'Perfect Storm': How Trump's Aid Cuts Are Fueling the Ebola Outbreak One health provider who works on the ground says that basic medical equipment like masks and hand sanitizers are in short supply due to funding cuts. As an Ebola outbreak rages in central and East Africa, public health workers say that the response has been stymied by the Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid and global health organizations. "We are no longer able to get some supplies," Amadou Bocoum, Democratic Republic of Congo country director for the anti-poverty nonprofit CARE, tells WIRED. "Because of that, we are not able to react immediately." Bocoum says that basic medical equipment like masks and hand sanitizers, as well as components necessary for testing, are in short supply due to funding cuts.

Last week, standing in front of President Donald Trump's first Cabinet meeting, Elon Musk, the unelected billionaire running a blitzkrieg against the US government, acknowledged that he had made a mistake--that in going after the US Agency for International Development, the foreign assistance program that he has all but destroyed, he accidentally ended the Ebola prevention project it ran overseas. Musk claimed the error was quickly fixed and there was no interruption in service. But former and current USAID staff quickly told the Washington Post that Musk was wrong--the Ebola response remained sharply curtailed. And, as the Bulwark reported, Nicholas Enrich, the acting assistant administrator for global health at USAID, who was placed on administrative leave Sunday, had drafted an unfinished memo that predicted the demolition of USAID would lead to more than 28,000 cases of Ebola and related diseases, as well as a 28 to 32 percent increase in tuberculosis globally, up to 18 million cases of malaria (with up to 166,000 deaths annually), and an additional 200,000 cases of paralytic polio a year. Musk's assertion that his slash-and-burn assault on USAID had no negative impact on combating Ebola was disinformation. He was hiding the truth on a critical global health issue.

Elon Musk's rapid attempt to defund and depopulate the federal government has thrown US politics into chaos while the billionaire's so-called "department of government efficiency" seizes control of operations at key agencies. Carrying out this hostile takeover are a team of staffers made up of wealthy executives, far-right ideologues and young engineers that have come to make up Doge. At government institutions such as the treasury department, General Services Administration and United States Agency for International Development, Musk's allies have gained access to computer systems, including the sensitive personal data and payment information of tens of millions of Americans. His team is working to shut down USAid, the world's largest single supplier of humanitarian aid, and members have been spotted at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Education and National Institutes of Health. To undertake this unprecedented and potentially illegal gutting of public funding, Musk has assembled loyalists who largely lack government experience and who range from tech elites to Maga diehards, according to a review of the people publicly associated with Doge.

Since declaring his support for Donald Trump in July of last year and subsequently spending more than 250m on his re-election effort, Elon Musk has rapidly accumulated political influence and positioned himself at the heart of the new administration. Now as prominent as the president himself, Musk has begun to make use of that power, making decisions that could affect the health of millions of people, gaining access to highly sensitive personal data, and attacking anyone who opposes him. Musk, the world's richest man and an unelected official, has achieved an astonishing level of power over the federal government. Over the weekend, workers with Musk's "department of government efficiency" (Doge) clashed with civil servants over demands for unfettered access to the computer systems of major US government agencies in a breakneck series of confrontations. When the dust settled, several top officials who opposed the takeover had been pushed out, and Musk's allies had gained control. Musk, with the backing of Trump, is now working to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAid) – the world's largest single supplier of humanitarian aid.

Much has been said about the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to transform how we live, work, and interact with each other. But we must also draw attention to a less discussed, but equally important, question -- do we have the skills required to develop AI inclusively and use it responsibly? AI adoption is accelerating, and the overall market is expected to be worth $190 billion by 2025. By 2030, AI technology will add $15.7 trillion to global gross domestic product (GDP). AI is everywhere -- whether we're aware of it or not.

"It's about saving as many lives as we possibly can," Tim Wood said. Wood spoke to Industrious en route to a meeting with USAID about its Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management project, implemented by Chemonics, a development contractor, and a consortium of partners, including IBM. Getting bed nets, HIV medication and other health supplies from medical storage facilities in Washington DC to remote parts of Africa is no small feat. But Wood, a global supply chain VP at IBM, and his GHSC-PSM consortium partners are doing just that. Global supply chains are crucial to any business or operation.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, although still relatively new concepts, are garnering a vast amount of interest in international development across sectors and geographies. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Center for Digital Development (CDD)'s Strategy & Research (S&R) team published a report in 2018, "Reflecting the Past, Shaping the Future: Making AI work for International Development", based on extensive research on this rapidly growing field. USAID would like to translate the report's recommendations into an actionable format so the lessons and good practices are accessible to USAID program staff and implementing partners that may have limited familiarity with, nor time, to devote to the topic. Today, the Digital Frontiers team has released a request for proposals (RFP) for qualified firms to work with Digital Frontiers and USAID's S&R team to create a modular, field-ready guidance product that translates findings from the report into concise, practical guidance for USAID staff and partners. Photo courtesy: Save the Children.

The deadliest animal on Earth, by far, is the mosquito. Millions of people die annually from mosquito-borne illnesses, and many of those diseases can't be cured with drugs. It's best to avoid being bitten in the first place, but this is becoming more difficult as the insects expand their range, migrating north with warming climates. For decades, government agencies and nonprofit organizations have tried to prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases in developing countries by spraying large areas with insecticides. But that process is expensive, especially as mosquitoes develop resistance to commonly used chemicals. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has begun to look for other mosquito control methods.