Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · 16d

RFK Jr, whose whole platform is based around tackling the environmental causes of chronic diseases, whose supporters see as the only one willing to stand up to powerful financial interests damaging health, says the UN declaration on taxing alcohol, sugary drinks etc goes 'too far'

BREAKING: UN Declaration On Noncommunicable Diseases Fails To Win Approval After US Foils Consensus - Health Policy Watch

NEW YORK CITY - A painstakingly negotiated Political Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases with overwhelming support from UN member states failed to win

healthpolicy-watch.news

2

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · 24d

would be keen to chat to you about this for an article in The Independent - [email protected] . thank you!

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Sep 5

Trump's aid cuts have left at least 16 countries in Africa running out of essential contraception.

In three countries I've identified, contraceptive methods have already gone out of stock, leaving women facing abuse and turning to unsafe alternatives.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Exclusive: Trump’s aid cuts leave 16 countries running out of key contraception

Exclusive: At least three countries are already out of some contraceptive methods – with more set to follow suit – leaving women vulnerable to high risk pregnancies and unsafe abortions, writes Rachel...

www.independent.co.uk

3

Reposted by Rachel Schraer

Tom Roberts @tpgroberts.bsky.social · Sep 4

Just for a second, take a step back, and remember that these are the actions of a 56 year old man towards a 17 year old girl.

He and Brooks met at a Battle of Ideas conference on 19 October when the scriptwriter “approached her with his phone, recording her and calling her a groomer, and asking how many she had groomed”, the prosecution said.

Brooks subsequently called out to Linehan outside the venue and asked him why he had called her a “domestic terrorist”.

Julia Faure Walker, for the prosecution, said: “At this point Mr Linehan could’ve explained why he had called her a domestic terrorist, if indeed he had an explanation, or even ignored her … rather he responded in a way which is indicative of his extreme personal animosity towards her.

“He said ‘go away groomer’, ‘go away you disgusting incel’. He called her a ‘sissy porn-watching scumbag’… He deliberately whacked the phone out of Ms Brooks’s hand.”

88 1.5K 4.5K

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Sep 4

+ watch Bel Trew's film on the devastating effects of cutting family planning www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/trum... + read her powerful reporting www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

2 4

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Sep 4

Read the report here www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

2

Reposted by Rachel Schraer

The Independent @the-independent.com · Sep 4

WATCH: Mission Aborted: Trump’s War on Maternal Care

Mission Aborted: Trump’s War on Maternal Care

In the opening moments of his presidency, Donald Trump made dramatic and sweeping cuts to US international aid. His main target: family planning programs worldwide. The president even wrongly accused ...

www.independent.co.uk

1 9

Reposted by Rachel Schraer

The Independent @the-independent.com · Sep 4

Countries across Africa are running out of contraceptives.

3 4 14

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Sep 4

In Tanzania, shortages of contraceptives are limiting women's choices and driving them to less effective methods, according to @msichoices.org and risking a spike in unintended pregnancies - and deaths

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Sep 4

In Kenya, for eg, some of the most popular types of contraception (implants and injections) have completely run out in health facilities. These were favoured for their discreet nature - women are, "not always in a position to negotiate for safe sex,” Lawreen Sakini at @rhnkorg.bsky.social tells me

1 1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Sep 4

Exclusive from me today: Countries across Africa are running out of contraception because of US aid cuts, with at least three having already run out of key methods leaving women vulnerable to unsafe abortion and abuse www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Exclusive: Trump’s aid cuts leave 16 countries running out of key contraception

Exclusive: At least three countries are already out of some contraceptive methods – with more set to follow suit – leaving women vulnerable to high risk pregnancies and unsafe abortions, writes Rachel...

www.independent.co.uk

1 1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 22

Find this use of the term 'deep state' so so fascinating, bearing in mind it originally described policies and actions taken secretly outside of the official system of checks and balances. Means seems to be using it to describe that very system of checks - the fact the pres can't do w/e he likes

1 2

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 22

It gets lost in the far right attacks on the hotels that no one involved in refugee support and solidarity thinks the hotels are a good idea - all major charities who argue for more safe routes also argue for an end to housing asylum-seekers in hotels

2 5

Reposted by Rachel Schraer

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · Aug 22

The thing you don’t see about lengthy libel cases like this is the mental impact on witnesses - and on news outlets’ willingness to do similar stories.

Respect to all the women who chose to go to court to defend this story - plus Sirin Kale, Lucy Osborne, Paul Lewis and the Guardian team.

Henry Dyer @direthoughts.com · Aug 22

The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by the actor Noel Clarke over an investigation by the newspaper in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women.

www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...

Noel Clarke loses libel case against Guardian over sexual misconduct investigation

High court rejects actor’s claim that accusations against him by more than 20 women were false and part of a conspiracy

www.theguardian.com

13 140 650

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 22

(+ it's obviously so circumstantial but there's plenty of evidence deplatforming people who spread disinformation reduces their influence. Milo Yiannopoulos is often given as the classic example. Tommy Robinson was one but has obviously massively bounced back, partly bc of Telegram)

1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 22

they do! Bizarrely it's often the first-line anti-malarial offered to pregnant people

1 1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 22

Babies used to die on the bumpy road from Mahama refugee camp, Rwanda, to the nearest hospital. A fully-operational @savethechildren.org maternity clinic saved lives, but now the centre faces closures because of US aid cuts www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Inside the life-saving maternity ward at risk from Trump’s aid cuts

The health centre in Rwanda’s Mahama refugee camp delivers a thousand babies a year and without it, women face giving birth on the rough road to the nearest hospital. Rachel Schraer hears from the do...

www.independent.co.uk

1 2 4

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 19

Could direct cash transfers be part of the answer to shrinking aid budgets? www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Giving mothers cash before they give birth could halve infant mortality, study finds

Households given a one-off payment of $1,000 dollars saw infant mortality drop by almost 50 per cent

www.independent.co.uk

1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 19

love the en dash, fear the em dash

Eric Smith @ericsmithrocks.bsky.social · Aug 16

People posting about how they’ve never seen em dashes used before the rise of ChatGPT are really great at telling folks they’ve never read a book before.

1 2

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 18

thanks pal x

1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 18

1. we must find it
2. I'm reminded of Charlie Brooker's Aural Contraceptive playlist open.spotify.com/playlist/2uz...

Aural Contraceptive

Playlist · charliebrooker · 45 items · 7.5K saves

open.spotify.com

1

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 18

Delighted to have been shortlisted for podcast of the year for my BBC Radio 4/ BBC Sounds doc on the Lightning Process, the misleading treatment preying on long Covid patients and telling them their illness is in their minds #MJAAwards

Medical Journalists' Association @mja-uk.bsky.social · Aug 15

🚨 Finalists for the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards are revealed today. #mjaawards mjauk.org/2025/08/15/f...

Finalists for the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards are announced. Winners revealed at the awards ceremony on September 17

mjauk.org

1 1 6

Reposted by Rachel Schraer

Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · Aug 8

After asking ChatGPT what to eat instead of salt, a man slowly poisoned himself over course of 3 months and gave himself a psychiatric illness that was common in the 19th century, according to a new medical case study:

www.404media.co/guy-gives-hi...

Guy Gives Himself 19th Century Psychiatric Illness After Consulting With ChatGPT

"For 3 months, he had replaced sodium chloride with sodium bromide obtained from the internet after consultation with ChatGPT."

www.404media.co

45 340 900

Reposted by Rachel Schraer

Elizabeth Jacobs, PhD @elizabethjacobs.bsky.social · Aug 6

On his decision to end $500M worth of research on mRNA vaccines, RFK Jr. said:

“The the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”.

These vaccines saved 3.2M lives in the U.S.

He is running a disinformation op against Americans.

93 710 2K

Rachel Schraer @rachelschraer.bsky.social · Aug 6

Why are they naming all these American detention facilities like pro wrestlers? www.newsweek.com/indiana-prep...

Indiana prepping "Speedway Slammer" similar to "Alligator Alcatraz"

DHS is preparing another ICE detention facility as deportation efforts continue.

www.newsweek.com

1