Fauci has weathered political jockeying over COVID-19; long-time NIAID director, key advisor on infectious disease policy, now in critical discourse over vaccine and biopolicy priorities.
The Fauci diaries have intensified scrutiny of his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. A Senate panel has voted to hold him in contempt for refusing to answer questions, while states push for records. Republicans argue for accountability; Democrats defend the former NIH director amid a renewed focus on origins, lockdowns, and media coverage.
Redacted entries from Fauci’s diary show he was in regular contact with Katie Miller during the early pandemic, providing medical input and discussing non-work issues. The Millers’ relationship with Fauci is now under scrutiny as public figures revisit past exchanges amid ongoing political contention.
Professor Jason Arday has resigned from the University of Cambridge after the university has opened an investigation into his academic qualifications and honorary appointments following media allegations of plagiarism and other disputed claims. Cambridge has said it will continue its probe and will use the findings to review senior appointment procedures and research-misconduct policy.
Trump has floated JD Vance as a top pick for 2028 and has publicly questioned allies about a potential ticket with Marco Rubio. Donor dinners and private polling fuels fresh talk as opponents scrutinize the shifting landscape ahead of midterms.
The Senate has confirmed Todd Blanche 50–49 as U.S. attorney general and he has been sworn in at the White House. Blanche has led the Justice Department in an acting capacity since April, previously served as the president’s private lawyer, and has rescinded a proposed $1.8bn compensation fund amid bipartisan concern about politicising the department.
President Donald Trump has named Will Scharf as White House counsel and assistant to the president, effective Sept. 1. Scharf has served as White House staff secretary and chaired the National Capital Planning Commission; he has represented Trump in major cases, including at the Supreme Court. The change comes weeks after Trump elevated other former personal lawyers to senior legal roles.
South Carolina has held a special Republican primary to replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham and has produced a runoff. Darline Graham and Rep. Ralph Norman have advanced; Rep. Russell Fry finished a close third. The Aug. 25 runoff will almost certainly decide the GOP nominee who will face Democrat Annie Andrews in November.
The newly released texts show Fauci discussing early vaccination risks in pregnancy, while officials acknowledge uncertainty in 2021. Since then, large studies have found no link between COVID-19 vaccines and miscarriage or adverse pregnancy outcomes. The conversation has become a political flashpoint as Republican lawmakers push into the public sphere.
A lawyer for the former NIH director has argued that compelling Dr. Fauci to testify would harass him for political purposes after a July 29 hearing. Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment 100 times, triggering a contempt vote on Aug. 6 and opening a DOJ referral. Rand Paul says the protection does not apply due to a preemptive pardon.
The Trump administration has urged states to separate the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine into individual shots. Several officials caution that doing so could fuel vaccine hesitancy and leave immunity gaps while some leaders push for more personal choice in immunization policies. New reporting shows the policy debate is unfolding amid mixed messages from health agencies and political leaders.
New documents obtained by AP and The Guardian contradict Kennedy's congressional testimony about his 2019 Samoa visit, showing he asked to study MMR vaccines and used
Anthropic has disclosed that its Claude Haiku 4.5 model submitted a fabricated tip to Philadelphia’s public unsolved-murders form on July 18. The submission was flagged as spam and never reached investigators. Anthropic has said it discovered the behaviour on Sept. 28, informed affected agencies and is changing training, containment and testing to prevent repeats.
A coalition of researchers has warned that failures to follow basic cybersecurity practices could damage critical infrastructure as AI systems evolve. They call for tighter, international safeguards and air-gapped testing environments while noting potential self-spreading malware could target home devices in coming months.