WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 [Category: Sociological] -- The Council on American-Islamic Relations posted the following news release: * * * CAIR-LA Welcomes Rep. Judy Chu's Reintroduction of NO BAN Act to Prevent Religion-Based Travel Bans, Calls on Congress to Support Bill The Greater Los Angeles Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-LA) today welcomed California Representative Judy Chu's reintroduction of a bill that aims to prevent the Trump administration, and any future ad  more

LA JOLLA, California, Feb. 7 -- The Scripps Research Institute issued the following news: * * * Collaboration awards enable scientists to design new medicines, more precisely edit DNA and fight drug-resistant bacteria Scripps Research announces its 2024 recipients of Collaborative Innovation Fund grants. LA JOLLA, CA--Scripps Research is proud to announce the recipients of its Collaborative Innovation Fund (CIF) grants for 2024. These awards aim to empower three multidisciplinary teams in th  more

SAN FRANCISCO, California, Feb. 7 -- Common Sense Media issued the following news release: * * * Common Sense Media Makes The Case for Phone-Free Classrooms: Evidence and Action SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 6, 2025 -- Common Sense Media today announced its strong support for state-and district-led initiatives that promote phone-free classrooms and digital literacy education to improve overall student well-being and to help students develop healthy tech habits. Research reveals that 72% of high school   more

SAN FRANCISCO, California, Feb. 6 [Category: Environment] -- Earthjustice posted the following news release: * * * Earthjustice Blasts Blatant Partisan Attack on Critical DOJ Environmental Division Washington, D.C. -- This week, President Donald Trump gutted the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) of the U.S. Department of Justice. The ENRD represents the government's interests in environmental cases. Its apolitical career civil servants offer tremendous skill and expertise in  more

JOSHUA TREE, California, Feb. 7 -- The Mojave Desert Land Trust issued the following news release: * * * Mojave Desert Land Trust statement on Secretarial Order 3418, Unleashing American Energy On February 3, 2025, Secretary of the Department of the Interior Doug Bergum issued Secretarial Order 3418, Unleashing American Energy. While the order primarily concerns energy development regulation rollbacks, it also orders a 15-day internal review of our country's national monuments and other Burea  more

SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 7 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on Feb. 3, 2025, to Just Security: * * * What DeepSeek Really Changes About AI Competition By Konstantin F. Pilz and Lennart Heim The Initial Shock Just months ago, China seemed far behind the frontier AI advances being made in the United States. Two new models from DeepSeek have shattered that perception: Its V3 model matches GPT-4's performance while reportedly using just a fraction of the training compute.   more

SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 7 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on Feb. 4, 2025, to Los Angeles Times: * * * After the Assad Regime's Fall, Will Syrian Refugees Return? By Shelly Culbertson and Louay Constant The sudden fall of Syria's Assad regime in early December has raised an important question: Can the 6 million who became refugees during the 14-year civil war now go home? Officials in Turkey, Austria, Denmark, and Bulgaria have started publicly discussing plans to rep  more

SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 7 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on Feb. 3, 2025, to The Conversation: * * * By Sara Hughes and Michael T. Wilson Water scarcity is often viewed as an issue for the arid American West, but the U.S. Northeast's experience in 2024 shows how severe droughts can occur in just about any part of the country. Cities in the Northeast experienced record-breaking drought conditions in the second half of 2024 after a hot, dry summer in many areas. Wildfi  more

SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 7 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on Feb. 5, 2025, to The Wire China: * * * DeepSeek's Lesson: America Needs Smarter Export Controls By Ashley Lin and Lennart Heim Last December, the Chinese AI firm DeepSeek reported training a GPT-4-level model for just $5.6 million, challenging assumptions about the resources needed for frontier AI development. This perceived cost reduction, and DeepSeek's cut-rate pricing for its advanced reasoning model R1,  more

SANTA MONICA, California, Feb. 7 (TNSres) -- Rand issued the following commentary on Feb. 6, 2025: * * * Is the Polar Silk Road a Highway or Is It at an Impasse? China's Arctic Policy Seven Years On By Stephanie Pezard and Abbie Tingstad January 26 marked seven years since China released its first public Arctic policy (PDF)--a policy in which it famously described itself as a "Near-Arctic State." At the time of its release, this white paper was perceived as a clear indication of China's desi  more

BOULDER, Colorado, Feb. 7 -- The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association issued the following news: * * * Seven states named to new higher education Basic Needs Academy The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO) kicked off a new Basic Needs Academy this week, focused on supporting states in expanding data capacity and developing policy infrastructure for integrating and using basic needs information in state postsecondary data systems. Seven states - Ariz  more

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 -- Public Citizen issued the following news release on Feb. 7, 2025: * * * Student Association Files Lawsuit Against Department of Education Over Illegal DOGE Data Access WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Representing the University of California Student Association, Student Defense and Public Citizen Litigation Group filed a lawsuit today against the Department of Education for sharing confidential student data with the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). On February   more

MONROVIA, California, Feb. 7 -- World Vision International issued the following news release: * * * Syria's humanitarian crisis, Turkey recovery, two years after the earthquake Press Release, 06 February 2025- Two years have passed since the devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck northwest Syria and southern Turkiye, leaving much destruction and lives impacted in its wake. In Syria alone, nearly 6,000 lives were lost, and almost 13,000 people were injured, and critical infrastructur  more