Government funding for science is usually immune from political gridlock and polarization in Congress. But, federal funding for science is slated to drop for 2025. Science research dollars are considered to be discretionary, which means the funding has to be approved by Congress every year. But it’s in a budget category with larger entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security that are generally considered untouchable by politicians of both parties. Federal investment in scientific research encompasses everything from large telescopes supported by the National Science Foundation to NASA satellites studying climate change, programs studying the use and governance of artificial…
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Secretary General, Assistant Secretary General, ministers, delegates – friends. I am glad to join you today. The UK places huge value on our relationships across the Americas. Indeed, we are working closely together on the great global issues, including security, climate change and sustainable development. With so many areas of shared interest and endeavour, this Assembly is an opportunity to forge even stronger ties. When it comes to Argentina in particular, the Foreign Secretary and President Milei enjoyed a warm and cordial meeting at Davos earlier this year. They set out their support for a more constructive relationship between our…
Geneva, 27 June – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of the Netherlands have announced the launch of a new phase of the Cooperation on Migration and Partnership to Achieve Sustainable Solutions (COMPASS) program. Building on its achievements since 2021, COMPASS will continue its mission to guide safe migration while protecting and upholding migrants’ rights until the end of 2027. “This new phase marks a significant step towards our goal of creating profound systemic change for vulnerable migrants,” says Yitna Getachew, Director of IOM’s Protection Division (ai). “I am confident that the next…
Election integrity is back in the news as Canadian political party leaders react to an explosive report released by a top-secret parliamentary committee. Concerns about China interfering in Canadian elections emerged in February 2023. As a result, Justice Marie-Josée Hogue was tasked in September to lead a public inquiry on electoral integrity and foreign interference at the federal level. Provincial governments have been touched as well, with allegations resulting in the exit of Vincent Ke, a member of provincial parliament, from the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus. Ke has denied any wrongdoing and is suing a news outlet for defamation. Less…
If you have no shelter and are arrested for sleeping outside, are you being punished for something you did – or for being homeless? On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided 6-3 that the Oregon city of Grants Pass may prohibit camping, even if there are no free shelter beds in the area. Critics have argued that this policy was a form of “cruel and unusual punishment,” in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. A lower court agreed, saying it is unconstitutional to arrest people for a normal and necessary human behavior – sleeping –…
She told the Aviva Stadium crowd: “I haven’t been able to play a show in Dublin for over five years.“Nobody does it like you, you know this.“People in the crowd should be winning awards for their performances, their facial expressions, their choreography.”The 34-year-old pop superstar emerged on a hidden platform at 7.15 pm to thunderous applause and screams.Swift introduced herself to the audience with an understated: “Oh, hi.”“Does anyone here happen to know the words?” she asked during Cruel Summer.Taylor said: “Dublin. This was wild. That made me feel amazing.“Tonight, I get to play a sold-out show in Dublin on…
Large-scale solar power generates about 4% of all electricity in the U.S. Capacity has almost doubled in the last year. Smaller-scale installations – including solar panels on things like homes and public buildings – have also seen sharp growth. The new Center survey asked Americans how common three different types of solar panel developments are in their community: small-scale solar development on homes, somewhat larger solar developments on buildings and in parking lots, and large-scale solar panel farms. Americans report that home solar is the most common of these three types in their community. 18% of Americans say solar panels…
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an incremental award of $600,000 to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Division of Workforce Solutions to continue employment and training services for workers dislocated by layoffs in 10 counties after a fire led to the closure of the QVC Rocky Mount Inc.’s distribution center in December 2021.In March 2022, the department announced the award of a National Dislocated Worker Grant of up to $4 million – with an initial award of $1,333,333 – to enable the Division of Workforce Solutions to provide services for nearly 2,000 laid-off workers in Beaufort, Bertie,…
“This already a sign that he, at least openly, is not a supporter of appeasement of Russia through Ukrainian territorial concessions,” Oleksandr Merezhko, head of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign relations committee, told POLITICO. According to Merezhko, Trump may still have illusions that the Russian invasion can be stopped through an agreement with Putin. “If he becomes president, this illusion will quickly pass when he realizes that Putin is not interested in agreements, he is only interested in one thing — the destruction of Ukraine’s statehood,” Merezhko said. Trump used the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion to make Biden appear weak, saying that…
Overall, 54% of Americans say artificial intelligence programs that generate text and images, like ChatGPT and DALL-E, need to credit the sources they rely on to produce their responses. A much smaller share (14%) says the programs don’t need to credit sources, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. About a third say they’re not sure on this question. Pew Research Center published this analysis as part of its ongoing work to understand attitudes about artificial intelligence. This analysis draws on a survey of 10,133 U.S. adults conducted from Feb. 7 to 11, 2024. Everyone who took part in…