News Digest

A Proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, 2024 | The White House   In 2022, I established a new inter-agency group to counter Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination within the United States.  Last May, my Administration released the first-ever United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which outlines more than 100 new actions we are taking to raise awareness of Antisemitism, protect Jewish communities, counter Antisemitic discrimination, and build solidarity across diverse communities.  We are also developing the first-ever United States National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Related Forms of Bias and Discrimination in the United States, which will address the scourge of hate against Muslims in America.  The strategy will also address hate against Sikh, South Asian, and Arab American communities, among others.  Meanwhile, we continue to work with all communities to identify, prevent, and disrupt threats. ...

  New Business Applications Reach Record 16 Million Under Biden-Harris Administration Today, Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and the voice in President Biden’s Cabinet for America’s more than 33 million small businesses, celebrated new Census data showing a record-breaking 5.5 million new business applications were filed in 2023 alone, making it the strongest year of new business applications on record and the third consecutive year of historic small business growth. Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, the United States has experienced the first, second, and third strongest years of new business application rates on record.  

  What to Know About the Science of Reading - The New York Times (nytimes.com)   During an era of intense politicization of education, there has been rare bipartisan consensus on one issue: the need to overhaul how children learn to read.     Over the past five years, more than 40 states have passed laws that aim to revamp literacy instruction. And on Wednesday, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced a proposal to require schools to use “scientifically proven” reading curriculums by 2025, and to invest $10 million in retraining teachers.     The effort sweeping the country is known as the science of reading movement. Here’s what to know about it, and where it stands.  

  Earth Was Due for Another Year of Record Warmth. But This Warm? Earth is finishing up its warmest year in the past 174 years, and very likely the past 125,000.     Unyielding heat waves broiled Phoenix and Argentina. Wildfires raged across Canada. Flooding in Libya killed thousands. Wintertime ice cover in the dark seas around Antarctica was at unprecedented lows.     This year’s global temperatures did not just beat prior records. They left them in the dust. From June through November, the mercury spent month after month soaring off the charts. December’s temperatures have largely remained above normal: Much of the Northeastern United States is expecting springlike conditions this week.     That is why scientists are already sifting through evidence — from oceans, volcanic eruptions, even pollution from cargo ships — to see whether this year might reveal something new about the climate and what we are doing to it.  

  China targets US infrastructure through cyber attacks: Report (newsnationnow.com)   A new report claims China has been initiating more  cyber attacks  and has a greater plan to cripple the U.S. through hacking.     The report from the Washington Post reveals alleged state-sponsored Chinese hackers may have breached more than two dozen systems over the past year alone.     Experts believe this could be part of the country’s long game to distract, or worse, infect American commerce and infrastructure if a conflict erupts over Taiwan.     The hackers are allegedly targeting critical infrastructure such as water utility in Hawaii, a port on the West Coast and some oil and gas pipelines, the report said.     Chinese hackers have even been accused of trying to bust into the Texas power grid over the past summer, according to the Washington Post.     American cyber security officials believe some of this activity is part o...

Progress and Impact of U.S. Government Investments in Global Health Security - Report 2022 The National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan for Countering Biological Threats, Enhancing Pandemic Preparedness, and Achieving Global Health Security (NBS)1 (2022) sets out a bold goal for the U.S. government efforts in global health security, to build demonstrated capacity across at least five technical areas in at least 50 countries and to catalyze a matching level of progress in another 50 countries. Demonstrated capacity is defined as achieving a level four on the World Health Organization (WHO) Joint External Evaluation (JEE) scale or 80 percent achievement on the WHO’s International Health Regulations Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (IHR MEF), or comparable level on other appropriate health security assessments. To reach this target the U.S. government emphasizes whole-of-government and whole-of-society efforts to build capacity at regional, national, and subnational levels ...

The 2023 U.S. economy, in a dozen charts  

Statement by U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm on 2023 EV Sales   "Today, I'm delighted to celebrate a milestone for American consumers and manufacturers: In 2023, more than 1.4 million electric vehicles were sold in the United States — a 50% increase in one year. And since President Biden took office, EV sales have more than quadrupled, with more than four million EVs on the road. "  

Critical Infrastructure Is Sinking Along the US East Coast | WIRED   Last year, scientists reported that the US Atlantic Coast is dropping by several millimeters annually, with some areas, like Delaware, notching figures several times that rate. So just as the seas are rising, the land along the eastern seaboard is sinking, greatly compounding the hazard for coastal communities.     In a  followup  study just published in the journal PNAS Nexus, the researchers tally up the mounting costs of subsidence—due to settling, groundwater extraction, and other factors—for those communities and their infrastructure. Using satellite measurements, they have found that up to 74,000 square kilometers (29,000 square miles) of the Atlantic Coast are exposed to subsidence of up to 2 millimeters (0.079 inches) a year, affecting up to 14 million people and 6 million properties. And over 3,700 square kilometers along the Atlantic Coast are sinking more than 5 millimeters annually....

DOE Announces Up to $70 Million to Strengthen Energy Sector Against Physical and Cyber Hazards The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced up to $70 million in funding to support research into technologies designed to increase resilience and reduce risks to energy delivery infrastructure from a variety of hazards, including cyber and physical threats, natural disasters, and climate-change fueled extreme weather events. This new competitive funding opportunity will be available to public and private sector stakeholders, universities, and DOE’s National Laboratories and will help advance next-generation innovations that strengthen the resilience of America’s energy systems, which include the power grid, electric utilities, pipelines, and renewable energy generation sources like wind or solar. Today’s announcement reinforces the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to build strong and secure energy infrastructure across the country, which is key to bolstering America’s energy...