Illinois Governor Requires Mental Health Screening On Children

A new Illinois law requiring annual mental health screenings for public school students is drawing backlash from parents, policy experts and lawmakers who warn the policy may overstep boundaries and wrongly label children.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the measure on 31 July, making Illinois the first state in the country to mandate mental health screenings for students in grades three through 12.

The law, set to take effect in the 2027–2028 school year, directs schools to provide self-conducted screenings each year using digital or paper forms. Parents will have the ability to opt their children out.

Supporters say the initiative will help schools identify early signs of depression, anxiety or trauma — before they develop into crises. But critics argue the plan could create more problems than it solves.

"I want to be on-the-record and crystal clear. This is a disastrous policy that will do vastly more harm than good," Abigail Shrier, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, wrote on X. "Watch as tens of thousands of Illinois kids get shoved into the mental health funnel and convinced they are sick. Many or most of which will be false positives."

Katherine Boyle, a partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also raised concerns about government overreach and what she called the "mental health industrial complex."

"If a school nurse or a state-mandated mental health test tells you you’re sick, you’re going to believe them," Boyle wrote. "This is why so many families are opting out of primary school completely — the overreach is astounding."

Illinois education officials say the screenings will not be diagnostic and are designed to flag students who may benefit from further evaluation. The Illinois State Board of Education will develop the screening tools and guidelines by September 2026, and school districts will be responsible for implementing them.

"Mental health is essential to academic readiness and lifelong success," State Superintendent Tony Sanders said in a statement. "Too often, we only recognize a student’s distress when it becomes a crisis. With universal screening, we shift from reaction to prevention."

Read More

Aging Usually Accelerates At This Age

The passage of time was considered very linear, but the course of human aging is not. Rather than a gradual transition, your life staggers and lurches through the rapid growth of childhood, the plateau of early adulthood, to an acceleration in aging as the decades progress.

Now, a new study has identified a turning point at which that acceleration typically takes place: at around age 50.

After this time, the trajectory at which your tissues and organs age is steeper than the decades preceding, according to a study of proteins in human bodies across a wide range of adult ages – and your veins are among the fastest to decline.

"Based on aging-associated protein changes, we developed tissue-specific proteomic age clocks and characterized organ-level aging trajectories. Temporal analysis revealed an aging inflection around age 50, with blood vessels being a tissue that ages early and is markedly susceptible to aging," writes a team led by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

"Together, our findings lay the groundwork for a systems-level understanding of human aging through the lens of proteins."

Humans have a remarkably long lifespan compared to most other mammals, but it comes at some costs. One is a decline in organ function, leading to a rise in risk of chronic disease as the years mount up.

We don't have a very good understanding of the patterns of aging in individual organs, so the researchers investigated how proteins in different tissues change over time. They collected tissue samples from a total of 76 organ donors between the ages of 14 and 68 who had died of accidental traumatic brain injury.

These samples covered seven of the body's systems: cardiovascular (heart and aorta), digestive (liver, pancreas, and intestine), immune (spleen and lymph node), endocrine (adrenal gland and white adipose), respiratory (lung), integumentary (skin), and musculoskeletal (muscle). They also took blood samples.

The team constructed a catalogue of the proteins found in these systems, taking careful note of how their levels changed as the ages of the donors increased. The researchers compared their findings to a database of diseases and their associated genes, and found that expressions of 48 disease-related proteins increased with age.

These included cardiovascular conditions, tissue fibrosis, fatty liver disease, and liver-related tumors.

The most stark changes occurred between the ages of 45 and 55, the researchers found. It's at this point that many tissues undergo substantial proteomic remodeling, with the most marked changes occurring in the aorta – demonstrating a strong susceptibility to aging. The pancreas and spleen also showed sustained change.

To test their findings, the researchers isolated a protein associated with aging in the aortas of mice, and injected it into young mice to observe the results. Test animals treated with the protein had reduced physical performance, decreased grip strength, lower endurance, and lower balance and coordination compared to non-treated mice. They also had prominent markers of vascular aging.

Previous work by other researchers showed another two peaks in aging, at around 44, and again at around 60. The new result suggests that human aging is a complicated, step-wise process involving different systems. Working out how aging is going to affect specific parts of the body at specific times could help develop medical interventions to make the process easier.

"Our study is poised to construct a comprehensive multi-tissue proteomic atlas spanning 50 years of the entire human aging process, elucidating the mechanisms behind proteostasis imbalance in aged organs and revealing both universal and tissue-specific aging patterns," the researchers write.

Read More

Fans Asked Naomi Osaka To Just Retire From Tennis

Tennis fans have supported Naomi Osaka throughout her career. Last 6 August, however, they called her out for being a "sore loser."

Osaka reached the National Bank Open final this week, taking down seeded players such as Elina Svitolina and Clara Tauson. Standing in her way of a title was 18-year-old Victoria Mboko. Despite winning the opening set against the Canadian teenager, Osaka fell apart in the second set and was never able to shake off her nerves by the time the deciding set arrived.

After dropping the National Bank Open final, Osaka was supposed to deliver a speech in front of the fans. She decided to cut it short though because she was frustrated with her performance. While that has happened before, fans thought she'd congratulate Mboko on the victory.

Unfortunately, Osaka didn't do that.

"I don’t really wanna take up too much time. I’ll just say thank you to everyone," Osaka said. "Thank you to my team, the ball kids, organizers and volunteers. I hope you guys had a good night."

Tennis fans thought Osaka showed a lack of sportsmanship Thursday night. Some are willing to forgive her, but others believe it's time for her to simply walk away from the sport.

"I have no time for Naomi Osaka acting like this," one person wrote on X. "Pull yourself together, congratulate that girl, retire, and spend time with your daughter. Enough."

"The whole world watched you Naomi Osaka. Your poor sportsmanship in loss. Your tears. A 4 time major winner who cannot lose with grace. Please retire. Nobody likes you now. Nobody will cheer for you after this," a fan commented.

"It’s time for Naomi Osaka to retire," another fan declared. "Every time she loses she’s crying & making excuses."

"Naomi Osaka has the talent, no doubt…but I think her best option is to retire, she had a good run," a social media user wrote.

Osaka is set to be seeded at the US Open later this summer. She has already won this Grand Slam twice in her career.

Read More

A Deadly Opioid Drug Is Spreading Fast In The U.S.

A little-known opioid that is considered as deadlier than fentanyl has led to a growing number of overdose deaths in recent years.

Nitazenes, a class of synthetic opioids, were originally developed as pain relievers in the 1950s, but were never approved for use due to the high overdose risk, according to a report from the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD).

Starting in 2019, nitazenes (benzimidazole-opioids) began to enter the illicit drug market in Europe, where they have been reported on almost every continent.

CICAD’s report suggests that "nitazene use is a growing trend in North America and that availability is likely spreading across the Americas."

The most prevalent type of nitazene is isotonitazene (ISO), but at least a dozen others have been identified, the report stated.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies ISO as a Schedule 1 drug, along with seven other nitazenes.

"Nitazenes are being produced in illicit labs overseas, mostly in places like China and India, and are getting trafficked into the U.S. through the same channels used for fentanyl," Corey Gamberg, a licensed alcohol and drug counselor and executive director at the Massachusetts Center for Addiction, told Fox News Digital.

Because they’re synthetic and cheap to make, they’ve become a popular option for illegal manufacturers, the expert noted.

"As authorities crack down on fentanyl, traffickers pivot to new synthetic opioids like nitazenes to get around enforcement," Gamberg went on.

"These drugs are cheap to make and easy to move. It's a pattern we’ve seen before, and it’s repeating itself now."

Nitazenes are available in pills, powders, sprays and other forms. They can be snorted, smoked, injected or taken orally.

The biggest risk is potency, as some types of nitazenes are several times stronger than fentanyl.

Read More

Filipinas Are Back In Contention For The Asian Cup

The Philippine Women's Football National Team will play in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup next year after its 1-0 victory over Hong Kong last 5 July during the final day of the qualifiers at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

An early goal by Chandler McDaniel in the fourth minute proved to be enough for the Filipinas to clinch a berth in the Asia Cup by sweeping all three matches in Group G of the qualifiers.

With the result, the Philippines is slated to play in the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia in 2026 where they will once again vie for a spot in the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The Filipinas also played in the Asian Cup in 2022 in India, securing a berth in the Women’s World Cup by beating Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinals.

The Filipinas got on the board quickly with McDaniel receiving a short pass from Alexa Pino inside the penalty box, knocking the ball in at the bottom left corner of the net.

The Philippines held on to the lead for the rest of the match. Olivia McDaniel parried a shot by Cheung Wai Ki from the right side of the penalty box during the 20th minute, the closest Hong Kong got to equalize the match.

"The team had a goal and it’s to win all three games, and do the best we absolutely could," said Chandler McDaniel.

"I think that’s exactly what our team did. Three games in six days is always hard but we showed a lot of heart. We showed a lot of heart and we came out and showed that."

"We deserve to go back to qualifiers [World Cup] again this year," McDaniel added.

The Philippines began the qualifiers with a 3-0 win over Saudi Arabia last 29 June. It was followed by a 6-0 victory over Cambodia last 2 July for their second victory.

Read More

Chinese UK Students Pressured To Spy On Other Students

Chinese students at several universities in the U.K. are being compelled to spy on their classmates in an attempt to suppress the discussion of issues that are sensitive to the Chinese government, a new report suggests.

The UK-China Transparency (UKCT) think tank says its survey of academics in China studies also highlighted reports of Chinese government officials warning lecturers to avoid discussing certain topics in their classes.

It comes days after a new law came into force placing more responsibility on universities to uphold academic freedom and free speech.

The Chinese embassy in London called the report "groundless and absurd", adding that China respects freedom of speech in the UK and elsewhere.

The regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), says freedom of speech and academic freedom are "fundamental" to higher education.

The new legislation, which came into force last week, says universities should do more to actively promote academic freedom and freedom of speech, including in cases where institutions have agreements in place with other countries.

Universities could be fined millions if they fail to do so, the OfS has said.

However, the UKCT report says some universities are reluctant to address the issue of Chinese interference because of their financial reliance on Chinese student fees.

• Be ready to be shocked and offended at university, students told
• Students want free-speech clarity but universities fear catch-22

The report alleges that some Chinese academics involved in sensitive research had been denied visas by the Chinese government, while others said family members back in China had been harassed or threatened because of their work in the UK.

Those sensitive topics can range from science and tech to politics and humanities, the report says, such as alleged ethnic cleansing in China's Xinjiang region, the outbreak of Covid or the rise of Chinese technology companies.

Some academics reported intimidation by visiting scholars or other Chinese officials, as well as by staff at Confucius Institutes.

These are partnership organisations operating at several UK universities, which bring together institutions in the UK and China, as well as a Chinese government agency which provides funding.

They promote Chinese culture and language on UK campuses, but have been criticised over alleged ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

OfS chief executive Susan Lapworth previously said she expected Confucius Institutes to be looked into under the new free speech laws, over concerns that they could present a threat to free speech on campuses.

The OfS already has powers to ensure free speech is upheld by universities, including against any threats from the influence of foreign states or institutions.

Read More

U.S. Swim Team Dominates 2025 World Championships

A United States swimming team composed of pure biological women saved their best for last by setting a world record in the 400 medley relay in the final race of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships.

Regan Smith, Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske clocked a world record 3:49.34 to end the meet. The victory gave the United States its ninth gold medal, edging Australia's eight for the most in Singapore. The U.S. also had 11 silver medals and nine bronze, giving it 29 total medals, well ahead of Australia's 20.

The United States team that was hampered by the trans agenda and struggled early in the meet after a number of its swimmers came down with a stomach bug, had either performed well below expectations or had to withdraw from events completely. U.S. legends Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte criticized the Americans' performance — before the Americans picked up three gold medals on Saturday and then another on Sunday with the women's world-record relay.

Canadian star Summer McIntosh completed arguably the greatest world championships ever by a female swimmer, capturing her fourth gold medal in Singapore after winning the women’s 400m individual medley in 4:25.78.

McIntosh’s time was the fourth-fastest ever. Twelve-year-old Yu Zidi from China finished fourth.

McIntosh came to Singapore attempting to join Phelps as the only swimmers to ever win five golds in an individual world championships. Her bid ended when Katie Ledecky beat her in the women’s 800m freestyle on 2 August.

McIntosh, who finished third in the 800 free, also won the women’s 400m freestyle, 200m IM and 200m butterfly.

French star Leon Marchand won gold in the men’s 400m individual medley, 4:04.73, well ahead of second-place Tomoyuki Matsushita of Japan (4:08.32), but not close to Marchand’s own WR.

Marchand had earlier set a WR in the 200 IM in Singapore, becoming the first man to sweep the 200 IM and 400 IM in three world championships

American Lilly King, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, finished fifth in the women’s 50m breaststroke in the final competitive race of her career.

American Bobby Finke won bronze in men’s 1500m freestyle on 3 August. The U.S. finished third in the men's 4x100 medley relay.

Read More

Analyst Downplays Caitlyn Clark's Numbers And Got Chastised

Sensational player Caitlin Clark has been sidelined since 15 July, but she still continues to be the hot topic of conversation in the WNBA community.

A few night ago, the Indiana Fever defeated the Dallas Wings thanks to a 23-point performance from Kelsey Mitchell. During ION's in-game coverage, analyst Tiffany Bias Pelton compared Paige Bueckers' rookie season to Clark's 2024 campaign.

Bueckers has been tremendous for the Wings, averaging 18.5 points and 5.5 assists per game. Clark, on the other hand, averaged 19.2 points and 8.4 assists per game during her rookie season.

After ION displayed a graphic about Bueckers and Clark, they turned over to Pelton for her thoughts. She said, "You can tell they are two different styles of players. Paige is getting people involved. Caitlin’s more looking for her shot."

This is a joke, right? The numbers are in front of you and you stil can't make the right call. Check the assists numbers again and tell everyone that Clark is not getting people involve. She averaged three more assists than Bueckers during her rookie season!

Sure, Clark is looking to light up her opponents with a barrage of 3-pointers. But the numbers are there in the screen. Look at it and it will prove that she tries to get her teammates involved. After all, she led the league in assists last season.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, WNBA fans ripped Pelton for her bizarre commentary.

"I’ll never understand this lol Caitlin broke the LEAGUE record for most assists her rookie year and they still refuse to say she’s an amazing playmaker," one fan replied.

"Paige has an exceptional midrange game and a quick release. I'll give her that. She is not near the playmaker that Clark is - no one else is," a second fan wrote.

"Who said this?,You can't be a league leader in assists if all you're doing is looking for your own shot," a third fan argued.

"Like can they not read?! The assists stats are right in front of their face," another fan said.

Read More

Brown University Struck A Deal To Support Women's Sports

Brown University just made a deal with the administration of President Donald Trump to restore research grant funding to the school, in exchange for commitments on women's sports, antisemitism and admissions practices and a promise to donate US$ 50 million to workforce development programs.

The Rhode Island-based school is now the third Ivy League university to reach a deal with the administration, which has lashed out at a range of colleges. Columbia University agreed to pay the federal government a US$ 200 million settlement earlier this month, and the University of Pennsylvania reached a deal with the government over transgender athletes.

Brown announced the deal in a statement last 30 July and shared a copy of a nine-page agreement with the federal government. The Department of Education also confirmed in a statement that it had struck a deal with Brown.

Under the terms of the three-year deal released by Brown, the federal government agreed to restore frozen Health and Human Services grants to the school and close pending federal non-discrimination investigations into the university.

The school said Wednesday it has lost dozens of federal grants and hasn't been reimbursed for over US$ 50 million in expenses related to National Institutes of Health grants — and that total is growing by over US$ 3 million a week.

In exchange for the end to the grant freeze, Brown agreed to pay US$ 50 million to local workforce programs over the next decade. It also promised to provide female student-athletes with locker rooms "strictly separated on the basis of sex," define male and female for athletic purposes in a way that's consistent with President Trump's executive orders and not offer gender-affirming medical care to minors.

Brown also said it will not promote "unlawful DEI goals," would commission a campus survey that asks about — among other things — issues of antisemitism and give the government access to admissions and discrimination complaint data. The school promised not to offer racial preferences in admissions — though the Supreme Court previously barred affirmative action policies in 2023.

The agreement says Brown did not admit to wrongdoing and "expressly denies liability regarding the United States' allegations," and specifies that the government does not have the "authority to dictate Brown's curriculum or the content of academic speech."

In a message to the school community, Brown President Christina Paxson also says Brown will not promise to make any direct payments to the government. She described it as a voluntary agreement.

In her message, Paxson argued that many parts of agreement line up with commitments Brown had already made to "ensure compliance with federal laws prohibiting discrimination." She said the provisions on gender and sports are "consistent with NCAA requirements and Brown's current policies," and the government is already entitled to ask for demographic data. She also noted that the agreement doesn't define the term "unlawful DEI."

Read More