The Trump administration plans to incinerate $9.7 million worth of contraceptives intended for poor nations, after declining offers from the United Nations and reproductive organizations to buy or ship the supplies instead, the State Department confirmed to Axios on Thursday.
Why it matters: The move continues the administration's shift away from providing foreign assistance through the United States Agency for International Development, and its stated opposition to abortion-related family planning methods.
Retirees are facing the prospect of substantial Social Security cuts in just seven years, sooner than projected, due to the "big, beautiful bill," per an analysis out Thursday from the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Why it matters: If policymakers don't stop this from happening, it would at least double the poverty rate of America's seniors, per several estimates.
Harvard is folding staff from its former offices for minority students, women and LGBTQ+ students into its new Office of Culture and Community, according to a Wednesday message from college officials.
The big picture: Harvard University has been locked in an ongoing battle with the Trump administration, as the government squeezes the Ivy League institution from all sides.
Why it matters: These powerful, narrow channels of fast-moving water also known as "drowning machines" can pull you out to sea before you even realize what's happening.
Hospitals found an unpleasant surprise buried in a proposed 913-page Medicare payment rule last week: a Trump administration plan to speed up — by a decade — the recovery of $7.8 billion in improper cuts to facilities' discount drug reimbursement.
Why it matters: The change comes out to over $1 billion less than expected in Medicare payment next year, with more reductions going forward.
The Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday said it adopted a recommendation from Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine advisers to remove from all influenza shots a preservative that anti-vaccine activists have suggested is linked to autism.
Why it matters: The move hinged on the widely discredited belief that the mercury-containing compound, thimerosal, is harmful at the level at which it's included in vaccines.
Nutrition leaders have this to say about Coca-Cola's decision to launch a U.S. product made with cane sugar: It won't make America healthier.
Why it matters: President Trump's announcement last week that the company would pivot from corn syrup was as much about power and asserting leverage as it was about advancing the "Make America Healthy Again" agenda.
As important as exercising: noticing that you are.
Why it matters: Instead of going on autopilot, maintaining an active mindset comes with major benefits for well-being — that's according to Harvard psychology professor Ellen Langer, who's been called "the mother of mindfulness."
