Nature, Published online: 12 August 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02572-0Europe must safeguard climate data following NASA cuts

Nature, Published online: 12 August 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02571-1Use AI in the classroom to bring problems to life

by Debbie Cenziper and Megan Rose, ProPublica, and Katherine Dailey, Medill Investigative Lab ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. For more than a dozen years, the Food and Drug Administration quietly allowed substandard foreign factories to continue shipping medications to the United States even after the agency officially banned them from doing so because of dangerous manufacturing failures. ProPublica exposed the little-known practice in June. The FDA said the decisions to exempt certain medications from import bans were made to fend off drug shortages and that guardrails were in place to ensure the products were safe, such as requiring the banned factories to do extra testing on the drugs before they were sent to Americans. But the agency itself didnt regularly test the drugs or proactively monitor reports filed by doctors and others that described drugs with a foul odor, abnormal taste or residue, or consumers who had experienced sudden or unexplained health problems. The FDA cautions the outcomes described in the complaints may have no connection to the drugs or could be unexpected side effects. But drug safety experts say that without further study, its impossible to know whether people were harmed or how many. The FDA kept the exemptions largely hidden from the public and has never released a comprehensive list of the drugs allowed into the United States from banned factories. ProPublica is publishing that list today. The list provides the names of the drugs or ingredients that ProPublica has identified as having been exempted from an import ban since 2013 and the names of the manufacturers that made them. The product names are written as they appeared on the FDAs import alert list. Most of the factories on this list are no longer banned, so their drugs are coming into the country through normal channels. The FDA lifts bans after facilities make all the necessary fixes. Some of the factories are still banned and are still allowed to send exempted drugs to the U.S. Those are highlighted in yellow. Exempted Drugs Since 2013 See the full list and search for a drug here. All told, ProPublica identified more than 150 exempted products, mostly from factories in India. One factory in China and one factory in Hungary also received exemptions. Several of the factories make ingredients for drugs, which are then sent to the manufacturers that produce pills, capsules, tablets or injectables.To compile the list of exempted drugs and ingredients, reporters pulled historical records from the internet and used Redica Systems, a quality and regulatory intelligence company with a vast collection of agency documents.In finalizing its analysis, ProPublica counted all the drugs and ingredients that were exempted from each banned factory. Sometimes, the same product was exempted from multiple factories and was added to each factorys total. In a handful of cases, the FDA exempted several formulations such as a tablet, capsule or injectable of the same drug. ProPublica counted those different forms as distinct drugs.For this list, ProPublica only included each drug once for each manufacturer. Generic drugs can have many manufacturers, and it can be difficult to know based on information provided on medicine bottles where drugs were made or by whom. Sometimes bottles list the names of repackagers or distributors rather than the drugmaker itself. Pharmacists and possibly health care providers can provide additional information about the source of prescribed medications.This list is current as of Aug. 4. The FDA can add or remove exempted drugs at any time. Company ResponsesProPublica reached out to all the drugmakers listed here. Most did not respond. Apotex did not respond to requests for comment. After the inspections that led to the import bans, the company told the FDA that it would launch corrective actions and bring on a third-party consultant, among other things. The factories are no longer banned.Divis Laboratories did not respond to requests for comment. In its response to the FDA at the time, the company said it hired third-party consultants and other experts to resolve the FDAs concerns. The company also said it had taken corrective actions at the facility. The factory is no longer banned.Emcure Pharmaceuticals did not respond to requests for comment. In its response to the FDA at the time, the company said it would revise procedures, provide training and engage consultants, among other things. The factory is still banned but no longer has exemptions.Glenmark Pharmaceuticals did not respond to requests for comment. At the time of the ban, the company said it would engage with the FDA to resolve the concerns. The factory is still banned but is no longer receiving any exemptions.GPT Pharmaceuticals did not respond to requests for comment. In its response to the FDA, the company defended the quality of its products and said it had brought on a consultant to audit the operation. The factory is no longer banned. In a statement to ProPublica, Pfizer, which owns Hospira, said it submitted a comprehensive response to the FDA, paused production at the site and then sold the facility to another company in 2019. We are committed to operating our manufacturing sites at the highest quality standards, Pfizer said. The factory is no longer banned.Intas Pharmaceuticals, whose U.S. subsidiary is Accord Healthcare, said in a statement that the company has invested millions of dollars in upgrades and new hires and launched a companywide program focused on quality. Exempted drugs were sent to the United States in a phased manner, the company said, with third-party oversight and safety testing. Intas also said that some exempted drugs were never shipped to the United States because the FDA found other suppliers. The company would not provide details. Intas is well on its way towards full remediation of all manufacturing sites, the company said. The two Intas factories are still banned and still receiving exemptions.Ipca Laboratories did not respond to requests for comment. At the time, Ipca said it was working to resolve the issues at several factories. The company is committed to its philosophy of highest quality in manufacturing, operations, systems, integrity and cGMP culture, Ipca said, referring to current good manufacturing practices, a common phrase in the industry. The factories are no longer banned. Jubilant Generics did not respond to requests for comment. At the time, the company said it would engage with the agency to resolve the import alert at the earliest and ensure cGMP compliance. The factory is no longer banned.Shilpa Medicare did not respond to requests for comment. In a media statement at the time, the company said it planned to resolve the FDAs concerns. We uphold quality and compliance with utmost importance and are committed to maintaining cGMP and quality standards across all Shilpa facilities. The factory is still banned and one of its medications is still exempt. Sri Krishna Pharmaceuticals did not respond to requests for comment. The company at the time told the FDA that it was using a consultant to audit operations and assist in meeting manufacturing requirements. The factory is still banned but is no longer receiving exemptions.In a statement to ProPublica, Sun Pharma said that adherence to quality standards is a top priority for Sun, and we maintain a relentless focus on quality and compliance to ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines to our customers and patients worldwide. We continue to work proactively with the US FDA and remain committed to achieve full resolution of any FDA regulatory issues at our facilities. The factory is still banned and still receiving exemptions. Teva Pharmaceuticals did not respond to requests for comment. The company said in a statement at the time that it was working to avoid drug shortages while we focus on resolving regulatory concerns, as patients are always highest priority. The factory is still banned but no longer receiving exemptions.Wockhardt did not respond to requests for comment. In a conference call with reporters at the time of the import ban, according to Reuters, the Wockhardt chairman said the company was making all kinds of effort to satisfy FDA good manufacturing standards at the factory. The factories are still banned, but in July, Wockhardt announced that it would no longer make generics for the U.S. market.Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical did not respond to requests for comment. According to a report in Bloomberg, Hisun said at the time that it takes quality seriously and has complied with requirements. The factory is no longer banned.Mylan/Viatris said in a statement to ProPublica that it immediately worked to resolve the FDAs concerns. Patient safety remains our primary and unwavering focus, the company said. The factory is still banned and still receiving exemptions. A lawyer for Madhu Instruments told ProPublica in an email that the company has fixed all the problems identified by the FDA and is cooperating fully. The factory is still banned but no longer has an exemption. Brandon Roberts and Irena Hwang contributed data reporting.

by Megan Rose and Debbie Cenziper ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as theyre published. The dispatches from one of Indias most troubled generic drug makers were contrite, filled with far-reaching promises to clean up its factory, stop contamination and send safe medication to Americans counting on the companys drugs. We have started addressing FDA concerns very aggressively and comprehensively, an executive from Sun Pharma wrote to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2015. Sun is ensuring the presence of a strong, independent quality unit, the company repeatedly pledged. An FDA inspection in 2014 had turned up dangerous violations at Suns factory in the Indian city of Halol, and the details were grim: Managers werent following basic rules to prevent the contamination of injectable drugs. They had failed to determine whether unknown impurities found in medication were toxic. The factory itself was in disrepair. The ceiling leaked and investigators observed dripping water, another dangerous contamination risk, collecting in buckets in a sterile manufacturing area. Sun vowed bold reform at the factory, its flagship for the U.S. market. In a series of letters to the FDA after the inspection, executives described a long list of enhancements in facilities, in staffing, in quality standards, in training. But for eight years, as inspectors returned and discovered again and again that Suns efforts were grossly inadequate, the FDA did little to warn the public or stop the drugs from coming to the United States. The trove of Sun correspondence obtained by ProPublica provides a rare glimpse into private discussions between the global drugmaker and the U.S. regulator singularly responsible for protecting consumers from unsafe medication. The documents show how often the FDA tolerated Suns broken promises and substandard manufacturing, allowing an uninterrupted flow of generics to an American public clamoring for cheaper medication.As Suns fixes fell short, the agency in 2015 even declared the factorys products adulterated which, according to federal law, means they were produced in a way that could have compromised their strength, quality and purity. A 2015 warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration to Sun Pharma stated that the agency identified significant violations of current good manufacturing practice and that these violations cause your drugs products to be adulterated. (Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica) Not until the final weeks of 2022 would the agency bar the factory from shipping its drugs to the U.S. Even then, regulators immediately excluded more than a dozen medications from the ban. The exemptions allowed Sun to continue sending those drugs with few restrictions and no regular testing by the FDA.In June, 11 years after that first alarming inspection, the agency went back to the factory and chronicled practically identical deficiencies. Equipment was still dirty. Injectable medications still had impurities. One worker wasnt wearing clean gloves.The failings convinced the FDA to keep the import ban in place, but the agency continued to allow Sun to send exempted drugs to the United States. Would you trust somebody who repeatedly lies to you? said Dinesh Thakur, an industry whistleblower and drug-safety advocate. I dont know how you can justify your decision to try to give them a pass every time. You are basically putting people at risk.More than 20 foreign factories banned from the U.S. market have received similar exemptions from the FDA since 2013 through a little-known practice used by the agency to prevent drug shortages. ProPublica reported in June that antibiotics, anti-seizure drugs and chemotherapy treatments were shipped from those plants even after inspectors identified critical violations in the way drugs were made. In all, more than 150 drugs or their ingredients received exemptions. And, just like with Sun, the FDA never shared the details with the doctors prescribing the medications or the patients taking them. (ProPublica compiled a list of exempted drugs and ingredients since 2013.)The agency did not respond to questions about the Sun factory, the decision to wait eight years to impose the ban or the exemptions that followed, saying only it could not discuss potential or ongoing compliance matters. The FDA referred further inquiries to Sun.The FDA also did not answer directly whether it believed that drugs exempted from Suns Halol plant and the other factories were safe. To help assure consumer safety, the agency said, companies are required to subject exempted drugs to extra testing with third-party oversight before the medications are sent to the United States.ProPublicas review of the FDAs own records, however, shows the potential weakness of such a system. Some of the companies were caught providing unreliable testing records to the FDA before they received exemptions. FDA inspectors have found managers at Suns Halol factory repeatedly disregarded the results of tests showing drugs were tainted with impurities. In 2019, inspectors also discovered that Sun employees could access computer systems without oversight and edit microbiological test results to potentially minimize troubling findings. All of the inspectors I know who do inspections in India were aware of the problems at Sun, said one veteran FDA investigator who did not want to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. You just worry about the patients. A 2022 FDA inspection report on the Sun factory observed increased unknown impurities identified as extraneous matter in batches of medication. (Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica) Since the 2014 inspection, FDA records show, the agency has received thousands of reports from doctors and others noting concerns about the drugs that Sun makes at the Halol factory and at other plants. The complaints described potential contamination and other quality issues, or patients who had experienced sudden or unexplained health problems. The FDA cautions that the outcomes in the reports may have no connection to the drugs or could be unexpected side effects. Drug safety experts say there is no way to know for sure without further study. Sun did not respond to detailed questions about its regulatory history. In an email, the company said it has upgraded the Halol facility and collaborated with manufacturing consultants and is testing to verify that drugs made there are safe and effective. Adherence to quality standards, the company said, is a top priority for Sun, and we maintain a relentless focus on quality and compliance to ensure the uninterrupted supply of medicines to our customers and patients worldwide. We continue to work proactively with the US FDA and remain committed to achieve full resolution of any FDA regulatory issues at our facilities.Sun has been making that same promise for years.Promises Made and BrokenSun, one of the leading exporters of medications to the United States, began its campaign to win back the trust of the FDA shortly after three inspectors in September 2014 traveled to the Halol factory in western India and found the worrisome violations.At the plant, the investigators zeroed in on the production of injectable medications. Delivered directly into the body, the drugs can be particularly dangerous, even lethal, when contaminated. But the factory, inspectors found, had no procedures to prevent the contamination of sterile drugs, according to the report.One month later, Sun wrote to the FDA, saying it had brought on consultants to address quality issues, develop training programs and conduct audits of the factory.We take very seriously each of the issues that FDA has raised, the company wrote. Sun understands the concerns and fully appreciates the need for a complete and comprehensive response and a robust compliance enhancement plan to address these matters.The letter was sent by two Sun vice presidents one the head of quality, the other in charge of global manufacturing. They committed to sending a written update every other month, beginning in December that year, about changes for long-term compliance. By February 2015, in its second update to the FDA, Sun touted more than 120 fixes at the factory. But based on its previous inspection, the FDA still issued a warning letter, which called the factorys drugs adulterated. It is essential that executive management systematically improve their oversight of manufacturing quality, the agency admonished in the December 2015 letter. The company quickly responded, dispatching executives to FDA headquarters in Maryland to deliver personal assurances that the factory was falling in line. We appreciated the opportunity to discuss Suns substantial progress, two of the companys quality managers wrote after the January 2016 visit. Sun remains focused to deliver substantial improvements.Sun pledged to spend $218 million on facility improvements, according to one of its letters to the FDA. But inspectors in 2016 turned up more problems. Once again, Sun promised reform and detailed the steps it would take to fix violations.This time, Sun sought to reassure the FDA about the production of a generic drug, carbidopa and levodopa, used to treat tremors and other effects of Parkinsons disease. Some of the factorys tablets were not dissolving properly when ingested, according to a Sun letter that year. That could have left patients with too little of the key ingredient needed to control the disease, or too much of it. Sun told the FDA that an internal review was underway and the company would assess any other drugs with similar quality issues. Sun soon recalled 8,500 bottles of the drug in the United States. More letters from Sun followed in 2017, some addressed directly to Carmelo Rosa, a longtime director of quality at the FDAs Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, which oversees drug safety. The agency did not respond to a request for comment from Rosa, and Rosa did not respond to an email or LinkedIn message.Inspectors went back to the factory in February and August 2018, unearthing more problems. In December that year, inspectors visited again this time because Sun wanted to introduce three new injectable medications into the U.S. market. The inspectors noted that earlier problems had been corrected, records show.But just one month later, Sun recalled 135,000 vials of vecuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer used during surgery, saying glass particles had been found and could cause life-threatening blood clots. The company at the time said it had not received any reports of harm.Inspectors went back to the factory two more times in 2019, once in June and again in December, and found more problems with the way injectable medications were made. The December inspection was so alarming that the FDA held an urgent teleconference with the company, according to records obtained by ProPublica, which last year sued the agency in federal court to gain access to the information.Despite the concerns, another FDA group tasked with preventing drug shortages reached out to Sun after the inspection to make sure that the factory would continue to produce the cancer drug doxorubicin. Sun promised it would.The records show that for a series of important discussions with Sun, the FDA excluded the team that oversaw the inspections at the factory and were best informed about what was happening there. It would have been very helpful to have the inspection division plugged in from the beginning, one team member emailed colleagues and his management in the months after the inspection.Around that time, the company temporarily shut down the factorys sterile manufacturing line, according to an email that Sun sent to Rosa. The plant was making 16 injectable drugs for the U.S. market.Early the next year, Sun assured Rosa that it had done extensive reviews and submitted a strategy to again ship injectables to the United States. That included testosterone, which is used to treat everything from low libido to bone health. But when patients got their bottles, some took to social media to describe the appearance of unusual crystals.They wont go away, is it okay to use? one person posted on Reddit in 2021. I need to do my shot today. In 2021, a Reddit user posted a photo that appears to show crystals in a bottle of injectable testosterone manufactured by Sun Pharma at the Halol, India, factory. (Screenshot by ProPublica) Crystals in testosterone vials are not unusual, and Sun and other manufacturers include instructions on the label to get rid of them by warming the product. FDA inspectors, however, went back to the factory in Halol in 2022 and found that Sun had received hundreds of complaints about the crystals, including two that noted it took more than five hours to dissolve them when it should normally only take minutes. A 2022 FDA inspection report on the Sun factory in Halol, India, notes that From Jan 2020 thru April 2022, your firm has received a total of 811 complaints for crystallization of injectable vials of a medication whose name was redacted. The report says sample testing was performed by a sister company for which Sun lacked documentation of their training and qualifications to perform these inspections. (Obtained and highlighted by ProPublica) Sun said it had investigated the concerns and concluded the testosterone was acceptable. But the company couldnt provide documentation that showed workers were properly trained or qualified to run the tests and ultimately could not produce data confirming the crystals properly dissolved, the FDA found. Inspectors issued another damning report. Six months later, in December 2022, the FDA assessed its toughest penalty: banning the Halol factory from shipping drugs to the United States. The move came eight years after Sun started pledging reforms. And the FDA then undercut its sanction by quickly exempting more than a dozen drugs from the ban.In the latest inspection in June of this year, inspectors found the factory failed to investigate bacteria found in test vials, disinfect manufacturing areas and equipment or properly handle vials and stoppers meant for sterile medications, according to the report.Though the FDA published on its website warning letters sent to the factory, it has never alerted the public about the problems in a comprehensive way or provided a list of the drugs made there. The names of Halols products are blacked out on inspection reports so consumers cant check their medications and make informed decisions about whether to take them. A portion of the FDAs June 2025 inspection report redacted the names of potentially compromised drugs manufactured by Sun that continue to be released to the U.S. market. (Obtained by ProPublica) Your family members are taking these drugs, and are they safe? Well, maybe, well maybe not, said former FDA inspector Patrick Stone, who now advises pharmaceutical companies. The FDA turns a blind eye. If your market [share] is big enough, then you get leeway.Blind FaithIn 2023, Suns billionaire founder said the introduction of new products and gains in market share made the company well positioned to exploit the growth opportunity in the U.S. market.Despite the long list of critical inspection reports, five drugs made at Suns Halol factory are still allowed into the U.S. 2 1/2 years after the FDA issued the import ban. The exempted medications are vecuronium bromide and doxorubicin, as well as: divalproex delayed release tablets, which are used to treat seizures and migraines; leuprolide injections, which are used by people with prostate cancer, endometriosis and other conditions; and temozolomide capsules, which treat brain cancer.Current and former FDA inspectors and others said the agency should have acted faster, responding to the problems its inspectors uncovered rather than buying into Suns assurances. One senior FDA employee familiar with the inspections said they feared the company didnt have the know-how to make safe drugs.Is it that theyre trying to hide stuff? Is it that theyre trying to protect? Or is it that they have no clue how to be doing these things? said the staffer, who declined to be identified because they were not authorized to speak publicly. Why would you get on the phone with FDA and brag that you have all these systems in place and you didnt? The adverse event reports about the companys drugs submitted to the FDA over the years describe choking, vomiting and blistering, or say that the drugs potentially caused or contributed to toxicity, cardiac arrest and renal failure, among other reactions, government records show. Hundreds of the complaints describe medications with possible contaminants, drugs that didnt dissolve properly and other quality and safety concerns. Suns testosterone alone was the subject of more than 500 reports, including ones describing swelling, increased heart rate, burning sensations or pain, among other symptoms, records show.Today, years after investigators first identified problems, the senior FDA employee said the threat of harm lingers.The people on the other end have faith that the products they are taking are safe and effective, said the staffer. I think of the faces. I think of my parents. I think of the consumers who are basically taking these drugs on blind faith. Brandon Roberts contributed data reporting.

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Photo by Tony Luong for Uncloseted Media.Subscribe nowEditors note: This story contains graphic depictions of sex trafficking, child abuse and sexual abuse.At 16 years old, Jose Alfaro remembers being trapped in a dimly lit room and told to give a naked stranger a massage and let him do what he wants.I was terrified and I had a bodily reaction of tremor, just shaking uncontrollably, Alfaro, now 34, told Uncloseted Media. I felt cold, even though I wasn't cold. I didn't know what to do when I'm in a room with two adult men and the door is locked.Photo by Tony Luong for Uncloseted Media.Alfaro, who was raised in the small, conservative town of Navasota, Texas, says he was given the choice of conversion therapy or living on the streets after he came out to his parents. In search of a male mentor, he leaned on relationships with older men he met online for acceptance and for basic needs, including a place to live.He started messaging with Jason Gandy, a 31-year-old he met on Gay.com. Gandy began by asking Alfaro questions about his day and telling him he cared about him and wanted to be his friend.He showed a tremendous amount of sympathy and presented this world of luxury and wealth, and said that he wanted to support me and take care of me, Alfaro says.Alfaro, who was sleeping on a friends couch, didnt know where else to go, so he began meeting with Gandy and subsequently moved into his place. Over time, Gandy exploited Alfaro to dozens of men for sex.Alfaro as a teenager. Photo courtesy of Alfaro.Clients were allowed to do whatever they wanted to me, he says. I was uncomfortable, traumatized and at many times very, very violently hurt. I was terrified and in pain, but too afraid to leave. I didnt know where I would go.Photo by Tony Luong for Uncloseted Media.It wasnt until Alfaro was an adult and reflected on what happened that he realized he had been trafficked.The adults say this is normal, they're making me feel like this is okay, he remembers thinking. I was just trying to find ways to mentally accept it, especially without a way out.In 2018, a federal jury convicted Gandy on four counts of sex trafficking of minors, and he is currently serving a 30-year sentence.While LGBTQ youth make up a disproportionate share of both homeless and trafficked populations, the experiences of queer boys are often unseen, dismissed or mislabeled. A 2023 report says that boys represent the fastest-growing segment of identified human trafficking victims.While research is limitedespecially due to underreportingsome reports say it is possible that almost half of sex trafficking survivors are boys. But as of 2025, there is only one safe house in the U.S. for men, and zero for boys under 18.Boys are less likely to come forward because of the stigma and because they don't think there's help available, Bob Williams, the founder of that safe house, told Uncloseted Media. People have no clue. People don't understand that boys are victims, too.Subscribe for LGBTQ focused, accountability journalism. Why Boys Are at RiskSex trafficking is the crime of using violence, fraud or coercion to force someone into commercial sex acts, often controlling their lives. According to Polaris, a leading anti-trafficking organization, LGBTQ people are seen as particularly vulnerable to being trafficked due to bias and discrimination and often a deeper desperation for a job or housing, which gives traffickers an opening to step in and pretend to be the answer to a problem.While sex trafficking reportedly affects women more, these numbers likely dont paint the full picture. Boys or men who are victims of sexual violence are less likely than girls or women to self-identify, partially due to societal messaging about being tough.Jonathan Doucette, hotline training and development manager at Polaris, says that gay boys struggle with fitting into traditional masculinity and may feel even more shame.Subscribe nowPhoto by Tony Luong for Uncloseted Media.I was silenced by society long before I was silenced by my trafficker, Alfaro says. Society tells me something's wrong with me because I'm gay. Society tells me something is wrong with me because I am not masculine enough. And so therefore, I'm the problem and no one is going to help me.After Alfaro moved in with Gandy, he remembers being placed on a strict regimen of working out twice a day and eating only greens and healthy protein. Alfaro was allowed a phone upon request to get his parents off his back and earned the privilege to walk around the block alone.Once Alfaro was in good enough shape, Gandy proposed that he start working at his massage business with him, which was a cover for sexually exploiting boys under 18.Gandy would put up ads of Alfaro on his own website and taught him how to post on Craigslist to get clients and earn money. He told Alfaro that he would be in trouble if anyone found out because he was a minor.After three months of being forced to have anal sex, be fondled and give oral sex to over 50 men, Alfaro escaped, leaving in the middle of the night while Gandy was asleep.But where was he going to go?Why Boys Are OverlookedAlfaro as a teenager. Courtesy of Alfaro.According to a 2013 report by Every Child Protected Against Trafficking, law enforcement has little understanding of commercially sexually exploited boys. For example, they believe boys are not pimped and therefore not in need of services.We're led to believe that men are perpetrators and women are victims, says Steven Procopio, a clinical social worker who works with male survivors. We don't have a national dialogue like women have. There's a lot of gender bias when it comes to trafficking survivors and a great deal of homophobia. People are not looking out for it.Under the Trump administration, resources have been buried even further underground. Trumps executive order that restricts federally funded websites from using language related to sex or gender forced Polaris to remove references to gender from parts of its website.It hasn't changed anything in how we meet survivors on the hotline or how we train people, Doucette told Uncloseted Media. But it makes people feel even less welcome. It is certainly not a good thing for queer boys looking for help. They dont see themselves listed [or represented].I was so ashamed, John-Michael Lander, an author and keynote speaker from Ohio, told Uncloseted Media. I thought it was my fault, and I didnt know how to come forward. I would wear the same thing every day at school and not shower just to get someone to check on me [but] no one did.Lander was groomed and trafficked throughout high school. In a 2021 testimony, he says his mentors in the swim world, which included a doctor and a lawyer, reached out and built trust with his mother in an effort to control him.[The lawyer] would manage the money and pay the diving costs in alignment with the legalities to keep my amateur status. He indicated that he knew other professionals who wanted to help and provide the family with their expertise.These men were leading a trafficking circle, which led to Lander, at 14, being exploited into sex for the first time with a 60-year-old man at a motel.I had never had sex with anybody, he says. I was really scared. And I remember I froze, I couldn't move. And it was like I left my body.Every weekend for four years, Lander remembers being driven to Columbus, Ohio, and auctioned off with other young teenagers in white Speedos on stage while men walked around the room. They would be sold for the weekend and the men could do what they wanted.Lander says the culture of sports and masculinity made it hard to talk about because people expected him to be tough.It seems hard for the public to understand how a coach or person in power could sexually abuse a male athlete, Lander says. Many men think that they can handle it and push the experience aside, and get over it.There's toxic masculinity in our culture where if you do express vulnerable feelings as a boy when you're growing up, youre met with hostility or anger from people in your life, says Doucette. The stigma can just be so large that survivors might feel like [they] have to take care of this by themselves.I felt so isolated, says Lander. When I finally told my mom what was happening, she looked at me and she slapped me across the face and said, It's not nice to make lies about people. If this person or these people were doing this, you must have caused it.So Lander stayed silent.Subscribe nowWhy Boys Dont Get HelpWhen boys muster the courage to come forward, they often dont receive the resources they need.Jesse Leon experienced this after he was trafficked from 11 to 14 by a shopkeeper who locked him in the backroom of a convenience store and sexually abused him. He eventually brought in other men who were allowed to drug Leon and do whatever they wanted sexually.Sometimes it'd be just somebody who wanted to do oral sex on me. Sometimes it would be more, Leon told Uncloseted Media. [The shop owner] threatened that if I didn't return he would find out where I live and kill me and kill my family.He says that messaging about masculinity, especially coming from a Latino household, where machismo culture encourages boys to be tough and take care of their family at all costs, made him go back every day.Leon as a child. Photo courtesy of Leon.At 14, Leon was addicted to hard drugs and severely traumatized. After three years of being trafficked, he got into a bloody fight at school because he was seeing the faces of all the men who were abusing him. The school reported it, and the state sent him a therapist for weekly talk therapy. But he needed much more support.She never once recommended drug and alcohol treatment, even though she knew I was addicted, he says. No one from the state ever followed up. Once I was handed off, they assumed that because I was in therapy that I was getting the resources I needed. No one checked in with me and when my mom asked for a translator or a therapist who could speak Spanish, they said no.Photo courtesy of Leon.Leon says that he feels he was overlooked because he was a boy. Males can't be victimized, he says. There's still a belief that males are perpetrators, they're not victims. There's no safe space for men to destigmatize reaching out for help. You deal with it, it happens, you move on.A 2023 report found significant gaps in recognizing and responding to trauma in boys who are experiencing or are at risk of sexual exploitation. While many indicators of trafficking are consistent across genders, boys often express trauma through externalizing behaviors such as aggression, defiance, anger or bullyingresponses that are frequently misinterpreted by providers as delinquency or behavioral disorders like ADHD, rather than signs of victimization.Law enforcement just doesnt realize that this is happening, says Williams. If we can't help these young boys, they face a lifetime of addiction, prison or death.Because male survivors often dont self-identify due to stigma, homophobia and mistrust of authority, Williams says that professionals must be trained to recognize nonverbal cues and build trust over time. Effective training also requires confronting gender bias; challenging the myth that trafficking is only a womens issue; and creating safe, affirming spaces for male victims to disclose.Photo by Tony Luong for Uncloseted Media.Almost 20 years later, Alfaro is still recovering. He now works full time in advocacy, centering on spreading awareness on the domestic trafficking of minors and underscoring the importance of increasing resources for marginalized communities andin particularqueer boys.Photo by Tony Luong for Uncloseted Media.I did not know what resources were, he says. I didn't really think that there was anything that could help me. I dont want anyone to feel like that ever again.If objective, nonpartisan, rigorous, LGBTQ-focused journalism is important to you, please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fiscal sponsor, Resource Impact, by clicking this button:Donate to Uncloseted Media

Nature, Published online: 12 August 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02510-0US researchers were hopeful when Donald Trump appointed Michael Kratsios to a top science position, but many say he has contributed to the chaos. Can he turn things around?

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Islamic authorities in Indonesias Aceh province will hit a 20-year-old man and a 21-year-old man 80 times with a cane for kissing and hugging each other in a public toilet. Witnesses in the Taman Sari city park informed police after seeing the men enter the same restroom in April, leading to the mens immediate arrest and imprisonment.Judge Rokhmadi M. Hum decided the brutal sentence in a recent closed-door session of the Islamic Shariah District Court, ABC News reported. The judge decided the two college students had legally and convincingly violated Islamic law by their actions. Related Four men were caned in Malaysia as part of a crackdown on homosexuality Prosecutors had sought to punish the men with 85 cane strokes each, but Hum reduced the punishment because the accused men were polite in court, cooperated with authorities, had no previous convictions, and had already served four months in prison.The cane used to punish them will be 0.5 inches wide, 3.9 feet long, and soaked overnight in water to prevent breaking or splinters, according to World Corporal Punishment Research. Caning victims are stripped naked, tied to a wooden frame, and bent over at a 90-degree angle with their buttocks exposed to receive each stroke (which occurs every 30 seconds at the caning officers maximum strength). The blows often break the skin and damage muscle, causing bleeding and permanent scarring. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today A medical officer and the superintendent of prisons are required to be present for the caning to ensure that the victim doesnt pass out and that the punishment is inflicted correctly. Victims have described the pain as worse than excruciating. After the caning, the victim is given antiseptic lotion, painkillers, and antibiotics to heal the wounds. Victims cannot sit or lie on their backs for about a week or more afterwards due to lingering pain.Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have both condemned caning as cruel, inhuman, and degrading. Critics argue that the practice violates international treaties against torture. This caning follows another for similar offenses, carried out in the region last February. Caning is used to punish for a variety of morality offenses in Aceh, including gay sex, sex between unmarried people, gambling, alcohol consumption, women who wear tight-fitting clothes, and men who skip Friday prayers.Indonesia allowed the Aceh province to implement Islamic law in 2006 as part of a peace deal to end a separatist war, ABC News reported. In 2015, Aceh expanded the enforcement of its Islamic laws to non-Muslims (an estimated 1% of its population).Human Rights Watch reported that authorities in Aceh publiclyflogged twogay men 77 timeseach in 2021 after a mob raided their apartmentin November and caught the men having sex before turning them over to police. While Aceh provinces Shariah Law is extreme in its treatment of LGBTQ+ offenders, Indonesias laws addressing LGBTQ+ people in general were described as ahuman rights disasterby the Centre for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society in Melbourne.Indonesias government crackdown on its LGBTQ+ citizens has been going on for years now. After publicly humiliating141 men arrested in a gay sauna, the countrys capitol city foundedan anti-LGBTQ+ police force, the government proposed a law toban all LGBTQ TV content, the Air Force called LGBTQ identity a mental disorder, the countrytried to shut downan international gay sporting event and one region arrested 12 transgender women andshaved their headsto make them men.In 2022, two Indonesian soldiers were kicked out of the army and were sentenced toseven months in jailfor having gay sex. In 2020, nine men were arrested at a gay party in a Jakarta hotel raid and charged under anti-pornography laws, which can carry a 15-year sentence.Economists estimate that Indonesias anti-LGBTQ+ policies have cost the country anywhere from$900 million to $12 billion in lost revenue.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

Nature, Published online: 12 August 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02507-9As federal support vanishes for research addressing the root causes of health disparities in the United States, we are left with a dangerous void and an urgent need to rethink science funding.

Nature, Published online: 12 August 2025; doi:10.1038/d41586-025-02548-0Pioneering artificial-intelligence scholar, whose influential work bridged cognitive science, philosophy and computer science.

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Kash Patel is a 45-year-old Indian American attorney and Donald Trump loyalist who, in 2025, became the 9th Director of the FBI in Trumps new administration. Patel rose from a career as a public defender and federal prosecutor to prominent roles in Trumps first term, and he cultivated a reputation as a deep state critic bent on rooting out perceived enemies of the former president.Now, as the nations top law enforcement official, many are scrutinizing his record for clues about how he might wield power, especially regarding LGBTQ+ rights and broader civil liberties under an administration that has signaled hostility toward LGBTQ+ equality.Kash Patel at a glanceLocation: Washington, D.C. Party Affiliation: RepublicanRace/Ethnicity: Indian-AmericanGender Identity: MaleSexual Orientation: StraightPronouns: He/HimLGBTQ+ Ally: No Insights for the LGBTQ+ community Subscribe to our briefing for insights into how politics impacts the LGBTQ+ community and more. Subscribe to our Newsletter today Social mediaX (Twitter): @Kash_Patel, @FBIDirectorKashTruth Social: @Kash Website: FightWithKash.com Career and BiographyBorn to immigrant parents from India, Patel grew up in Garden City, New York, and began his career in law enforcement as a public defender in Florida before switching sides to serve as a federal prosecutor. He later worked on counterterrorism cases at the Department of Justice. In 2017, Patel joined the staff of now-former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) on the House Intelligence Committee, where he played a key role in attempting to discredit the FBIs investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. This effort, highlighted by Patel helping draft a memo accusing the FBI of bias, established him as a fierce critic of the FBI and investigations into Trumps ties with Russia, something Trump called a hoax.Patels loyalty earned him influential posts under Trump. He served on the National Security Council and briefly as a senior aide to out gay acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell in 2020. In the waning weeks of Trumps first term, Patel became Chief of Staff to Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller, effectively overseeing the Pentagons transition. Throughout these roles, Patel cultivated an image as an America First foot soldier for Trumps agenda. He was an outspoken proponent of the theory that a shadowy deep state was undermining Trump; indeed, he titled his 2023 memoir Government Gangsters, outlining plans to purge federal agencies of officials deemed disloyal.Patels appointment as FBI Director in 2025 represented a sharp break with the bureaus tradition of politically independent leadership. Trump announced the nomination shortly after his election victory, praising Patel as a brilliant lawyer and America First fighter who would bring back Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity to the FBI. The Senate confirmed Patel on February 20, 2025, by a narrow 51 to 49 vote over unanimous Democratic opposition and even a few Republican dissenters. Patels stance on LGBTQ+ issuesPatel has never been a lawmaker or candidate, so he has few public statements on LGBTQ+ rights. During his confirmation process, senators did not press him on LGBTQ+ equality. Still, Patels alignment with the far right offers hints. He has helped spread conspiracy theories from QAnon, a movement that accuses high-profile Democrats and Hollywood elites of sexually abusing children the movements main narrative has anti-LGBTQ+ undertones. As a Trump loyalist who has called himself a member of Donald Trumps army, its likely that Patel supports Trumps platform and allies, including their general opposition to LGBTQ+ rights. He has also echoed rhetoric used by anti-LGBTQ+ activists under the banner of fighting woke policies. Same-sex marriageThere is no known public comment from Kash Patel regarding marriage equality or LGBTQ+ relationships. He has not voiced opposition to Obergefell v. Hodges (the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage), nor has he expressed support. As FBI director, Patel is not directly involved in marriage policy, but his silence is noteworthy. Given his track record of toeing the Trump line, it is unlikely Patel would champion any proactive LGBTQ+ inclusion measures. At best, he might maintain the status quo; at worst, advocates fear he would look the other way if the administration or conservative states sought to erode those rights. Transgender participation in sportsPatel has no recorded statements on transgender inclusion in sports. However, the political camp he belongs to has made transgender athletes a target in recent years. Patel has spoken at the ReAwaken America Tour, a Christian Nationalist rally that has featured far-right figures who are opposed to trans people and LGBTQ+ civil rights. These figures have frequently argued that the rights of female trans people threaten women and girls in sports. As FBI director, Patel doesnt set sports policy, but his attitudes could influence how the bureau handles related civil rights complaints or cases involving discrimination. Transgender bathrooms and health carePatel has not publicly commented on whether trans individuals should be allowed to use restrooms matching their gender identity or on gender-affirming care. However, his social media engagement and political associations include figures and platforms that promote anti-trans rhetoric. As a board member of Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, Patel has promoted QAnon-aligned content and overseen the spread of conspiracy theories on the social network that are often invoked to justify anti-trans legislation. LGBTQ+ advocates worry that a Patel-led FBI may be less inclined to investigate threats against trans people or clinics providing gender-affirming care. LGBTQ+ content in schoolsPatel has criticized the FBI and DOJ for what he describes as targeting parents who oppose woke education policies. Parents who have the courage to ensure their children are taught what they feel is right and those who have the courage and conviction to go to houses of worship in my book will never be domestic terrorists, Patel said during his Senate confirmation hearing. His comment referred to past statements from the Biden Administration condemning threats made by parents against school board members amid parents rights protests about opposed to LGBTQ+ content and trans-inclusive policies in schools. His position mirrors talking points from groups like Moms for Liberty that push Dont Say Gay-style policies. While Patel did not specifically name LGBTQ+ content, his language aligns with efforts to remove LGBTQ+ themes from public education. Discrimination protectionsDuring his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel pledged to investigate anti-Catholic bias, condemning an FBI report on Catholic extremists who have espoused violence against abortion providers.His promise to protect Catholics aligns with the Trump Administrations promise to provide legal protections for Christians who discriminate against LGBTQ+ couples and individuals. The 2024 Republican National Platformpromises to To protect Religious Liberty, Republicans support a new Federal Task Force on Fighting Anti-Christian Bias that will investigate all forms of illegal discrimination, harassment, and persecution against Christians in America.The platform also repeatedly mentions that Leftists should be removed from government. It also promises, Republicans will use existing Federal Law to keep foreign Christian-hating Communists, Marxists, and Socialists out of America. Historically, pro-LGBTQ+ allies have been mischaracterized as members of these groups in order to stigmatize and persecute them. A critical outlookKash Patels tenure as FBI Director is only beginning, but its potential impact on LGBTQ+ rights and civil liberties is already a source of intense concern. Objectively, Patel brings experience as a prosecutor and intelligence aide, and he has promised to rebuild trust in the FBI and enforce laws without bias. However, his record and alliances paint a different picture, one of a highly partisan figure who has openly threatened to wield federal power against enemies and who stays silent (at best) on LGBTQ+ equality.Under Patels leadership, the FBI could undergo a dramatic shift in priorities. Trump has made clear he expects his appointees to shake up agencies he deems disloyal. For the FBI, that could mean pulling back on investigations that the MAGA right dislikes, for example, probes into white nationalist domestic terrorism or hate crimes, and ramping up investigations of Trumps political opponents under the guise of law and order.Patel himself has advocated punishing officials involved in the Trump Russia probe and even suggested stripping security clearances from career civil servants who opposed Trump. Civil libertarians like the ACLU warn that Patel appears eager to use the FBIs authority as a political tool to attack journalists, dissidents, and civil servants with differing views. If those fears bear out, LGBTQ+ activists could easily find themselves on that enemies list, especially those speaking against the administrations anti-LGBTQ+ policies.Ultimately, Kash Patels legacy will be judged by whether he uses the immense power of the FBI to safeguard the civil liberties of everyone, including LGBTQ+ people, or to settle political scores.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.

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WASHINGTONWarning that America could not afford to fall behind in gourd-based innovation, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued a statement Tuesday demanding that U.S. farmers invent five new melons by Friday. Our nation cannot keep coasting along on the same old watermelons and cantaloupes forever without losing its standing on the world stage, said Rollins, adding that any farmer who did not send her a list of workable concept melons by the end of the week would permanently lose eligibility for government subsidies. We need a new killer melon to stay on top in the trade wars to come, and we need it to blow the sweet, round melons of other countries out of the water. The Japanese already have cube melons, for Gods sake. Whats next for us? A savory melon you can steam meat inside? Or some kind of triangle melon? Or how about a lot of tiny little melons you eat by the handfuls, like grapes? Farmers, youve got three days to lock in and figure out whats in the fruit salad of the future. And dont just pitch us muskmelons again. We already know about those. At press time, Rollins added that if Chinese farmers developed some sort of talking melon before the U.S. did, it would be game over for American cultural hegemony.The post Agriculture Secretary Demands U.S. Farmers Invent 5 New Melons By Friday appeared first on The Onion.

The National Park Service will restore the toppled statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington, D.C., despite local leaders calling for its permanent removal. What do you think?This administration loves the arts.Rebecca OConnell, Shampoo BottlerWhat a waste of a perfectly good toppling.Eli Traber, Pelican AppraiserPeople need to get over the fact that the Union lost the war already.Howie Carrillo, Labyrinth DocentThe post Confederate Statue Toppled During Black Lives Matter Protest Reinstalled appeared first on The Onion.

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Fusco married Demers in a beautiful ceremony Sunday, so the state kicked her off the medical assistance program that made her cancer treatments affordable.The post Andrea Fusco And Glenn Demers appeared first on The Onion.

REDWOOD CITY, CAArguing that this was, in fact, the most responsible thing he could do given how expensive poultry products had become, your dumbest friend, 43-year-old Jared Welty, told reporters Friday hed just bought 20 chickens.Okay, so I read up on it, and I realized it would be completely crazy for me not to go online and buy a whole bunch of baby chicks, said Welty, who despite having zero experience in animal husbandry, agriculture, or even raising basic house pets like cats or dogs, decided to dive headfirst into an idiotic plan to construct a chicken coop in his 300-square-foot backyard and fill it with an entire flock of hens. Hear me out. One dozen eggs costs $12. But one chick costs $3. So for the cost of one dozen eggs, I get [a physically, mentally, and financially draining project that will ultimately ruin my life and make me wish I had never started it in the first place]. Its a no-brainer!Welty, who will reportedly contract bird flu from his chickens and die a slow, painful death, added that he was excited to be able to give eggs to all his friends.The post Dumbest Friend Just Bought 20 Chickens appeared first on The Onion.

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