Public Policy & NGOs
Public Policy & NGOs
Here's a look at documents from public policy and non-governmental organizations
Featured Stories
Severe Child Malnutrition Surges by 60% in Somalia as Health System Falters
MONROVIA, California, April 28 -- World Vision International issued the following news release:* * *
Severe Child Malnutrition Surges by 60% in Somalia as Health System Falters
World Vision-supported health facilities across Somalia have recorded a sharp increase in the number of children admitted with severe malnutrition. Between January and March, more than 3,500 children were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition--marking a 60% rise compared to the same period in 2025, when just over 2,000 cases were reported.
This alarming surge is driven by prolonged drought conditions that continue ... Show Full Article MONROVIA, California, April 28 -- World Vision International issued the following news release: * * * Severe Child Malnutrition Surges by 60% in Somalia as Health System Falters World Vision-supported health facilities across Somalia have recorded a sharp increase in the number of children admitted with severe malnutrition. Between January and March, more than 3,500 children were diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition--marking a 60% rise compared to the same period in 2025, when just over 2,000 cases were reported. This alarming surge is driven by prolonged drought conditions that continueto devastate communities nationwide. Consecutive failed rainy seasons have severely limited access to food and water, pushing millions into hunger. Children under the age of five remain the most vulnerable, with many now at risk of life-threatening complications linked to acute malnutrition.
Funding cuts to the health and nutrition sector are set to further worsen an already dire situation. More than 250 health facilities have closed, while the nutrition sector has received only 4% of the funding required to sustain life-saving services, leaving millions of vulnerable children at heightened risk.
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Kevin Mackey, World Vision Somalia National Director, warns of the escalating crisis:
Somalia is once again approaching the brink of a full-scale hunger crisis with conditions having already preceded the early warning signs seen before the previous famines. We are witnessing a catastrophe unfolding before our eyes. The number of children arriving at our health facilities on the brink of starvation is deeply alarming. The few facilities still operating are overwhelmed and face an uncertain future. If these services shut down, the consequences for children and communities will be unimaginable.
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Zerihun Merea- World Vision Somalia Health and Nutrition Advisor:
In the health facilities that we support, we are treating children who are too weak to cry, their bodies shutting down after days without food, mothers are being forced to walk for hours to reach the nearest health facility
If urgent funding is not secured in the coming weeks, more health facilities will close, treatment programmes will collapse and thousands of children who could be saved will instead face preventable deaths
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At a time when needs are surging, the dramatic drop in humanitarian funding is leaving responders without resources to save lives. The cost of inaction is catastrophic on children's lives. Without immediate and sustained support, this crisis will deepen, silently claiming the lives of the most vulnerable.
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About World Vision
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organisation dedicated to working with children, families and their communities to reach their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity or gender.
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Original text here: https://www.wvi.org/newsroom/somalia/severe-child-malnutrition-surges-60-somalia-health-system-falters
[Category: Sociological]
New York Public Library Announces the 2026-2027 Class of Fellows at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
NEW YORK, April 28 -- The New York Public Library issued the following news release:* * *
New York Public Library Announces the 2026-2027 Class of Fellows at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers
The New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers has selected 15 gifted academics, nonfiction writers, and creative writers for its 28th class of Fellows in 2026-2027. The Cullman Center is an international fellowship program open to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the collections at the Stephen A. Schwarzman ... Show Full Article NEW YORK, April 28 -- The New York Public Library issued the following news release: * * * New York Public Library Announces the 2026-2027 Class of Fellows at the Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers The New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers has selected 15 gifted academics, nonfiction writers, and creative writers for its 28th class of Fellows in 2026-2027. The Cullman Center is an international fellowship program open to people whose work will benefit directly from access to the collections at the Stephen A. SchwarzmanBuilding. Books written at the Cullman Center have gone on to extraordinary acclaim and influence. In the past four years alone, they have received two National Book Critics Circle Awards, a National Book Award, and three Pulitzer Prizes.
The coming year's Fellows were selected from a pool of over 800 applicants that included a diverse range of academics, independent scholars, novelists, playwrights, poets, and others. The 2026-2027 class of Cullman Center Fellows are:
* Academics Doyle Calhoun, Marlene Daut, Alan Shane Dillingham, and Hannah Farber
* Fiction writers Yaa Gyasi, Megha Majumdar, and Alexander Sammartino
* Nonfiction writers Rebecca Donner, Kasim Kashgar, Eric Lach, Rachel Monroe, and Ross Perlin
* Playwrights Viacheslav Komkov and Lauren Yee
* Poet Nick Flynn
"With projects that range from a biography of the Haitian president who agreed to pay France for his country's independence, to a novel based on traditional Ghanaian folktales, to a play about a composer's escape from the Soviet Union; this class of Cullman Center Fellows--chosen from the largest pool of applicants the Center has ever received--showcases the continuing vitality of research in the humanities," said Salvatore Scibona, the Sue Ann and John Weinberg Director of the Cullman Center. "At a time of retrenchment elsewhere in support for scholars and writers, the Library is expanding and celebrating it."
Throughout the Fellowship term, which runs from September 2026 through May 2027, the new class of Cullman Center Fellows will have access to the renowned research collections and resources of The New York Public Library, as well as the invaluable assistance of its curatorial and reference staff. The Fellows receive a stipend of $90,000 and the use of a private office in the Cullman Center's quarters at the Library's landmark Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.
The Center fosters an atmosphere of creative and scholarly collaboration both within the Library and in the larger cultural environment of New York. It also hosts Conversations from the Cullman Center, a series of free public programs that focus on the books Fellows worked on while in residence at the Library.
Prize-winning and prominent past Fellows include: Andre Aciman, Elif Batuman, Hernan Diaz, Jennifer Egan, Alvaro Enrigue, Ada Ferrer, Annette Gordon-Reed, Saidiya Hartman, Hua Hsu, Mitchell S. Jackson, Leslie Jamison, Patrick Radden Keefe, Hermione Lee, Larissa MacFarquhar, Richard McGuire, Lorrie Moore, Jennifer L. Morgan, Sally Rooney, Dash Shaw, Colm Toibin, Justin Torres, Edmund White, Colson Whitehead, and many more.
For more information about the Center, its current and former Fellows, and its programs for teachers and the general public, visit www.nypl.org/csw.
About the 2026-2027 Fellows
Doyle D. Calhoun
Africa After 1848: Remaking Abolition in the French-Speaking World
Doyle D. Calhoun is an assistant professor of francophone postcolonial studies at the University of Cambridge, where he is a fellow of Peterhouse and an affiliated lecturer in film and screen studies, African studies, and history. He is the author of The Suicide Archive: Reading Resistance in the Wake of French Empire, which received the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for French and Francophone Studies from the Modern Language Association. He has edited and translated several volumes, including The Essential Senghor: African Philosophy and Black Aesthetics (with Alioune Fall and Cheikh Thiam). His work has been supported by fellowships from the Fulbright Program, the Camargo Foundation, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Bibliotheque Marmottan. He received his PhD from Yale University in 2022. At the Cullman Center, he will work on Africa After 1848: Remaking Abolition in the French-Speaking World, examining how chronologies and understandings of abolition were reimagined across West and North Africa through intra-African and trans-Saharan networks.
Marlene L. Daut
Making Haiti Pay: Jean-Pierre Boyer, French Extortion, and the Fight for Global Reparations After Slavery
The John and Constance Birkelund Fellow
Marlene L. Daut is a professor of French and Black studies at Yale University. Her most recent book, The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe, won the Gilbert Chinard Prize from the Society for French Historical Studies and the Haitian Studies Association Book Prize, and was a finalist for the Cundill History Prize. Her other books include Tropics of Haiti: Race and the Literary History of the Haitian Revolution in the Atlantic World and Awakening the Ashes: An Intellectual History of the Haitian Revolution, co-winner of the Frederick Douglass Book Prize. Her writing has appeared in numerous publications, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, Harper's Bazaar, Essence, and the Nation. In 2026, she was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. At the Cullman Center, she will work on a biography of Haitian revolutionary turned president Jean-Pierre Boyer, whose greatest claim to (unfortunate) fame was signing an 1825 agreement whereby he committed Haiti to pay 150 million francs to France as the price of French recognition of Haitian independence.
Alan Shane Dillingham
We Never Walk Alone: A Story of Family, Dispossession, and Slavery in Indian Territory
Alan Shane Dillingham is a historian of the Indigenous Americas. He is the author of Oaxaca Resurgent: Indigeneity, Development, and Inequality in Twentieth-Century Mexico, which the American Society for Ethnohistory selected for its Erminie Wheeler-Voegelin Book Award and the Conference on Latin American History selected for its Maria Elena Martinez Prize in Mexican History. Dillingham is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Stanford University's Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, and the American Council of Learned Societies. He teaches at Arizona State University's School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, and serves on the editorial boards of the Radical History Review and Labor: Studies in Working-Class History. At the Cullman Center, he will work on a nonfiction book that explores his own family history to better understand the consequences of conquest and colonialism.
Rebecca Donner
I Am Sophie Scholl
Rebecca Donner has been a fellow at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, a visiting scholar at Oxford, and a Guggenheim fellow. In recognition of her contribution to international historical scholarship, she was elected a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. Donner's third book is the New York Times bestseller All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days, a fusion of biography, espionage thriller, and scholarly detective story about her great-great-aunt Mildred Harnack, an American graduate student who became a leader of one of the largest underground resistance groups in Germany during the Nazi regime. All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography, the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award, and the Chautauqua Prize. Other honors include a 2018-19 fellowship at the Leon Levy Center for Biography. At the Cullman Center, she will work on a genre-defying biography of Sophie Scholl.
Hannah Farber
The American Lawsuit
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow
Hannah Farber is a professor of early American history at Columbia University, specializing in the history of money, commerce, and property. She is the author of Underwriters of the United States: How Insurance Shaped the American Founding, which received awards from the Business History Conference and the North American Society for Oceanic History. She serves as a series editor for American Beginnings: 1500-1900 at the University of Chicago Press. At the Cullman Center, she will work on The American Lawsuit, a history of civil litigation in the early United States that explains why Americans sued each other so often and what they typically got out of their lawsuits. In the process, The American Lawsuit sheds light on the credibility of the American justice system, on vast contests over material resources, and on litigation's uneasy relationship with American democracy.
Nick Flynn
Soon We Will All Once Again Be Ocean
Nick Flynn is the author, most recently, of the poetry collection Low. His book Stay chronicles his work with other artists (filmmakers, visual artists, musicians, etc.) over the past 25 years. His bestselling memoir Another Bullshit Night in Suck City was made into a film starring Robert DeNiro and has been translated into 15 languages. At the Cullman Center, Flynn will work on a hybrid sequence of prose poems about the years he lived on boats and his friendship with the artist Richard Booton, who died of AIDS in 1994.
Yaa Gyasi
Kwaku Ananse: A Novel
Yaa Gyasi was born in Mampong, Ghana, and raised in Huntsville, Alabama. Her first novel, Homegoing, won the National Book Critics Circle's John Leonard Prize for best first book, the PEN/Hemingway Award, and the American Book Award. In 2016, Gyasi was selected as one of the National Book Foundation's 5 under 35 honorees. Her second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, was a finalist for the Women's Prize. At the Cullman Center, she will work on a novel about human interaction with other creatures, with each other, and with the Earth, using the classic Ghanaian "Anansi the Spider" stories as scaffolding.
Kasim Kashgar
Good That Mother Was Gone Before She Could Witness This: A Uyghur Son's Search for Survival and Voice
Kasim Kashgar is a journalist and memoirist who served as Voice of America's first dedicated Uyghur reporter, publishing more than 300 stories in English and Mandarin and creating VOA's first Uyghur-language digital video program. He previously founded one of the largest private language schools in western China. The recipient of a Kiplinger fellowship and a Witness Institute fellowship, he is the subject of the documentary From Fear to Freedom: A Uyghur's Journey, which won a gold award at the 2024 New York Festivals TV & Film Awards. At the Cullman Center, he will work on his memoir, Good That Mother Was Gone Before She Could Witness This: A Uyghur Son's Search for Survival and Voice, which traces the fate of the Uyghur people in China and across the diaspora through one person's story of memory, loss, survival, and what it means to belong to a people facing erasure.
Viacheslav Komkov
Not Back to the USSR
Viacheslav Komkov is a Russian playwright, prose writer, and documentary filmmaker. For nearly 20 years, he worked in the production of documentary films, entertainment television, and special reports. His debut play, Cormorant, Chubby, and Cockroach, explores the phenomenon of volunteer vigilante groups that emerged in Russia in the 2010s. The play was recognized as one of the winners of the Remarque Playwriting Award. His mystical drama Fish Eye revolves around a family curse, referencing the story of Cain and Abel while preserving the everyday routines and habits of children who grew up in 1990s Russia. Fish Eye was a winner of the Playwrights' Workshop competition and was staged for several years in one of Moscow's independent theaters. At the Cullman Center, Komkov will work on a play about a Soviet composer who, at the height of the Cold War, seeks political asylum in the United States while on tour.
Eric Lach
Tear Down, Build Over
The Janice B. and Milford D. Gerton / Arts and Letters Foundation Fellow
Eric Lach is a contributing writer at the New Yorker, where he writes frequently about the workings and politics of New York City. At the Cullman Center, he will work on a history of New York told in real estate deals, titled Tear Down, Build Over. Covering four hundred years, with a focus on transactions both large and small, the book will shed light on the convergence of real estate with major social issues including racial justice, class warfare, and public funding, and will interrogate the debate on the future of urban life in the 21st century.
Megha Majumdar
No Indian Can Know English: A Novel
The Rona Jaffe Foundation Fellow
Megha Majumdar is the author of the bestselling novel A Guardian and a Thief, which was an Oprah's Book Club pick, a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the National Book Award, longlisted for the Women's Prize and the Carol Shields Prize, and the winner of the American Library Association's Carnegie Medal for Excellence. Her first book, A Burning, was a TODAY Show "Read With Jenna" Book Club pick and was longlisted for the National Book Award, among other honors. In 2026, Majumdar was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship. At the Cullman Center, she will work on a novel about South Asian art on Broadway, focused on a Bengali playwright and director who seeks to mount a play inspired by the complicated friendship between poets W. B. Yeats and Rabindranath Tagore.
Rachel Monroe
Dead Reckoning
Rachel Monroe is a contributing writer at the New Yorker where she primarily covers Texas and the Southwest. She is the author of Savage Appetites: True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession, which was named a New York Times Editors' Choice and a best book of the year by the Chicago Tribune, Esquire, and Jezebel. Her writing has been published in the Atlantic, Harper's, the New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Wired, and Outside, as well as anthologized in The Best American Travel Writing 2018. She has been the recipient of a Fulbright fellowship and a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists. At the Cullman Center, she will work on a book about the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia and the past, present, and future of collections of human remains.
Ross Perlin
Translation: An Alternative History from Jesus to AI
Ross Perlin is the author of Language City: The Fight to Defend Endangered Mother Tongues in New York, which was awarded the British Academy Book Prize and the New York City Book Award, longlisted for the Carnegie Medal, and named a New York Times Notable Book. He is co-director of the non-profit Endangered Language Alliance, where he has overseen research projects focused on language documentation, mapping, policy, and public programming. He teaches linguistics at Columbia University and has been a fellow at the American Academy in Berlin and at the New America program. At the Cullman Center, he will work on a book about the history of translation and the race by missionaries, linguists, language activists, and AI companies to reach every language in the world.
Alexander Sammartino
Untitled Novel
The Mary Ellen von der Heyden Fellow
Alexander Sammartino's debut novel, Last Acts, won The New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award, was shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, and was a New York Times Editors' Choice. Sammartino was also chosen as a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree. His next novel, Gallo, is forthcoming in March 2027. At the Cullman Center, he will work on a novel about the twentieth anniversary of 9/11.
Lauren Yee
Untitled Play
The Jean Strouse Fellow
Lauren Yee is a playwright and screenwriter based in New York. Her plays include Cambodian Rock Band (staged at South Coast Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Signature Theatre), The Great Leap (Denver Center, Seattle Rep, the Atlantic, Steppenwolf, ACT), King of the Yees (Goodman Theatre, Center Theatre Group), and Mother Russia (Seattle Rep, Signature Theatre). Her honors include the Doris Duke Artist Award, the Whiting Award, the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award, the Horton Foote Prize, and the Kesselring Prize. Her TV writing credits include Pachinko (Apple), Soundtrack (Netflix), Interior Chinatown (Hulu), Billions (Showtime), and Clipped (FX). At the Cullman Center, she will work on a play about a Chinese American family in San Francisco grappling with rising anti-Communist sentiment--and suspicions about their own allegiances--as a wayward son returns home.
The Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, and The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.
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About The New York Public Library
For over 125 years, The New York Public Library has been a free provider of education and information for the people of New York and beyond. With over 90 locations--including research and branch libraries--throughout the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island, the Library offers free materials, computer access, classes, exhibitions, programming and more to everyone from toddlers to scholars. The New York Public Library receives approximately 16 million visits through its doors annually and millions more around the globe who use its resources at www.nypl.org. To offer this wide array of free programming, The New York Public Library relies on both public and private funding. Learn more about how to support the Library at nypl.org/support.
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Original text here: https://www.nypl.org/press/new-york-public-library-announces-2026-2027-class-fellows-dorothy-and-lewis-b-cullman-center
[Category: Libraries]
Korean Air Halts Shipments of Roosters to Philippines
WASHINGTON, April 28 -- The Center for a Humane Economy posted the following news release:* * *
Korean Air Halts Shipments of Roosters to Philippines
Recent investigations into smuggling of fighting birds triggered legislation from U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls to halt transnational shipments of tens of thousands of birds
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Following a series of investigations by Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and the Dallas Morning News, and then the subsequent introduction of federal legislation targeting illegal smuggling of fighting animals via international air carriers, Korean Air has ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 28 -- The Center for a Humane Economy posted the following news release: * * * Korean Air Halts Shipments of Roosters to Philippines Recent investigations into smuggling of fighting birds triggered legislation from U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls to halt transnational shipments of tens of thousands of birds * Following a series of investigations by Animal Wellness Action, the Center for a Humane Economy, and the Dallas Morning News, and then the subsequent introduction of federal legislation targeting illegal smuggling of fighting animals via international air carriers, Korean Air hasmade an internal policy decision to halt shipments of roosters to the Philippines.
Korean Air's new policy denies the criminal network of U.S. cockfighters a transportation channel previously used for shipments of roosters that enable sales in the Philippines. The Philippines, according to some reports, imports up to 40,000 fighting birds from the United States, with a single fighting cock going for as much as $2,000. In 2022, the Philippine government reported over $13 billion in wagers on e-sabong, or online cockfighting.
"Airlines shouldn't be serving as cargo carriers for cockfighters and the organized crime networks tied to them, and this policy stops as much as $80 million in illegal revenues for cockfighters selling birds to their brethren in the Philippines," said Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy. "It's apparent, based on our discussions with Korean Air, that it was an unwitting carrier of fighting birds. We applaud the company for agreeing to address the criminal trade we pinpointed and end any transport of live roosters."
Pacelle also credited Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas-22, the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, for introducing the No Flight, No Fight Act, H.R. 7371, in February to forbid any shipment of roosters on commercial airlines and other air carriers.
"You can directly link the introduction of Chairman Nehls' bill to this week's Korean Air announcement," added Pacelle. And last week, Nehls introduced Amendment No. 22 to H.R. 7567, the Farm, Food, and National Security Act, to achieve the same purpose as his original bill. The House Rules Committee decides early this week if it can be offered during consideration of H.R. 7567, expected later this week. Nehls's amendment is co-led by Rep. Troy Carter, D-La., and cosponsored by Reps. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla.Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, David Schweikert, R-Ariz., Randy Fine, R-Fla., Lance Gooden, R-Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J.
The original legislation was introduced in February and already has nearly 200 endorsers, including the National Sheriffs' Association, the Small and Rural Law Enforcement Executives Association and state sheriffs' and district attorneys' associations from Alabama to Idaho to Wisconsin. A closely related bill, the FIGHT Act, S. 1454/H.R. 3946, has over 1,100 endorsing organizations, including 500 law enforcement associations and agencies and major poultry industry operators across the Midwest. Senators John Kennedy, R-La., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., are leading anti-animal fighting efforts in the Senate and their legislation has a raft of cosponsors from both parties.
In fall 2025, investigators with the Center for a Humane Economy and Animal Wellness Action traced illicit traffic from gamefowl farms in Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Texas to brokers, including the so-called North Texas Livestock Shipping (NTLS) in Dallas. NTLS ships the birds on Korean Air to Manila Airport via Incheon Airport in Korea. Our investigation found that there are tens of thousands of birds moved annually from the U.S. to the Philippines and Mexico, while there is also trafficking of animals to two dozen other nations.
Both organizations also had undercover investigators at the World Slasher Cup (WSC), which ran from Jan. 25-31 in Manila, and featured 800 animal fights and a crowd of thousands, including Americans who illegally transported hundreds of birds on commercial aircraft for these battles. "Dozens of American cockfighters took part in the fights and illegally supplied fighting roosters conscripted into incredibly bloody battles," reported Kevin Chambers, senior investigator for Animal Wellness Action. "These birds traveled via Korean Air. No fight was called off until at least one bird was killed, and many battles resulted in both animals perishing." The Philippine Animal Welfare Society and the Korean Animal Welfare Association cooperated closely with us on our investigations.
U.S. airlines do not accept live birds for shipment to the Philippines, but Philippine Airlines and Cathay Pacific reportedly still do. Filipino cockfighters exhibiting at the World Gamefowl Expo in Manila, just prior to the WSC, told the Center for a Humane Economy that, in certain instances, shipments originating in the New World were transported via Korean Air.. Korean Air's voluntary action in halting these shipments illustrates its commitment to safe and humane animal transport.
"Criminal U.S. cockfighters have become the biggest worldwide suppliers of fighting animals, abetting animal cruelty, illegal gambling, money laundering, and other crimes with this illicit commerce," added Pacelle. A decade ago, a USDA report estimated as many as 24 million fighting birds in the United States.
Col. Tom Pool (ret.), DVM, MPH, former Guam Territorial Veterinarian and former chief of the U.S. Army Veterinary Command, said, "I've seen firsthand how entrenched and barbaric the cockfighting industry is in the Philippines and Vietnam. It's an organized crime racket involving murder, money laundering, and high-stakes gambling. Congress outlawed any foreign transports of fighting animals in 2002, but that law has been consistently ignored. Korean Air's announcement is the start of the dismantling of this organized animal trafficking."
Dr. Pool added that the current global H5N1 pandemic began from the trafficking of fighting birds originating in Thailand. "American cockfighters cannot use ground transport or cargo ships to move these birds," Dr. Pool added. "That's why ending airline transport of these birds is one of the most effective ways to disrupt this trade."
Dr. Pool noted that the No Flight, No Fight Act sends a major signal to international air carriers to halt their involvement in the trade. Major U.S.-based poultry companies concur.
Rose Acre Farms, one of the top three U.S. egg-producing companies, partnered with Animal Wellness Action in promoting No Flight, No Fight Act in Congress. "Fighting birds are distinctly different from birds raised for meat or egg production, and only cockfighting animals carry the extraordinary value that justifies these expensive international shipments," said Marcus Rust, the chief innovations officer for Rose Acre Farms in Seymour, Ind. Since the H5N1 pandemic hit the United States starting in 2022, Rose Acre Farms has lost five million birds so far to the pandemic still coursing through avian species.
Violence tied to cockfighting operations has resulted in mass casualties in Mexico and Ecuador, and hundreds of murders have been linked to cockfighting-related disputes in the Philippines.
Animal Wellness Action's video on No Flight, No Fight can be found here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsIi-JSWVTs).
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Center for a Humane Economy is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) whose mission is to help animals by helping forge a more humane economic order. The first organization of its kind in the animal protection movement, the Center encourages businesses to honor their social responsibilities in a culture where consumers, investors, and other key stakeholders abhor cruelty and the degradation of the environment and embrace innovation as a means of eliminating both. The Center believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @TheHumaneCenter
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Animal Wellness Action is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) whose mission is to help animals by promoting laws and regulations at federal, state and local levels that forbid cruelty to all animals. The group also works to enforce existing anti-cruelty and wildlife protection laws. Animal Wellness Action believes helping animals helps us all. Twitter: @AWAction_News
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Original text here: https://centerforahumaneeconomy.org/korean-air-halts-shipments-of-fighting-birds-to-philippines/
[Category: Animals]
Food and Water Watch: Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument In Bayer Case Seeking To Block Pesticide Lawsuits
WASHINGTON, April 28 -- The Food and Water Watch posted the following news release on April 27, 2026:* * *
Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument In Bayer Case Seeking To Block Pesticide Lawsuits
Federal legislation needed to safeguard right to sue
*
Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in pesticide manufacturer Bayer's case Monsanto Company v. Durnell. Food & Water Watch and allies submitted an amicus brief in favor of Durnell earlier this month.
With the Trump administration's repeated support, Bayer is seeking a ruling that would shield the corporation from lawsuits brought by cancer ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 28 -- The Food and Water Watch posted the following news release on April 27, 2026: * * * Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument In Bayer Case Seeking To Block Pesticide Lawsuits Federal legislation needed to safeguard right to sue * Today, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in pesticide manufacturer Bayer's case Monsanto Company v. Durnell. Food & Water Watch and allies submitted an amicus brief in favor of Durnell earlier this month. With the Trump administration's repeated support, Bayer is seeking a ruling that would shield the corporation from lawsuits brought by cancerpatients who allege its Roundup product was to blame for their disease. Such a ruling would effectively leave these patients without legal recourse. Meanwhile, Senator Cory Booker's pending Pesticide Injury Accountability Act would enshrine the right to sue over pesticide harms.
In response, Food & Water Watch Legal Director Tarah Heinzen issued the following statement:
"Monsanto Company v. Durnell will have enormous consequences for environmental health litigation. Bayer is intent on preserving its right to harm at all costs -- a pursuit the Trump administration is all too willing to endorse. This case threatens to close the courthouse doors to the many Americans harmed by pesticides.
"Should the Supreme Court hold that the Environmental Protection Agency's failed pesticide regulatory scheme preempts state failure to warn lawsuits, leaving tens of thousands of sick Americans without legal recourse, Trump and his industry-dominated EPA will be to blame.
"This high stakes case should be a wakeup call for Congress to act. Industrial agriculture's pesticide addiction is poisoning America. Congress must pass the Pesticide Injury Accountability Act to safeguard access to justice for all harmed by toxic pesticides."
Since purchasing Monsanto in 2018, Bayer has spent over $11 billion settling over 100,000 cancer lawsuits related to Roundup, whose active ingredient glyphosate the World Health Organization defines as a probable carcinogen. A recent Food & Water Watch analysis finds that high glyphosate use is correlated with elevated rates of non-Hodgkin lymphoma cancer, particularly in the upper Midwest where the majority of glyphosate is used on field crops.
Bayer is also pushing widely-opposed Cancer Gag Act bills nationwide, seeking to shield pesticide corporations from health-related lawsuits in multiple states. The corporation is behind a similar federal provision in the Farm Bill, currently awaiting a floor vote in the House of Representatives.
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Original text here: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2026/04/27/supreme-court-hears-oral-argument-in-bayer-case-seeking-to-block-pesticide-lawsuits/
[Category: Science]
FRAC Honors Randy Rosso and Claire Lane for Leadership and Commitment to Expanding Food Access, Ending Hunger in America
WASHINGTON, April 28 -- The Food Research and Action Center issued the following news release:* * *
FRAC Honors Randy Rosso and Claire Lane for Leadership and Commitment to Expanding Food Access, Ending Hunger in America
The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) is proud to announce that it has awarded its Dr. Raymond Wheeler/Senator Paul Wellstone Anti-Hunger Advocacy Leadership Award to Randy Rosso, a data-driven policy advisor to the anti-hunger community, and its inaugural Amidei/Doherty Advocacy Award to Claire Lane, director of the Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition.
"We are thrilled ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 28 -- The Food Research and Action Center issued the following news release: * * * FRAC Honors Randy Rosso and Claire Lane for Leadership and Commitment to Expanding Food Access, Ending Hunger in America The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) is proud to announce that it has awarded its Dr. Raymond Wheeler/Senator Paul Wellstone Anti-Hunger Advocacy Leadership Award to Randy Rosso, a data-driven policy advisor to the anti-hunger community, and its inaugural Amidei/Doherty Advocacy Award to Claire Lane, director of the Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition. "We are thrilledto celebrate Randy and Claire for their ongoing commitment to ending hunger in our nation," said Crystal FitzSimons, president of FRAC. "Randy has spent more than two decades turning complex data into meaningful information, bridging the gap between statistics and lived experience to sharpen our view of the reach of federal nutrition programs and the policies needed to improve program access and keep families fed. Claire has been a leading force against hunger and its root causes in Washington state, showing that when we bring the voices of those experiencing hunger directly to the table, we can move the needle on policy change to protect and advance nutrition, health, and economic stability for people struggling with hunger. Their leadership is a testament to the strength of FRAC's nationwide network."
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About the Dr. Raymond Wheeler/ Senator Paul Wellstone Anti-Hunger Advocacy Leadership Award
Dr. Raymond Wheeler, an eminent Southern physician, fought throughout his life against hunger, poverty, and injustice. His findings led to the publication of Hunger USA and a prime-time CBS documentary, "Hunger in America." Dr. Wheeler's efforts, both in North Carolina and on Capitol Hill, led to the expansion of the Food Stamp Program (now the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)) in the late 1960s. In recognition of his central role in fighting hunger through public policy, FRAC named this award after Dr. Wheeler in the 1980s.
Sen. Paul Wellstone focused much of his extraordinary energy and commitment on eradicating hunger and poverty in America. Wellstone challenged the nation to stand up for children and challenged his colleagues to reject the stereotyping and misinformation about people experiencing poverty and hunger in America. In recognition of Sen. Wellstone's passionate, eloquent, and steadfast championing of the needs of poor people in this country, FRAC named this award after him.
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About the Amidei/Doherty Advocacy Award
The Amidei/Doherty Advocacy Award honors a career advocate who has made a difference in their community through their advocacy for federal nutrition programs to address poverty-related hunger.
Nancy Amidei, former FRAC president, was a true advocate throughout her career and life. She held positions ranging from Peace Corps in Nigeria to University of Washington School of Social Work professor. In 1981, as FRAC president, she helped lead the organization in the fight against proposed regulations to allow ketchup and pickle relish to be counted as vegetable requirements for school meals.
Diane Doherty was a formidable advocate who brought immense compassion to this work. She was a longtime partner to FRAC and its network as the president of the Illinois Hunger Coalition, and a powerful force in the fight against hunger in the state and across the country.
The awards were presented today during the 2026 FRAC National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, held in Washington, D.C. from April 26-27, followed by a Lobby Day on Capitol Hill on April 28. The conference brings together nearly 1,000 anti-hunger and anti-poverty advocates, federal, state, and local government officials, child advocates, and representatives of food banks from across the country to identify innovative solutions and exchange best practices to strengthen the quality and reach of federal nutrition programs, including SNAP, school meals, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and meals provided during child care, afterschool, and summer.
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The Food Research & Action Center improves the nutrition, health, and well-being of people struggling against poverty-related hunger in the United States through advocacy, partnerships, and by advancing bold and equitable policy solutions. To learn more, visit FRAC.org and follow us on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Bluesky.
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Original text here: https://frac.org/news/awardsapr2026
[Category: Food/Beverage]
Democracy Forward: Court of Appeals Denies Protections for Portland Residents Exposed to Toxic Chemical Weapons
WASHINGTON, April 28 -- Democracy Forward, an organization that says it advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy and public education and regulatory engagement, issued the following news release on April 27, 2026:* * *
Court of Appeals Denies Protections for Portland Residents Exposed to Toxic Chemical Weapons
Decision Allows DHS to Resume Conduct that Floods Homes With Tear Gas and Other Chemical Munitions While the Litigation Continues
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Portland, Ore. - The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today granted the Trump-Vance administration's request to pause a ... Show Full Article WASHINGTON, April 28 -- Democracy Forward, an organization that says it advances democracy and social progress through litigation, policy and public education and regulatory engagement, issued the following news release on April 27, 2026: * * * Court of Appeals Denies Protections for Portland Residents Exposed to Toxic Chemical Weapons Decision Allows DHS to Resume Conduct that Floods Homes With Tear Gas and Other Chemical Munitions While the Litigation Continues * Portland, Ore. - The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today granted the Trump-Vance administration's request to pause apreliminary injunction that had been protecting residents of Gray's Landing, an affordable housing community in Portland, from exposure inside their homes to toxic chemical munitions being used by federal agents.
The ruling lifts the district court's order, which had prohibited federal officers from deploying tear gas, smoke grenades, pepper balls, and other chemical weapons in ways that are likely to reach the 209-unit residential complex, while the case continues.
For months, federal agents fired chemical munitions toward and around the housing complex during protests at a nearby Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, despite knowing that the toxins repeatedly seeped into apartments, hallways, and common areas. Residents, including children, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities, have reported respiratory distress, chest pain, panic attacks, and repeated emergency medical visits, and have been forced to seal their homes and wear gas masks indoors.
The plaintiffs include Gray's Landing residents and REACH Community Development, who are represented by Democracy Forward, Protect Democracy, Jacobson Lawyers Group PLLC, and Bradley Bernstein Sands LLP.
Plaintiffs issued the following joint statement:
"We are deeply disappointed by the court's decision to eliminate critical protections for the residents of Gray's Landing. The district court carefully reviewed the evidence and found that federal officers repeatedly deployed chemical munitions in ways that exposed residents to toxic substances inside their homes, causing serious and ongoing harm. Pausing that relief now places families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities back at risk while this case continues.
"No one should be forced to endure exposure to chemical weapons in their own home. The Constitution protects people's right to safety, physical integrity, and the peaceful enjoyment of where they live. We will continue to fight in court to restore these protections and to hold the Trump-Vance administration accountable for conduct that has caused profound harm to this community."
The district court previously found that federal officials were likely deliberately indifferent to the harm caused to residents, noting that the use of chemical munitions near the housing complex threatened "the most fundamental aspects of liberty."
The case is REACH Community Development et al. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security et al.
Read the decision here (https://democracyforward.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/9thCir._26-01575_35.pdf) and more about this case here (https://democracyforward.org/work/legal/stopping-federal-agents-from-flooding-homes-with-toxic-chemical-weapons/).
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Original text here: https://democracyforward.org/news/press-releases/court-of-appeals-denies-protections-for-portland-residents-exposed-to-toxic-chemical-weapons/
[Category: Political]
DHR Health, University of Houston Break Ground on New Medical Research and Education Center
EDINBURG, Texas, April 28 -- DHR Health issued the following news:* * *
DHR Health, University of Houston Break Ground on New Medical Research and Education Center
McAllen, Texas: The future of health care in the Rio Grande Valley moved forward as DHR Health and the University of Houston broke ground on a new medical research and education center -- a milestone investment that will expand health education programs and improve access to care in one of Texas' most rapidly growing and high-demand regions.
"This groundbreaking symbolizes the start of an exciting new chapter for the Fertitta College ... Show Full Article EDINBURG, Texas, April 28 -- DHR Health issued the following news: * * * DHR Health, University of Houston Break Ground on New Medical Research and Education Center McAllen, Texas: The future of health care in the Rio Grande Valley moved forward as DHR Health and the University of Houston broke ground on a new medical research and education center -- a milestone investment that will expand health education programs and improve access to care in one of Texas' most rapidly growing and high-demand regions. "This groundbreaking symbolizes the start of an exciting new chapter for the Fertitta Collegeof Medicine, while expanding the role of the College of Pharmacy," said UH President Renu Khator. "We are honored to partner with DHR Health, whose vibrant growth and unwavering dedication have established it as a premier, nationally recognized leader in physician-led care. Together, we are expanding horizons for our students and researchers, while improving health in the fast-growing Rio Grande Valley."
The center will serve as a hub for training physicians locally, advancing translational, community-based research that addresses critical health challenges and strengthening the region's health care system.
"This partnership is now becoming a reality in a way that will directly impact how we train physicians and deliver care in South Texas," said Jonathan A. McCullers, UH vice president of health affairs and dean of the Fertitta College of Medicine. "Working alongside DHR Health, we are creating new opportunities for hands-on training and advancing research that addresses the region's most pressing health needs."
The initiative was made possible through strong support from state leadership, including Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Senate Finance Chair Joan Huffman and House Appropriations Chair Greg Bonnen, as well as members of the Rio Grande Valley legislative delegation.
"This project reflects years of collaboration with state and regional leaders who understand the importance of expanding access to health education and care in South Texas," said Jason Smith, vice president for government and community relations at UH. "Their support has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life and ensuring the University of Houston can continue to serve communities across the Rio Grande Valley."
The state-of-the-art center in McAllen will span four stories and 64,000 square feet, designed to support a range of clinical training, research and academic activities. The building, designed by Martha L. Hinojosa of FIRM Consultants, Inc., will include dedicated space for classrooms, collaborative research, simulation-based learning and faculty offices -- creating an integrated environment where education and patient-centered research intersect. Construction will be led by Cantu Construction.
DHR Health, one of the largest physician-owned hospitals in the nation, operates more than 70 facilities -- including five hospitals -- across the Rio Grande Valley and serves as a major training site for physician residencies, nursing and pharmacy programs. The system is home to the DHR Health Institute for Research and Development, a leading center for clinical research in South Texas, is headed by renowned global health leader and epidemiologist, Dr. Scott R. Lillibridge.
"Our mission has always been to elevate the quality of health care and medical education in the Rio Grande Valley," said Susan Turley, president of DHR Health. "Partnering with the University of Houston allows us to accelerate that mission and bring new resources, research collaborations and training opportunities to the region. Together, we are investing in a healthier future for South Texas."
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About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter for excellence in undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation's fourth-largest city and one of the most culturally rich regions in the country, UH enrolls nearly 49,000 students.
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About the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine
The Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine is the City of Houston's first new medical school in 50 years. The UH Board of Regents voted to establish it in 2017, and the Texas Legislature authorized the plan in 2019. The inaugural class of 30 students started in 2020.
The Fertitta College of Medicine is built on an important social mission - to improve the overall health and health care of greater Houston, the state of Texas and beyond. It focuses on educating physicians with a deep understanding of the non-medical drivers of health and a commitment to providing high quality, affordable health care to patients in underserved communities.
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About DHR Health
DHR Health Hospital System was founded in 1997 by a group of local physicians and business leaders who sought to address the health care access challenges faced by more than 1.5 million residents in a region that historically lacked public and county hospitals in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas.
Today, DHR Health has grown to a modern, full-service health care system with over 520 patient beds. It serves more than 600,000 patients annually, employs over 6,000 individuals, provides a full continuum of care across more than 70 medical specialties and subspecialties, and includes five hospitals. It is a nationally recognized hospital system and one of the largest physician-owned hospitals in the United States.
Headquartered in Edinburg, Texas, DHR Health serves the entire Rio Grande Valley region, including Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron, and Willacy counties. Its growing footprint includes a new sister hospital in Brownsville, and over 75 medical clinics found throughout the upper, mid and lower Rio Grande Valley, and a robust clinical research division. DHR Health also has several residency programs in various medical specialties.
In addition to being the first established Level I Trauma Center in the region, DHR Health is also proud to serve residents of the RGV with the only comprehensive kidney transplant program in the region and offers advanced technologies such as ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation), an advanced life support system, and the ION robotic-assisted bronchoscopy system. DHR Health is also home to the region's only free-standing certified women's hospital, providing the highest level of maternal care in South Texas. To find out more about DHR Health, visit us at www.dhrhealth.com or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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Original text here: https://dhrhealth.com/news-stories/dhr-health-university-of-houston-break-ground-on-new-medical-research-and-education-center/
[Category: Health Care]