October 22nd marks the National Day to Stop Police Brutality. Free DC and Pan-African Community Action (PACA) are two organizations in the nation’s capital engaged in building community and direct action against the various entities that form the policing apparatus in DC: police, FBI, HSI, National Guard, etc.

While Trump boosts their funding—much like giving a steroid to the carceral machine—Free DC and PACA are heightening the contradictions of the Trump administration’s fascist agenda by providing vulnerable communities with the resources that the government withholds and refuses to fund.

Trump’s deployment of the National Guard costs upwards of $3M daily and will total $2.9B by the end of his term. How would you spend $3M a day?

On this episode of Rattling the Bars, former political prisoner and Black Panther Mansa Musa speaks with organizers pushing back against the National Guard occupation of DC on the eve of the Black Panther Party’s 60th Anniversary.

Credits:

• Production/Post-production: Cameron Granadino

Transcript

The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. It will be updated.

Mansa Musa:

Welcome to this edition of Rattling the Bars. I’m your host, Mansa Musa. The presence of the National Guard in the District of Columbia calls $3 million a day and an estimated $2.9 billion the next presidential election. Recently, I covered two organizations that are pushing back against their present. PACA, Pan-African, Community Action, who primarily organize in the Southeast section or the District of Columbia, Anacostia area, and Free DC. Take a look. We’re at the Black Workers Wellness Center. I’m talking to Alex from the Pan-African Community Action, PACA. And today they’re having political education form because of the anniversary, the 60th year anniversary of the Black Panther Party. And we’re doing political education in its roles form. So Alex, tell our audience a little bit about PACA.

Alex:

We’re a group of African and black people organizing in Southeast DC for power. We’re trying to build up institutions that are made up of just ordinary working class people, working class black people. We’re trying to build up alternative institutions that are able to challenge the preexisting institutions that are currently failing us. We see failing healthcare. We see funding going towards police and national guard. At the same time, we’re seeing cutting off from SNAP benefits, disinvesting from education affecting black children. And so we believe in a power shift and the only way to achieve that power shift is through building up a mass movement. And we’ve been organizing down here for 10 years.

Oliver:

When we look in our communities, we see occupying police forces. We see education we don’t control. History we don’t define. We see institutions we don’t have, whether it’s healthcare, whether it’s housing, whether it’s transportation. So the colonization we’re experiencing domestically, the Panthers saw that as linked to the anti-colonial struggles taking place around the world.

Huey P. Newton:

In America, black people are treated very much as the Vietnamese people or any other colonized people because we’re used, we’re brutalized. The police and our community occupy our area, our community as a foreign troop occupies territory.

Mansa Musa:

Earlier today, we was in free DC downtown where they was protesting the occupation by the National Guard.

Keya Chatterjee:

We want to be really clear that it is time for these armed soldiers to leave DC and leave our community. We’re in the middle of an election right now. We’ve seen them standing in front of polling locations, standing in front of ballot boxes. We’ve seen them at our schools. We’ve seen them all over our transportation system for all over a year. It is time for the guard to leave. I mean, from August 11th to January of 2029, can you imagine? It’s billions of dollars. It is a clear effort to violate our rights and to suppress dissent and we’re not going to stand for it.

Mansa Musa:

They’re blocking both sides of the street. They’re at the top on third street, third DC, and at the bottom of third and constitution. They’re definitely representing the right to civil disobedience.

DC resident 1:

Nobody in DC wants them. They’re a hassle to us and they don’t do anything good and they’re taking a lot of our money and they make the city feel unsafe because of their presence. So I’m not interested in having them here any longer.

DC resident 2:

And I think the National Guard are making our streets less safe. They’re scaring people away from U Street Corridor, which is such a vibrant place where young people like to come and gather and they are chasing everybody out of our city and our businesses and it’s not good for us.

Keya Chatterjee:

We’re going to be in all the places. We also will be over at Bard Early College at 3:00 PM today because the soldiers have been walking around with HSI and FBI in front of that school for weeks. Nobody asked you to be there. Nobody wants you there. Our DC council who we elect have been clear unanimously sending letters to every single governor saying, “Remove your troops. You are not wanted here.” At the end of the day, they say the soldiers are going to be here until January of 2029. We know why they say January of 2029, right? We’re standing here in front of the Capitol. We know what happened in January of 2021. And so what we say is that we will not tolerate that. They can’t do this without our consent. If we start collectively refusing to go to work, refusing to go to school, refusing to shop in the face of their blatant attempts to consolidate power, then they can’t get away with it.

And it’s already working. We’re already winning. What we know is that when we act collectively, it works. Even multi-billion dollar corporations have to give in to us and even this corrupt regime cannot stand if we act collectively and refuse to consent. So that’s what we’re building our way towards, neighborhood by neighborhood, person by person, training by training. We are building towards having enough collective power that they cannot get away with it.

Mansa Musa:

And in terms of y’all’s strategy about occupation, National Guard and Ward seven and eight, how do y’all see y’all being effective in terms of y’all organizing?

Alex:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, historically Ward seven is eight has been redlined, experiences the most disinvestment from healthcare, from education, always over policing. And now we’re seeing over policing on a broad level across the entire DC, but it always starts with Ward seven and eight. It always starts with these metro stations, Anacostia, Congress Heights, Southern Avenue. We see the FBI, the DHS, the National Guard here first. And so we understand that it does affect all of DC, but it hits Ward seven and eight the hardest. This is where people experience the most oppressed conditions. There’s the most poverty down here. There’s already a heightened police presence even before the National Guard here. And so everything with the safe and beautiful task force and National Guard is just making it more violent. It’s bringing out more tension in these areas and it’s heightened the need for us to organize for ourselves too.

Mansa Musa:

What else do you want to PACA primary objectives in terms of organizing? We talking about the Black Panther Party and we know that they evolved and got to a place where they had survival programs and here we call them survival pending revolution. The ultimate goal was the programs was to turn them over to the community so they become a part of the infrastructure for revolutionary activities. So what are some of the programs y’all got?

Alex:

Absolutely. So our objectives are similar to the Panthers in the sense that we also have survival programs. We have our People’s Pan-African Wellness Front, which is a health clinic which we operate every four Sunday where we try to bring people in to volunteer and work together. We provide free blood pressure testing, glucose testing. We have activities like yoga. We have free grocery distribution, which includes locally grown vegetables and fruits. Oftentimes we have speakers come in and give lectures. So that’s just one example of a space where the community can come together and provide for ourselves, training people to become organizers for our mass movement. Another one of our programs, the Transit Solidarity Program, that’s a program we have going on this weekend where we take community donated smart trip cards, we put money on them and we distribute them at Anacostia Station. And we do this to basically heighten the contradiction between ourselves, the people coming together to provide for working class people just trying to access Metro versus the state, which is dumping upwards of $3 million a day into FBI, DHS, National Guard, MPD to occupy and patrol these stations, ticket people, $50, $100 just for trying to access the bus.

It’s ridiculous.

Mansa Musa:

As you can see, people are standing up against the military industrial complex, policing and the National Guard in the nation capital and around the country. October the 15th marked the 60th anniversary of the Black Panther Party. And one of the things the Black Panther Party stood for among many was community control over the police. As you can see, it’s the community that’s opposed to the presence of the National Guard and heavy-handed policing in the District of Columbia. We ask that you continue to look at the real news and rattling the bar and weigh in on these issues, all power to the people.

💾

Luanda, 22 oct (Prensa Latina) El presidente de República Democrática del Congo (RDC), Félix Tshisekedi, reiteró hoy la propuesta de su país de crear una coalición africana para la seguridad hídrica, con vistas a prevenir tensiones y promover el desarrollo.

The post RDC propone coalición africana para seguridad hídrica first appeared on Noticias Prensa Latina.

Democratic lawmaker says family’s safety is at risk amid death threats and raid making apartment’s address public

• Our reporters answer your questions about ICE, immigration and the midterms

Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar said she plans to move out of her Washington DC apartment after federal agents raided her residence last week as part of a larger immigration investigation.

“I mean obviously, I can’t continue to live there,” Omar told MS Now in an interview that aired on Wednesday. “So we have to figure out where to move to, because our address has been public and with the death threats that I deal with, it’s no longer going to be feasible to be in that house and have my kids, like, visiting off and on, having people track them.”

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© Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

© Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

© Photograph: Tim Evans/Reuters

Politico has issued a correction and re-examined multiple articles after the White House threatened "consequences" if the outlet doesn't retract its recent reporting on President Donald Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles, Fox News Digital has confirmed.

In a letter addressed to Politico's global editor-in-chief Jonathan Greenberger on Monday, White House counsel William Scharf slammed three "demonstrably false and defamatory articles" about Wiles, including claims that Trump was mulling Wiles' ouster, and that he had a "freak-out" when Politico published its story.

"These publications reflect far more than sloppy reporting or an unfortunate, inadvertent reliance on unreliable sources. They instead reveal a disturbing pattern of the publication of sensational falsehoods despite direct, on-the-record refutations from senior White House officials and even the President of the United States himself, as well as documentary evidence provided to Politico, all of which established clearly that claims central to Politico's planned reporting were false. Put simply, your publication was told the truth and presented with corroborating evidence, and yet chose to publish fanciful fiction regardless," Scharf wrote in the letter first reported by Axios that has been obtained by Fox News Digital. 

WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS APPEAL AS TRUMP-APPOINTED JUDGE EXTENDS RULING RESTORING CNN, MS NOW, POLITICO ACCESS

"This is not a question of competing interpretations, editorial judgment, or political disagreement. It is a question of whether a major news organization may knowingly publish demonstrably false factual allegations, disregard documentary evidence contradicting those allegations, and then hide behind anonymous sources when confronted with the truth. It may not. I therefore demand that Politico retract these defamatory articles and issue corrections promptly, or face the consequences," he later continued.

Scharf gave Politico "48 hours" to reverse its reporting and issue an apology to both Trump and Wiles before the White House explores "appropriate and available legal remedies."

WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS REACT TO KATIE ZACHARIA'S 'BRUTAL' EXIT AS TRUMP'S PRESS SECRETARY

"The White House has no obligation to pretend that this persistent conduct is consistent with responsible journalism. Nor should Politico expect that its institutional behavior will be insulated from scrutiny. After all, freedom of the press is not a professional exemption from accountability," Scharf told Greenberg.

"I therefore demand that Politico immediately correct or retract these publications, issue a prominent and public apology to the President of the United States and to Ms. Wiles, and remove the false reporting from your digital archives. Failure to do so or otherwise respond justifying Politico's publications within 48 hours will prompt an immediate review of Politico's relationship with the White House, and, of course, consideration of all other appropriate and available legal remedies."

Politico responded on Wednesday, insisting it strives for accuracy in its reporting and "categorically rejects the false accusations" that it "chose to publish fanciful fiction" and "purposeful falsehoods designed to mislead the public." 

"That said, Politico takes seriously assertions like those made in your letter. Accordingly, consistent with its commitment to ensuring its reporting is as accurate as possible, Politico re-examined all three articles identified in your letter and did follow up reporting," Politico's attorney wrote in a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. 

"As a result, Politico determined it was appropriate to correct one of the three articles identified in your letter," the letter continued. 

Politico did not offer an apology to Trump and Wiles or correct the report that Trump was considering moving on from Wiles. Instead, Politico corrected an article to note that Wiles simply offered "positive reinforcement" for then-White House press secretary Katie Zacharia's Fox News appearance on "Hannity" last week before she stepped down, but did not play a direct role in booking the interview. 

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"The updated version of that article, reflecting the information obtained through Politico's further reporting, has now been published. Promptly and transparently making corrections, as Politico has done here, is a hallmark of journalistic ethics and integrity, and of the very professionalism your letter falsely claims Politico is lacking," Politico's attorney wrote. 

The White House did not immediately respond when asked for comment. 

Politico has been in the crosshairs of the Trump administration in recent weeks as among the outlets that were banned by the White House last month, which had been reversed by a judge's ruling.

"To be clear, any error that you could identify in Politico's reporting about the President or his administration would not excuse the White House's unconstitutional retaliation and discrimination against Politico for the content of its news coverage," Politico's response said. 

"The White House's efforts to retaliate against Politico for its constitutionally protected journalism, and to discriminate against Politico based on what the President perceives to be its editorial viewpoint is a profound affront to the most fundamental constitutional rights," the response continued. "Politico will defend its journalism and the right of its reporters to pursue their mission and report fearlessly on the President and other White House officials for the benefit of the American public, notwithstanding the White House's ongoing attempts to intimidate Politico and chill and punish that reporting."

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SALT LAKE CITY — Education Secretary Linda McMahon told Fox News Digital that the United States is due for a "reset" of public education after spending $3 trillion over decades while national reading scores have consistently declined.

"We've spent this $3 trillion that you referenced, and we've watched scores continue to come down. So we're doing something wrong. We need to reset," McMahon said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

"We know that the president believes, as do I, that the best education is the one that's closest to the child with parental involvement," McMahon added. "Our goal is to make sure that we move administrative programs that focus more on adults out of Washington, D.C., so that we can get all of those dollars back into education in the states."

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TOUTS 'HARD RESET' FOR AMERICAN SCHOOLS, VOWS TO PUT PARENTS 'BACK IN CHARGE'

McMahon visited Utah on Tuesday to highlight the Trump administration's progress in reforming K-12 education. Delivering a speech titled "The Next 250: K-12 Education," the secretary emphasized returning education authority to the states, investing in proven academic interventions and expanding school choice for families.

"In every decision we make, we are not asking what's better for growing government power, ideological agendas or bureaucrats' careers. We are returning education to its most basic obligation: to nurture the God-given potential of our children," McMahon told a crowd of students, parents and teachers at American Preparatory Academy in West Valley City.

The Utah event marked the 47th stop on the department's 50-state tour aimed at decentralizing federal education authority. According to Department of Education officials, more than $3 trillion in federal taxpayer money has been spent over the decades, while national test results show that only about three in 10 students perform at or above the proficient level in math and reading.

Speaking with Fox News Digital following her address, McMahon said parental involvement in education increased during the pandemic. 

"Parents, for the first time, could see what was going on with education, with the curriculum that was being taught to their children," McMahon said. "They became involved, they became concerned, and they started going to school board meetings. I think that really started to change the focus. And that, in conjunction with looking at the fact that NAEP scores — our national report card — have simply gone down since the Department of Education was established."

McMahon pledged upon taking office to work toward dismantling the federal agency, including hiring leaders tasked with phasing out their own offices. The push aligns with President Donald Trump's broader education initiative, which he highlighted at a White House Rose Garden event promoting school choice. Trump also pledged to eliminate "far-left extremism" from classrooms and argued that federal education spending has failed to deliver acceptable academic results.

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As part of the administration's broader effort to downsize federal oversight, the Department of Education announced an interagency agreement with the Treasury Department in March. Under the agreement, Treasury will take on certain responsibilities for managing federal student loans, including collections on defaulted loans, as part of the administration's effort to transfer administrative duties away from the Education Department.

The student loan transfer is one of nine interagency partnerships designed to serve as a "proof of concept" for Congress to show that federal education tasks can be reallocated.

"I've asked Congress, with this proof of concept and these interagency agreements: Let me prove to you that it works," McMahon told Fox News Digital. "I know, ultimately, Congress has to vote if we do close the Department of Education and if I, in fact, am able to fire myself. Hopefully, they will vote for it because I believe the outcome will be better for students — and that is the goal."

McMahon said that the federal agency functions largely as a "pass-through" for funding rather than controlling local school curricula, a distinction she noted is frequently misunderstood by the public.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TARGETS HEAD START BUREAUCRACY IN MOVE ADVOCATES SAY PUTS PARENTS IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT

"The goal is to get rid of the bureaucracy of education that seems to focus more on adults and not on children's performance," she said.

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Following her Utah visit, McMahon's four-part speaking series will continue with upcoming stops in Nevada, Arizona and Tennessee to address rising higher education costs and workforce Pell grants. Her final keynote in Tennessee later this month will focus on restoring accountability and standards in higher education.

A growing number of American parents are using cannabis, prompting questions about potential child exposure and safety, according to a new study.

Cannabis use increased substantially among parents between 2012 and 2024, with researchers estimating that at least 5.9 million U.S. children were living with a parent who used marijuana on most days in 2024.

By 2024, 8% of parents used cannabis on most days, 5.2% used it daily and 6.7% met the criteria for cannabis use disorder (CUD).

IS DRINKING EVERY DAY ALCOHOLISM? EXPERTS EXPLAIN WHERE CULTURE AND ADDICTION COLLIDE

Daily cannabis use among parents was about four times as common as daily alcohol use, the study found.

While increases occurred across nearly all demographic groups, some of the largest were seen among younger and unmarried parents, those in lower-income households and those without a four-year college degree.

Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), involving nearly 482,000 U.S. individuals ages 12 and older.

The findings were published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.

MARIJUANA USERS MAY FACE HIDDEN DRIVING DANGER THAT STANDARD TESTS CAN MISS

"Marijuana has become so socially acceptable that people are starting to overlook the risks," Dr. Jarid Pachter, who specializes in family medicine and addiction medicine at Stony Brook Medicine in New York, told Fox News Digital.

"Just because it's legal doesn't mean it's harmless," added Pachter, who was not involved in the study.

The physician also expressed concern about the example parents are setting for their children.

"If marijuana use is a regular part of life at home, children may start to see it as something that's normal and relatively harmless," he said, pointing to studies that show children whose parents use marijuana are more likely to use it themselves as they get older.

"That doesn't necessarily mean the parent's marijuana use is causing the child to use, but there's clearly an association."

The doctor also cautioned that THC, the main psychoactive chemical in the marijuana plant, is known to affect attention, memory, coordination and reaction time.

NIGHTLY GLASS OF WINE MAY NOT BE AS HARMLESS AS MANY PEOPLE THINK, STUDY SUGGESTS

"When you have young children, you need to be alert and able to respond to their needs," he said. "I'm not suggesting that someone who uses marijuana can't be a good parent. My concern is about being impaired when you're responsible for a child's safety."

"I also think we need to be careful about normalizing daily marijuana use," he went on. "We wouldn't automatically consider daily alcohol use harmless, and we shouldn't look at marijuana that way, either."

Pachter emphasized that accidental ingestion is another concern, especially with edibles like marijuana gummies or chocolate, which can look like regular candy to a young child.

"We've seen significant increases in emergency room visits involving children who accidentally consume marijuana," he told Fox News Digital.

CANNABIS COMPOUNDS COULD REVERSE DISEASE AFFECTING ONE-THIRD OF ADULTS

"Some develop severe sedation, confusion and difficulty walking. In more serious cases, children can have breathing problems and require hospitalization."

The more frequently someone uses marijuana, the greater risk of developing cannabis use disorder, the doctor cautioned.

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"We also know THC can affect memory, attention and coordination. Frequent use, particularly of high-potency products, is associated with an increased risk of certain psychiatric problems in susceptible individuals."

Smoking marijuana around children can also pose a risk of secondhand exposure.

"Marijuana smoke contains many of the same harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke," the physician said. "We know children can be exposed to THC through secondhand smoke, although we're still learning about the long-term health effects."

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For those who use marijuana every day, Pachter suggests they ask themselves whether they can go without it, and whether it is affecting work, relationships or responsibilities.

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR LATEST LIFESTYLE QUIZ

"And if you're a parent, you need to consider whether your marijuana use is affecting your ability to care for your children."

The study had some limitations. The researchers did not assess parenting quality or children’s health, and the findings do not establish that parental cannabis use causes adverse child outcomes.

Additionally, the data relied on self-reported substance use, which could be subject to recall or reporting bias.

The researchers called for further studies examining whether the frequency of parental cannabis use, cannabis use disorder, household exposure and storage practices are associated with children's health or developmental outcomes.

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The researchers reported funding support from the California Department of Cannabis Control, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

La muerte de una persona en Francia infectada por el virus shamonda (SHAV) ha puesto en alerta a los organismos europeos de salud pública. “Estamos vigilando de cerca la situación después de que las autoridades francesas hayan anunciado el primer caso registrado de infección humana por el virus shamonda, una enfermedad que hasta ahora solo había afectado a animales”, ha publicado en un comunicado el Centro Europeo para el Control de Enfermedades (ECDC).

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For two decades, data centers were relatively safe, lucrative real estate investments. They attracted investors because they served as digital infrastructure — the essential plumbing that keeps the internet running. The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) and its increased demands on computing power has meant data centre builders are in a race to build out […]

The post Australia’s NextDC stock collapse fires a global AI warning appeared first on Asia Times.

Nigeria se convirtió esta semana en el cuarto país afectado por el actual brote de ébola, el segundo más mortífero de la historia a nivel global, con más de 4.600 muertos.

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico backed actor Matthew McConaughey getting involved in electoral politics. “If Matthew McConaughey feels strongly about it, he should step up and run,” Talarico told TMZ DC in a clip posted to the social platform X on Wednesday. “I think he’d be a great candidate,” the Texas Democrat added. Talarico’s…

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico backed actor Matthew McConaughey getting involved in electoral politics. “If Matthew McConaughey feels strongly about it, he should step up and run,” Talarico told TMZ DC in a clip posted to the social platform X on Wednesday. “I think he’d be a great candidate,” the Texas Democrat added. Talarico’s…

A columnist took a victory lap Tuesday as The Washington Post was ordered to give her back pay after she challenged her firing last year.

"POV: Channeling my inner Rihanna because I won my case against the @washingtonpost — and they owe me a year’s worth of back pay," Karen Attiah wrote on X while sharing a video of her dancing to a Rihanna song.

In August, an arbitrator ordered the Post to reinstate her employment and give her back pay, saying the paper "did not have good and sufficient cause" and that it "violated" her labor agreement.

WASHINGTON POST ORDERED TO REINSTATE COLUMNIST KAREN ATTIAH AFTER BEING TERMINATED OVER CHARLIE KIRK POSTS

"I'm still processing everything, but overall, I am happy I have been vindicated and ordered reinstated with back pay," Attiah told Fox News Digital. "But in the meantime, I just wanted to put on a pretty gold dress, vibe to Rihanna’s music and eat cake! I wanted to be as loud about the win as possible so that other journalists will not be afraid to speak the truth."

Attiah said her post was inspired by a video she liked from her party and "wanted to show that I take celebrating this huge win — for me, the Guild [the Washington Post union] and for journalism — very seriously!"

It remains unclear whether she will formally return to work despite the arbitrator's order. A spokesperson for The Washington Post told Fox News Digital the paper respects the arbitration process and declined to comment further.

TEACHERS WHO CELEBRATED CHARLIE KIRK'S ASSASSINATION NOW CASH IN WITH TAXPAYER-FUNDED SETTLEMENTS

Attiah sparked outrage last year for her posts about slain conservative icon Charlie Kirk on the liberal social media platform Bluesky following his assassination.

"Refusing to tear my clothes and smear ashes on my face in performative mourning for a White man that espoused violence is… not the same as violence," Attiah wrote at the time. In a separate post, she wrote, "Part of what keeps America so violent is the insistence that people perform care, empty goodness and absolution for White men who espouse hatred and violence.’"

Critics also slammed Attiah for misquoting Kirk in another post, attributing to him saying, "Black women do not have the brain processing power to be taken seriously. You have to go steal a White person's slot."

On a July 2023 episode of "The Charlie Kirk Show," Kirk actually said, "If we would have said three weeks ago [...] that Joy Reid and Michelle Obama, and Sheila Jackson Lee, and Ketanji Brown Jackson were affirmative-action picks, we would have been called racist. But now they're comin' out and they're saying it for us! They're comin' out, and they're saying, 'I'm only here because of affirmative action.' Yeah, we know. You do not have the brain processing power to otherwise be taken really seriously. You had to go steal a White person's slot to go be taken somewhat seriously."

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Following the backlash, Attiah revealed she had been fired by the Post, saying in a termination letter her posts were "unacceptable" and "gross misconduct."

Attiah filed a legal challenge against the Post over her termination last fall, and previously announced in June that she and the paper would enter arbitration.

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A powerful new synthetic opioid said to be more potent than fentanyl has been linked to dozens of recent deaths in the U.S., prompting warnings from health officials.

Tennessee was an early hotspot, with the state’s health department announcing in March that more than 30 fatal overdoses had been associated with cychlorphine since October 2025.

An April 2026 notice from the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy cited at least 41 Tennessee deaths between July 2025 and February 2026 and at least 55 deaths nationally.

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Fatal overdoses have also been reported in Illinois, California and Oklahoma, according to public health and law enforcement records.

"Cychlorphine is particularly dangerous due to its strength, where a very small amount can cause someone to stop breathing," the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in its advisory.

Nicholas Kardaras, Ph.D., CEO and chief clinical officer of the New York Center for Living in Manhattan and a clinical professor at Stony Brook Medicine’s School of Social Welfare, called cychlorphine "the new fentanyl on steroids."

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Cychlorphine is a novel, unregulated synthetic opioid that activates the same receptors as fentanyl, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. It can cause profound sedation, slowed or stopped breathing, or death.

The drug is not approved for medical use and has been detected in illicit drugs and counterfeit pills.

Kardaras called cychlorphine "one of the most potent synthetic opioids" now appearing in the illicit drug supply.

"Fentanyl is about 50 times more potent than morphine or heroin," he told Fox News Digital. "Cychlorphine is reportedly up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl — so theoretically, about 500 times more potent than morphine or heroin."

"This new synthetic drug is making fentanyl look like yesterday's candy."

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Cychlorphine is taken in various forms — people can ingest it as a pill, snort it in powder form or crush it and administer it intravenously, according to Kardaras.

"The problem has been, in addition to its potency, it's often put in other designer drugs and in counterfeit pills," he cautioned.

While some people seek out cychlorphine for its potency, others may ingest it unknowingly when it is mixed into other substances.

"Sometimes, by talking about how potent some of these substances are, we increase the allure of them for some addicts, unfortunately," Kardaras said.

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While cychlorphine is primarily a street drug, it can also be purchased online or via "boutique designer-drug markets," according to the expert.

Cychlorphine can cause a fatal overdose in anyone, regardless of age. Kardaras said younger people may face greater exposure because some are more likely to experiment with drugs or purchase counterfeit pills.

"They’re buying something online … and all of a sudden, without knowing it, they’re ingesting fentanyl or another synthetic opioid," he said.

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Naloxone, commonly sold under the brand name Narcan, can reverse cychlorphine’s opioid effects, but multiple or prolonged doses may be needed.

"What used to take one or two doses of Narcan to reverse an overdose may now require five or six doses, based on anecdotal evidence," Kardaras said.

The DEA advises people to administer naloxone immediately, call 911 and be prepared to give additional doses.

Another major concern with cychlorphine is that standard fentanyl test strips and routine hospital opioid urine screens do not detect it.

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"Most drug tests have very specific chemical structures that they detect in any kind of synthetic or non-synthetic drug, and this new one hasn't quite been baked into the current testing strips," Kardaras noted.

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The takeaway, he said, is that cychlorphine may be up to 10 times more potent than fentanyl, is not detected by standard fentanyl test strips or routine hospital opioid urine screens, and may require multiple doses of naloxone to reverse.

"So it's a triple whammy," he said. "It's a constant battle of keeping up with the latest iterations of new drugs."

Addis Abeba, 20 oct (Prensa Latina) El presidente de la Comisión de la Unión Africana (UA), Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, revelo hoy que sigue con atención los desarrollos políticos y de seguridad en la República Democrática del Congo (RDC).

The post Unión Africana atenta a situación política y de seguridad en RDC first appeared on Noticias Prensa Latina.

Judge orders government to notify her by 8pm ET Sunday whether its position changed from Friday’s court filing

Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Sunday that “restoration work will begin” on 15 November to a historic public golf course in Washington DC despite a federal judge’s court order to pause his plans over environmental and historic preservation concerns.

US district judge Ana Reyes had ruled earlier this year that the federal government must give notice before any substantive construction work on the East Potomac golf course could proceed, and last week issued an order halting the removal of trees at the site, which she called “inexcusable”.

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© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

© Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

El desplome en las coberturas de vacunación desata en Estados Unidos el mayor brote de sarampión desde 1991.

Minnesota lawmaker’s attorneys asked for return of seized items and the preservation of any recordings of search

Ilhan Omar’s attorneys have asked the US Department of Justice to return property that federal agents removed days earlier from her home during a search.

The lawyers for the Minnesota Democrat contended that the seizure as “neither justified nor lawful”, according to a letter that the Associated Press reported on Friday.

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© Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

© Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

© Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

The CDC has confirmed more than 4,000 cases of measles this year as the country grapples with the largest outbreak of the highly infectious virus in 35 years. Nearly a fifth of cases comprise children under the age of five, and 95% are among unvaccinated people. Amna Nawaz spoke with Dr. Evan Shirey, a pediatric infectious disease doctor based in Pennsylvania.

By Jill Erzen | The Defender | October 2, 2026

Tracy Beth Høeg, M.D., Ph.D., an epidemiologist and sports physician, said her decision to follow the data during the COVID-19 pandemic came at a steep professional price.

Her research challenged policies on school closures, masking and COVID-19 vaccines. She said the fallout included losing her position at the University of California, Davis, being dropped from an NPR interview and being fired from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Høeg said her experience exposed the unwillingness of universities, media and public health institutions to adapt when research conflicted with their accepted narratives.

In an interview this week with investigative journalist Paul D. Thacker on The DisInformation Chronicle, Høeg said institutions too often treated the accepted narrative as settled and then dismissed or attacked people who questioned it.

That approach did more than distort the public discussion about COVID-19, Høeg said. It also created a scientific and institutional culture that could affect how other medical questions are handled long after the pandemic.

For Høeg, the solution is simple: Scientists should follow the evidence wherever it leads.

“It’s a core belief of mine that you have to be objective when you’re doing scientific studies,” she said. “Otherwise, you just shouldn’t do them. It’s pointless if you’re not willing to be objective.”

‘I … didn’t realize the jeopardy that I was putting myself in’

During the pandemic, Høeg published 30 to 40 papers on COVID-19 transmission, masking, youth sports, vaccine risk-benefit, pregnancy, long COVID, visitor restrictions and testing.

Some of her research challenged widely accepted claims.

One study found little evidence of COVID-19 transmission among children in Wisconsin schools, which was consistent with data from Europe. Another examined myocarditis risk in boys after their second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose and found the risks outweighed the benefits in boys who didn’t have underlying health conditions.

Høeg said she didn’t initially understand the professional risks she was taking by challenging the prevailing narrative.

“There was sort of a hesitancy to do this sort of research because I think people were afraid for their careers,” she said. “I actually was blessed with having recently moved from Denmark and didn’t realize the jeopardy that I was putting myself in by doing these sorts of studies.”

At the time, Høeg was conducting research at the University of California, Davis.

She said the university received calls, including from Nature magazine, complaining about her studies on pandemic policies. Eventually, the university asked her not to use her affiliation with the school.

Høeg said the university refused to renew her voluntary position in 2022, after the European Journal of Clinical Investigation published her study on myocarditis risks in boys who received the COVID-19 vaccine.

NPR also dropped an interview with Høeg for “All Things Considered” after she raised concerns about masking children during outdoor sports.

In a pre-interview discussion with NPR, she told the outlet, “We don’t have evidence that these masks work to prevent transmission. … Bottom line is, we shouldn’t be doing these unproven things to children that are harmful.”

Soon after, NPR told Høeg she was no longer needed for the interview.

“It does say a lot about our universities and institutions because it’s like they had been brainwashed to an extent to believe what the media was saying rather than actually look at the data,” Høeg said.

‘They repeated the same wording … even when the data didn’t back it up’

In 2022, Høeg and her colleagues conducted a follow-up analysis of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study on school mask mandates.

Høeg said their analysis used a larger dataset and a longer time period and reached the opposite conclusion about the relationship between mask mandates and COVID-19 transmission among children.

The team’s submission to the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) was rejected. Høeg said reviewers described the submission as “rife with polemics.”

“Well, maybe it’s polarizing if you disagree with it,” Høeg said.

The rejection unearthed an underlying problem at the CDC, according to Høeg.

“They have a scientific agenda,” she said. “And so as soon as you have a scientific agenda, science has been thrown out the window. Science doesn’t have an agenda other than to find the truth.”

A 2024 analysis by Høeg and colleagues examined 77 mask studies published in the MMWR beginning in 2020. According to Høeg, 75% of the studies said masks were effective, while only 14% reported statistically significant results and none were randomized studies.

One finding especially stood out to her: She said 5% of the studies found masks were connected to higher infection rates, yet “they still concluded that masks worked.”

“They repeated the same wording over and over again in each of the studies, that ‘masks are necessary to decrease the spread’ and ‘masks are critical in controlling the case rates of COVID-19,’” she said. “They use the same sort of wording even when the data didn’t back it up at all.”

‘Why are we demonizing people for looking into this?’

Those concerns followed Høeg into the FDA in late 2025 when she was named acting director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER).

A leaked memo from then-FDA official Dr. Vinay Prasad said career staff had linked at least 10 child deaths to the COVID-19 vaccine between 2021 and 2024.

Høeg said she reviewed the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) reports and found that investigations involving medical records and autopsies had already been conducted.

“My question at the time was … why are these not being made public?” Høeg told Thacker.

Høeg said news leaked that she would present information about the deaths and their possible association with COVID-19 vaccines. She said the media response focused on portraying her as an “anti-vaxxer” rather than asking why the deaths had been investigated but not publicly disclosed.

“If we have these sorts of deaths happening in children due to medical products of any kind, why are we sitting on them for years?” she asked. “That’s the take-home I want people to have from this.”

She also questioned why people who investigate potential safety problems are attacked for trying to expose the dangers.

“Why are we demonizing people for looking into this? … Isn’t that what the public wants?” she asked.

‘The deep state really is a thing’

In May, just days after FDA Commissioner Marty Makary resigned, Høeg said she arrived at work to find media reports claiming she had resigned — something she said she knew nothing about.

FDA lawyers later asked her to resign, but she refused to sign the letter. She was subsequently locked out of the agency’s systems and escorted from the building.

Høeg said she never received a performance-based explanation for her termination. She also said the person identified as the author of her termination memo later denied writing or seeing it.

According to Høeg, agency lawyers told her the order came from “way above their pay grade.”

The experience changed how she viewed other departures from the agency. “It opened my eyes to the fact that maybe a number of the people who I thought had resigned really had not resigned,” she said.

“The deep state really is a thing,” she added.

‘Women who want to get pregnant … should be told about these risks’

For Høeg, the concerns she encountered during the COVID-19 era are not limited to COVID-19.

In 2025, she helped organize an FDA panel examining potential risks associated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, during pregnancy.

The American Psychiatric Association criticized the panel for what it called “misinterpretation and unbalanced viewpoints.” Høeg said the media also portrayed any discussion of potential risks as “misinformation about SSRI use” and a signal that depression wasn’t being taken seriously.

According to Høeg, the panel discussed risks already addressed in FDA labeling and scientific research, including miscarriage, premature birth, postpartum hemorrhage, congenital heart defects and neonatal adaptation syndrome.

“This should not be controversial that women who want to get pregnant and who are pregnant should be told about these risks,” she said.

She also warned about the lack of ongoing monitoring of drug safety.

“The FDA is not actively investigating the safety of these products in pregnancy or at all after the initial trials are done,” she said.

Høeg said the discussion should not be interpreted as an argument against treating depression. “I don’t think that any of this should be synonymous with not taking depression seriously,” she said. “That’s just nonsense.”

‘There’s just no reporting on this. … People have died taking this drug’

Høeg also discussed Tavneos, the Amgen-manufactured brand name for avacopan, a drug approved to treat a type of blood-vessel inflammation.

While at CDER, Høeg said she raised concerns that the pivotal clinical trial used to approve the drug had included manipulated data.

According to Høeg, at least eight deaths had been attributed to the drug because of liver injury.

The New England Journal of Medicine later retracted the paper detailing the trial, and European regulators withdrew the drug’s authorization. While the FDA has proposed withdrawing Tavneos’ approval, it remains available in the U.S.

Yet, the media barely covered it.

“There’s just no reporting on this,” Høeg said. “People have died taking this drug. … We asked for them to withdraw it from the market, and the media is just totally silent.”

Thacker: ‘There was no real learning in the end. … If anything, we became dumber’

Høeg said it is troubling that some of the most disputed COVID-19 policies are still treated as settled questions.

“How is this still part of our collective conversation that people … are still saying school closures were necessary and mask mandates were necessary?” she asked.

Thacker said the failure to learn from those policies could have consequences during the next pandemic. People who developed a “false sense of safety from masks” during COVID-19 could mistakenly assume masks will protect them from a more dangerous virus in the future, he said.

Thacker also questioned whether the country understands anything about the COVID-19 vaccines. “There was no real learning in the end. … If anything, we became dumber,” he said.

Høeg said the problem stems from the widespread failure to reconsider policies when the evidence changed.

“Once the government decided this is what we have to do, they just kept digging in, even though the data didn’t support it,” she said.

“This is why I keep doing these interviews, because it’s important for people to know the truth.”

Watch Høeg on ‘The DisInformation Chronicle’ podcast here:

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This article was originally published by The Defender — Children’s Health Defense’s News & Views Website under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Please consider subscribing to The Defender or donating to Children’s Health Defense.

All three are well-known, globally recognized, and outstanding women in their fields. All three became mothers just days ago, almost simultaneously. All three had children without giving birth to them: one adopted, two used a surrogate. And all three, despite their different methods and the ways they told their stories, received the same warm congratulations. But are the three cases the same? In the United States, for a large majority, the answer is yes.

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