"Ahead of President Donald Trump’s trip to China next week, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers — including about two-thirds of the Senate — is urging him to seek the release of publisher Jimmy Lai, an ardent critic of the Chinese Communist Party who has been imprisoned in Hong Kong since 2020."
"The Trump administration has slashed funding for infectious disease research and has far fewer employees, including disease detectives, to respond to outbreaks."
"A new study shows the mechanisms of how coffee modifies the microbiome, reduces inflammation, and influences mood. Even decaf has its perks."
"The Kentucky Department for Public Health is investigating reports of an unusually high number of brain tumors diagnosed in Eastern Kentucky children."
"Texas lawmakers have for years rejected legislation that could have protected residents in the state’s flood-prone areas. Three bills would have banned youth camps or nearly all development in areas most at risk of dangerous flooding. Experts said the bills could have saved lives."
"The Trump administration has quietly opened the door to the resumed use of so-called “cyanide bombs” on Bureau of Land Management parcels across the country, according to an internal April 2026 memo."
"The National Weather Service is struggling to recover from last year’s deep staff cuts, raising doubts among some meteorologists about whether the agency is ready for severe storms or hurricane season, which starts next month."
"Nine Native American tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska are suing the federal government in a bid to stop exploratory drilling for graphite near a sacred site in the Black Hills."
"In a little-noticed memo early last year, Illinois scientists made a dire prediction." "Blamed in part on climate change, the threat of water ponding in your yard or your basement is growing, a Sun-Times/WBEZ investigation has found, putting health, homes at risk."
"With wildfires already burning and drought persisting across much of the U.S., fire experts are bracing for what could be an extreme fire season. The U.S. Forest Service is going into it having done far less work than in recent years to manage the dry, flammable vegetation that can fuel catastrophic fires."
