Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced on Wednesday that the United States would not donate to Gavi, a global vaccine alliance, unless and until the organization took steps to “re-earn the public’s trust.” Kennedy’s criticism of the global body was rooted primarily in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and he made that abundantly clear in a video he sent to the Gavi pledging summit – in which he accused the organization of silencing dissent over the highly controversial COVID vaccines and pushing them despite concerns about their safety, per POLITICO. “When the science was inconvenient, Gavi ignored the science,” Kennedy said, arguing that if the United States was going to continue funding the organization, they would have to do better in the future. He also accused Gavi of coordinating with the World Health Organization (WHO) to “recommend best practices for social media companies to silence dissenting views, to stifle free speech and legitimate questions during that period.” “I call on Gavi today to re-earn the public trust and to justify the $8 billion that America has provided in funding since 2001. And I’ll tell you how to start taking vaccine safety seriously: Consider the best science available, even when the science contradicts established paradigms,” Kennedy declared. “Until that happens, the United States won’t contribute more to Gavi.” The pledging summit, which is being held in Brussels, hopes to raise $9 billion in funding for the next five years — 2026-2030, but the approximately $300 million the United States provides on an annual basis is what is in question. “When vaccine safety issues have come before Gavi, Gavi has treated them not as a patient health problem, but as a public relations problem,” Kennedy said in his video presentation. “Business as usual is over, unaccountable and opaque policymaking is over. I invite all of you to join us in a new era of evidence-based medicine, old-standard science and integrity.” Kennedy’s announcement follows earlier reports that suggested President Donald Trump’s administration planned to cut funding to Gavi — although they planned to continue funding key grants for things like natural disaster response, HIV, and tuberculosis medications.

A House Democrat from Long Island who is seen as vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections warned on Wednesday that socialist Zohran Mamdani is “too extreme” to lead New York City. The statement from Rep. Laura Gillen (D-NY) came after former Governor Andrew Cuomo conceded the Democratic Party’s mayoral primary to Mamdani late on Tuesday. “Socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City. His entire campaign has been built on unachievable promises and higher taxes, which is the last thing New York needs,” Gillen said. “Beyond that, Mr. Mamdani has called to defund the police and has demonstrated a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing. He is the absolute wrong choice for New York.” Gillen, who is serving her first term after defeating Republican Anthony D’Esposito last November, is one of 26 Democrats that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) has on its “target list” for the 2026 midterms. Another New York Democrat whose district is also viewed as a “prime pick-up” opportunity for Republicans to grow their slim majority in the House, Rep. Tom Suozzi, released a skeptical statement regarding Mamdani. “I had serious concerns about Assemblyman Mamdani before yesterday, and that is one of the reasons I endorsed his opponent,” Suozzi said in a post on X. “Those concerns remain.” The leading Democrats in the House and Senate, who are both from New York, both complemented Mamdani’s campaign and said they aimed to meet with the candidate sometime in the future. “Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani on a decisive primary victory. Assemblyman Mamdani ran a strong campaign that relentlessly focused on the economy and bringing down the high cost of living in New York City. We spoke this morning and plan to meet in Central Brooklyn shortly,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) said on X. “I have known [Mamdani] since we worked together to provide debt relief for thousands of beleaguered taxi drivers & fought to stop a fracked gas plant in Astoria. He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said. “I spoke with [Mamdani] this morning and am looking forward to getting together soon.”

Hamas is surveilling and preparing to attack American contractors working for the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to a source familiar with the group’s operations. A senior Trump administration official confirmed that threats from Hamas against the contractors are a growing concern. “While the GHF has so far provided upwards of 40 million meals, Hamas is threatening violence — this time to humanitarian workers, which includes Americans, at the GHF sites themselves,” the official told The Daily Wire. Concerns about a potential Hamas attack come after Hamas assassinated around a dozen Palestinian GHF workers earlier this month while they were taking a bus to aid distribution sites ahead of their first day of work. Seriously injured survivors were reportedly denied treatment at Nasser Hospital, according to GHF. The senior official warned that Hamas should “be careful not to miscalculate.” “This administration remains laser focused on Gaza despite other events in the region,” the senior official added. GHF has been tasked with implementing President Donald Trump’s Gaza aid initiative, designed to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches Gazan civilians while preventing Hamas from seizing supplies — a problem that has persisted since the war began following the group’s October 7, 2023 massacre. Since it began operating on May 26, GHF has delivered more than 43 million meals at its four distribution sites. The sites, which have workers present around the clock, are staffed by Gazans distributing aid, along with American contractors who handle security. While the Israel Defense Forces are not directly involved in the operations, they remain stationed within half a mile to respond quickly in the event of an attack or security threat. According to the sources, several suspicious men have routinely visited GHF’s distribution sites without taking food, and instead appear to be monitoring GHF workers and their security systems. The sources believe that the military-aged men are part of Hamas and enter the sites to “size up” GHF’s security, weapons, and fighting positions. Hamas has recently issued threats against American contractors indirectly, using intermediaries including some of the Gazan workers. Sources say there is growing concern that Hamas could employ suicide bombing tactics to target both Gazans collecting food and the American contractors on site. Individuals entering the aid distribution centers are not subject to security screenings due to food urgency levels, and often come within meters of the American personnel. The American security contractors do not have the authority to detain the suspicious men for questioning and do not share information with the IDF about the suspected Hamas members. Hamas has routinely, publicly and privately threatened humanitarian workers at the site and people seeking aid, calling them “collaborators” coordinating in “the enemy’s schemes.” “All collaborators, thieves, and criminal armed gangs are legitimate targets for the resistance units and security,” Hamas said in a joint statement with other Palestinian factions, according to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Hamas views GHF as a threat to its control,” a source familiar with GHF’s operations said. “GHF’s secure delivery model prevents Hamas from diverting, taxing, or controlling aid. By delivering food directly to civilians without interference, GHF undermines Hamas’s grip over the population and its ability to weaponize aid for political leverage.” According to the GHF, many Gazans who received aid during the organization’s first days in operation said it was the first time they had ever received humanitarian assistance for free — despite the large number of aid trucks entering the region during the conflict. Hamas has been documented seizing supplies from those convoys. To date, the GHF says it has not encountered any major security incidents, and Hamas has not directly challenged the organization at its distribution sites. But sources say the threat to the American contractors remains serious. The contractors, employed by UG Solutions, are armed, well-prepared, and highly-experienced, as most are former U.S. Special Forces personnel. Hamas has also attempted to delegitimize the GHF during its final month of operations by using threats to discourage local partnerships and intimidating Gazans to keep them from collecting aid. Some non-profit organizations that had expressed interest in supporting the GHF have backed away due to the threats or chosen to keep their involvement undisclosed for safety reasons. Following the execution of the Gazan workers, some remaining staff chose to leave the GHF out of fear for their own safety or that of their families. Others have continued working but remain extremely cautious, taking extra security precautions and avoiding Hamas-controlled areas whenever possible. Additionally, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry has worked to undermine the organization by vaguely referencing “aid distribution sites” in reports about violence occurring near United Nations facilities, creating confusion and suspicion about the safety of GHF sites.

Microsoft has been hit with a lawsuit by a group of authors who claim the company used their books without permission to train its Megatron artificial intelligence model. Kai Bird, Jia Tolentino, Daniel Okrent, and several others alleged that Microsoft used pirated digital versions of their books to teach its AI to respond to human prompts. Their lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, is one of several high-stakes cases brought by authors, news outlets, and other copyright holders against tech companies including Meta Platforms, Anthropic, and Microsoft-backed OpenAI over alleged misuse of their material in AI training. The complaint against Microsoft came a day after a California federal judge ruled that Anthropic made fair use under U.S. copyright law of authors’ material to train its AI systems, but may still be liable for pirating their books. It was the first U.S. decision on the legality of using copyrighted materials without permission for generative AI training. Spokespeople for Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. An attorney for the authors declined to comment. The writers alleged in the complaint that Microsoft used a collection of nearly 200,000 pirated books to train Megatron, an algorithm that gives text responses to user prompts. The complaint said Microsoft used the pirated dataset to create a “computer model that is not only built on the work of thousands of creators and authors, but also built to generate a wide range of expression that mimics the syntax, voice, and themes of the copyrighted works on which it was trained.” Tech companies have argued that they make fair use of copyrighted material to create new, transformative content, and that being forced to pay copyright holders for their work could hamstring the burgeoning AI industry. The authors requested a court order blocking Microsoft’s infringement and statutory damages of up to $150,000 for each work that Microsoft allegedly misused. (Reporting by Blake Brittain in Washington, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and David Gregorio)

Former soap opera star and cast member of The Morning Show on Apple TV+, Joe Marinelli, has died. Joe’s agent, Julie Smith, confirmed the actor’s passing to CNN. Julie said Joe battled throat and stomach cancer for several years, but she did not disclose any more details. Joe began his acting career in the 1980s, appearing on dozens of TV shows. He had long stints on Santa Barbara and General Hospital, and most recently appeared alongside Jennifer Aniston on The Morning Show. He had many friends in the industry, and his death saddened those who knew and loved him. A Dear Friend Of Joe Marinelli Penned A Touching Tribute On Facebook Leigh J. McCloskey shared kind words about Joe Marinelli, a man she loved and respected. “A sweeter man or a dearer friend you could not find than Joe Marinelli. I knew Joe was sick and so admired his indefatigable spirit throughout what sounded like a very difficult, if not impossible, ordeal. Joe was a champion. He was a great acting partner, teacher, philosophical friend, passionate believer in people, and a storyteller extraordinaire that with laughter and depth revealed the human spirit so beautifully and in so many different ways.. He has a beautiful, incredibly talented family that reflects his love of music and art and with his amazing wife Jean, together they always radiated generous and noble hearts,” she wrote. “My sincerest condolences to all who knew and loved Mr. Marinelli. Much light being sent out to all, a fan shared. “May he soar high amongst the stars!” This person knew Joe Marinelli personally and will miss him. “Joe was our favorite substitute teacher at Irving Middle School for years,” they wrote. “He was a part of the faculty and cared about our students.” “It saddens me greatly to say goodbye to my old friend and his belief in the goodness, and even the possible greatness of the human adventure. I’m glad I walked this earth with you, Joe. Godspeed, old friend, may your spirit soar beyond the stars and reacquaint you with the greater wonder from which you came,” Leigh added. Joe Marinelli was 68. This story’s featured image is by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images. The post Soap Opera And “The Morning Show” Star Passes Away Following Cancer Battle appeared first on InspireMore.

Sometimes Mother Nature is in a good mood and sometimes she’s in a bad mood. And other times, she gives you those mixed emotions you can’t quite figure out. It’s almost as if she’s angry and happy at the same time. This year has been one for the books for people living in Tornado Alley. The storms have ravaged metropolitan areas like St. Louis and wreaked havoc on the countryside in Oklahoma. ABC News shared an incredible video on Instagram from Dickens, Nebraska, taken on June 16, 2025, that shows Mother Nature’s multiple personalities. Storm chasers captured a tornado forming in a field directly under a rainbow. View this post on Instagram A post shared by ABC News (@abcnews) The Tornado Footage Almost Looks Like A Scene From A Movie The beautiful colors of the rainbow juxtaposed with the gray funnel create an eerie site. “Oh my God,” the camera person says. “I just hope it doesn’t hit anything.” The video footage shocked people. A Nebraskan shared their experience from the same tornado. “I live in Omaha and believe that one was in North Platte,” they wrote. “It just kept getting bigger, thank god there wasn’t any injuries!” This person wants nothing to do with funnel clouds. “When we were stationed in Nebraska one hit about 5 miles away,” they wrote. “I’ll take earthquakes over a tornado any day!” “WOW. Awesome,” a person wrote of the incredible sight. “We had a double rainbow here Sunday night.” Others offered prayers for anyone in the storm’s path. “May God Protect and Bless everyone,” they wrote. Seeing a tornado and a rainbow together seemed like perhaps Dorothy could be on her way. A comment joked, “Somewhere over the rainbow.” NTV reported two tornadoes hit Dickens on June 16. The first rated an EF-1 with winds up to 105 MPH. The second, was an even stronger EF-2, with 134 MPH. Miraculously, there were no deaths or serious injuries. This story’s featured image is by Minerva Studio via Shutterstock. The post Mother Nature Shows Off Multiple Personalities As A Tornado Forms Directly Under A Rainbow appeared first on InspireMore.

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Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer was taken to the hospital and treated for dehydration on Wednesday out of “an abundance of caution,” his office said. The New York Senator was at the Senate gym in Washington D.C. during a heat advisory. Schumer’s spokesperson said he got lightheaded and was taken to the hospital for treatment. […]

The Mets are bums, and here's another example as to why