and collected all these case studies, all these stories. In plural, these were data of kids, very young age, who would describe up to 40 items that then he could go and verify.There was no internet. There was really no way the kid could know. Why would the kid say that when I was living in this other body and I was a woman and that's how my house would look like or that's how I would die, right? Again, there is evidence, not proof, but there's evidence not only that something weird and interesting is happening as we cross the threshold, but also when we come back to this life.Scientists should not be afraid of studying this, but they are because there's stigma. There's usually stigma upon the enigma, and this is so unfortunate. And one of the reasons is because of the ideology of materialism, because those things cannot be possible. What is wrong with the politics of science such that they have generated this stigma?So many things. Science is a human activity to begin with.So it falls prey to all our passions and ego and greed. That's one thing. Science is a job for the good and for the bad.You need to get a salary. You need to get grants. Research takes place within a selection mechanism that also sometimes reinforces things that are not very scientific.And then, we didn't have time to unpack this, but science for many years become entangled, as I was suggesting before, to other -isms, materialism, secularism. So anything that smells like the afterlife, people may think has to do with God, and then they freak out.Anything that suggests that there's something about the mind that may not need a physical material substrate to exist, it smells like non-materialism. So, all these -isms are ideologically blocking that kind of research, and then there are all these sociopolitical constraints as to what should be studied and what shouldn't be studied.I call it the backstage of science. Sometimes we scientists or science communicators seem to speak as if the data is the only thing that matters. We say, well, data and theory.But then there's a third leg of this stool, which is all the politics that goes behind the scenes. And we often don't speak about this, and it's quite vicious and petty, and it's very real. Why is materialism so attractive to most scientists?Well, an easy answer is because we've grown up with it.It's what the educational system promotes, and that's what you hear when you go to university. So it's like growing in a culture. It feels like the air in which you breathe.So it's very hard to begin with to detect, well, maybe there's another alternative. Maybe there are other ways of doing science, other environments in which one could do science. That's one reason.And other reasons maybe are more profound, and I'm not qualified to explain them, but I could say, looking at this 400-year history of science, since it started around 1623 with Galileo's book The Assayer, that science went and coupled with all what's going on in the West.And so the fall of religion, you could say, and science presented us this new alternative that then could be coupled very well with other -isms, and this idea of growth, and then science losing its good twin brother, which was philosophy. There's a whole natural history of science starting as philosophy, kind of emancipating or breaking out from philosophy, and then marrying technology, and then marrying other social systems.From that point of view, materialism is a very convenient idea to propose. There were attempts, like the German idealists tried to do a more romantic science. But no, the idea prevailed, like Francis Bacon said: You should pursue nature through all her corners, he said, and make her spill her secrets.Our attitude towards nature in the science that dominates is very much reflecting how we treat nature in our society, in our culture, like a resource to extract secrets by force and then dominate it. How is materialism related to the notions of growth and progress? What's wrong with having a productive citizenry?This is another very interesting and very difficult question to answer.But there's this recent book coming out by Paul Kingsnorth. In it, he explains this idea of the machine and this idea of progress. And this, again, this conflation of more is better, of we need to go forward always, and convincing us that the way to do that is to continually extract more from nature. But because we don't have the religious context anymore, because God is dead, then what do we have? We have what we can do as humans with our own gadgets.It's kind of the story of the Promethean fire. We will just build anything to make ourselves God.A good example today is transhumanism. Transhumanism is this pseudo-religion dressed in technoscientific language whose goal is very religious. They promise immortality, they promise redemption, they promise transformation of the entire natural world, but it's done by human means through technology. Are you suggesting that we can't have ethics without religion?Well, we should have ethics with or without religion. That's another pruning that has happened in science. We say, forget about aesthetics, although some physicists still think that beautiful means probably true, and forget about politics. We pretend there's no backstage of science, and even let's forget about ethics.___Science needs to be in the service of mankind.___Scientists, when they become more like engineers, they're just thinking how to make things work so that they can go to the moon, go to Mars, make machines that think, but they don't think whether that's a good idea.And also consider metaphysics. Many scientists for a long time pretended, and maybe that comes from the stream of positivisms, that really one doesn't need metaphysics at all, except that materialism is always the metaphysics running the system.You see, it's not just ethics. It's the pruning of all of these, you could say, five main legs of philosophy that just makes a kind of unconscious science, a science that doesn't really know what it's doing. It's doing it very well locally, but it just doesn't know what it's doing globally. Do you think science has to have an ultimate vision and purpose behind it for it to be effective or for it to be meaningful and transformative?Yes, a way I would say that is that science needs to be in the service of mankind. And it hasn't been that. And we can see it through, you know, when we discovered the secrets of the atom, and all of a sudden, the Manhattan Project, and then we create nuclear weapons.And now we're trying to crack how machines may think, and now we're creating this mess, right? So science needs to be in service of mankind, not in service of a few ideas that maybe want to make more money or just dominate upon nature. What about planes, trains, automobiles, and modern medicine? Hasn't science served mankind by helping us develop those technologies?Yes and no. I see where you're going, and it's fair.I came here by plane, and it's a blessing. When I almost died, the surgeons did their job, and they saved my life. But these two forced choices between Luddites and Silicon Valley types, I think, of course, it's a false dichotomy.Progress, in a way, it's good, but we often don't speak about the dark side of the moon. We say the great things that progress has brought, and we don't speak about the disasters, the side effects that it has come with, and the same when we promise new technologies. We tend to think that any technology is great, that email is going to save us so much time because we don't need to write letters and send them anymore.Is that true? I spend so many hours a week writing emails. Let's just say there are great things about it and bad things about it. People like Harvard psychologist Steven Pinker, for example, argue that we've made moral progress over time because of the Enlightenment. Do you think that's totally wrong-headed?I think he's emphasizing a side of the moon, and he does that very well, and you can find tons of plots where there's a slope going up and say it's great. But I think he should also tell the not-so-friendly story.But if your ideology is just to resist and continue to explain that the Enlightenment is the best thing ever and reason is the best thing ever… this feels to me like you're worshipping these abstractions.I'm very critical of it and also of these, again, science communicators and scientists that say, Oh, science says, in the name of science, experts say. It's like, come on, let's be careful because we can shoot ourselves in the foot by putting forth to the people an image of science that we know is not really true. Recently there's been a resurgence of spirituality and of people who say that they're spiritual but not religious, especially in the United States. If materialism is going away, what is going to fill that gap? Are we going to return to traditional religion? Do you see that being connected with the rise of the political right?I'm not a fortune teller, so I don't know what's going to happen. But, yeah, we could say we're in this post-materialist age and even post-secular age. One cannot come back to the past, but maybe just to contact with the roots is a good idea.What do I mean by that? I think we need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method. We need to do so in a culture where we realize humans cannot thrive in a vacuum where there's this idea that the sacred has to be removed.Now, how do we do that without bringing in back all the vices of religion? I don't know. I'm from a Catholic country.Here we are in England, so there are differences and interreligious dialogue has always been a challenge. But I think maybe a way of putting it is: after all these conflicts and branchings I was quickly alluding to, science from philosophy and then also from religion, now there's a time of reconciliation perhaps and maybe debates in the proper sense, like exchange of ideas in service of learning and getting into something higher than both poles. We need science to talk to religious people and it's interesting when people say they're spiritual and not religious.I think this is just a way of saying, no, I don't want to go back, I want to go forward. But at the end of the day, religions have offered us practices and grounding that we now desperately need. Everybody can and should just meditate or pray or do whatever they want, but we're in a crisis and it's time for reconciliation. What do you say to critics that say you are merely projecting our need for meaning onto a fundamentally indifferent universe?Yeah, I know that the typical science communicator says something like this. But we're not projecting. Human beings feed on meaning.It's the other way around. If you're a materialist, because the only thing that there is is matter, all that comes next, free will, consciousness, meaning, this is a kind of illusion that we need to explain.They're just craving for meaning, but there isn't really for them. I would also like to remind my materialist friends that for decades, if not centuries, they've said in the name of science, we know that this and this and this doesn't really exist. I think now they sense they're forced to say, well, actually, we don't know. We've been saying, for instance, that there's nothing after you die, and now probably they need to admit that they don't know the answer.___We need to do a science 2.0, a science that says thank you to Galileo and thank you to materialism, but we need to reinvent even a new kind of scientific method.___So it's a moment to open up possibilities and also to gently but fiercely critique these claims that I think harm society. If you say in the name of science, get on with it, when your father dies, you'll never see him again. Well, what the F do you know about it? You haven't studied the literature, you haven't had any of those experiences, and basically what you're doing is you're just doing marketing on ideology. This needs to stop. Do you think that it's scarier for some people to entertain the thought that there might be life after death, compared to a materialist worldview where you just die, given that there might be consequences for unsavory behaviour?Well, death and dying is scary. It's maybe the ultimate ending. It's a limit on life, and when we're in this conquest mode, we don't like limits.And it also has, there's a shockwave backwards, so I think if you change your notion of what death is or may be, you live differently. It also has consequences, as you're saying, for the future because this is not our only goal here and we come back in whatever form. And again, different religions would say different things. I the East, they are more happy with the idea of reincarnation, and here in the West, there are other preferences. But in any case, it changes how we live, and that's really what matters.It's not about just projecting or imagining what we'll be after, but how we live now and also how we treat those who are dying. So it goes from the individual to the families, to the hospitals.Now in the near-death research I do, this has ramifications at all these levels, all the way to society.But our society is thanatophobic. It has a phobia of death. We don't want to hear about death, and this is another thing we need to put on the table and be willing to talk about it. Do you think that we might get closer to answering ultimate questions like why is there anything at all if we jettison materialism?That’s an excellent question, Simon. Two things: we should stop treating reality, I believe, as a great sudoku, as an enigma, as something that with intelligence, money, and time that we will crack and instead treat reality more like a mystery. And what you do for in front of a mystery is not to be the clever guy in a class and say “I’ll solve you” but more like “I will bow and you will transform me.”I know this sounds a bit like a scientist speaking like a mystic. But I think this reorientation is needed. In the end, we won’t crack the big questions, but they will transform us. If we free ourselves from this prison of materialism, the way we will explore these questions will be freer, more creative, and in service of mankind. Do you think exploring mystery is the reason why we are here?I think we are here because, and this pseudo-theological argument I’m making off the cuff, But the One, the Absolute, if there is such a thing, had everything except limitation. We are that absolute experiencing that contingency. It’s like an act of divine proprioception. It’s a wonderful adventure, it’s just incredible to be alive. Perhaps we have forgotten why we are here and the whole point is to experience the flesh.Let me end by saying this. I criticize materialism harshly. I bang on this dead horse, because I think it’s dead. But matter is a great mystery. So maybe my invitation is as follows: hey materialist friends, come here, let’s work on materialism 2.0! Consciousness is a mystery, but matter is also a mystery. The fact that we can have an intersubjective experience consensus, the fact that we can apply mathematics, that we can measure things... the physical world we take for granted, but it is a great mystery too.Maybe that’s related to your last question: why are we here? Why did spirit decide to incarnate? Being in the flesh may be a great thing if spirit decided to do so.Àlex Gómez-Marín, thank you very much.My pleasure.
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