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John Turturro, thief of New York characters, adds a capstone in 'The Last Pickpocket in New York'
John Turturro grew up in Hollis, Queens, and has lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn, since 1988
Medical Center Chief Communications Officer John Howser to retire
Howser, the Medical Center’s communications leader since 2012, will retire in March 2027 after nearly 40 years at Vanderbilt.
NC State a touchdown favorite at Stanford
NC State is making its first trip to Stanford since the Cardinal joined the ACC, which is to say that we’re in for a very late night of who-knows-what. Should be fun. The Wolfpack is a seven-point favorite to win this one, and if there’s any sort of turnaround on the horizon for this group, […]
Post-Shanghai ATP Power Rankings: Alexander Zverev Takes Charge
As you already know, this is not the ATP rankings list; rather, these are ATP power rankings that combine 2026 results, recent form, performance against elite opposition, current fitness, and the level each player is realistically capable of producing during the final stretch of the season. The picture has changed considerably since our pre-Wimbledon rankings. …
PREVIEW: Wolves face Portsmouth for the first time since 2010
Portsmouth will travel to Molineux on Tuesday evening for the first time in 17 years to face Wolves in a rescheduled Championship fixture.With a game in hand, a win for Cesar Peixoto’s side will see...
How Rutgers Is Training Tomorrow’s Public Health Heroes
Since its launch in 2024, the Rutgers Health Service Corps has connected students with faculty and staff to improve population health outcomes throughout New Jersey
New-to-science seahorse is one of three long-misidentified species
Scientists have identified a new-to-science seahorse species from the Indian waters, which has helped resolve the taxonomy of a group misidentified for over a century. In 1856, zoologist Johann Jakob Kaup described the thorny or spiny seahorse, Hippocampus histrix, based on samples from Japan. Since then, this seahorse has been thought to be a single, […]
ALCS MVP Peralta Returning to Face Brewers in World Series
It has been less than a year since the Milwaukee Brewers traded Freddy Peralta. Now, he is going to face them in the World Series.
Maui Health appoints Wade Ebersole as Chief Executive Officer
Maui Health announced today the appointment of Wade Ebersole as Chief Executive Officer, effective Oct. 25, 2026. Ebersole has served as interim CEO since May 3, 2026, and was previously Maui Health’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Colts’ GM Firing Could Have Eagles Watching Closely
The Indianapolis Colts made a big move at the top of the week, as they are cutting ties with their GM, Chris Ballard. The 57-year-old executive leaves his position after serving as the front office leader since 2017. The Colts make that move after a 2-4 start to the season. The NFL will watch closely […] The post Colts’ GM Firing Could Have Eagles Watching Closely appeared first on HEAVY.
World Stage, the venue previously known as World Cafe Live, will close at the end of October
The West Philly music venue which has been wracked with tension and labor issues since being taken over by new management last year, will shut down after two Halloween shows.
Israel prepares for a high-stakes election
Israel holds an election on October 27th, electing members of the Knesset, their parliament. And this election will decide the future of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.It is the first vote since Hamas-led attacks of October 7th, 2023 and the Gaza war. And a major question shaping the elections is whether the prime minister should be held responsible for the Hamas attacks. We go to Israel, to hear how Israelis are thinking about this election.Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org.
Tank Dell set to make season debut
Texans WR Tank Dell on track to play in a game for first time since 2024
Apu Gets New Voice: List of ‘Simpsons’ Characters Recast Following Backlash
Apu is the latest in a line of characters that have been recast by the animated show since 2020.
Veteran quarterback reportedly refused to sign with Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles have been scrambling at quarterback ever since Jalen Hurts landed on injured reserve with a blood clot, and Sunday’s 25-14 loss to the Carolina Panthers only added to the urgency. However, there is one longtime NFL quarterback who seemingly has no interest in offering his asstance. Veteran quarterback Andy Dalton was released…
The next Call of Duty will introduce a new sub-series to the franchise
It's been five years since Vanguard - the most recent Call of Duty sub-franchise - but Activision is finally ready to develop a new one.
BREAKING: Sarina Wiegman signs Lionesses contract extension
Lionesses boss Serina Wiegman has signed a new contract with the national team, keeping her in post until the end of Euro 2029.Wiegman took charge of the side in September 2021, and has since lifted b...
Meet the researchers leaving the US because of Trump's funding cuts and politicization of science
NEW YORK (AP) — Halley Froehlich was sure she'd spend her scientific career in the United States. Her family has been in America since the 1700s.
Why the lieutenant governor race is this year's nail-biter
If John Loughlin beats Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, it would be the first time a Republican toppled an incumbent Democrat for lieutenant governor since 1966
Medicare Advantage's next golden goose: Special Needs Plans
Chronic Condition Special Needs Plans enrollment has more than doubled since 2024.
Pens Points: Korczak embracing fresh start with Penguins
Here are your Pens Points for this Monday morning… Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang recently marked 20 years since they first played together on Oct. 18, 2006. Twenty years later, the partnership—and friendships—still endure. [Post-Gazette] Defenseman Kaedan Korczak is embracing a fresh start in Pittsburgh after spending the first several years of his […]
HEALTH AND FITNESS: Steps to prevent breast cancer
Since this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, many local and national organizations are promoting breast cancer awareness, sharing information about the disease, raising money to support research and celebrating survivors. This represents the most visible part of a year-round effort to educate about, screen for, and hopefully cure this devastating disease. Of course, these are all worthy goals that deserve our attention and support.
LIVE: Avenged Sevenfold at Brisbane Entertainment Centre -
18 October 2026 - Brisbane Entertainment Centre - words by Lucas Bell - pictures by Isis Totora It’s been 4621 days since the California rockers Avenged Sevenfold have graced a stage in Brisbane. Off the back of Soundwave 2014, no one anticipated the second billed band of the festival would take over 12 years to
Most AAPI adults cite the economy, cost of living, and health care as the most important issues heading into the midterm elections - AP-NORC
Since 2025, AAPI adults have moved away from Republicans and towards Democrats in who they trust to handle the economy and immigration.
Taika Waititi Confirms His ‘Star Wars’ Movie Has Been ‘Put on Ice’ Indefinitely
Taika Waititi’s “Star Wars” movie, which has been in development since 2020, is officially on hold, the director confirmed while promoting his latest film “Klara and the Sun.” “I hate to break this to...
Streaming’s Biggest Show Returns…and a Buzzy Genre Struggles
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Obviously, the big news of the week (if not month) is Netflix letting go of executive Bela Bajaria, their chief content officer. I’m going to cover this in my next “Most Important Story of the Week”, but I also have a data angle that I might publish before then. (Too much news this month, am I right?) But first, I have a bonus Streaming Ratings Report issue for you. Today’s article is a bit of a grab bag of topics I’ve wanted to write about, but couldn’t squeeze into the (already very long) Streaming Ratings Report issues. The NFL drives huge viewership numbers, so I’ve got a look at that. A whole bunch of TV shows returned to the traditional broadcast channels, and I have thoughts. And I have a quick look at adult animated shows, since a couple flopped earlier this month. Plus, the Emmys aired earlier this month, and we got some fun data bout how popular those nominated shows are and why I’m not optimistic about the show’s future. That’s a lot, so let’s dive right in. Subscribe Sports - Football Remains the King of Streaming Over the last two Streaming Ratings Reports, I sorta ignored the biggest “show” each week. (I was tempted to say “piece of content” but I know that word bugs folks.) In my database, I call these “specials”, and they sure are special. I speak of the king of American TV: football!!! Streaming football is back and, unlike some other sports, it routinely dominates all viewership. Probably the best way to show this is to update one of my favorite graphics, the “40 Million Hour Club”1 since football games have joined that club each week they’ve premiered: (Yep, that’s the data through 28-Sep, the first four weeks of the season. As a reminder, I take the average minute audience provided by Nielsen, factor out a percentage of linear TV viewers in home markets, and multiply the run time by the three-hour runtime.) Again, the numbers are huge. Let’s start with Netflix. They grabbed the rights to the bonus opening week NFL Kickoff game (which was on YouTube last year) and it put up 18.5 million viewers on average. That nets out to 47.4 million hours of estimated streaming hours. That’s good! Though, notably, it’s well below Christmas Day games from previous years. Compared to other streamers/broadcasters, that’s a bit of a mixed result. On one hand, Netflix’s 18.5 million average is about what YouTube claimed last year, though Nielsen used a bespoke methodology at that time, so I trust this viewership figure more. So that’s good. (The game also shifted from a Friday to a Thursday and that could have helped the viewership as well.) And Netflix continues to best Prime Video in total viewership—as you’ll see next—though Netflix has had much higher-profile (opening week and Christmas Day) games. NBC/Peacock’s opening game the night before averaged 25.1 million average viewers, which is just much bigger than Netflix (or Prime Video). That’s the big caveat to all streaming viewership records: even in success, they can’t compete with traditional linear TV. Previously, I called this my “hierarchy of viewership”, and the data keeps supporting that thesis. The downside for NBC is that this game’s viewership was down compared to previous years, though it may be a counting issue. Here’s a great chart from Sports Media Watch: Indeed, looking at all the opening week games across all windows, Netflix still lags the other primetime windows, but does well compared to the afternoon games: I saw a few folks make the case that streamers still lag traditional broadcasters in reach, and I’d add they really lag compared to “broadcast plus streaming” options like NBC/Peacock, ESPN/Disney+ and CBS/Paramount+. The best data I saw for this came from Samba TV, who charted reach through the 2025 season, and, wow. (Samba TV’s numbers are historically lower than Nielsen’s, so don’t compare their household figures to Nielsen’s hours, but use them as a proxy for the relative reach of the streamers.) The good news is Prime Video is NOT having a down year. Their opening Thursday Night Football game reached 18.6 million viewers (about what Netflix got), but that’s a high for Prime Video on Thursdays and the biggest Thursday night game since 2015. The TNF games the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep continued this streak, getting 43.1 (16.8 million average viewers) and 42.5 total hours (16.6 million average viewers), which were both up from last year. Still, that continues the (typical) season slide: (For those new-to-streaming-football-numbers folks, the viewership declines for Thursday Night Football as the year goes along.) Overall, it appears as if Prime Video is now part of the “football habit”, be it for customers at home or out at places like bars and restaurants. And its viewership is slowly catching up to broadcast. One last chart shows this. Last season, Nielsen started adding out-of-home viewership to the charts, so I try not to do season-to-season comparisons as I did for the first few years. And while Nielsen added Big Data viewing this year, I’m going to compare the last two seasons. Here’s that chart, which shows the season-over-season gains: When it comes to streaming football, we have to keep a few seemingly contradictory thoughts in our head… First, streaming doesn’t come close to matching broadcast’s reach and, thus, viewership. Second, even with that gap, football is still the biggest “thing” on streaming. It’s very, very popular. Third, while some methodology changes have likely helped Prime Video’s numbers, their viewership does appear to be growing. Lastly, yeah, the NFL started the season off poorly, with week one dragging down the numbers in year-over-year comparisons. However—and again, methodology changes may have helped this—the viewership grew compared to previous seasons over the next couple of weeks. So football is still king. On streaming and off. Television - Adult Animation Continues to NOT Make the Streaming Charts In the last two reports, two adult-animated shows whiffed: Netflix’s animated comedy, Dang! Paramount+’s Sega-video-game-inspired fantasy/comedy, Golden Axe. Neither made the charts, but that’s usually the case for animated shows. I mean, here’s literally every animated show that’s made the Nielsen Original charts since the start of 2025: And one of those shows is G_abby’s Dollhouse_! A kids show! The problem with charts like this is that they don’t give you a sense of how many shows miss the charts. Netflix had at least eleven animated flops, including comedies like Big Mouth (a show everyone assumed was popular in the pre-Streaming Ratings Era), Long Story Short, Haunted Hotel, Mating Season, Strip Law, and Alley Cats, and action shows like Blood of Zeus, Castlevania: Nocturne, Devil May Cry, Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft. Prime Video had at least six animated misses, two in the same universe (Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss), three more comedies (#1 Happy Family USA, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy and Kevin) and an action show (The Mighty Nein). Disney+ had MCU and Star Wars animated misses (Eyes of Wakanda, Marvel Zombies, Star Wars: Visions, Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord, and Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld) but I can’t tell how many of those shows were geared towards adults. HBO Max had Harley Quinn and Hulu had Solar Opposites. None of these shows made the charts! That’s a lot of misses! If I remade the chart with all those misses, here’s how it would look: Listen, I know the counter arguments. First, it’s cheaper to produce animated shows than live action. Fair enough, but with viewership this low, even that cheaper price point starts to not matter. Second, just look at the acquired charts. Hit animated comedies can generate viewership for years! Shows like The Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, and Bob’s Burgers do really, really well. Fair enough, but streaming has failed to recreate the dynamic that Fox has mastered so well. That’s a problem for streaming still. Television - Emmys! The annual Emmys broadcast was a few weeks ago, and I’ve got data on how the nominees performed on streaming, plus hot takes on this year’s viewership (and the big news about the broadcast’s, er, streamcast’s future). We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The top Emmy-nominated shows… ...why I’m worried about the future of the Emmys telecast... ...the pros of broadcast television ...and the cons... ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! Next week, we’ve got a double issue (since the weeks of 21-Sep and 28-Sep were so light), but then I’ll be all caught up after a deluge of streaming ratings data from Nielsen in September. In the meantime, I’m going to try to take a look at Netflix’s stats to explain why Bela Bajaria is out. But even light weeks give me plenty to talk about. The Great British Baking Show returns to Netflix and Apple TV has a buzzy new star-studded comedy. And Netflix has a controversial-but-appears-to-be-popular new game show. Plus big films like Toy Story 5, Backrooms and The Breadwinner head to streaming. And is East of Eden a hit? After that, The Kardashians return to Hulu, Prime Video has a reboot of Carrie, and Netflix has a horror show, Below. Disclosure Day heads to Peacock, The Housemaid heads to HBO Max_,_ a new Ben Affleck film, Animals, lands on Netflix, and Apple TV has a new John Cena action film based on, checks notes, Hasbro’s Matchbox toys. Okay. Longterm, some interesting TV production news. HBO Max ordered How to Survive Without Me, starring Kaley Cuoco, Joshua Jackson, Ray Romano and Rita Wilson, for fifteen episodes! I love that some streamers (or, at least, HBO Max) are finally ordering TV shows with more than eight episodes. In less wise production news, Landman does not appear to be coming back this year, since it just started production. Frankly, I don’t love this (get your shows out on time) but Landman is so popular, I doubt it matters.
Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake make rare red carpet appearance at Academy Museum Gala
The couple, who share two sons, have been married since October 2012.
Trump endorses embattled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reelection
Israelis are set to vote Oct. 27, in the first national elections since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
I’m a vote for ‘none of them’
I have voted in every election since I turned 18. Except when a race was uncontested, I have always filled out the entire ballot. Not this year. For the first time, I’m leaving an office blank. Let me begin by congratulating Phil Weiser on becoming Colorado’s next governor. Yes, it’s a certainty. Even if they […]
Earth's Core Is Leaking All Sorts of Materials That Have Been Trapped Since Our Planet's Birth
Earth is belching up the materials of the Solar System's birth.
ASUS returns to Intel graphics cards after five years with Arc Pro B70 32GB
ASUS has introduced its first Intel graphics card since the DG1 in 2021. The new Arc Pro B70 features 32GB of GDDR6 memory and targets professional AI workloads.
Beyond depathologisation: Securing the right to health for trans communities
It has been 7 years since the World Health Organisation depathologised trans identities: we all have the right to health!
Science icon Bill Nye to speak at RIT’s homecoming
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) – RIT has a special guest in town for its homecoming weekend. World-class science educator Bill Nye, best known for his Emmy-winning television series Bill Nye The Science Guy, will be this year’s Brick City Weekend & Student Government speaker. Nye will be at the Gordon Field House at 2 p.m. Since […]
“I Know What You Did Last Summer ”cast, then and now: See the stars of the original slasher nearly 30 years later
The Southport gang has done a lot since their encounter with the mysterious hook-wielding fisherman.
Big Tech’s enabling of the ballroom is the worst symbol of our times
The wealthiest companies since the robber baron days -- like Microsoft and Amazon -- greased the skids for an authoritarian vanity project the public doesn't want.
New York Jets Flight Connections 10/17/26
Happy Saturday, Jets fans! The Jets received a bit of good news on Friday as Omar Cooper will return to the lineup for the first time since Week 1. The Jets will continue to be without starters Adonai Mitchell, Breece Hall, and Dylan Parham for the New England game, but at least injuries are moving […]
Several Petah Tikva synagogues refuse to host Smotrich, cite objections to politics during services
Some congregants argued that withdrawing the invitation after it had already been extended and publicly announced would be inappropriate, particularly since the synagogue had hosted other speakers.
Stock market correction fears rise as margin debt hits record levels
Since 1997, there have only been three years when margin debt has grown as rapidly: 2000, 2007, and 2021, all moments before major corrections.
Lincoln sports bar will play all of 10 p.m. Husker game in the latest kickoff since 1992
Big 10 Sports Bar & Grill in downtown Lincoln says it plans to play the entirety of the game on their screens, even if they have to cut off alcohol sales at 2 a.m.
What To Do With Your Old Nest Gadgets Since Google Ended Support
Wondering what's to be done with your Google Nest gadgets that have now reached their end of support? It turns out there's a few options to choose from.
Man accused in chainsaw killings ordered into emergency mental health treatment, court documents say
Court records show the order was filed Friday, October 16. It says 47-year-old Thomas Steele’s mental condition has “deteriorated” since a judge first ordered a competency evaluation Tuesday, October 13.
Gaston’s science department launches rock collecting project
By Caylie Moore, Features Editor Since the beginning of the school year, Gaston High School students have been working on a pen pal project — but don’t underestimate the point of this assignment, Features Editor Caylie Moore cautions. This project is no ordinary exchange of simple letters, nor unnecessary busywork for a drawn-out English class, […]
Frontier, fuboTV, E.W. Scripps, Sphere Entertainment, and AMC Entertainment Stocks Trade Down, What You Need To Know
A number of stocks fell in the afternoon session after The LSEG/Ipsos Primary Consumer Sentiment Index fell 5.3 points from September to 45.2 in October 2026, the lowest reading since October 2011. According to LSEG, the survey was taken from Sept. 25 through Oct. 1. The monthly drop was the second-largest on record, behind only April 2020. The index is now below its May 2020 pandemic low of 45.4 and is 7.7 points under its level of a year ago.That kind of break in confidence hits the companies
Oil reaches $110 per barrel
Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter{beacon} Business & Economy Business & Economy The Big Story Oil hits $110 per barrel for first time since May …
Tech stocks erase $1 trillion of wealth as oil surges to $110 for the first time since May
The sharp drop in tech shares came as concerns resurfaced about ballooning AI debt, rising interest rates and high gas prices.
Headspace Issues Layoffs Following Sword Health Acquisition
It has been a little over two weeks since Sword Health's acquisition of the San Francisco-based digital therapy and psychiatry company Headspace officialy
Headspace Issues Layoffs Following Sword Health Acquisition
It has been a little over two weeks since Sword Health's acquisition of the San Francisco-based digital therapy and psychiatry company Headspace officialy
Records confirm nearly 300 emergency calls to Kalamazoo mental hospital since January 2025
First responders have been dispatched nearly 300 times since January 2025 to Kalamazoo Behavioral Health Hospital.
Annapolis boat shows bring big sales to City Dock businesses
This year’s boat shows are the first fall shows since the City Dock project started in November. One restaurant said last Saturday was its “busiest day in history.”
“The Hobbit ”and Marvel star Martin Freeman quietly marries longtime partner Rachel Benaissa
Freeman and Benaissa have been dating since 2020.
NFL World Reacts To Eagles’ Joe Milton Addition From Cowboys
Since the Philadelphia Eagles are going to be down a quarterback on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, the team added some depth at the position. The Eagles dipped into the bag of the Dallas Cowboys, scooping up their practice squad quarterback Joe Milton. Over the past two years, Milton has been one of the NFL’s […] The post NFL World Reacts To Eagles’ Joe Milton Addition From Cowboys appeared first on HEAVY.
Measles cases spike by 37 in the past week
Lancaster County’s measles cases continue to climb with 37 new cases in the past week, the highest rise in people sickened with measles in a seven-day period since early September.
Joe Manganiello Says He’s Heard From Sofía Vergara Since Writing Memoir
Joe Manganiello spoke to Andy Cohen on "Andy Cohen Live" about his new memoir "Bloodlines" and more.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 on Nintendo Switch 2 Is Not The Disaster You’d Imagine
Modern Warfare 4 is the first Call of Duty since 2013 to launch on a Nintendo console. We played the campaign on Switch 2 and were pleasantly surprised by its performance.
Can social media bans protect young people's mental health? Early research suggests that bans aren't the answer
The year 2026 has been an expensive one for social media platforms. Since March, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, have settled or paid out in multiple lawsuits totaling ...
How Chick-fil-A started, grew into a major company
Chick-fil-A has come a long way since opening as a small roadside diner in Georgia in 1946.
Pope Leo to make first appearance since cancer surgery
Pope Leo XIV is set for his first public appearance since cancer surgery as doctors report steady improvement in his recovery.
Can AI solve our mental health access problem?
Last week I asked you what worries you most about AI in health. It was close, but your top answer was “AI giving bad health advice.” Last week’s poll results: You’re in good company. This concern was top of mind at a conference I joined at Stanford last week, where researchers, clinicians, and people who build AI systems spent a day debating trust and safety in health AI. Stepping back, I’m also hearing your emerging concerns about AI’s impact on our well-being generally. I see this as a matter of public health, and we’ll take it in pieces as we learn together. Today we’ll focus on AI chatbots used for therapy for mental health. Early this month, Governor Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 903, California’s most ambitious attempt to regulate AI use for mental health. It’s at the center of active debate, and raises the questions patients, family members, citizens, and voters will face as AI moves deeper into health care. Let’s work through it. What is “AI-based therapy”? It’s really two things: purpose-built mental health apps designed to deliver structured support, and general chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini that people increasingly use for emotional support—even if they weren’t built for it. Spoiler alert: I don’t know whether the shift toward AI therapy is good or bad. The evidence isn’t there yet. But I do know it’s already happening, and I have some ideas about how we can roll it out with safety in mind. The therapy dilemma, in a nutshell Mental health challenges are common, and strain health and well-being across populations. Therapy (interactive dialogue with a trained, empathetic practitioner) helps many people heal. The demand for licensed therapists far exceeds the supply in California, and AI-based therapy can narrow that gap. AI-based therapy remains novel, unproven, and not well tested. Right off the bat, we can see we’re dealing with trade-offs here. Since the main driver of demand for therapy from a robot is lack of access to therapy from a human, we’ll start there. It’s too hard to find and afford a human therapist California is short roughly 55,000 licensed, non-prescribing therapists and counselors, about 40% of what we need. Psychiatrists, who rely on talk therapy as a complement to prescribed medications, are even more scarce. Eight counties have none, and density ranges from 1.7 per 100,000 residents in San Benito County, to 68.1 in Marin County. My wife is a psychiatrist in Marin, and even here access is tight. If it’s hard in the best-supplied county, imagine rural Sierra County, or the San Joaquin Valley. In 2024, more than half of Californians who tried to make a mental health appointment struggled to find a provider who took their insurance, compared with 14% for physical health care. When Senate staff posed as “secret shopper” patients and called 120 mental health providers in Medicare Advantage networks, they landed an appointment less than once for every five tries. Insurers pay behavioral health clinicians about 22% less than medical and surgical clinicians for comparable office visits. On top of that, billing denials and prior authorizations hit hardest at the solo and small practices common in mental health. Psychiatrists opt out of Medicare at the highest rate of any specialty. In many places, a cash practice for therapy fills quickly with patients paying $250 or more an hour, with no insurance paperwork at all. Families who can pay cash find providers more easily. Those who rely on insurance, including Medi-Cal enrollees, older adults, rural residents, and non-English speakers, compete for what’s left. So we can’t pretend the human system works, and we can’t blame people for turning to AI for support when they’re in distress. AI is filling the gap It’s estimated that roughly a quarter of AI users use it for mental health support. If you have internet, it’s available 24/7, it’s cheap, and it speaks your language. Uninsured adults are about twice as likely as insured adults to do it (30% vs. 14%). It feels anonymous in ways that may enable people to ask things they’re unsure or embarrassed about. The largely hidden, personal use makes it hard to study whether it’s actually helping people with their mental health issues, but researchers are trying. Does AI therapy work? A 2026 analysis of nearly 40 randomized trials found chatbots showed a real but small reduction in depression symptoms. But most of these trials were compared to an alternative of no therapy, not a human therapist. So the benefit of AI therapy is probably real, but modest, and mostly untested against the alternative of human contact. We need more studies. Serious concerns OpenAI’s own estimate is that more than a million ChatGPT users each week show signs of suicidal planning or intent. These are high stakes encounters, and AI doesn’t always get it right. That’s partly because a chatbot can sound like a therapist, but it has no license, no duty of care, and it’s not clear who to hold accountable when it gets things wrong. AI is also designed to help users in whatever task they’re seeking to accomplish. People may feel like they’re getting therapy, but they’re mainly getting a convincing conversation. It’s easy for an AI companion to wander into gray areas, like playing along with “creative writing” that may be about the user’s own suicidal intent. Courts are driving safety conversations A wave of lawsuits have been filed on behalf of families claiming that chatbots pushed people they loved toward self-harm, including teens who died by suicide. The first settlements came this year. OpenAI is headquartered in San Francisco, and dozens of cases alleging that ChatGPT drove users to suicide or self-harm are now before a San Francisco judge. Character.ai has filed for bankruptcy after several states brought lawsuits accusing the chatbot of pushing dangerous content to kids. But the technology seems to be improving. Last month, an independent evaluation found that newer AI models “almost never endorse suicide.” That’s progress, but our societal appetite for even one preventable death is very low. So how do we move forward? Finding a middle ground Earlier this month the governor vetoed Senate Bill 903, a bill designed to place guardrails on the use of AI for therapy. The bill would have prohibited any AI-based platform from being advertised as psychotherapy, and would have required a licensed professional to review and approve each encounter where AI was used to support therapeutic decisions. Newsom called it overly broad, since even routine screening questions would have needed clinician sign-off. Knowing we’re already short on mental health providers, requiring human review of AI encounters may not relieve our access problems. Still, the answer isn’t no oversight. Here’s one feasible short term solution. Rather than reviewing each encounter, a licensed clinician can design the guardrails: what counts as a crisis, what triggers an immediate handoff to a human, and what gets sampled for audit each month. The AI runs inside that structure. Conversations get checked, failures get reported, and a real clinician owns the framework. Medicine already has models to learn from. The FDA process for rolling out newly approved medications is an example. After a product reaches patients, we keep watching for adverse events. Patient-facing AI needs the same “digital pharmacovigilance”: systematic tracking of harms, near misses, and the types of groups that get hurt and why. It’s also critical that users know that they can reach a human if they’re in crisis. Most chatbots now include messages like these: Bottom line The rush to use unproven AI tools for mental health support is mostly a workaround, a sign of a health system people can’t get into. We need better access to proven care from licensed clinicians. That takes reimbursement that makes accepting insurance viable, and a bigger workforce. But, built and tested well, AI could be part of the answer. It could be the 2 a.m. check-in when no one else is awake, or a way for patients to practice skills their therapist taught them. It could be the first step to get someone the right level of care, and take paperwork off clinicians’ plates so they spend more time with patients. None of this is simple. The SB 903 veto doesn’t end the debate, and the legislature will be back. In the meantime, those of us using these tools need to stay informed, ask hard questions, and hold the companies building them accountable. I’ll try to do my part, and we’ll keep learning together. Love,Matt P.S. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health challenges, emotional distress, substance use problems, or just needs to talk, call or text 988- you’ll reach a real person— or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7. Dr. Matt Willis is the author of Your Local Epidemiologist in California. A California native, he’s served as a primary care physician, CDC epidemiologist, and public health officer for Marin County, where he guided the pandemic response. He lives in Marin with his family and their dogs, Teddy and Ramona. Thank you Cynthia He, MD, PhD, and Parnika Saxena, MD, for their guidance in preparing this article. Cynthia works in an outpatient mental health clinic, treating patients who have Medi-Cal or, sometimes, no insurance. Parnika works in an inpatient psychiatric unit, treating patients with public or private insurance or self-pay ability. All opinions are their own and do not represent their employers.
David Hamilton powers Brewers to World Series
Is everything in baseball actually about the Red Sox, even when it’s not about the Red Sox? Somehow I feel like the answer is yes. The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers last night to complete a four-game sweep of the NLCS and reach their first World Series since 1982. The first out of […]
MATCH PREVIEW, pres. by Toyota: Red Bull New York Return to Sports Illustrated Stadium to Face Toronto FC on Pride Night
New York have posted a 16-1-2 mark against Toronto FC since Sports Illustrated Stadium opened in 2010
NYC businesses hope for another boost from Knicks season
The Knicks begin their season as defending NBA champions for the first time since 1973.
Scientists have just voted to abolish leap seconds
Since 1972, officials have added 27 leap seconds to the universal clock, but in a meeting this week in France they have decided to abandon the practice
Plant science graduate student committed to improving food security
Sarah Flanagan, a doctoral student in plant science and food security, has been involved with the World Food Prize Foundation and its mission of world food security since high school. Now, she is set to return for the Norman E. Borlaug Dialogue, Oct. 20-22.
Georgia amusement park to reopen as scheduled days after roller coaster death
Six Flags Over Georgia is expected to open for the first time since a man fell to his death from the Goliath roller coaster. Authorities are investigating the death, which
Plague is stoppable. The next health threat may not be.
The word plague is scary. Centuries ago, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people and changed the course of history. Plague still kills people around the world, and the word still evokes catastrophe. New fears of plague surfaced on October 2, when a lab worker in Irkutsk, Russia, died of pneumonia. Reports suggested that she may have contracted plague through a laboratory exposure. Understandably, people were alarmed. On October 7, the World Health Organization called for the Russian Federation to be transparent about what it knew. WHO issued an update on October 10. Russian authorities told WHO that testing did not identify plague and that investigations found no laboratory release. WHO said confidence in its risk assessment remained limited and that further clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory information was needed. The cause of the woman’s illness remains unknown, and WHO says a laboratory-associated exposure cannot be excluded. As I explained in a recent interview, this incident is very unlikely to lead to a pandemic. Plague is still active, including in the U.S., which sees a handful of cases each year. But it is a disease we can prevent and treat. Plague doesn’t spread readily, and it responds to antibiotics. The standard response—isolate the patient, trace contacts, and administer antibiotics and monitor for symptoms among contacts for seven days—works. We have even planned for antibiotic-resistant plague. At CDC, we developed a playbook for antibiotic-resistant plague and ran exercises on how to find and stop it. CDC guidance anticipates engineered resistance and recommends two different classes of antibiotics if there’s reason to suspect it. There is no evidence that resistance—or even confirmed plague—is involved in this incident. We have thought through how to address plague, but we’re not ready for the next major health threat that emerges from a lab or from animal spillover to humans. What should concern people is how little stands between the world and the next pathogen to get loose. Since peak COVID, epidemic preparedness has fallen off the political agenda, but the risk is greater than ever. More labs handle dangerous pathogens with more ways to make those pathogens deadlier, and more people live and work in close contact with animals. There are actions we can take now: We need better lab safety in every country. The number of labs that work with dangerous pathogens has increased worldwide over two decades, but there’s no enforceable international standard and no inspection regime; the Biological Weapons Convention, fifty years on, still has no verification mechanism. Labs that study dangerous germs need strong safety systems, training, and oversight. We need to reduce spillover events. Three in four emerging human infections start in animals, and there’s a lot we can do to reduce spillover risk, but the world is doing very little of it. Live-animal markets are one place to act. For instance, closing live-bird markets helped control H7N9 influenza in China. Reducing opportunities for people to encounter infected animals can prevent infections before they become outbreaks. In The Formula for Better Health, which is now out in paperback along with the hardcover, Kindle, and audiobook versions, I argue that labs do too many risky experiments with too many dangerous pathogens in too many institutions, and that every experiment should first answer one basic question: Is the likely benefit greater than the risk? Spillover risk can also be reduced: In the book, I discuss how Brazil cut its deforestation rate by 70% from 2004 to 2012 while increasing agricultural production and reducing risky contact between people and forest animals. We need faster detection and response. Delay costs lives. Strong surveillance, good labs, and trained responders can turn a single case into a small cluster of infections instead of an epidemic. Resolve to Save Lives has worked for nearly a decade to help countries find and stop outbreaks faster. The 7-1-7 target, which Resolve to Save Lives developed with partners in Uganda and elsewhere, provides a clear standard: detect within 7 days, notify within 1 day and complete all essential early response actions within 7 days. In Uganda’s Kasese district, for example, a review of a measles outbreak using 7-1-7 identified shortages of accessible funds, fuel, and vehicles that delayed the response. District leaders established funds they could access quickly. When, a few months later, the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever appeared, the district detected it in three days, notified authorities in one, and mounted an effective response in two. Only one case was confirmed, and the patient survived. Because funds were available before the emergency, authorities were prepared and able to act. This kind of preparation can’t wait until the next crisis begins. Plague is an old disease we that know how to stop. The next threat may be harder to recognize, harder to treat, and easier to spread. Safer labs, less risk of spillover, and faster outbreak detection and response need sustained investment now, while we still have time to prevent the next emergency. Share
What Preseason Said About Rockets’ New Guard Rotation
Because of the Houston Rockets' trip to China this preseason, they wound up playing only three total games. In the last of those on Thursday night, they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, 113-89. For Houston, preseason is now over, and the 2026-27 regular season will begin on October 21st. The main overhauls since 2025-26 occurred …
Which 2026 Cubs’ Pitchers Are Entering Free Agency?
Chicago's offseason is underway, and the Cubs' free agent pitchers could tell the story. Multiple key pitchers are set to enter free agency. Looking at the Cubs' players with options, the list gets longer. However, since that is hard to predict right now, we will focus strictly on the pitchers entering free agency. Minor League …
Attacks on health care in the West Bank (Since 1 January - 30 September 2026)
Infographic in English on occupied Palestinian territory about Health and Safety and Security; published on 16 Oct 2026 by WHO
Attacks on health care in the Gaza Strip (Since 1 January 2026 - 30 September 2026)
Infographic in English on occupied Palestinian territory about Health and Safety and Security; published on 16 Oct 2026 by WHO
Lisandro Martinez is ‘The Butcher’ who meditates, loves crying and dreams of becoming a sporting director
The centre-back criticised the Man United hierarchy live on TV and has since apologised. He is outspoken, emotional and hard to categorise
Eagles Select Standout SEC Defender In 2027 NFL Mock Draft
Approaching the midway mark of October, it’s starting to become mock draft season in the NFL world. Since the Philadelphia Eagles are potentially just a few more losses away from reaching a selling point, it seems like the perfect time to glance at some potential additions from the rookie pool. In Pro Football Focus’s first […] The post Eagles Select Standout SEC Defender In 2027 NFL Mock Draft appeared first on HEAVY.
Controversy over Musk military system in Ukraine pitches relations with US into deeper crisis
The worst crisis in US-Ukraine relations since last year’s Oval Office meltdown is deteriorating further over a dispute about who ordered a disruption to a critical Ukrainian military system running on Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service.
Controversy over Musk military system in Ukraine pitches relations with US into deeper crisis
The worst crisis in US-Ukraine relations since last year’s Oval Office meltdown is deteriorating further over a dispute about who ordered a disruption to a critical Ukrainian military system running on Elon Musk’s Starlink internet service.
Are Dave Roberts’ Decisions Partly Responsible for the Dodgers’ Downfall?
Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts doesn't get enough credit for the three World Series rings he has brought to LA. People assume that since the roster is loaded with superstars, wins are automatic. That would be an incorrect assumption. Baseball is a grind, and Roberts still has to push the right buttons. He did …
Rafael Navarro Outscoring Messi at St. Louis City
Rafael Navarro has outscored Lionel Messi over the same stretch. Since joining St. Louis City, the Brazilian forward has scored seven goals in six matches — two more than Messi managed for Inter Mia...
Meta confirms smart glasses were recording without being activated
The company has since fixed the issue.
Francis Bacon’s 'Sylva Sylvarum' Stars in New Art and Science Exhibit
Opening next month at the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, Plain Things Wonders marks 400 years since the publication of Francis Bacon’s influential experimental science text Sylva Sylvarum.
Colorado cannabis vape recall expands as health complaints rise
Three health and safety notices since Sept. 25 have pulled Craft THC vapes from more than 700 Colorado retailers.
10/15/26: White Paper - Small Business Trends in Chattanooga - Center for Regional Economic Research
A new white paper released by the CRER looks at trends in small business in Chattanooga since 1978. Small firms are much more numerous in Chattanooga than are medium and large firms, although their number has grown much more slowly. Between 1978 and 2023, the number of small firms grew by 27 percent whereas the… Continue Reading
New plans could bring Burlington’s Nectar’s back to life
Plans are in the works to bring live music, food, and entertainment back to Burlington’s historic Nectar’s building, which has been closed since last year.
Is AI Leading to Declining Enrollment in Computer Science?
After years of seeing climbing enrollment in computer science, the Connecticut State Department of Education found enrollment going the other way every year since 2022, when ChatGPT was released to the public.
Minnesota health dept. urges people to get measles vaccine amid outbreaks
The Minnesota Department of Health is urging people to get vaccinated for measles if they haven’t already. The guidance comes amid two unrelated outbreaks of measles since mid-September in rural Fillmore and Todd counties. Minnesota has had 42 recorded cases of measles in 2026, already exceeding the total of 26 cases in 2025. The year […]
Business Profile: Longtime manager takes ownership of Christine’s Nails
Christine’s Nails has been serving Hopkinton residents since 2012 and now has a new owner. Longtime manager Brian Tran purchased the business last May.
Report: Cancelled “Assassin’s Creed Destiny” Unveiled in First Screenshots & Gameplay Footage
The Assassin’s Creed series is still on course to return to China for the first time since its modest 2.5D spin-off in 2015, now with the mobile-exclusive title Assassin’s Creed…
Green Card Processing Backlogs for Refugees and Asylees Could Have Implications for Health Coverage and Care
This data note highlights changes in green card (I-485) application processing for refugees and asylees between fiscal year (FY) 2021 and FY2025, as well as across the first three quarters of FY2025 to FY2026 (since FY2026 data are only available through the third quarter). It discusses the implications of these trends for access to federally funded health coverage following eligibility changes under the 2025 reconciliation law.
Kelly Clarkson returns to the stage amid feud with Brooklyn store: ‘Are you all ready for a good night?’
The “Since U Been Gone” singer and the home goods store Art of Play have been locked in a dayslong fight over an animatronic bird.
IP Saves the Day On Streaming
(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get started, I wanted to highlight a new idea I saw from Real Good AI, proposing a ratings system for AI use. (H/T to Anthony Kaufman’s article highlighting this.) It would look something like this: In general, I think that this is a solid, middle-ground solution that should appease both the pro-AI camp (who love AI) and the anti-AI camp (who wants to know if what they’re watching didn’t come from humans). Regardless of your feelings on AI/LLMs—I’ll never use it for my writing—transparency is often the best solution to many problems. In general, I think way more media outlets need to be using way more AI disclosures. My quick “Yes and...” to this idea: what about ads? In particular, I hate it when I see or hear ads that are obviously AI-generated, but a person or voice says, “I used this product”. AI doesn’t use products! Just today, I watched a YouTube ad where a “person” said they use some sort of rain wind chime...but that’s not a real person! They didn’t use this product. (Especially since the video of the wind chime itself also appeared to be AI-generated...) I believe most traditional advertising already has standards like this anyway.1 Okay, on to this week’s issue. We’re covering the week of 14-Sep, and then next issue, I’ll be fully caught up with Nielsen’s new release schedule. In the future, I plan to put out Streaming Ratings Reports each Monday after Nielsen’s Thursday releases. Overall, we had some big new shows this week, like Prime Video’s Reacher spinoff_, Neagley_, which is off to a big, big start, and Netflix’s latest in its Monster anthology, which is their largest opening since June and the second-largest since One Piece came out in March. All that, plus Slow Horses returns, the trio of returning shows (Lioness, Reacher and Ted Lasso) continue to dominate the top tens, Paramount+’s latest crime drama, a big whiff for a Netflix original film and a precipitous drop for Netflix film charts, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of September 14th to September 20th 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Television - IP For the TV Win Can I use the dirty word of entertainment journalism right now? IP. Shhh. Don’t tell anyone I said it. But IP works at the box office, and we’ve seen some evidence it works in TV too. Not as well, and not all the time—no absolutes here!—but often enough. And glancing at the Nielsen top ten…it worked this week! Take Prime Video, who has a monster hit in the crime drama Reacher. Would a spinoff work for that show? Yep! They binge-released Neagley, about a detective from the original Reacher series, and its eight episodes debuted to 29.6 million hours. Here’s how it stacks up to Reacher, one of Prime Video’s biggest shows: That’s great. Nearly as strong as Reacher’s opening! (Both shows started with eight, binge-released episodes, so this comparison is apples-to-apples.) Notably, Prime Video scheduled the debut of Neagley to overlap with Reacher’s most recent season, to help drive tune-in. Obviously, I love smart release strategies like that. And even though I wrote “obviously”, it’s not really that obvious, since streamers don’t often take advantage of natural overlaps like this_._2 Other data backs how well Neagley performed. It opened at second place on Samba TV for two weeks and got 51.7 million hours on Luminate. That’s the eleventh biggest opening on Luminate since May of 2024 and tied with Bridgerton’s third season opening. That’s a huge opening! Its IMDb is solid too, a 7.7 on 24K reviews. Netflix’s latest edition in the “Monster” series—which started with Jeffrey Dahmer and comes from Ryan Murphy—did well too, opening to 24.7 million hours. That’s the biggest opening for Netflix since I Will Find You in June, and second biggest since March. Unlike the Reacher series, this franchise is trending downward, though. The first Monster show—Dahmer - Monster—was giant. More than anything, I think this reflects that Netflix running out of extremely popular—if that’s the right word?—serial killers to feature. Still, the data says this is a very good opening. It made it to third place on Samba TV for two weeks. It also opened to 40.0 million hours on Luminate. That’s not quite as elite as Neagley, but still very, very strong. I’ll be honest: my priors coming into any given week are that IP works to help drive buzz for new shows, but TV shows need to stand on their own even more than movies, so they will succeed or fail based on their quality. But these two spinoffs definitely worked. Quick Notes on TV The top show, film or special this week? Football, again. Specifically, Prime Video’s season opener of Thursday Night Football. The games run long (three hours) but mainly a lot of people watch each game. That adds up to a lot of viewership. Paramount released the second season of MobLand on an unusual day for that service, a Friday! Often, they put their new shows out on a Sunday, as they did last year with a run of shows (Lioness, Tulsa King and Landman). MobLand didn’t make Nielsen in its first week, but on Samba TV it got to eighth and seventh place. Luminate had a smaller opening too, only 5.3 million hours. MobLand missed the Nielsen charts for its first eight weeks, so this season is off to a stronger start. (Bonus note: the first season streams on both Prime Video and The Roku Channel, but I only have it as Paramount+ on those charts.) I’ve mentioned a few times that foreign-language originals do lower numbers than English-language originals on Netflix most of the time. But I don’t usually emphasize what country those originals come from, and observationally, they tend to be from Western or Northern European countries, in general. So credit to Not a Stranger, a Turkish Netflix original, for breaking through on Luminate, getting to 7.9 million hours in its first full week on those charts. As I mentioned last issue, Crew Girl ended up making the Nielsen charts in its second week. That’s still a soft performance compared to many shows, but again this, one looks affordable. And if you’re curious, here’s how it stacks up to some other sports romance shows: We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… …about a new data source and how it drives streaming viewership… ...what reality show is struggling in its latest season…. ...what Netflix film bombed…. ...How Reacher, Ted Lasso, and Lioness are doing on the charts… ...what obscure sport put up great viewership numbers… …how far streaming films are falling… …all the flops, bombs and misses for the last week… …and more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. If you want an idea of just how much content you’d get in a full issue, check out this older issue. Coming Soon! Next week, we’ve got a double issue, then we’ll be all caught up with Nielsen’s data. Yes! The goal is to have my report out on the Monday after I get Nielsen’s data. So next issue, I’m looking at East of Eden, The Great British Baking Show, a Willy Wonka game show (that people are upset uses AI, but viewers might not care), and a Cosby show spinoff reboot on Netflix, and Brothers on Apple TV (starring Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey). That’s about it for TV, but who’s going to win the streaming week, The Breadwinner or Backrooms on streaming? Answer: Toy Story 5. Plus Netflix has a Unabomber film and a new Tyler Perry film, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma tries to repeat The Substance’s run on MUBI, and Paramount+ has Jackass: Best and Last. Long term, Netflix is remaking Lonesome Dove. I love this choice, but man, there are a lot of westerns on TV right now. And they’re making Sega TV shows, including a Crazy Taxi TV show and Sonic show with an “edge”.
ESPN gambling writer defends network over ‘neutered’ coverage criticism
Former ESPN producer Nicole Noren sent chills through the industry by going public with her resignation after more than two decades at the network, citing its sports betting coverage. Since nationwide sports betting was legalized, gambling companies have taken over the sports world. That has had a stunning impact on American society that we still…
Justin Ishbia warns Chicago against the ‘cost of doing nothing’ amid Railyards backlash
The White Sox minority owner spoke today for the first time in a public forum since unveiling his plans for an 80-plus acre riverfront campus.
Mignon Faget moving from Magazine Street location as landlord turns to 'regional' brand
Maghan Oroszi, who has run the jeweler since 2024, said this week it will move out of its flagship retail space at 3801 Magazine at the end of October. The store will set up a temporary location across the street as it searches for a permanent home elsewhere on the six-mile commercial strip.
Jeff Kaplan Doesn't Engage With Overwatch After Leaving Blizzard: ‘I’ve Literally Not Played The Game Since April 2021’
The original director of the hero shooter is now working on a western game called The Legend of California
Ukraine: Critical health supplies destroyed in ongoing Russian attacks
Ongoing and deadly Russian attacks across Ukraine are causing serious healthcare disruption, with more than $1.5 million-worth of medicines and supplies destroyed in four separate strikes on warehouses used by the UN there since July.
First Command wins 2026 Patriots in Business Award, its second since 2024
FORT WORTH, Texas — First Command Financial Services, Inc. has been named a winner of the 2026 Patriots in Business Award. It is the second time the
Clinton Policy Institute outlines maternal health solutions for states
Health Care Clinton Policy Institute outlines maternal health solutions for states It’s the first major report from the project, which launched in July to foster nonpartisan policies to improve the wellbeing of children and families. Stephanie Akin 10:00 AM, Oct 15, 2026 Dr. Jacob Lenz performs an ultrasound at the Oklahoma State University obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Tulsa, Okla., on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Mary Conlon) The Clinton Policy Institute is calling on states to lead efforts to curb maternal mortality, releasing a 61-page playbook Thursday highlighting successful policies that could be adopted nationwide. The playbook is the first major report from the Clinton Foundation’s project, which launched in July to foster nonpartisan state and local policies to improve the wellbeing of children and families. “Eighty percent of maternal deaths are preventable, and we know what works,” CPI Chair Jennifer Klein said. “The solutions are well established and evidence-based.” CPI’s mission is to convene political leaders from both parties, policy experts, state officials and other stakeholders to explore solutions to longstanding problems. “What we aim to do is bring together people who are deeply engaged, but may not be meeting together in the same room,” Klein said, noting that state policymakers might not always be aware of what their peers are doing in other states. In May, CPI brought together lawmakers from Virginia and Pennsylvania, two of the 14 states that have passed bipartisan maternal health “Momnibus” packages modeled after a comprehensive federal proposal that has repeatedly stalled, called the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act. Other participants included Dr. Mona Hanna, founder of Rx Kids, a Michigan program that provides direct cash allowances to pregnant women and infants. Pennsylvania Rep. Morgan Cephas, who was part of the group, said she learned about funding opportunities she hadn’t come across during her decade in the Legislature. “As legislators we can issue grants, we can pass legislation, we can move policy, but we want to ensure that funding opportunities and programs that are tackling this issue are sustainable,” Cephas said. The playbook outlines broad areas where state policy can make a difference, such as allowing Medicaid to pay for doulas and remote patient monitoring, and using federal and private grant funding to pay for home visits to pregnant and postpartum women. For each category, it highlights innovative programs that can serve as models, with examples of specific actions state lawmakers and governors’ offices can take. Those include the Rx Kids model, which gets funding from the Michigan state budget; Pennsylvania’s Healthy Moms Vibrant Futures strategic action plan, emphasizing equity-centered maternal care, regional collaboration, Medicaid innovation, and workforce development that was launched this year with more than 160 stakeholders; and Kansas’s Bridging Plan, which reserves three slots and provides at least $26,000 in loan forgiveness for obstetric residents who commit to practicing in rural or underserved communities for 36 months. CPI emphasizes that its work is nonpartisan. Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council under former President Joe Biden, acknowledged that CPI also takes positions on abortion, Medicaid funding, and the need to address the economic and social drivers of poor health, which might rankle some conservatives. “We don’t shy away from talking about those things that we think are part and parcel of the maternal health crisis in this country,” Klein said. “That said, there are so many policies that are both evidence-based and have been tried successfully in both red and blue states, and people can see that they can have real impact.” She pointed to the federal option to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months that was made available during the Biden administration and has since been adopted by every state but Arkansas. Other initiatives embraced across party lines include Medicaid coverage for midwives and doulas, as well as “bundled” payments for prenatal and postpartum care. That alternative payment model, pioneered in states such as Arkansas, Colorado and Tennessee, incentivizes fixed fees to cover all healthcare services associated with pregnancy and childbirth. Advocates say it promotes more coordination among caregivers, discourages unnecessary interventions, and expands postpartum support. In addition to maternal health, the initiative is also focused on addressing family economic security, children’s well-being, and democracy and civic resilience.
Companies pledge free software and computing for AI in science
The European Commission has announced that a group of companies and foundations will offer free services, such as software or access to supercomputers, to European scientists using AI in their research.Unveiled on October 15 at a conference in Dublin, the initiative is the latest step by the Commission to try to help researchers use the technology. Scientists have used forms of AI, such as machine learning, for decades. But advances in deep learning in the past decade, and the wider interest in large language models since the release of ChatGPT in 2022, have spurred governments to invest in new AI tools that could help the scientific process.In July, the US announced it is spending $5 billion on the Genesis Mission, which it describes as a “national effort to harness AI for science,” funding 278 projects across areas such as autonomous labs or new AI tools in astronomy. The Commission has also identified AI in science as a priority, but the €107 million it pledged from Horizon Europe in 2025 does not come close to US spending levels. That said, the vast majority of public research spending in the EU comes from national funds. Today’s announcement at the European AI in Science Summit doesn’t commit any new public money. Instead, it launches the AI in Science Enablers Initiative, a set of voluntary contributions from companies and foundations. The idea is that the companies also benefit by getting access to scientific ecosystems, and feedback on how their tools work. Google, for example, has put up €3 million of cloud computing credits to European researchers. The Novo Nordisk Foundation intends to make its supercomputer, Gefion, available to European researchers, according to the Commission statement. The chipmaker Nvidia said it would provide access to tools, compute, training and collaborative projects.The publisher Elsevier also offered complementary licenses to some of its AI tools, plus AI training for PhD, postdoctoral and master’s students. The French AI firm Mistral will provide the European research community with access to its open-weight models, Vibe seats and application programming interface credits, according to the Commission’s statement. Vibe is one of the firm’s chatbot models. The idea is that more firms and foundations will come on board in the future as the initiative grows.
Is the EU research budget actually increasing?
Is a Horizon Europe budget of €158 billion a 10% cut or a significant increase to the EU’s support for research and innovation? What would seem like a question of fact has divided opinion in Brussels since the Irish presidency of the EU Council presented its negotiation box on October 10. The answer depends on factors such as how you adjust for inflation, whether you account for increases in overall EU wealth and if you care about absolute or proportional figures. The €158 billion budget in current prices, proposed by the Irish presidency of the EU Council, was quickly criticised by university lobbies and rejected by the high-level expert group led by former Portuguese science minister Manuel Heitor. It was also decried by the four pro-European political groups in the European Parliament. “How can Europe close its competitiveness gap while cutting the European Competitiveness Fund by 13% and Horizon Europe by nearly 10%?” asked a joint statement by the European People’s Party (EPP), Renew Europe, the Socialists and Democrats and the Greens/European Free Alliance. Together, these parties hold 63% of seats in the Parliament.In stark contrast, Irish foreign affairs minister Helen McEntee said that the proposal “significantly increases investment in competitiveness, research and innovation,” Meanwhile, a presidency press release said that, compared to the current Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), the proposal would “double the volume of competitiveness related programmes.” So, who is right? That depends on how you make the calculation.Compared to the Commission figure or the previous budget?The first thing to notice is the difference in baselines. When the MEPs say the Irish presidency will cut Horizon Europe by “nearly 10%” they are using the European Commission proposal for the MFF from July 2025, which allocated €175 billion in current prices to Horizon Europe. However, when the Irish foreign affairs minister said the research and competitiveness budget is increasing significantly, she is comparing it to the 2021-27 MFF, which had a Horizon Europe budget of €84.9 billion in 2018 prices.Her point holds when accounting for inflation. Applying a 2% annual inflation rate, the calculation method used by the Commission, the 2021-27 Horizon Europe would have a budget of €97.5 billion in 2025 prices. In comparison, the Irish presidency’s €158 billion figure in current prices translates to €140 billion in 2025 prices. Does the ECF count?But there is more to the dispute. In its statements, the Irish presidency lumped the research budget in with the overall budget for competitiveness. The Parliament statement, however, kept the two separate. This matters because the next MFF includes plans to add a new European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) to fund programmes meant to boost the continent's competitiveness. The Irish negotiating box allocated €245 billion in current prices to this programme.When this is added to the €158 billion for Horizon Europe, as well as programmes such as the EU education programme Erasmus+, the total for “competitiveness, prosperity and security” in the Irish proposal becomes €514 billion in current prices. But it is still uncertain how big a share of this competitiveness budget would go to research. The Commission proposal of July 2025 for the MFF included clear links between the ECF and Horizon Europe, indicating some ECF money will go to research. At the same time, the structure of the ECF is still being negotiated, and a substantial part of its budget is expected to support non-research activities such as defence manufacturing, decarbonisation and digital infrastructure. Related articlesCouncil floats 9.6% budget cut to next Horizon EuropeResearch community to appeal to national governments over planned EU budget cutEU own resources ‘essential’ for future research budget, says leading MEPSo, it is by looking at competitiveness rather than research, or combining the two, that the Irish presidency can claim that its proposed budget will significantly increase investment in competitiveness, research and innovation.According to the Irish presidency proposal, Horizon Europe and other competitiveness-related programmes in the current multiannual budget received €221 billion in current prices. However, since this money is being distributed from 2021 to 2027, it is not directly comparable to the €514 billion in current prices which will be distributed from 2028 to 2034.Research as a proportion of the MFFBut the relative rise in competitiveness-related programmes points to another important distinction: whether you look at the research budget in absolute terms or as a share of the overall MFF. Here, too, the size of the research budget has risen, although only slightly. In the 2021-27 MFF, Horizon Europe accounted for 7% of the total budget. In the Irish presidency’s proposal, it amounts to 8.7%. The share for the total competitiveness envelope went from 17.7% in the current MFF to 28.1% in the Irish presidency proposal.This proportional share may seem irrelevant to universities looking for research funding, but it is becoming significant as budget negotiations between the Parliament, the Commission and the Council begin. On October 2, a group of 17 southern and eastern European countries sent out a statement calling for the EU agriculture and cohesion budgets to be protected. The Parliament’s co-rapporteur on the budget, Siegfried Mureșan of the EPP, has also said that the research envelope is likely to be cut disproportionately as the budget is slimmed down during negotiations.
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