How are life-saving treatments chosen? When governments decide which medicines to evaluate, they often overlook rare diseases. Most health plans focus on treatments that help large groups, leaving small patient communities behind. Rare disease drugs, called orphan medicinal products, rarely get fair
A recent Senate roadblock threatens to derail Republican efforts to funnel $1 billion into the White House ballroom project, raising questions about how public money gets spent on presidential whims. A top Senate official ruled that the funding proposal stretches beyond the usual budget rules, forci
Robert Gates, the former Defense Secretary, speaks on a TV show about how America faces new challenges from China and Russia. He says the world is in a risky period because those two countries have built up nuclear weapons and are catching up to US technology. Gates explains that China has almost tw
President Lai Ching‑te recently told a celebration in Taipei that the phrase “Taiwan independence” simply means the island is not part of China and that its people alone should decide what happens next. He repeated a stance his party has held since 1999: Taiwan is already a sovereign state called
A mother in Illinois is suing her local school district. She says the district changed her child’s name and pronouns without telling her. The school also made plans to support the child’s gender identity after the student was in crisis. The mother claims her rights were ignored. She says
The state’s education budget has been in the spotlight for years, and 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year. A group of leaders—school district finance chiefs, policy advocates, nonprofit heads, and state officials—are all working to keep schools funded while navigating a new property tax assessme
For over two decades, experts relied on bullet lead analysis to link suspects to crime scenes. The method claimed to determine if two bullets came from the same box of ammunition by comparing their chemical makeup. But in 2005, the FBI admitted the science behind it was flawed. Investigators had use
Many governments push for drastic cuts in meat production, claiming livestock methane is a major climate threat. But science shows this fear is overblown. Even wiping out all 1. 6 billion cows wouldn’t cool the planet by much—just 0. 04°C. Sheep? Their removal would barely make a dent. New Zealand’s
Some gamers now push for laws that would let them keep access to games even after companies turn off the servers. The industry argues this could slow down new game releases and tech upgrades. Behind this debate is a simple question: when you buy a digital game, do you really own it? Many companies
The United Arab Emirates has decided to leave OPEC, the global oil producers' club, but insists money—not politics—drove the move. The country now plans to raise its oil production from about 3 to 3. 5 million barrels per day up to 5 million by next year. Officials say the choice was made after chec
