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Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Women In Bio Announces Presentations and Networking Opportunities at BIO International 2025
BOSTON, May 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Women In Bio (WIB) is excited to host four engaging events at the 2025 BIO International conference in Boston June 16-19,2025. Building on years of successful programming at BIO, WIB will host four unique and engaging events designed to connect, inspire, and elevate women across the industry. These gatherings are open to WIB members, supporters, advocates, and guests who are passionate about advancing women's leadership in life sciences. Monday, June 16 2025 — 8:00am-10:00am EDT — EWIB Breakfast: The Fight for Women in Science – Past and Present (a Fireside Chat)Join us for an inspiring conversation with Dr. Nancy Hopkins and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Zernike, author of The Exceptions, the acclaimed book chronicling the groundbreaking fight for gender equity at MIT. Discover how a group of women scientists changed the course of history—and why their story still matters today. Tuesday, June 17 2025 — 5:30pm-7:30pm EDT: Plenary Event: Flipping the Script – Powerful Narratives in Women's Health InnovationThe investment landscape today is competitive. The ability to tell a clear, compelling, and consistent story can be the difference between breakthrough funding and another closed door. For women's health founders, crafting that narrative—one that resonates with diverse stakeholders without compromising the core innovation—is both a challenge and a critical opportunity. WIB president, Dianne Keen-Kim will convene a panel to focus o insights from Seema Kumar (CEO, Cure), Kristen Dahlgren (Founder, Cancer Vaccine Coalition, former journalist for Today and NBC Nightly News), and Claire Love (Partner and Leader of Healthcare Deals Strategy, PwC), attendees will leave with actionable tools to sharpen their own narratives—and help fuel the next era of investment in women's health. Wednesday, June 18 2025 — 2:00pm-3:00pm EDT: Speed Networking at the Convention - On the Exhibition Floor Booth #3584This high-energy gathering is all about sparking real connections among women and allies in the life sciences world. Here's how it works: participants will take part in rapid-fire networking rounds, with just 90 seconds to introduce themselves, share insights, and explore potential synergies before rotating to the next conversation. Please note that a valid BIO pass is required to access the convention floor and participate in this exclusive networking event. Wednesday, June 18 2025 — 5:30pm-7:30pm EDT — Sip, Savor & Socialize - Women In Bio Executive Cohorts NetworkingJoin us for an evening of connection and conversation with fellow Women In Bio executive members. Hosted by the WIB Executive Team during the BIO Conference, this relaxed cocktail reception offers an excellent opportunity to network, share insights, and build relationships in a vibrant and welcoming setting. "We're proud to bring together such a compelling slate of events at BIO 2025," said Dianne Keen-Kim, WIB's National President and Board chair. "Whether you're looking to expand your network, hear from industry trailblazers, or discuss how to make an actionable impact in the life sciences, there's a place for you at WIB@BIO." Attendees are encouraged to register in advance for these events, as space is limited. More details and RSVP links can be found on the Women In Bio website. About Women In Bio:Women In Bio is a dynamic community that empowers women across the life sciences. With nearly 4,000 members and greater than 12,000 individuals engaging in programming across 13 chapters in North America, we foster a vibrant community that connects professionals from diverse backgrounds – from biotech to academia. WIB's programs support women at every stage of their career, from students to board members. Through mentorship, networking and innovative programming, WIB provides touchpoints locally, regionally and nationally to foster innovative thinking across industries and functions, encouraging collaboration. WIB membership is open to all and empowers everyone to be part of a powerful community advancing women in the life sciences. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Women In Bio Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
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Death, Sexual Violence and Human Trafficking: Fallout From US Aid Withdrawal Hits the World's Most Fragile Locations
This post first appeared at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. American diplomats in at least two countries have recently delivered internal reports to Washington that reflect a grim new reality taking hold abroad: The Trump administration's sudden withdrawal of foreign aid is bringing about the violence and chaos that many had warned would come. The vacuum left after the U.S. abandoned its humanitarian commitments has destabilized some of the most fragile locations in the world and thrown refugee camps further into unrest, according to State Department correspondence and notes obtained by ProPublica. The assessments are not just predictions about the future but detailed accounts of what has already occurred, making them among the first such reports from inside the Trump administration to surface publicly — though experts suspect they will not be the last. The diplomats warned in their correspondence that stopping aid may undermine efforts to combat terrorism. In the southeastern African country of Malawi, U.S. funding cuts to the United Nations' World Food Programme have 'yielded a sharp increase in criminality, sexual violence, and instances of human trafficking' within a large refugee camp, U.S. embassy officials told the State Department in late April. The world's largest humanitarian food provider, the WFP projects a 40% decrease in funding compared to last year and has been forced to reduce food rations in Malawi's sprawling Dzaleka refugee camp by a third. To the north, the U.S. embassy in Kenya reported that news of funding cuts to refugee camps' food programs led to violent demonstrations, according to a previously unreported cable from early May. During one protest, police responded with gunfire and wounded four people. Refugees have also died at food distribution centers, the officials wrote in the cable, including a pregnant woman who died under a stampede. Aid workers said they expected more people to get hurt 'as vulnerable households become increasingly desperate.' 'It is devastating, but it's not surprising,' Eric Schwartz, a former State Department assistant secretary and member of the National Security Council during Democratic administrations, told ProPublica. 'It's all what people in the national security community have predicted.' 'I struggle for adjectives to adequately describe the horror that this administration has visited on the world,' Schwartz added. 'It keeps me up at night.' In response to a detailed list of questions, a State Department spokesperson said in an email: 'It is grossly misleading to blame unrest and violence around the world on America. No one can reasonably expect the United States to be equipped to feed every person on earth or be responsible for providing medication for every living human.' The spokesperson also said that 'an overwhelming majority' of the WFP programs that the Trump administration inherited, including those in Malawi and Kenya, are still active. But the U.S. funds the WFP on a yearly basis. For 2025, the Trump administration so far hasn't approved any money in either country, forcing the organization to drastically slash food programs. In Kenya, for example, the WFP will cut its rations in June down to 28% — or less than 600 calories a day per person — a low never seen before, the WFP's Kenya country director Lauren Landis told ProPublica. The WFP's standard minimum for adults is 2,100 calories per day. 'We are living off the fumes of what was delivered in late 2024 or early 2025,' Landis said. On a recent visit to a facility treating malnourished children younger than 5, she said she saw kids who were 'walking skeletons like I haven't seen in a decade.' Since taking office, President Donald Trump has pledged to restore safety and security around the world. At the same time, his administration, working alongside Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, swiftly dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, canceling thousands of government-funded foreign aid programs they considered wasteful. More than 80% of USAID's operations were terminated, which crippled lifesaving humanitarian efforts around the world. Musk, who did not respond to a request for comment, has said that DOGE's cuts to humanitarian aid have targeted fraudulent payments to organizations but are not contributing to widespread deaths. 'Show us any evidence whatsoever that that is true,' he said recently. 'It's false.' For decades, American administrations run by both parties saw humanitarian diplomacy, or 'soft power,' as a cost-effective measure to help stabilize volatile but strategically important regions and provide basic needs for people who might otherwise turn to international adversaries. Those investments, experts say, help prevent regional conflict and war that may embroil the U.S. 'If you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition,' Jim Mattis, who was defense secretary during Trump's first administration, told Congress in 2013 when he led U.S. Central Command. Food insecurity has long been closely linked with regional turmoil. But despite promises from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that lifesaving operations would continue amid widespread cuts to foreign aid, the Trump administration has terminated funding to WFP for several countries. Nearly 50% of the WFP's budget came from the U.S. in 2024. Since February, U.S. officials throughout the developing world have issued urgent warnings forecasting that the Trump administration's decision to suddenly cut off help to desperate populations could exacerbate humanitarian crises and threaten U.S. national security interests, records show. In one cable, diplomats in the Middle East communicated concerns that stopping aid could empower groups like the Taliban and undermine efforts to address terrorism, the narcotics trade and illegal immigration. The shift may also 'significantly de-stabilize the transitioning' region and 'only serve to benefit ISIS' standing,' officials warned in other correspondence. 'It could put US troops in the region at risk.' Embassies in Africa have delivered similar messages. 'We are deeply concerned that suddenly discontinuing all USAID counter terrorism-focused stabilization and humanitarian programs in Somalia … will immediately and negatively affect U.S. national security interests,' the U.S. embassy in Mogadishu, Somalia, wrote in February. USAID's role in helping the military prevent newly liberated territory — 'purchased at a high cost of blood and treasure' — from getting back into the hands of terrorists 'is indisputable, and irreplaceable,' the officials added. The embassy in Nigeria described how stop-work orders had caused lapses in oversight that put U.S. resources at risk of being diverted to criminal or terrorist groups. (A February whistleblower complaint alleged USAID-purchased computers were stolen from health centers there.) And U.S. officials said the Kenyan government 'faces an impending humanitarian crisis for over 730,000 refugees' without additional resources, as local officials struggle to confront al-Shabaab, a major terrorist threat in the region, while also maintaining security inside the country's refugee camps. In early April, Jeremy Lewin — an attorney in his late 20s with no prior government experience who is currently in charge of the State Department's Office of Foreign Assistance and running USAID operations — ordered the end of WFP grants altogether in more than a dozen countries. (Amid outcry, he later reinstated a few of them.) The State Department spokesperson said the agency was responding on Lewin's behalf. In Kenya, the WFP expects a malnutrition crisis after rations are cut to a fourth of the standard minimum, Landis said. She is also concerned about the security of her staff, who already travel with police escorts, given the likelihood that there will be more protests and that al-Shabaab might make further incursions into the camps. In order for the U.S. to deliver its usual food aid to Kenya by the end of the year, it needed to be put on a boat already, Landis said. That has not happened. In recent days, South Sudanese refugees in Ethiopia have begged a visiting government delegation from the U.S. not to cut food rations any further, according to a cable documenting the visit. Aid workers in another group of camps in North Africa reported that they expect to run out of funding by the end of May for a program that fights malnutrition for 8,600 pregnant and nursing mothers. Despite being one of the poorest countries in the world, Malawi has been a relative beacon of stability in a region that's seen numerous civil wars and unrest in recent decades. Yet in early March, officials there warned Washington counterparts that cuts to the more than $300 million USAID planned to provide to the country in aid a year would dramatically increase 'the effects of the worsening economy already in motion.' At the time, 10 employees from a USAID-funded nonprofit had recently shown up unannounced at USAID's offices in the capital Lilongwe asking for their unpaid wages after the U.S. froze funding. The group left without incident, and it's unclear if they were paid, but officials reported that they expected countries around the world would face similar issues and were closely monitoring for 'increased risks to the safety and security of Embassy personnel.' (Former employees at another nonprofit in a nearby country also raided their organization 'out of desperation for not being paid,' according to State Department records.) An hour's drive from the nation's capital, Dzaleka is a former prison that was transformed into a refugee camp in the 1990s to house people fleeing war in neighboring Mozambique. In the decades since, it has ballooned, filling with people running from conflicts in Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. The camp, which was built to hold around 10,000, is now home to more than 55,000 people. Iradukunda Devota, a refugee from Burundi, came to Malawi when she was 3 and has lived at Dzaleka for 23 years. She now works for Inua Advocacy, which provides legal services and advocates on behalf of refugees in the camp. She said tension is high amid rumors that food and other aid will be cut further. Since 2023, the Malawi government has prohibited refugees from living or working outside the camp, and there has already been an increase in crime and substance abuse after food was cut earlier this year. 'This is happening because people are hungry,' Devota told ProPublica. 'They have nowhere to turn to.' Now, the Malawi government is likely to close its borders to refugees in response to the funding crisis and congestion in Dzaleka, the WFP's country representative told the State Department, according to agency records. Diplomats continue to warn the Trump administration of even worse to come. The WFP expects to suspend food assistance in Dzaleka entirely in July. 'The WFP anticipates violent protests,' the embassy told State Department officials, 'which could potentially embroil host communities and refugees, and targeting of UN and WFP offices when the pipeline eventually breaks.' ProPublica plans to continue covering USAID, the State Department and the consequences of ending U.S. foreign aid. We want to hear from you. Reach out via Signal to reporters Brett Murphy at +1 508-523-5195 and Anna Maria Barry-Jester at +1 408-504-8131.
Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A chamber concert aims to break conventions and forge connections
'Just like Mozart,' quipped Danielle Buonaiuto, a soprano. 'The ink was still wet.' The moment, a joyous convergence of friends and colleagues, in a way represented the point of the performance they were preparing to put on. As ChamberQUEER's name might hint, all its organizers are LGBTQ+. So are many of the composers of the music they will perform. Making them visible is part of the point, but 'it doesn't stop there,' said Buonaiuto. It's also about a certain spirit that comes from 'existing outside normative structures.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up By breaking a few longheld classical performance conventions, the group wants to make concert experiences a little less rigid, a little more oddball – or one might say queer. Advertisement 'We take the methodology of making a concert, the how and the where and the what are we going to do when we get there, and mess with it,' Buonaiuto said. The BaroQUEER program, at Hibernian Hall in Roxbury on Friday and again in New York City next week, will be performed on period instruments, tuned a half step or so lower than standard modern tuning. The program features Corelli, Handel, and Dowland – but also the 20th-century minimalist provocateur Julius Eastman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Caroline Shaw, and the aforementioned Glenn-Copeland; an octogenarian transgender Black man and folk singer-turned-synth pioneer, whose 1986 self-released album 'Keyboard Fantasies' found a new audience of millions over 30 years after its creation. Advertisement 'The overarching theme of the program is: what does historically informed mean? Who are these ancestors we're talking about and how do we relate to them?' said cellist Jules Biber. Biber, who grew up in Brookline and later moed to New York, once ran a chamber series in the back room of Branded Saloon, a Prospect Heights bar and restaurant that proudly advertises to 'Queers, Queens, Allies & EVERYone in-betwixt' on its Instagram biography. ChamberQUEER started out much the same way; with 'low stakes, chill vibes,' she said. Brian Mummert, cofounder of ChamberQUEER, and Reginald Mobley, at left, rehearsing for the BaroQUEER concert on May 30. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff.) Barry Chin/Globe Staff That also applies to the concert rehearsal experience, Biber added. Because the group is project-based, artistic direction and decision-making power doesn't just belong to one person. Rehearsals aren't 'us telling you, 'This is what's happening now, and this is what we're doing.'' Tuesday afternoon rehearsal, at Union Combined Parish on Columbus Avenue, began with the whole group doing Pauline Oliveros's 'Tuning Meditation,' a participatory guided improv exercise in group singing and listening that also happens to be the first piece on the concert program. The audience will be encouraged to sing. That sort of participation, Buonaiuto said, is a 'cheerful, insistent welcome;' they want it to 'joyfully remind each other, we are connected.' Advertisement 'For H+H folks, this is probably a different process than you're used to,' said Mobley to the circle of 16 musicians, some of whom were new to working with ChamberQUEER. Earlier at the cafe, Mobley had praised ChamberQUEER's staunch refusal to adhere to the top-down hierarchical model of musical leadership. Since his career went international, he said, he'd noticed Americans in particular 'tend to fall into line, into that very staid structure,' he said. When he's been in a leadership role himself, he's encouraged input from other musicians, and he sometimes finds they just 'sit and wait to be told.' Mobley feels ChamberQUEER's process might help musicians 'be more open in thinking and making decisions. Being curious and giving yourself permission to just say, 'Hey, what if we tried this?'' He's long wanted to incorporate that approach into his work as a programming consultant for H+H, and when the organization requested a queer-themed program, he saw the chance. Many of the modern composers on the program were or are openly queer; the Baroque composers are more complicated. Scholars have uncovered various indications that Corelli, Handel and Lully may have had homosexual relationships, but the goal isn't to apply modern terminology to historical concepts of sexuality or identity, Biber said. 'it's not about outing people.' People tend to 'think of past figures as being two-dimensional, black and white,' like illustrations in an old book, Mobley said. But 'part of being historically informed is understanding history more fully,' Buonaiuto added. 'It's about understanding them as full people who …lived at a time in history.' 'I want us to be able to connect ourselves to that. That's time travel,' Mobley said. 'Handel and Corelli felt pain, felt joy, felt fear. It's emotions that connect us. That's a strong line that connects everyone.' Advertisement BAROQUEER: Historically Informed Hibernian Hall. May 30. 7:30 p.m. ; A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Texas to expand how schools discipline students
Texas schools will be able to use harsher punishments to discipline students after the Texas Legislature passed a sweeping package on Wednesday — part of their efforts to stem student violence after the pandemic . 'Disruptions are impeding both the ability of teachers to teach and the ability of students to learn,' said state Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock. House Bill 6 would extend how long schools can place students in in-school suspensions from three days to as long as they see appropriate. Principals would need to review the placement every 10 days. Students facing in-school suspension still complete schoolwork in a different classroom on school grounds. Because the bill would allow schools to use out-of-school suspensions to discipline all students when they engage in 'repeated and significant' classroom disruption or threaten the health and safety of other children, it would make it easier for schools to discipline students experiencing homelessness and the state's youngest students. That's because the bill would reverse state laws from 2017 and 2019 that put limitations on when and how those students could be disciplined. When schools do out an out-of-school suspension to students in kindergarten through third grade, they'll need to provide documentation of the students' disruptive behavior. Both chambers have approved the legislation — the Senate last week and the House last month. With the House's approval Wednesday of 19 Senate amendments to the bill, 114-19, it now heads to the governor. The legislation also amends when schools send students to alternative education settings, a strict environment that often leans on computer-based work and is in a different building. While students caught vaping were previously required to go to alternative education settings, schools can now give students caught with a vape device less severe consequences if it is their first offense. Schools can also teach students in alternative education programs remotely — a mode of instruction that was shown to contribute to learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. Perry, who shepherded the bill in the Senate, said the legislation was six years in the making. 'We've reached a crisis point where there's just some kids that absolutely are such a deterrent to the overall learning process that we have to find a better way,' Perry said on the Senate floor last week. 'With that, HB 6 found that balance. I like where we landed.' The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage. First round of TribFest speakers announced! Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Maureen Dowd; U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio; Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker; U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff, D-California; and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas are taking the stage Nov. 13–15 in Austin. Get your tickets today!
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Entertainment
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Ben Affleck Reveals His Personal Hip-Hop Mount Rushmore
Ben Affleck has given fans insight into his musical taste, as he recently revealed some of his favorite rappers of all-time. The award-winning actor recently sat down with Complex and was asked to weigh in on a classic Hip-Hop debate: who would make the cut on his personal rap Mount Rushmore? While Affleck confessed that narrowing down his list of all-time favorites was no easy feat, he delivered a surprising and eclectic lineup that reflects both his respect for rap history and his pulse on the current climate of the culture. Beginning with Lil Wayne, he included names he felt were significant at various points throughout his own life and the genre's history, rounding out his Mount Rushmore by adding Eazy-E, Slick Rick, and Kendrick Lamar alongside Weezy. Affleck's choices span generations and styles, from the gritty storytelling of Slick Rick and the pioneering West Coast swagger of Eazy-E, to the prolific lyricism of Lil Wayne and the Pulitzer Prize-winning artistry of Kendrick Lamar. Each selection represents a distinct era and regional influence, showcasing Affleck's broad appreciation for the genre's evolution. Though he may be best known for his film roles and directing chops, Affleck has long had a connection to Hip-Hop culture. A native of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Affleck is good friends with actor Mark Wahlberg, who rose to fame during the early '90s as part of the Boston-based group Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch. He recently costarred alongside Ice Spice in a Dunkin Donuts Super Bowl ad and previously casted Boston rapper George 'Slaine' Carroll Jr. in his 2007 film Gone Baby Gone. Affleck is also the former husband of music star Jennifer Lopez, who has worked with numerous rappers, including Ja Rule, The Lox, and 50 Cent. See Ben Affleck reveal his Hip-Hop Mount Rushmore below. More from Ice Spice And NFL Boo, Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner Maybe Go Instagram-Official Ice Spice, Sauce Gardner Use Social Media To Gas Up Those Dating Rumors Ben Affleck Reveals What Led To Jennifer Lopez Divorce
