Open Newswire

近日访问过台湾的美国共和党籍参议员匡希恒(John Curtis)本星期与民主党籍参议员凯瑟琳·科尔特斯·马斯托(Catherine Cortez Masto)共同提出一个跨党派法案，要求美国战争部在法案生效后180天内及此后的五年期间向国会提交年度报告，评估美军在遏阻中国攻打台湾与确保印太地区稳定方面的能力。

Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools.Data analysis by Thomas WilburnMore than six months ahead of Chicago’s historic school board races, candidates are starting to ramp up fundraising — and political action committees are gearing up to spend big. About 40 active school board candidate committees have already raised roughly $555,000 as of March 31 since last October, according to data Chalkbeat analyzed after a deadline this week to file campaign cash disclosures for the first quarter of 2026 with the Illinois State Board of Elections. More than a third of that total represented the haul of Sendhil Revuluri — a former school board vice president running for the at-large role of board president — giving him a commanding fundraising lead so far. Two incumbents also running for board president — Jessica Biggs and Jennifer Custer — raised about $60,000 and $50,000, respectively, in the same period. For the first time in the city’s history, Chicagoans this November will elect all 21 members of the school board, which has long been handpicked by the mayor. In 2024, residents chose 10 members, and Mayor Brandon Johnson appointed the rest, including the president. These latest races come at a high-stakes time for Chicago Public Schools, which faces swelling budget deficits, declining enrollment, and other challenges. The 2024 races drew more than $13 million in campaign cash, an analysis by Chalkbeat Chicago found at the time. With all seats up for grabs, spending on this year’s races is expected to handily outpace that amount, which dwarfed that spent on school board elections in cities such as Denver and Detroit. The last time around, heavy spending clearly helped propel some candidates to their seats on board, whose members serve without pay. But the races also showed the limitation of campaign cash. Some of the candidates with the most modest war chests, such as Biggs, bested much better funded opponents. Of the nine candidates in contested races backed by the Chicago Teachers Union — the biggest spender on those board elections — three made it onto the board.The teachers union is once again poised to clash with charter and other school choice proponents, though these groups are waiting until the candidate field is more complete. Candidates will formally file to run between May 18 and 26. The Illinois Network of Charter Schools had more than $3.2 million in cash on hand as of March 31, by far the largest amount among super PACs expected to get involved in the school board races. Super PACs can spend without limitation on races, but they are not allowed to coordinate directly with candidate campaigns.“We’ll be a very substantial part of the outside spending for sure,” said Andrew Broy, the network’s executive director. “We’ll try to be involved in as many districts as possible.”Now that the state’s primary elections are over, school board candidates are starting to kick off their fundraising in earnest. A $68,000 loan to his own campaign makes Revuluri the biggest donor to school board political committees so far. Trailing him are billionaire Michael Sacks and Allstate Corporation CEO Thomas Wilson, who both late last year donated the legal limit of $7,300 to each in a group of elected school board members who have banded together to parry the influence of a Johnson-aligned majority. Sacks also donated to the Common Ground Collective, a new political action committee led by cabinet members of former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, who was pushed out by Johnson. The Sacks donations were previously reported by WBEZ. Broy, the charter network’s head, said its focus for now is identifying candidates aligned with its pro-school choice mission and helping them get on the ballot. The network’s super PAC has drawn large checks from big-pocketed donors such as James Frank, the executive chairman of the board of Wheels Inc. As in 2024, the group will hold off on spending in earnest until closer to the election. But Broy said he expects spending to ramp up earlier this time around.“Incumbents are going to want to get a jump on their opposition,” he said. “They’ll try to get an advantage by striking first.” Broy expects the network will again back several members it funded heavily in 2024, such as Carlos Rivas and Angel Gutierrez. Following heavy spending on primary races, the CTU’s cash on hand is now paltry in comparison, at about $126,000 at the end of March. But it’s poised to get replenished with member dues in the coming months. A spokesperson for the union said the CTU will follow its customary process in which members review candidate questionnaires and other information to determine “who are champions for public schools and who are serving billionaire donors set to close schools.”SEIU Illinois Council PAC, affiliated with the union representing support staff in CPS, made contributions to some elected incumbents late last year. The union has been a close ally of the CTU in previous years, but following disagreements last year might diverge in which candidates it backs.The March primary races dominated political giving so far this year, making it hard to gain fundraising momentum for fall contests, said Custer, the school board member who is running for the districtwide board president role. She said her committee has been able to raise about $25,000 in the past couple of weeks, an amount that’s not reflected in her Board of Elections filing. “It is definitely ramping up now,” she said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time on the phone.” Custer said she is approaching “people prominent in the education spaces in and around Chicago” and circling back with donors to her 2024 campaign, including friends and family members. Custer was endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union in 2024 but has clashed repeatedly with the union during her time on the board. “I don’t think they’ll come to me,” she said.Custer said her major campaign expenditure so far has been child care, a permissible expense for candidates for office. Lining up care for her children has allowed her to visit schools, meet with potential supporters, and attend board meetings, she said. With about $236,000 raised so far according to his campaign, Revuluri, who served as school board vice president during the pandemic, has pulled ahead among candidates who have formed committees to run in November. Besides the loan to his campaign, his haul comes almost exclusively from individual contributions from across the country. He said he has tapped his extensive professional network, but the bulk of donations are from Chicagoans who have responded to his message of “effective governance that really puts our students at the center.” He said the current board has been too mired in political struggles, which he believes gives him an edge over incumbent rivals. Revuluri said he is focused on low-cost campaigning, including meeting a goal of speaking with more than 10,000 voters, so he will hold off on most spending until the months leading up to the election. “We have to meet voters where they are — once they have really tuned in,” he said. Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org.

Neighborhood committee members express some angst before recommending City Council approval. The post Kansas City considers spending $2 million for neighborhood events appeared first on The Beacon.

Democrats in Montana’s U.S. Senate race are struggling mightily to keep up with the fundraising of independent candidate Seth Bodnar and Republican Kurt Alme, both of whom reported having roughly a million to spend after the first federal fundraising period. The post Republican, independent candidates outraise Democrats in federal races appeared first on Montana Free Press.

(The Center Square) – Amid expectations that billions of dollars a year will be cut from taxpayer-funded health care programs in California, a package of three new bills aims to reduce cancer rates and make treatment more accessible. Senate Bill 1309, authored by Sen. Susan Rubio, D-West Covina; Assembly Bill 957, authored by Assemblymember Liz Ortega, D-Hayward, and Assembly Bill 2161, authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, D-Oakland, were all introduced during the 2025-26 legislative session. None of the three lawmakers responded to The Center Square's requests for comment. All three bills were advocated for in Sacramento recently by the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network. Each of the bills aims to help cancer patients as the state grapples with federal budget cuts to Medicaid, called Medi-Cal in California. In addition to the federal cuts, the state’s projected multi-year budget deficit is expected to total $35 billion a year starting in fiscal year 2027-28, according to previous reporting by The Center Square. California lawmakers expect the federal cuts to have implications to health care access and have acknowledged in recent months that California can’t make up for the budget cuts imposed by the federal budget reductions. “Taking that into account, there’s going to be some cuts. There’s going to be things that enrollees would not have access to anymore,” Kenneth Wilkerson, California senior government relations director for the Cancer Action Network, told The Center Square on Friday. “As far as what the future is, we’re continuing to monitor to see how the impacts would affect enrollees on the ground in trying to obtain different services.” Wilkerson said he hopes legislators pass bills to help cancer patients afford treatment and that patients with long-term illnesses have access to health care. “That’s what I would urge lawmakers to do,” Wilkerson said. “Making sure that people with chronic conditions, cancer, enrollees going through treatment, have access to a continuum of care and it’s not disrupted.” Senate Bill 1309, which proposes to help with the cost of lung cancer treatment, was recently re-referred to the Assembly Committee on Health after being amended. “It matters because right now, too many patients start screening, but they don’t finish it because of the cost,” Wilkerson said. “They see the amount of the follow-up testing or the follow-up visits and get dissuaded or discouraged from not starting their treatment or to know what their treatment could be. Follow-up scans can mean the difference between catching cancer early versus late-stage diagnosis.” While the sheer cost of those scans can keep cancer patients from even starting treatment, Wilkerson said, SB 1309 is primarily designed to combat rising costs of treatment by keeping insurance companies from imposing cost-sharing measures on patients as part of their policies. Those measures often take the form of copayments, coinsurance or deductibles, according to the legislation. According to Wilkerson, no groups have expressed opposition to the bill. “Currently we haven’t seen any fight or anything like that,” Wilkerson told The Center Square. “We have not received any opposition yet from the insurance companies.” Large insurers that provide health insurance policies in California, including Blue Shield of California, the California Association of Health Plans, Anthem and United Healthcare, did not respond to The Center Square for comment or did not make anyone available to answer questions. Another one of the bills, AB 957, would keep retailers with pharmacies from selling cigarettes and other tobacco products. “This just reinforces public health messaging and prevention efforts,” Wilkerson said. “You shouldn’t be able to pick up a cancer-causing product in the same place you go for life-saving medication.” According to the bill, retail stores that want to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products have to acquire a license from the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration. Under AB 957, pharmacies and stores that contain pharmacies, like Rite Aid or Walgreens, would not be able to sell tobacco products. Representatives from Rite Aid and Walgreens did not respond to The Center Square before press time on Friday. CVS, another large pharmacy chain, said in an emailed response to The Center Square on Friday afternoon that CVS hasn't sold tobacco products since 2014. The Center Square also reached out to one of the largest tobacco companies in the world, Philip Morris International. Officials with Philip Morris were also unresponsive on Friday. Assembly Bill 2161, which would exclude certain groups from work or community service requirements to remain eligible for Medi-Cal, recently passed during an Assembly Health Committee hearing. The bill now goes to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which will determine how much of taxpayers' money will be allocated to implementing the bill if it becomes law. The groups excluded from work or community service requirements are foster youth, former foster youth under 26, Native Americans, parents or caregivers of children under 13, people taking care of disabled family members, veterans and other individuals, according to the legislative analysis of the bill. “This bill really helps to not disrupt the continuum of care,” Wilkerson said. “It sets guardrails on how work requirements are implemented in Medi-Cal and really focuses on keeping eligible people covered. Cancer patients are part of that group that are at risk of losing coverage, so even short gaps in coverage can obviously delay diagnosis or interrupt treatment.” The bill would allow cancer patients to continue accessing care without interruptions, which can be deadly, Wilkerson added. No opposition has been expressed for that bill, according to the legislative analysis. According to the California Cancer Registry, a program of the California Department of Public Health’s Chronic Disease Surveillance and Research Branch, an estimated 176,140 people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer this year, excluding common skin cancers.

Una innovadora terapia genética entra en fase clínica y abre una nueva batalla contra cánceres hasta ahora resistentes.

Com personagens como Abacatudo e Moranguete, vídeos produzidos com IA acumulam milhões de visualizações e também despertam preocupações com o avanço do movimento red pill. O post Entre algoritmos e estereótipos: como as “novelas de frutas” transformam misoginia em conteúdo viral apareceu primeiro em Mídia NINJA.

美國與菲律賓近日簽署協議，計畫在呂宋島建設一座高科技產業中心，以推動美國製造業發展，並減少對中國關鍵礦產及原材料供應的依賴。這一舉措被視為美國總統唐納德·特朗普政府削弱中國在全球供應鏈主導地位的最新行動。

美国与菲律宾近日签署协议，计划在吕宋岛建设一座高科技产业中心，以推动美国制造业发展，并减少对中国关键矿产及原材料供应的依赖。这一举措被视为美国总统唐纳德·特朗普政府削弱中国在全球供应链主导地位的最新行动。

The star outfielder spent 15 seasons with the Angels and was inducted into the team Hall of Fame in 2016.

En Ouganda, recevoir de l'argent de l'étranger pourrait devenir un crime. Un projet de loi intitulé « protection de la souveraineté », examiné jeudi 16 avril au Parlement, vise officiellement à protéger le pays contre toute ingérence étrangère jugée excessive. Mais pour ses détracteurs, ce texte pourrait avoir des conséquences majeures pour la population, potentiellement dramatiques.

If the Paramount/WBD deal moves forward, Larry and David Ellison would gain control of a vast portfolio spanning legacy media and Big Tech.

The son of a district police precinct chief in Yakutsk invited a young woman to his home, got her drunk, and raped her while she slept — streaming the assault live on Bigo Live and collecting donations from viewers.

En prisión preventiva quedó el gendarme que fue detenido durante la jornada de este viernes por lavado de activos, tráfico...

Plus: Eversource and the RWA respond to William Tong and the Senate passes bills on wage theft and homeowners renting out rooms.