The world is facing a “moral crisis” marked by rising authoritarianism, deepening inequality and a dangerous indifference to human suffering, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warns in a powerful address on human rights.
In the centre of war-torn Gaza, UN staff continue to work despite the “unprecedented” destruction and suffering around them, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Head of Office.
Russian aerial attacks continue to intensify across Ukraine, exacting a rising toll on civilians and infrastructure, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Friday, warning of mounting humanitarian needs amid faltering donor support.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The number 13 is unlucky for some people, but it might turn out to be a very lucky number for a sassy shelter sweetheart in Boone County.
Thirteen months ago, Cutie arrived at the Humane Society for Boone County. With her big heart and an even bigger personality, this spunky pup quickly became a staff favorite.
As the months passed and shelter visitors came and went, Cutie waited on her forever family to arrive. More than a year later, she’s she’s still waiting.
“She’s equal parts zoom queen and nap ninja, with the instincts of an explorer and the snuggle skills of a weighted blanket. She’s also suspiciously smart — like, ‘teach me a trick and I’ll one-up it for fun’ smart,” Alexis Durbin of Friends of the Humane Society for Boone County told News 8.
Cutie does well with other dogs, is crate-comfy, and would thrive in a home with adults and older kids who understand her vibe: go hard on the trail, then go soft on the couch. She loves playing in kiddie pools, making her the perfect companion on hot summer days.
Durbin says Cutie has stolen the hearts of everyone at the humane society, but it’s past time she steals someone’s heart for good:
Cutie isn’t just looking for any home — she’s ready for her people, those who know that sometimes, the very best dogs are the ones who’ve waited a little longer… and have way more love to give because of it.
Did we mention that this shelter sweetheart looks fantastic in a tutu?
“Come meet her,” Durbin said. “You might just change her life…and she’ll absolutely change yours!”
If you think Cutie would be a great addition to your family, email hsforbc@gmail.com to schedule a meet and greet.
(Provided Photos/Humane Society for Boone County)
SPEEDWAY, Ind (WISH) — An online content creator is setting the pace for women at the race track, bringing her series of fan meetups to NASCAR for the first time this weekend at the Brickyard 400.
Armed with a wrist full of friendship bracelets and the desire to meet more, Sarah Offenbach started to host meetups at IndyCar races last season.
Online, she goes by “Offey on Track.” A year and a half later she has nearly five thousand followers across different platforms and dozens of new friends in person.
She grew up around motorsports, and later married a racing engineer.
Offenbach spends a lot of time at racetracks supporting her husband. She took that time and her passion to start posting motorsports content online.
Along the way, she was waitlisted for tickets to Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour.
“I knew that I would miss out on the connection of trading the friendship bracelets,” Offenbach said. “So I brought friendship bracelets to a race and started passing them out just to whoever … a lot of guys were like, I don’t know what to do with this.”
Those connections turned into friendships. While she admits she didn’t set out to create a women-focused community — it quickly became one.
Now her meetups are a staple for many on race weekends.
She says the goal is to create a safe space to continue to grow the sport that she loves.
“That is very important to me, making sure everyone feels welcome and kind of teaching new fans, the ropes and how welcoming the community is. There are people that look like you and love this sport and are interested in being involved in the sport.”
As her husband’s career shifts gears, she’s now at more NASCAR races.
Other fans are stepping in to host meetups at the IndyCar events she can’t attend.
Chloe Amaro first met Offenbach at the St. Pete Grand Prix at one of her events. This weekend, she helped organize a meetup this weekend at the Monterry Grand Prix.
She says it’s great to see fans embrace the community they’ve created.
“We had somebody comment on a TikTok that said, like, ‘Hey, I’m going with my mom this weekend. Like, can I bring my mom?” Amora said. “‘Bring mom. We love moms. Come hang out.”
It’s a movement Offenbach hopes can continue to race forward for all.
“It warms my heart that there’s something people look forward to, other than just the race,” Offenbach said. “It’s a community aspect of it.”
This week, “Offey on Track” is hosting her first meetup at a NASCAR race for the Brickyard 400. It’s Sunday at 11 a.m. on Pagoda Plaza.”
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Today marks the deadline for young adults to register for the Indy Parks Corps, a program designed to help participants earn money, gain valuable experience, and contribute to their community – all at once.
The Corps offers those ages 18-to-24 years old an opportunity to earn up to $7,100 over a 12- to 15-week period while working a range of public service-based projects. Participants can also work for certifications that they can use for years to come in their professional and personal lives.
As one of the first people to go through the program, Mars Anderson-Wust earned OSHA 10, CPR, Stop the Bleed, and Mental Health First Aid training. “It was fantastic, just going park to park and seeing how everything runs. Phenomenal people work in the park system,” Anderson-Wust said in a visit with WISH-TV’s Daybreak. “If you’re ever considering being part of the program, would highly recommend it.’
The program initially launched last year as ‘Junior Park Ranger‘. Indy Parks rebranded as Indy Parks Corps to better align with its target demographic of young adults rather than children.
Anderson-Wust says participants do a wide range of work, from stocking shelves at food pantries, to picking peppers in the parks, to clearing trails – all with the goal of developing practical skills and encouraging a lifetime of community service experience.
“It’s a win-win for the city. It’s a win for the students that are participating,” said Marie Mackintosh, President and CEO of EmployIndy, highlighting the program’s benefits for both participants and the community. “I mean, that’s what makes my heart sing – the work that we do, for sure!”
This Friday marks the first observation of the International Day of Women and Girls of African Descent, following a declaration last year by the UN General Assembly.
The UN Security Council is meeting on Friday morning to discuss the situation in Ukraine amid mounting concerns over the intensifying hostilities and growing humanitarian needs. Senior UN political affairs and humanitarian officials are expected to brief the Council. Follow our live coverage from UN News, in coordination with UN Meetings Coverage, for updates from the chamber. UN News App users can follow here.
Read the full story, “SECURITY COUNCIL LIVE: Situation in Ukraine”, on globalissues.org →
(CNN) — Millions of dollars have been pulled from state and local vaccination programs with no explanation, after a review of the funding agreements by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Affected programs say they will probably have to cut staffers and services because of the shortfall, and they worry that vaccination rates will also drop as they lose the ability to assist people who are low-income or uninsured.
Immunization programs across the country are already struggling to address an increase in vaccine-preventable diseases. These include pertussis – also known as whooping cough – which has sickened more than 10,000 Americans and killed five children this year, as well as a smoldering outbreak of measles that has killed three people in the US and threatens to end the country’s elimination status.
“That’s the baffling part,” said one policy expert who spoke to CNN on the condition that they not be named for fear of government retaliation. “Why anyone would create this disruption in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in 30 years.”
Most money spent by states on vaccination comes from the federal government.
The grant money, which is appropriated by Congress under Section 317 of the Public Health Services Act, enables states, territories and some large cities to collect data on vaccination, as well as provide shots to underserved children and adults. The funds also help monitor the safety of vaccines and fight misinformation. The money is doled out in five-year grants overseen by US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the most recent awards were due to states on July 1.
This year, however, HHS conducted lengthy reviews of the awards, which delayed their arrival in some cases.
HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said the reviews were part of agency cost-cutting efforts.
“The Defend the Spend initiative is a department-wide effort to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being used effectively, transparently, and in alignment with this administration,” Nixon said in a statement to CNN. “As part of this oversight, grant recipients may be asked to provide additional information, which is essential to preventing waste, fraud, and abuse. HHS is committed to working all grantees to resolve outstanding issues as quickly as possible while maintaining the highest standards of accountability.”
Public health advocates say the latest funding cuts appear to be part of a larger pattern of efforts by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to disrupt and dismantle the America’s vaccination infrastructure.
“Millions of children missed their routine vaccinations during the pandemic,” and never caught back up said Dr. Caitlin Rivers, director of the Center for Response Outbreak Innovation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Vaccine hesitancy has also increased, driven by a deluge of misinformation, some of it now coming from official channels.
As a result, vaccination rates have dropped, and some communities are no longer protected by herd immunity, the threshold of vaccination required to prevent certain infectious diseases from easily spreading.
If state vaccination programs are not adequately resourced, “we’re just going to continue to fall further and further behind, and that sets the stage for things like measles and pertussis outbreaks, which we’re seeing,” Rivers said.
Public health programs often become victims of their own success, she said.
“When there is a large public health emergency … there are huge investments made in public health, because we can see very clearly what the consequences are of having inadequate resourcing and inadequate infrastructure. But over time, those investments begin to work, and the threats recede, and we start to forget why it’s so important to maintain those defenses,” Rivers said.
“And I think now, five years out of Covid, we’re very clearly in the neglect cycle, and we’re seeing a lot of the investments we made during the pandemic be pulled back,” she added.
Of 66 jurisdictions awarded federal immunization funding this year, about 40 received awards lower than their funding targets. And more than a dozen states and cities received lower awards this year than they did in 2019, just before the Covid-19 pandemic began, the last time these awards were offered through the CDC, according to a CNN analysis of federal data.
Massachusetts, New York, Indiana, California and Arizona were among those awarded less this year than in 2019, the year before the Covid-19 pandemic began.
“That’s really, really unbelievable to us,” said one public health advocate who asked not to be named for fear of political retaliation for speaking out against the cuts. “How could we come out of a pandemic with half of states being less prepared?”
Other states found that their awards were far lower than they’d been told to expect.
In January 2025, the CDC sent out a Notice of Funding Opportunity – essentially an invitation – to states, territories and certain large cities. It came with a funding target: the amount they could expect if their grant proposals were accepted.
Washington, for example, was told it could expect about $9.5 million, so the Department of Health planned for that amount for the 2026 fiscal year. When the state got its Notice of Award on July 1, however, it was for $7.8 million, an 18% reduction.
Massachusetts was told it could expect $7.7 million for the upcoming fiscal year, already a 20% reduction from its 2025 budget. When the award arrived, it was $1 million under the targeted amount, at $6.7 million, which means the department expects to operate with about 30% less funding next year than it has this year.
Colorado received almost $500,000 less than it expected, a decrease of about 5% from the amount it budgeted for, according to federal data
California, Illinois, Michigan and New York also received lower-than-expected funding awards, according to a CNN analysis of federal data.
Sometimes, the delays and errors in funding caused chaos: At least one state, Idaho, furloughed its immunization program staff with no notice after the money didn’t arrive when expected. When the award did come through a day later, they were put back to work, but medical providers who reached out in the interim to submit their regular data updates had no one to help them and didn’t know when services would be restored.
The cuts didn’t just affect state health departments. The city of New Haven, Connecticut, had to lay off immunization positions that were supported by subawards it receives from the state grant. When the grant didn’t arrive in time, the state directed the city not to incur any more expenses, and when the federal money did come through, it was 20% less than anticipated.
Chicago is also preparing to lay off immunization workers, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the city’s plans, who asked not to be named because they feared retaliation by the Trump administration.
Not all awardees saw reductions, however. About two dozen jurisdictions, including Alabama, Idaho and Wyoming and Montana, got significant funding increases over their award targets for this year.
State officials who spoke to CNN for this story say they were given no explanation for why the awards were reduced or increased this cycle.
The cuts come on top of the loss of billions in unspent Covid relief funding that was being used by states, in part, to help staff immunization programs. In late March, HHS directed the CDC to roll back about $11.4 billion in Covid-era funding granted to state and local health departments. Another $1 billion was reclaimed from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
A survey conducted by the Association of Immunization Managers found that the Covid money clawback alone has led to the elimination 579 staff positions in state vaccination programs.
After the new grant cuts, some jurisdictions said they would probably need to lay off even more workers but were trying to assess the changes that would be needed. Some programs said they hoped state funding could help fill the gaps.
In the past, the funding amounts that jurisdictions were told they could expect have been determined by a relatively simple formula that primarily relied on an area’s population.
This year, however, federal officials deployed a more complicated formula that took into account population levels as well as how much of a state was rural and how many providers participate in the Vaccines for Children program compared with the overall population, according to a public health advocate familiar with the awards who asked not to be named for fear of political retaliation.
Immunization programs were told they could expect about $418 million in funding. All told, what they were awarded totaled roughly $398 million.
Changes to the funding formula don’t appear to account for the reductions, however. The formula was applied to the target amounts that were distributed in January.
Instead, changes to the awards came after the HHS review, which in some cases delayed the release of the money and left programs hanging.
Hawaii, for example, received authorization to borrow up to $100,000 from the state government to pay salaries and cover operational expenses until its award came through, about two weeks late.
Public health advocates blasted the funding decision.
“Stripping 317 waiver funds combined with other losses is starving state and local public health budgets and is not just short-sighted, it’s reckless,” said Dr. Brian Castrucci, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit deBeaumont Foundation, which advocates for the public health workforce.
“We’re watching the deliberate dismantling of the public health safety net in real time,” Castrucci said.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — U.S. Postal Service wants your input on the re-release of its next stamp.
One of 25 stamps will be released again, in honor of the organization’s 250th anniversary. Which one depends on whatever stamp get the most votes.
The Postal Service says stamp options are some of the bestselling and most popular stamps. They include Mickey Mouse, Wonder Woman, Mr. Rogers, Bugs Bunny and many more.
Voting is open through Sept. 30, both online and by mail. USPS says you can view the official rules and vote online at stampsforever.com/vote, or print a paper ballot from the website and mail it in.
USPS says it plans to announce the winning stamp design in May 2026 at the Boston 2026 World Expo to coincide with America’s 250th anniversary celebrations.
