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Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Tuesday signed an executive order meant to “promote responsible AI use within government” by using “pro-human” principles when evaluating artificial intelligence tools.  The executive order sets a “structured, pro-human framework for artificial intelligence integration across state government,” the governor’s office said in a news release.  It’s meant to advance Utah’s […]

Près de 100 000 personnes sont concernées en France par des mesures d'urgence pour assurer leur approvisionnement en eau potable. Ce chiffre a été communiqué ce mardi 6 octobre par le cabinet de Monique Barbut, la ministre de l'Environnement : une conséquence de la sécheresse historique que connaît le pays depuis des mois et, l'automne avançant, la situation ne s'améliore pourtant pas.

One of Oregon state government’s most experienced law enforcement professionals will permanently lead the state’s top research and funding agency for criminal justice issues, Gov. Tina Kotek said.

Former Bakersfield Water Resources Director Kristina Budak will recieve the “Water Leader of the Year” award and former Kern Water Bank Authority General Manager Jonathan Parker will receive the “Water Legacy” award at the Water Association of Kern County’s 70th annual dinner Nov. 4. Budak, a civil engineer, retired as head of Water Resources earlier […]

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here.The World Health Organization is seeking answers from Russia about conflicting information surrounding the death of a 28-year-old anti-plague institute researcher in Siberia and the rationale for initially monitoring nearly 200 of her contacts. Russian authorities said Tuesday that all contact monitoring has now ended and no dangerous infections were detected.This follows reports of quarantines and restrictions at several hospitals. One local news organization reported that agents from the FSB, Russia’s security and intelligence agency, escorted ambulances transporting some of the dead researcher’s contacts for medical exams. Russian health officials have contradicted reports that Daria Shipilova, identified by local news outlets as the researcher who died, had a lab accident and died from pneumonic plague — which is often lethal and can spread from person to person. Instead they say the lab worker died of pneumonia of an unknown cause and that testing didn’t identify microorganisms associated with her work. While the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East is located in a region where plague bacteria are naturally occurring, scientific records reviewed by Healthbeat show that a D.N. Shipilova from the institute was a co-author of research presented earlier this year involving Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that cause plague.Too little verified information has been released to know what has really happened. But in a country with a history of biological weapons programs and secretive lab accidents, the extent of the Russian response to Shipilova’s death and the information vacuum about what caused her pneumonia have raised concerns and questions among international public health and biodefense experts.“It’s definitely concerning, if the reports are accurate, about the quarantine steps they’ve been taking,” Andrew Weber, a global health security and biodefense expert, told Healthbeat.“I’m not quite reassured yet by official Russian statements given the history of lying and covering up,” Weber said Tuesday. “Fingers crossed that it is true and only the young scientist was infected.” Weber wonders about the nature of the organism that caused the lab worker’s pneumonia. He said the actions of Russian health authorities could represent an extremely cautious response to a single fatal illness.“That’s what I don’t know: Are we seeing just an overreaction, not taking any chances, or have there been more cases than the index case?” said Weber, who served as assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs during the Obama administration. “And I don’t think we yet know the answer to that.”Dr. Ashish Jha, who served as White House COVID-19 response coordinator under former President Joe Biden, has also expressed concerns about the scope of the Russian response, noting the reported FSB escorts for people who were exposed. “If accurate, that’s not the posture of a routine natural outbreak, even a normal lab accident,” said Jha, CEO of BioRadar, a biological intelligence company, in a post on the social media site X earlier this week. On Tuesday he also expressed skepticism that there was only one case of disease associated with the event. Assuming so “would be unwise,” he wrote. The U.S. government is closely monitoring the situation in Siberia. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday told reporters in Iceland: “I ​think it’s incumbent upon Russia to obviously ⁠share more information with the world.”WHO officials are in contact with Russian health authorities and are seeking to verify what has occurred, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said in an email to Healthbeat. “WHO is aware of reports that a laboratory worker in Irkutsk oblast, in the Russian Federation, died of severe pneumonia on 2 October 2026,” Lindmeier said. After seeing media reports that attributed the lab worker’s death to pneumonic plague, the WHO on Saturday asked Russian officials about the circumstances of the event. Their questions sought information about the laboratory tests that were underway and their results, the rationale for contact-tracing, and the health status of people who had contact with the dead researcher. “WHO has offered support if needed,” Lindmeier said.Russian officials replied on Tuesday, telling the WHO the woman’s illness, before she died, seemed like a typical acute respiratory viral infection and that no case of plague has been recorded in Irkutsk — not in the woman or in anyone else. The Russian health officials told the WHO that their investigation found no high-threat pathogen in the lab worker or any of her contacts, a WHO spokesperson told Healthbeat.The WHO has since asked Russian health officials if they know what pathogen caused the pneumonia that resulted in the lab worker’s death. “We’re waiting to hear back,” the spokesperson said by email.And in a separate international health alert Tuesday, Russian health officials said that medical monitoring has ended for all of the dead lab worker’s contacts, the AP reported. A shattered test tube reportedly preceded researcher’s deathNews of Shipilova’s death began to draw international attention over the weekend.An independent regional media outlet, People of Baikal, reported that Shipilova had died on the evening of Oct. 2. According to one version of events, the outlet reported, she had allegedly broken a test tube containing the pneumonic plague pathogen on Sept. 25, soon became ill, and was taken to Shelekhov hospital where she was treated for three days before dying.Citing a source close to the security forces, the outlet reported that starting on Thursday, FSB patrols began escorting ambulances transporting people who had been in contact with Shipilova for testing. As of Friday, about 200 of her contacts had been quarantined, the outlet reported. Also on Friday, Dr. Anna Popova, who heads Russia’s public health watchdog agency, the Rospotrebnadzor, flew to Irkutsk to meet with regional health officials there. Siberian television coverage said the reason for the meeting was a suspected case of what was described in general terms as a particularly dangerous infection. Yersinia pestis bacteria, which cause plague, are found in small mammals and the fleas that feed on them. Pneumonic plague, which is often deadly, involves the bacteria infecting the lungs and is the only form that can spread from person to person.Russian health authorities at the Rospotrebnadzor said Sunday that the health situation in the Irkutsk region was stable, and that because of the anti-plague institute employee’s work, a comprehensive set of anti-epidemic measures was put in place, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.These measures included inpatient medical observation and daily lab testing of a wide circle of the employee’s contacts. The testing identified nothing more than two cases of COVID-19 and two of rhinovirus infection, according to the Rospotrebnadzor. Lab worker co-authored plague research on effective antibioticsThe Russian health watchdog agency said extensive testing of a sample from the employee found no microorganisms associated with the employee’s work activities. It also said that the anti-plague institute’s biosafety monitoring committee had found no emergency situations involving pathogens, a finding it said was confirmed by experts sent to the institute by Popova.The exact nature of Shipilova’s work at the anti-plague institute remains unclear.Although it is called an anti-plague institute, the organization works with a wide range of dangerous pathogens, including those that cause anthrax, cholera, tularemia, and brucellosis, according to the institute’s website.Healthbeat found a D.N. Shipilova listed as a co-author of plague bacteria research by scientists from the Irkutsk institute that was presented earlier this year as part of the proceedings of the annual All-Russian Congress on Infectious Diseases. The study examined the susceptibility of Yersinia pestis strains to various antibiotic drugs and found they were highly susceptible. The research abstract appears to indicate that Shipilova has done at least some work related to plague bacteria as well as testing for antibiotic susceptibility, though it is unclear whether she was working with the bacteria at the time of her death. Institute officials didn’t respond to Healthbeat’s questions about her work and the actions taken following her illness and death.The regional Russian media outlet People of Baikal has described Shipilova as a laboratory technician, reporting that she graduated with honors two years ago from a residency at the Irkutsk State Medical University with a speciality in clinical laboratory diagnostics.Russia has a history of secrecy around biological accidentsThe questions surrounding Shipilova’s death come against a history of secrecy around biological accidents and bioweapons in the former Soviet Union.A prominent example occurred in 1979. That’s when Soviet authorities blamed contaminated meat for a deadly anthrax outbreak in Sverdlovsk that was quickly suspected to have involved an accident at a bioweapons lab facility. Nearly a decade after the outbreak, Soviet health officials persisted in telling their bad meat story. They even traveled to the United States in 1988 to make an elaborate presentation to the National Academy of Sciences that convinced several top U.S. scientists that the outbreak really was from food, according to news reports at the time.It wasn’t until 1992 that Russian president Boris Yeltsin acknowledged the Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak had been caused by military bioweapons research.The Sverdlovsk incident is an example of why Jha says the current lack of Russian transparency about Shipilova’s death is concerning. “We’ve been here before,” Jha said on X, referencing Sverdlovsk. “It took years to become public. This was all in the old era — before AI and biological engineering capabilities became widespread.” Jha did not grant an interview.Plague is among the pathogens that Soviet labs have weaponized in the past. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet Union manufactured large quantities of antibiotic-resistant Yersinia pestis that could be released into the air as a bioweapon, according to 2021 guidance for treating plague infections from natural and bioterrorism sources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. U.S. intelligence agencies continue to have concerns about the potential for Russia to use biological weapons, according to their 2026 threat assessment. Weber worked extensively with former Soviet biological facilities through U.S. threat reduction programs after the dissolution of the U.S.S.R. He told Healthbeat that the Soviet anti-plague institutes have served an important public health role, collecting plague bacteria that are naturally occurring in their regions, then testing specimens for antibiotic susceptibility and assessing various strains’ ability to cause severe disease. But Weber, a senior fellow at the Council on Strategic Risks, said that while the anti-plague institute system played a legitimate role in preventing outbreaks, it also supported the Soviet biological weapons program.“The strains that they found to be most resistant to antibiotics and most virulent would then be fed into the hardcore biological weapons facilities,” said Weber, who has visited the anti-plague facilities in the past. Healthbeat has not seen any evidence that Shipilova’s death involved a bioweapons program.Pneumonic plague poses particular risks because it can spread from person to person through respiratory particles, according to the WHO’s plague fact sheet, which was updated Sept. 29. The WHO recommends identifying and monitoring the close contacts of pneumonic plague patients and having them take a seven-day course of preventative antibiotics. Yersinia pestis bacteria, which cause plague, are found in small mammals and the fleas that feed on them. Pneumonic plague, which involves the bacteria infecting the lungs, is the only form that can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets.It can take as little as one day after exposure for the person to start showing symptoms, which include fever, headache, weakness, and the development of pneumonia.Plague can be treated with antibiotics — but treatment needs to happen quickly. Pneumonic plague can be fatal if not treated within 18 to 24 hours of the first symptoms, according to the WHO.Alison Young is Healthbeat’s senior national reporter. You can reach her at ayoung@healthbeat.org or through the messaging app Signal at alisonyoungreports.48

Georgia beaches recorded a record 4,292 loggerhead sea turtle nests this season, rebounding from a low in 2004. The Current is an inclusive nonprofit, non-partisan news organization providing in-depth watchdog journalism for Savannah and Coastal Georgia’s communities.

David Michael Coyle passed on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 in Flower Mound, Texas, at the age of 83, having been born on Friday, Jan. 1, 1943 in Massachusetts to Frank […]

O presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) desafiou publicamente o Partido Liberal (PL) nesta terça-feira (6) a posicionar sua bancada em relação à Proposta de Emenda à Constituição (PEC), que propõe o fim da jornada de trabalho de 6×1. Durante declaração à imprensa, o chefe do Executivo afirmou que a sociedade brasileira saberá “quem […] Fonte

Speakers at the rally were critical of Shapiro for his initial embrace of Amazon and other tech companies as they scoped out sites. The development guidelines that now encompass much of the commonwealth’s data center policy are too little, too late, they said.

O campo progressista sofreu uma profunda derrota estratégica no primeiro turno das eleições. Há muito o que se discutir sobre esse resultado e suas consequências. Creio que fazer um balanço sóbrio, autocrítico e radical é tarefa de qualquer pessoa que leva a sério a luta política contra a extrema direita e o imperialismo. Mas agora, […] Fonte

Trois ans après les attaques terroristes du Hamas du 7-Octobre, la colonisation israélienne s’est accélérée en Cisjordanie occupée. Les Nations unies recensent désormais près de sept attaques de colons par jour. À Umm al-Khair, dans les collines du sud d’Hébron, les habitants palestiniens racontent comment leur village s’est progressivement retrouvé encerclé en raison d'un avant-poste le coupant en deux. Le village pourrait disparaître, si une cour israélienne en décide ainsi.

LAUSD's overspending, declining enrollment and increasing costs put the district at risk of insolvency by 2028, according to a report from a state agency.

(The Center Square) - Attorneys with Alliance Defending Freedom filed an emergency application with the U.S. Supreme Court last Friday in the case of a Puyallup high-school wrestler who was unknowingly forced to face a male opponent who identifies as female in a match last year. As reported by The Center Square, Kallie Keeler, who was 15 years old at the time, has said she was sexually assaulted during a December 2025 match. Keeler’s mother, Stephanie Brown, quickly reported the incident, providing video evidence that she said showed Kallie’s distressed reaction. According to ADF, the school failed to report the incident as required by Washington state law until media reports surfaced. ADF attorney Hal Frampton told The Center Square that Keeler has paid a great price in standing up for herself. “She is extraordinarily brave to stand up for women and girls and to tell her story. No one wants to tell a story of sexual assault to the entire world,” said Hampton. “She lost an entire wrestling season last year and she’s staring down the barrel of losing another season in what we all know is a limited high school career. The vast majority of high school athletes won’t play beyond high school, and so these years are precious and they’re fleeting,” Frampton said. Keeler and her mother filed a federal lawsuit pressing the school district to adhere to the requirements of Title IX by prohibiting male wrestlers from competing against female opponents, regardless of how they identify. The suit also seeks provisions requiring parents be notified before female students on the wrestling team would be facing a male competitor. After a federal district court and an appeals court declined the requests, ADF is now asking the Supreme Court to intervene to protect girls’ sports and uphold Title IX’s protections. The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the defendant in the case, defended its policies under the state’s law on transgender athletes in a recent statement carried by Courthouse News Service. “The WIAA remains committed to following Washington state law which permits student-athletes to participate in sports consistent with the gender with which they identify,” the organization said in a statement, according to CNS. “If state law changes in the future, the WIAA holds the authority to revise policies as necessary to remain in compliance with state law.” Without an injunction, Frampton says Keeler will be forced to miss the girls’ wrestling season that begins in November. “That’s exactly why we’ve asked the court for expedited relief,” said Hampton. Three months ago, the high court upheld Republican state bans against males participating in girls’ sports, regardless of how they identify, in West Virginia v. B.P.J. The court’s ruling did not require states to bar male students from female athletics, but Keeler’s case asks the court to take the matter up on the emergency docket. No criminal charges Pierce County prosecutors declined to file criminal charges in the case, arguing that such charges would be difficult to prove in court, despite the fact the sheriff's office referred a rape charge. In reviewing the case, the prosecutor's office cited an appellate court ruling that found that a person who willingly participates in sports consents to "potentially offensive contact." Meantime, the principal and athletic coordinator of Rogers High School in Puyallup remain on paid leave after pleading not guilty to charges related to failing to comply with mandatory reporting laws. ADF says if SCOTUS does not take the case, Keeler will likely miss another wrestling season. Washington voters will consider the issue on next month’s ballot. I-638, backed by Let’s Go Washington will require the enforcement of policies prohibiting students who are biological males from competing with or against female students in certain interschool athletic activities that are intended for female students only. Opponents of the measure including the League of Women Voters argue the initiative is unnecessary as so few athletes are impacted. "All of this to prevent a hypothetical scenario in which a trans girl, one of just a handful in Washington state, might someday pole vault higher, swim faster or win a race due to their status. Could this happen? Perhaps, but the odds are extremely low. Violating the personal privacy of an estimated 200,000 Washington girl athletes is not a solution," wrote League of Women Voters. New polling data from Let's Go Washington, suggests voters are likely to approve the initiative, though according to the poll, many remain undecided. Among Republicans, 73% of voters said they support I-638, with 11% saying they would vote against it and 17% undecided. Among Democrats, 48% said they plan to vote in support of the measure. 31% said they will vote against it and 22% are undecided. Among Independent voters, 52% said they will vote for the measure, 21% said they’ll be against it and 28% were undecided.

Все, что нужно знать рано утром 7 октября

County jJudge Tim O’Hare reported the most campaign contributions, followed by Democrat Alisa Simmons.

The Mamdani administration has again extended the deadline to seek an exemption from the city’s new pied-à-terre tax, moving it from Tuesday to Oct. 17 as officials released data showing more than half the exemption requests sought by property owners so far have been granted. As of Tuesday around 9,300 applications had been received by […] The post NYC Pied-à-Terre Tax Exemptions Mount as Mamdani Again Moves Deadline appeared first on The City Reporter.

(The Center Square) – A new law taking effect next year will give affordable housing owners more options in avoiding foreclosure. Assembly Bill 2020, authored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel, D-Encino, will allow the California Department of Housing and Community Development to permit owners to transfer money produced by their affordable housing units to another property to prevent the latter's foreclosure. The law is meant to keep affordable housing units on the market in California and protect taxpayers’ investment in the state’s affordable housing market, according to the bill analysis. “California’s affordable housing developments currently operate on razor-thin margins,” Gabriel told The Center Square via email on Tuesday. “We cannot afford to lose units that took years and significant public investment to create – especially to a foreclosure that could have been prevented. Preserving what we’ve built is far more cost-effective than starting over.” According to supporting statements submitted as part of the bill analysis, affordable housing developments in California operated with very narrow margins, and they're dependent on carefully structured financial reserves and operating income to stay viable. Insurance costs, the cost of maintaining the property and other operating expenses created financial strains for many of these properties, according to supporters of AB 2020. “When these developments experience operating deficits, the risk of financial distress or foreclosure increases, putting critical affordable housing units, and the residents who call them home, at risk,” Enterprise Community Partners Inc. wrote in comments supporting the bill earlier this year. “This flexibility enables developers to stabilize struggling properties using existing portfolio resources, helping ensure the long-term viability of affordable housing developments.″ There was no opposition to AB 2020, according to the last version of the bill analysis. The state’s bill tracking tool shows that no legislator voted against the bill, either in committee hearings or on the Assembly and Senate floors. According to a housing report published by California Housing Partnership, an organization formed to preserve affordable and sustainable homes, California’s taxpayers paid for the construction of 23,000 new affordable housing units in 2025. But the organization said that only amounts to 20% of what the state needs to pay to meet its affordable housing goals. No one from California Housing Partnership responded to The Center Square's request for comment on Tuesday.

Parliament elected Justina Shiroka Pula as Kosovo's new president late on October 6 following a last-minute political deal that secured lawmakers' approval of legal changes restricting the powers of a Hague-based war crimes court.

國際局勢如今在亞洲明顯緊張緊張。面對南海、台灣周邊以及朝韓之間日益緊張的局勢，亞洲各國軍隊正在加速現代化建設。他們斥資數十億美元研發人工智能、無人機和機器人技術。他們的目標是：為未來的衝突做好準備。

国际局势如今在亞洲明显紧张紧张。面对南海、台湾周边以及朝韩之间日益紧张的局势，亚洲各国军队正在加速现代化建设。他们斥资数十亿美元研发人工智能、无人机和机器人技术。他们的目标是：为未来的冲突做好准备。