Author: potus

(The Center Square) – One day before the deadline, the U.S. government has issued a refusal of new international health regulations that dramatically expand the World Health Organization’s international powers.The WHO’s 2024 amendments to International Health Regulations – adopted by the organization’s highest decision-making body, the World Health Assembly – were set to become binding if not rejected by Saturday. The revisions would have granted the WHO the power to order global lockdowns, travel restrictions, and any other measures deemed necessary to address “potential public health risks.”The State department along with U.S. Health and Human Services issued the Friday rejection, arguing…

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PERTH, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 18: Chris Martin of Coldplay performs on stage at Optus Stadium on November 18, 2023 in Perth, Australia. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)Paul Kane | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesAstronomer, a provider of open-source technologies that was hardly known until this week, said on Friday that it’s launched an investigation after CEO Andy Byron was shown on video at a Coldplay concert in an intimate embrace with the company’s head of human relations.”The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly,” the…

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(The Center Square) – Virginia Energy reported $405 million in new grant funding and outlined project updates, planning tools and permitting changes in its 2025 midyear report.The agency says it is managing more than $830 million in active projects. These include the zoning application for a commercial fusion plant in Chesterfield County developed by Commonwealth Fusion Systems. Google has committed to purchasing 200 megawatts of power from the project, which the report says is half of the facility’s expected output.The Clean Energy Innovation Bank also supported a nuclear simulator at George Mason University and has reviewed 45 proposals to date,…

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The U.S. Defense Department’s announcement of a review of the Australia-United Kingdom-United States (AUKUS) pact in June sent shockwaves through the Australian national security establishment. While some commentators have tried to downplay these concerns, the review’s leader, Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby, is a noted skeptic of the pact. Among U.S. defense and military leaders, Colby is not alone in holding “very serious concerns” about AUKUS. There is a real chance that the planned transfer of three to five Virginia-class nuclear submarines will be canceled, postponed, or renegotiated for an unacceptably high price. And the United States’ initial…

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(The Center Square) – A plan to use $9 million in settlement money to fund opioid initiatives in Milwaukee is being pushed through by County Executive David Crowley and could be given the OK as soon as next week.The funds would support a seven-part plan to expand treatment, prevention and harm reduction by the opioid epidemic in Milwaukee County through 2028, according to Crowley.The Milwaukee County Board Committee on Finance approved the plan unanimously recently, and the full county Board of Supervisors is set to vote on it at their meeting Thursday.“My administration continues to deploy opioid settlement dollars across…

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(The Center Square) – A coalition of states, legal scholars, trade groups, and the U.S. Department of Justice is urging Maryland’s highest court to reject attempts by three Maryland jurisdictions to revive climate lawsuits against oil and gas companies.Eight amicus briefs filed this week argue that the Maryland Supreme Court should uphold the dismissals of climate-related cases brought by Baltimore, Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County.Circuit judges in each jurisdiction dismissed the lawsuits earlier this year, prompting the plaintiffs to appeal.The U.S. Department of Justice, 24 state attorneys general led by Alabama, and organizations ranging from the National Association of Manufacturers…

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(The Center Square) – A new study from researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, RAND, and the University of Maryland may change the way public health officials approach opioid use.The study revealed a blind spot in the field: while researchers have closely monitored factors like the number of people using opioids, the intensity of use is largely overlooked.The takeaway? When more drugs are available and prices are lower, people will consume a far higher amount, often with greater potency. In other words, when fentanyl has flooded the market, users are often taking higher doses – and bigger risks – more frequently.“We…

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Jonathan Raa | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesEther and other crypto related stocks climbed to end the week as the GENIUS Act heads to President Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law. Bitcoin and its proxies took a breather.The price of ether was last higher by 3.6% at $3,558.68, according to Coin Metrics, trading at highs not seen since January.On Thursday, ETFs tracking the price of ether saw daily inflows top those of bitcoin ETFs for the first time ever. The funds logged $602 million in net inflows, led by BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Bitcoin ETFs on the same day saw inflows…

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Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty ImagesMeta Platforms declined to sign the European Union’s artificial intelligence code of practice because it is an overreach that will “stunt” companies, according to global affairs chief Joel Kaplan.”Europe is heading down the wrong path on AI,” Kaplan wrote in a post on LinkedIn Friday. “This code introduces a number of legal uncertainties for model developers, as well as measures which go far beyond the scope of the AI Act.”Last week, the European Commission published a final iteration of its code for general-purpose AI models, leaving it up to companies to decide if they…

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(The Center Square) − The White House Council of Economic Advisers on Thursday released a report highlighting the Trump Administration’s energy strategy, projecting that policies aimed at “unleashing American energy” could raise U.S. GDP by as much as 1.9% by 2035 and support national security, energy affordability, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.The report argues that revitalizing domestic oil, gas, coal, and nuclear production — combined with regulatory reform and infrastructure investment— can strengthen the U.S. economy while meeting the surging energy needs of AI-driven data centers and reshored manufacturing.”The United States is blessed with a wealth of natural resources,”…

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