NASA Grapples With Growing Dissent Over Safety Direction
Nearly 300 people, including former NASA employees, signed a letter that said a lack of free-flowing discussions could erode safe crew operations. The letter, which touches on a range of issues, is addressed to NASA Interim Administrator Sean Duffy, who President Trump appointed to run the agency on a temporary basis earlier this month.
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Boston Globe
10 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
A delicious irony: Why Trump prefers Mexican Cola-Cola
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up Why are Mexican Cokes sweetened with sugar and US Cokes sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup? Because in the United States, high-fructose corn syrup is cheaper than sugar thanks to a long history of corn subsidies and sugar tariffs. In my home state of Illinois, I live surrounded by fields growing corn not for eating but for processing — into ethanol, animal feed, and high-fructose corn syrup. Advertisement Outside this country, however, cane sugar is the default sweetener. That's why Mexican Coke tastes different — some say it's more authentically sweet. The soft drink has become a cult favorite, a symbol of nostalgia and purity in a market saturated with manufactured sweetness. It's also a reminder of how deeply our food systems are shaped by policy decisions, not just taste. Advertisement This isn't the first time Coca-Cola has been the subject of national discussion. In the early 20th century, the US government took Coca-Cola to court under the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 for 'misbranding' and 'adulteration.' At the time, the drink contained negligible amounts of both coca and kola (with their implied medicinal claims as stimulants) but significant amounts of caffeine. The case went all the way to the Fast forward to today and we're in a very different moment. The Trump administration is working to gut and undermine many of the very institutions that protect our health. The National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and yes, the FDA, have all faced budget cuts, staff reductions, and political interference. The American Public Health Association has warned that these rollbacks threaten the health and safety of all Americans. Advertisement At this moment we may want to import something else from Mexico: leadership in public health. There, health advocates and regulators have developed education campaigns and public policy about sugar-sweetened beverages, including those Mexican Cokes, the products of a business model exported from the US, and their links to obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. They've As a historian, I won't weigh in on whether cane sugar is healthier than corn syrup. That's a question for nutritionists and scientists. But I do know this: a president's personal preferences are no substitute for robust public institutions. You can't regulate a food system by tweet. You can't protect consumers with nostalgia. You can't set policy by piecemeal targeting of products based on particularistic agendas and transactional politics. And you certainly can't build a healthier nation by dismantling the very agencies tasked with safeguarding it. If we're serious about health, we might take a page from Mexico. Because in the end, it's not about which Coke tastes better. It's about which country is doing more to protect its people from the consequences of unchecked sweetness and power.


Boston Globe
10 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Thailand and Cambodia reach Trump trade deals, US official says
Thailand and Cambodia were both facing a potential tariff rate of 36% on their goods to the United States, which is one of the largest export markets for both countries. They have been rushing to avert the steep tariffs before a deadline Friday, especially after neighboring Indonesia and the Philippines secured rates of 19% and Vietnam 20%. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The senior Cambodian official involved in the negotiations said Cambodia would be pleased if the rate was 15%. The official said that Prime Minister Hun Manet had asked Trump for 'a good tariff so we can rebuild our economy because Cambodia had been at war for decades and only obtained peace in 1998.' Advertisement Trump 'acknowledged and understood,' said the official, citing information from Hun Manet. As part of the deal, Cambodia has offered to improve market access to American goods and buy 10 Boeing planes, with the option to buy 10 more, according to the official. Advertisement On Saturday, Trump said he told the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia that he would stop negotiating with them on trade if they did not agree to a ceasefire. After a truce was reached in Malaysia on Monday, Trump called the leaders of both countries and told his trade team to restart talks. Pichai said negotiators had proposed to the Trump administration 'conditions acceptable to Thailand, with the goal of protecting the country's best interests.' This article originally appeared in

Washington Post
11 minutes ago
- Washington Post
China summons Nvidia over backdoor security concerns with AI chips
China's cyberspace regulator said Thursday that it had summoned representatives of U.S. tech giant Nvidia to explain alleged security vulnerability risks involving its highly sought-after H20 artificial intelligence chips. This comes barely two weeks after the Trump administration suddenly reversed its ban and allowed the Silicon Valley company to resume exports of the chips to China, part of broader de-escalation ahead of trade talks.