Leading global law firm Baker McKenzie announced today that the New York office represented The Republic of Peru (the Republic) in both a Peruvian Soles-Denominated Sovereign Bond Offering and a Registered US Dollar-Denominated Bond Offering (both offerings totaling approximately USD 5.8 billion) and a related liability management transaction for several series of outstanding bonds.
The Soles-Denominated Sovereign Bond offering involved the issuance of S/10,000,000,000 (approximately USD 2.8 billion) of 6.850% Sol-Denominated Bonos Soberanos due 2035 (the Sovereign Bonds). S/1,205,456,000 (approximately USD 334 million) of the Sovereign Bonds were delivered in the form of Global Depositary Notes.
Concurrently with offering of Sovereign Bonds, the Republic conducted a liability management transaction in which it offered holders of four series of existing sovereign bonds the opportunity to exchange their existing bonds for the newly issued Sovereign Bonds or to tender their existing bonds for cash. The aggregate principal amount of sovereign bonds validly tendered and accepted in the exchange offers was approximately S/9.4 billion (approximately USD 2.6 billion) and the aggregate principal amount of sovereign bonds validly tendered and accepted in the cash tender offers was approximately S/2.8 billion (approximately USD 770 million). Due to significant interest in the exchange offer and cash tender offer, the actual amount of existing sovereign bonds validly tendered was subject to proration by the Republic, as a result of the tenders exceeding the maximum exchange amount and maximum purchase amount determined by the Republic.
Shortly following the conclusion of the offering of Sovereign Bonds, the Republic issued USD 1.6 billion of 5.500% US Dollar-Denominated Global Bonds Due 2036 and USD 1.4 billion of 6.200% U.S. Dollar-Denominated Global Bonds Due 2036 (the “US Dollar-Denominated Bonds”), each of which were registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Concurrently with offering of US Dollar-Denominated Bonds, the Republic conducted a liability management transaction in which it offered (i) holders of five series of existing US dollar-denominated bonds the opportunity to exchange their existing U.S. dollar-denominated bonds for the newly issued US Dollar-Denominated Bonds or to tender their existing US dollar-denominated bonds for cash and (ii) holders of two series of existing Euro-denominated bonds the opportunity to tender their existing Euro-denominated bonds for cash. The aggregate principal amount of outstanding US dollar-denominated bonds validly tendered and accepted in the exchange offers was approximately USD 516.7 million and the aggregate principal amount of outstanding US dollar-denominated bonds validly tendered and accepted in the cash tender offers was approximately USD 433.9 million. The aggregate principal amount of outstanding Euro-denominated bonds validly tendered and accepted in the cash tender offers was approximately EUR 229.8 million.
The transactions represent an important step in the Republic extending its debt maturity profile. BNP Paribas, Citigroup, HSBC and Santander acted as the underwriters and dealer managers.
Transactional Practice Group partners Mike Fitzgerald, Arturo Carrillo, Joy Gallup and Steven Sandretto led the Baker McKenzie team, which also included associates Alejandra Cuadra and Diego Aznar and Tax partners Thomas May and Kia Waxman.
Other law firms participating in this transaction included Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (as counsel to the underwriters and dealer managers), J&A Garrigues Perú S. Civil de R. L. (as Peruvian counsel to the Republic) and Estudio Rubio, Leguía, Normand y Asociados S. Civil de R. L. (as Peruvian counsel to the underwriters and dealer managers).
It’s a question many are asking after June’s devastating Air India crash, which killed at least 270 people. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India on 12 June.
“India’s skies have always been safe – in the past and even today,” said Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – India’s aviation safety regulator – in an interview with the BBC.
“If you look at global safety metrics, such as those published by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which track the number of accidents per million flights, India consistently performs better than the world average,” he said.
“There were only two years within the 2010–2024 period where we exceeded the global average – those were the years when major accidents occurred.”
In August 2020, Air India Express Flight 1344 crashed after skidding off a rain-soaked tabletop runway in Kozhikode, killing 21 people. A decade earlier, in May 2010, Flight 812 from Dubai overshot the runway in Mangalore and plunged into a gorge, leaving 158 dead. June’s Air India crash was the third such accident in the country in 15 years.
While such major accidents remain rare, recent headlines have raised fresh concerns. From a Delhi-Srinagar flight that hit severe turbulence, to growing reports of maintenance oversights and training shortfalls, questions around aviation safety are once again in focus.
The latest involved SpiceJet, India’s fourth-largest and longest-running low-cost airline.
The Economic Times newspaper found that the aviation regulator had recently summoned the airline’s leadership after a series of alarming findings – not from routine audits, but triggered by a British aviation firm.
The newspaper reported that it began earlier this year when two of SpiceJet’s De Havilland Q400 turboprops showed premature propeller failures. The airline alerted Dowty Propellers, a GE Aerospace-led UK manufacturer, which found damage to the internal bearings of the propellers.
Each propeller has bearings with two races, or rings or tracks. In this case, the inner race was damaged. Instead of addressing the root cause, SpiceJet “reportedly kept applying more grease to the [entire] unit instead of addressing the root cause”. Frustrated by the lack of corrective action, Dowty escalated the issue directly to India’s aviation regulator, the newspaper reported.
The DGCA’s own audit in April “revealed even more deficiencies, including snag occurrences”, the report said.
Mr Kidwai told the BBC that the “turboprop propeller issue came to our attention through one of SpiceJet’s maintenance organisations”.
“We took it up with SpiceJet and we ensured they took corrective action. We also found out that the senior management was not fully aware of the situation. We took action against the various post holders who were supposed to ensure compliance with the original equipment manufacturer and other regulations. We directed SpiceJet to remove them and suspend a few of them which they did,” he said.
More recently, Reuters reported that the aviation watchdog reprimanded Air India’s budget carrier in March for delaying mandatory engine part replacements on an Airbus A320 and falsifying records to show compliance.
Air India Express told the news agency it acknowledged the error to DGCA and undertook “remedial action and preventive measures”.
Mr Kidwai told the BBC that the information in this case came through “self-reporting by the airline”.
“I would not condone it [the lapses]. But [at least] we have started getting these reports. This came from the airline. Action has been taken in this case. In our audits we have mandated our people to be more alert and see whether there is any lapse and bring it to our attention.”
In May, an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar faced severe turbulence and hail about 45 minutes after takeoff.
The Airbus A321, carrying 222 passengers, reportedly encountered extreme vertical air currents – updrafts followed by downdrafts – that dislodged overhead bins and caused nose damage. The crew declared an emergency and safely landed at Srinagar with no injuries. The regulator launched an investigation, during which two pilots were grounded.
Mr Kidwai told the BBC that the regulator had now “refined” its guidelines for pilots flying in turbulent conditions.
For instance, if there’s significant cloud cover or any weather pattern that poses a risk – and “we’ve clearly defined what constitutes such a risk” – pilots are now required to take specific action a set number of nautical miles before reaching it, he said.
“This could include diverting, going around, or taking other appropriate steps.”
Since 2020, Indian domestic carriers have reported 2,461 technical faults, according to the federal civil aviation ministry data. IndiGo accounted for over half (1,288), followed by SpiceJet with 633, and Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express with 389 cases, as of January 2025.
“Reporting of snags by airlines has gone up. This is good,” Mr Kidwai said.
“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased about it. But I do see value in the growing culture of reporting [snags]. It’s far better for every snag to be brought to the attention of the authorities than keeping quiet and operating the aircraft.”
Mr Kidwai said with the number of flights increasing, it’s important to “see whether the turnaround time for flights is adequate for [maintenance] checks or not”.
To be sure, demands on the regulator have grown: India has emerged as the third-largest passenger aviation market in the world. Yet, over the past two years, the ministry of civil aviation has faced budget cuts, reflecting a reduced financial priority for the sector.
Today, the country’s scheduled carriers operate nearly 850 aircraft – a significant increase from around 400 just a decade ago.
The number of air passengers has more than doubled since 2014–15 – from 116 million to 239 million.
The number of commercial aerodromes has also seen a substantial rise – from around 60-70 a decade ago to nearly 130-140 today.
“In total, including both scheduled and non-scheduled operators, we now have 1,288 aircraft in operation. By the end of the decade, we are projected to operate over 2,000 aircraft,” Mr Kidwai said. (Non-scheduled operators include charter airlines, private jet operators, air taxis and helicopter services.)
So had the latest Air India crash dented the reputation of air travel in India? Mr Kidwai said the data didn’t point to that.
“We looked at the data to assess whether it had any impact on domestic or international operations. There was no significant drop in traffic. At most, we observed a very marginal dip for a short period, affecting both domestic and international flights, along with a few cancellations,” he told the BBC.
“It’s natural for people to feel anxious after such incidents. But over time, as more clarity emerges and the situation is better understood, that anxiety tends to subside. Time is a great healer.”
It’s a question many are asking after June’s devastating Air India crash, which killed at least 270 people. The London-bound Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner went down less than a minute after taking off from Ahmedabad airport in western India on 12 June.
“India’s skies have always been safe – in the past and even today,” said Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, the chief of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) – India’s aviation safety regulator – in an interview with the BBC.
“If you look at global safety metrics, such as those published by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which track the number of accidents per million flights, India consistently performs better than the world average,” he said.
“There were only two years within the 2010–2024 period where we exceeded the global average – those were the years when major accidents occurred.”
In August 2020, Air India Express Flight 1344 crashed after skidding off a rain-soaked tabletop runway in Kozhikode, killing 21 people. A decade earlier, in May 2010, Flight 812 from Dubai overshot the runway in Mangalore and plunged into a gorge, leaving 158 dead. June’s Air India crash was the third such accident in the country in 15 years.
While such major accidents remain rare, recent headlines have raised fresh concerns. From a Delhi-Srinagar flight that hit severe turbulence, to growing reports of maintenance oversights and training shortfalls, questions around aviation safety are once again in focus.
The latest involved SpiceJet, India’s fourth-largest and longest-running low-cost airline.
June’s devastating Air India crash killed at least 270 people in Ahmedabad [Getty Images]
The Economic Times newspaper found that the aviation regulator had recently summoned the airline’s leadership after a series of alarming findings – not from routine audits, but triggered by a British aviation firm.
The newspaper reported that it began earlier this year when two of SpiceJet’s De Havilland Q400 turboprops showed premature propeller failures. The airline alerted Dowty Propellers, a GE Aerospace-led UK manufacturer, which found damage to the internal bearings of the propellers.
Each propeller has bearings with two races, or rings or tracks. In this case, the inner race was damaged. Instead of addressing the root cause, SpiceJet “reportedly kept applying more grease to the [entire] unit instead of addressing the root cause”. Frustrated by the lack of corrective action, Dowty escalated the issue directly to India’s aviation regulator, the newspaper reported.
The DGCA’s own audit in April “revealed even more deficiencies, including snag occurrences”, the report said.
Mr Kidwai told the BBC that the “turboprop propeller issue came to our attention through one of SpiceJet’s maintenance organisations”.
“We took it up with SpiceJet and we ensured they took corrective action. We also found out that the senior management was not fully aware of the situation. We took action against the various post holders who were supposed to ensure compliance with the original equipment manufacturer and other regulations. We directed SpiceJet to remove them and suspend a few of them which they did,” he said.
More recently, Reuters reported that the aviation watchdog reprimanded Air India’s budget carrier in March for delaying mandatory engine part replacements on an Airbus A320 and falsifying records to show compliance.
Air India Express told the news agency it acknowledged the error to DGCA and undertook “remedial action and preventive measures”.
Mr Kidwai told the BBC that the information in this case came through “self-reporting by the airline”.
“I would not condone it [the lapses]. But [at least] we have started getting these reports. This came from the airline. Action has been taken in this case. In our audits we have mandated our people to be more alert and see whether there is any lapse and bring it to our attention.”
Since 2020, Indian domestic carriers have reported nearly 2,500 technical faults [Getty Images]
In May, an IndiGo flight from Delhi to Srinagar faced severe turbulence and hail about 45 minutes after takeoff.
The Airbus A321, carrying 222 passengers, reportedly encountered extreme vertical air currents – updrafts followed by downdrafts – that dislodged overhead bins and caused nose damage. The crew declared an emergency and safely landed at Srinagar with no injuries. The regulator launched an investigation, during which two pilots were grounded.
Mr Kidwai told the BBC that the regulator had now “refined” its guidelines for pilots flying in turbulent conditions.
For instance, if there’s significant cloud cover or any weather pattern that poses a risk – and “we’ve clearly defined what constitutes such a risk” – pilots are now required to take specific action a set number of nautical miles before reaching it, he said.
“This could include diverting, going around, or taking other appropriate steps.”
Since 2020, Indian domestic carriers have reported 2,461 technical faults, according to the federal civil aviation ministry data. IndiGo accounted for over half (1,288), followed by SpiceJet with 633, and Air India and its subsidiary Air India Express with 389 cases, as of January 2025.
“Reporting of snags by airlines has gone up. This is good,” Mr Kidwai said.
“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased about it. But I do see value in the growing culture of reporting [snags]. It’s far better for every snag to be brought to the attention of the authorities than keeping quiet and operating the aircraft.”
Mr Kidwai said with the number of flights increasing, it’s important to “see whether the turnaround time for flights is adequate for [maintenance] checks or not”.
To be sure, demands on the regulator have grown: India has emerged as the third-largest passenger aviation market in the world. Yet, over the past two years, the ministry of civil aviation has faced budget cuts, reflecting a reduced financial priority for the sector.
Today, the country’s scheduled carriers operate nearly 850 aircraft – a significant increase from around 400 just a decade ago.
The number of air passengers has more than doubled since 2014–15 – from 116 million to 239 million.
The number of commercial aerodromes has also seen a substantial rise – from around 60-70 a decade ago to nearly 130-140 today.
“In total, including both scheduled and non-scheduled operators, we now have 1,288 aircraft in operation. By the end of the decade, we are projected to operate over 2,000 aircraft,” Mr Kidwai said. (Non-scheduled operators include charter airlines, private jet operators, air taxis and helicopter services.)
So had the latest Air India crash dented the reputation of air travel in India? Mr Kidwai said the data didn’t point to that.
“We looked at the data to assess whether it had any impact on domestic or international operations. There was no significant drop in traffic. At most, we observed a very marginal dip for a short period, affecting both domestic and international flights, along with a few cancellations,” he told the BBC.
“It’s natural for people to feel anxious after such incidents. But over time, as more clarity emerges and the situation is better understood, that anxiety tends to subside. Time is a great healer.”
When aiming for stretchable, health-monitoring, skin-like sensor sheets materials with demanding properties are required: They need to be flexible, biocompatible, and electrically conductive at the same time. A research team at the Max Planck Institute for polymer research is tackling this complex task. In a recent study, the scientists present an innovative approach: Using a transfer-printing process, the conductive polymer PEDOT:PSS is modified via plasticizers that diffuse from the substrate into the polymer film. This significantly improves both the electrical conductivity and the stretchability of the material.
A deformable patch that measures the heart rate or detects biomarkers in the sweat and feels as soft and flexible as one’s own skin – such visions demand new material developments. To realize ideas like these, as well as wearable and skin-like electronics in general, materials that possess both high electrical conductivity and mechanical stretchability are required. A team of scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research led by Dr. Ulrike Kraft is currently working on this challenge. However, stretchability and electrical conductivity are often contradictory, which complicates the development of suitable materials, explains Ulrike Kraft, head of the Organic Bioelectronics Research Group.
In their current study, the researchers demonstrate how this conflicting objectives can be overcome through the targeted transfer of plasticizers from the substrate into the PEDOT:PSS polymer film. Their approach takes advantage of a transfer-printing process that enables the rapid, reliable, and straight forward transfer of conductive polymer films onto stretchable, biodegradable substrates. As a conducting polymer the particularly promising material PEDOT:PSS is used, which combines transparency, flexibility, and biocompatibility. “The plasticizers contained in the substrates diffuse into the conductive polymer, thereby improving both the electrical performance and the mechanical properties.”, explains Carla Volkert, doctoral student and first author of the study. The approach furthermore enables fundamental insights into the behavior of stretchable electronic materials. Combining various analytical methods—including electrical characterization, microscopic imaging, atomic force microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy—the researchers were able to gain new insights into the morphological and electronic changes of PEDOT:PSS under strain. Particularly noteworthy is the observed chain alignment of the polymer chains, which results in increased electrical conductivity under mechanical stress. Our method simultaneously improves the stretchability and electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS – an important step towards on-skin biosensors, explains Ulrike Kraft, head of the Organic Bioelectronics Research Group.
This work hence not only represents an important contribution to the fundamental understanding of soft, stretchable conductive materials, but also opens up new perspectives for the development of innovative technologies – from flexible electrodes for electrocardiograms (ECGs) to stretchable biosensors on the skin that can detect and monitor analytes such as stress hormones in sweat. The next aim will be the application of this new approach for the fabrication and characterization of stretchable biosensors.
Original publication
Carla Volkert, Mateusz Brzezinski, Pablo Gomez Argudo, Renan Colucci, Sapun H. Parekh, Pol Besenius, Jasper J. Michels, Ulrike Kraft; “Enhanced Electrical Performance and Stretchability by Plasticizer‐Facilitated PEDOT:PSS Self‐Alignment”; Advanced Science, 2025-5-8
Kelly Clarkson dealing with ‘insanely complicated’ turmoil
Kelly Clarkson is going through hidden battles that are hampering her mental health and career.
The singer, who cancelled her Las Vegas residency on July 4, is going through a dark phase in her life.
An insider tells Page Six: “She belts out every single note. She’s an incredibly powerful singer, but it takes its toll on her vocal cords and she’s come incredibly close to needing surgery before.
“She cannot risk damaging her cords further – she’s on thin ice.”
A second insider adds: “Kelly’s personal life is so insanely complicated…Kelly is fighting some serious hidden battles that very few people are privy to …it’s a source of emotional and therefore physical distress for her.”
For those of you harbouring the impression that a career in the Pakistani television industry equates to a thriving bank account, director and producer Mehreen Jabar is here to burst that bubble.
“Our drama industry has progressed a lot, and there has been a very high viewership,” conceded Mehreen during a virtual interview with Drama Pakistani. “But behind the scenes, there is a lot of compromise and this industry operates in a very unprofessional way. That is the sad part.”
The New York-based Ek Jhooti Love Story director, who has accrued a rich catalogue of work over her three-decade career, lamented that actors and crew have a constant struggle extracting payments out of Pakistani production houses.
“You know, in the US, they have many problems, but over there, payment schedules are kept. You know you will be paid,” she illustrated. “But in Pakistan, with every channel and production house (and yes, some are better than others), you have to chase them like beggars, asking when you will be paid.”
Mehreen confirmed that this is not an issue limited to just actors. “Everyone faces this, from actors to the spot boy to the director,” maintained the filmmaker. “There is no system. You ask anyone, and you will get thousands of stories about payment issues.”
The director noted that in this shambolic set-up, it is the behind-the-scenes crew members who pay the biggest price. “If you compare the salaries of our light men and crew (because you have to make things in a certain budget), what they are paid, it is very low,” rued Mehreen. “There is no union here, so no one can really fight for their rights – but they are the ones who work the hardest […] I don’t know how this cycle will ever break.”
The director elaborated that owing to this frustrating state of affairs in the Pakistani entertainment industry, taking on a project in her country of origin has proved to be a largely unrewarding experience.
“It’s very frustrating to be shooting in Pakistan sometimes. The smoothest in my experience has been either a short series, because those end in about 35 days, or if a brand is involved,” she mused. “Which is the sad thing, because our drama industry is the biggest industry media wise, since we have no films and our musicians are strugglings. So our TV industry has to find a way to make the behind the scenes environment better!”
Mehreen, however, has limited hopes of a radical industry change. “I’ve been working for 30 years now, and sometimes I feel the issues I faced then still exist today. In fact maybe they are even worse!”
As a matter of cost-efficiency, NASA spacesuits are designed to fit crew members of various sizes, regardless of gender. But in 2019, the sudden postponement of what was advertised as the “first all-female spacewalk,” due to spacesuit availability, became a rallying point for gender parity activists. Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton even tweeted “Make another suit.”
Making a new mission-ready spacesuit is a complex technical feat more akin to designing a car than sewing a garment. Called “Extravehicular Mobility Units,” the spacesuits worn outside a spacecraft essentially work as wearable life-support systems.
Axiom Space, a privately-owned space infrastructure developer, has been working on NASA’s next generation spacesuits for several years, building on a prototype unveiled by the US space agency in 2019. Designers behind the Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit (AxEMU) say the suit considers female sizing with greater nuance.
“We are accommodating a wider range of people than we have in the past,” said Tammy Radford, a design lead in Axiom’s spacesuit program, in a phone interview with CNN. “Typically, women are of smaller stature in the percentile range, and we want to include more of them.” NASA uses the anthropomorphic standards data published by the US Army to determine sizing, like many design initiatives. With an outer layer developed in collaboration with Prada, Axiom’s suit employs a modular system of interchangeable components, so a crew member with, say, a short torso and longer legs can still have a well-fitted suit.
NASA has yet to announce the crew for Artemis III mission, but the AeXMU could be worn by the first woman on the moon should a female astronaut be selected.
In 2023, Axiom also worked with costume designer Esther Marquis to create a spacesuit cover (its exterior look) to promote its initial research. Marquis said the project later informed her designs for the Apple TV+ science fiction series, “For All Mankind.” “The Season 4 suit was designed along the modular idea, allowing us greater flexibility to accommodate for a smaller frame,” Marquis explained in an email to CNN, adding: “As technology progresses, we will see these components get smaller and weigh less allowing the suit to have greater flexibility and better fit. I am keen to address the female shape in a more comprehensive way as the show moves past current technology.”
Cuts in U.S. funding for HIV prevention programs are already having a notable effect that could result in an increasing number of HIV infections and deaths, unraveling decades of progress, according to research findings presented at a press conference today in advance of the International AIDS Society (IAS) meeting next week in Kigali, Rwanda.
In Johannesburg, South Africa, after termination in February 2025 of a grant funded through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), HIV testing decreased by 8.5% during the first quarter of 2025 compared with the first quarter of 2024, according to findings presented by Khensani Chauke of the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health in Pretoria. Over the same time period, HIV diagnoses declined by 31% and initiation of antiretroviral therapy (ART) by 30%.
In Mozambique, February 2024 to February 2025 comparisons showed a 25% reduction in ART initiation, from approximately 22,000 to 17,000, according to a news release summarizing research that is scheduled to be presented at the IAS meeting, known formally as the 13th IAS Conference on HIV Science. The same research showed that those being treated for AIDS, there was a 38% in reduction in tests of viral loads and similar decrease in test results received, according to the news release. The 2024-to-2025 decreases were larger among children: a 44% reduction in viral load testing and a 71% decrease in test results received.
Anna Grimsrud, Ph.D., M.D., a technical adviser to IAS who spoke on behalf of the Mozambique study team at the press conference, said that modeling shows that if the current trends continue, new HIV infections will increase 15% in Mozambique by 2030 and deaths related to AIDS will climb by 10%.
“These findings underscore that stability in funding is essential for maintaining HIV delivery gains,” Grimsrud said at the press conference. “Even short-term interruptions create measurable effects on service access and, ultimately, health outcomes.”
Jack Stone, Ph.D., an associate professor at the University of Bristol, said that the foreign aid freeze and subsequent waiver have meant a pause in U.S. funding for preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for everybody in sub-Saharan Africa except pregnant and breastfeeding women. Stone said that PEPFAR funding had supported 90% of PrEP initiations. His research focused on what he termed “key groups” that are marginalized and are at heightened risk of acquiring HIV: men who have sex with men, female sex workers, transgender women, and people who inject drugs. According to Stone, at the end of last year, PEPFAR was providing PrEP to approximately 720,000 individuals who were not pregnant or breastfeeding in 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Of that number, 200,000 were from the key population groups he mentioned. Stone said his mathematical model shows that the removal of PEPFAR’s provision of PrEP over one year would result in 6,700 new HIV infections among those who would have been on PrEP were it not for the PEPFAR cuts. Factoring in secondary transmission, Stone said the model shows that a one-year pause of PEPFAR-based prep would result in 10,000 additional HIV infections over the next five years.
Not just Africa
Although the cutback in PEPFAR funding has mainly affected African countries and programs, the Trump administration’s shuttering of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has affected HIV treatment and prevention programs elsewhere. Meg Stevenson, M.S.P.H., a senior research data analyst at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, presented findings of a survey of HIV organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean that showed 21 of the 24 organizations that received U.S. funding, directly and indirectly, had had their funding suspended. On average, the U.S. funding had accounted for about half of the organizations’ funding. Stevenson said the loss of USAID funding to these organizations translated into a loss of HIV treatment and prevention services for 150,000 people.
Beatriz Grinsztejn, the IAS president and a leading HIV/AIDS researcher in Brazil, began the press conference with observations about the paradoxical times in which the IAS meeting is taking place. “We are witnessing scientific breakthroughs that could transform prevention and treatment and even bring us closer to a cure,” she said. “On the other hand, these very advances are under threat from massive funding cuts that risk stalling clinical trials, slowing our progressand jeopardizing the progress we have fought so hard to achieve.”
Funding cuts threaten to undermine the HIV infrastructure that has brought the world to a promising point in the HIV response, Grinsztejn said. “Millions of lives and decades of progress hang in the balance.”
Zackie Achmat, a South African AIDS activist and a member of the Global HIV Treatment Coalition, spoke about the HIV epidemic being “so close, so close to being ended.”
Achmat added, “And yet, today we sit with 20 million people in Africa on death row, placed there by an authoritarian regime, that of Donald Trump, the criminally convicted president of the United States.”
Achmat said the debt service of African countries is more than double the amount that the U.S. gives in foreign aid, exclusive of the money it sends to Israel and Ukraine. He called on China, Brazil, India and Thailand to do more to support HIV prevention and treatment efforts on the continent.
Instagram users have told the BBC of the “extreme stress” of having their accounts banned after being wrongly accused by the platform of breaching its rules on child sexual exploitation.
The BBC has been in touch with three people who were told by parent company Meta that their accounts were being permanently disabled, only to have them reinstated shortly after their cases were highlighted to journalists.
“I’ve lost endless hours of sleep, felt isolated. It’s been horrible, not to mention having an accusation like that over my head,” one of the men told BBC News.
Meta declined to comment.
BBC News has been contacted by more than 100 people who claim to have been wrongly banned by Meta.
Some talk of a loss of earnings after being locked out of their business pages, while others highlight the pain of no longer having access to years of pictures and memories. Many point to the impact it has had on their mental health.
Over 27,000 people have signed a petition that accuses Meta’s moderation system, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), of falsely banning accounts and then having an appeal process that is unfit for purpose.
Thousands of people are also in Reddit forums dedicated to the subject, and many users have posted on social media about being banned.
Meta has previously acknowledged a problem with Facebook Groups but denied its platforms were more widely affected.
‘Outrageous and vile’
The BBC has changed the names of the people in this piece to protect their identities.
David, from Aberdeen in Scotland, was suspended from Instagram on 4 June. He was told he had not followed Meta’s community standards on child sexual exploitation, abuse and nudity.
He appealed that day, and was then permanently disabled on Instagram and his associated Facebook and Facebook Messenger accounts.
David found a Reddit thread, where many others were posting that they had also been wrongly banned over child sexual exploitation.
“We have lost years of memories, in my case over 10 years of messages, photos and posts – due to a completely outrageous and vile accusation,” he told BBC News.
He said Meta was “an embarrassment”, with AI-generated replies and templated responses to his questions. He still has no idea why his account was banned.
“I’ve lost endless hours of sleep, extreme stress, felt isolated. It’s been horrible, not to mention having an accusation like that over my head.
“Although you can speak to people on Reddit, it is hard to go and speak to a family member or a colleague. They probably don’t know the context that there is a ban wave going on.”
The BBC raised David’s case to Meta on 3 July, as one of a number of people who claimed to have been wrongly banned over child sexual exploitation. Within hours, his account was reinstated.
In a message sent to David, and seen by the BBC, the tech giant said: “We’re sorry that we’ve got this wrong, and that you weren’t able to use Instagram for a while. Sometimes, we need to take action to help keep our community safe.”
“It is a massive weight off my shoulders,” said David.
Faisal was banned from Instagram on 6 June over alleged child sexual exploitation and, like David, found his Facebook account suspended too.
The student from London is embarking on a career in the creative arts, and was starting to earn money via commissions on his Instagram page when it was suspended. He appealed after feeling he had done nothing wrong, and then his account was then banned a few minutes later.
He told BBC News: “I don’t know what to do and I’m really upset.
“[Meta] falsely accuse me of a crime that I have never done, which also damages my mental state and health and it has put me into pure isolation throughout the past month.”
His case was also raised with Meta by the BBC on 3 July. About five hours later, his accounts were reinstated. He received the exact same email as David, with the apology from Meta.
He told BBC News he was “quite relieved” after hearing the news. “I am trying to limit my time on Instagram now.”
Faisal said he remained upset over the incident, and is now worried the account ban might come up if any background checks are made on him.
A third user Salim told BBC News that he also had accounts falsely banned for child sexual exploitation violations.
He highlighted his case to journalists, stating that appeals are “largely ignored”, business accounts were being affected, and AI was “labelling ordinary people as criminal abusers”.
Almost a week after he was banned, his Instagram and Facebook accounts were reinstated.
What’s gone wrong?
When asked by BBC News, Meta declined to comment on the cases of David, Faisal, and Salim, and did not answer questions about whether it had a problem with wrongly accusing users of child abuse offences.
It seems in one part of the world, however, it has acknowledged there is a wider issue.
The BBC has learned that the chair of the Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee at the National Assembly in South Korea, said last month that Meta had acknowledged the possibility of wrongful suspensions for people in her country.
Dr Carolina Are, a blogger and researcher at Northumbria University into social media moderation, said it was hard to know what the root of the problem was because Meta was not being open about it.
However, she suggested it could be due to recent changes to the wording of some its community guidelines and an ongoing lack of a workable appeal process.
“Meta often don’t explain what it is that triggered the deletion. We are not privy to what went wrong with the algorithm,” she told BBC News.
In a previous statement, Meta said: “We take action on accounts that violate our policies, and people can appeal if they think we’ve made a mistake.”
Meta, in common with all big technology firms, have come under increased pressure in recent years from regulators and authorities to make their platforms safe spaces.
Meta told the BBC it used a combination of people and technology to find and remove accounts that broke its rules, and was not aware of a spike in erroneous account suspension.
Meta says its child sexual exploitation policy relates to children and “non-real depictions with a human likeness”, such as art, content generated by AI or fictional characters.
Meta also told the BBC a few weeks ago it uses technology to identify potentially suspicious behaviours, such as adult accounts being reported by teen accounts, or adults repeatedly searching for “harmful” terms.
Meta states that when it becomes aware of “apparent child exploitation”, it reports it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in the US. NCMEC told BBC News it makes all of those reports available to law enforcement around the world.
TĀMAKI MAKAURAU AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND (Jul 9, 2025) – Manchester based musician Freak Slug – the project of Xenya Genovese – will be welcoming audiences in Pōneke Wellington and Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland into her dreamy indie-pop world this October. Freak Slug performs at San Fran on October 20th and The Tuning Fork on October 21st with her Big Candles tour.
Tickets will be available to purchase by the General Public on Friday 11 July at 10:00am local time.
My Live Nation members will also be able to secure tickets during the presale which commences Thursday 10th July from 10:00am local time. Fans can register for access at livenation.co.nz.
The name ‘Freak Slug’ encapsulates Xenya’s artistic world perversely and perfectly. Known for following the beat of her own drum, Xenya’s releases under the name Freak Slug so far include debut 2020 EP Videos and its viral hit Radio (23 million streams and counting), and follow-up EPs I’m In Love (2022) and Viva La Vulva (2023). Having shown listeners her more “summery, happy sound”, she then delivered a more grungy-feel with debut album I Blow Out Big Candles, furthermore pushing the diversity of her sound.
Hugely influenced by ‘90s cult heroes including Ride, Mazzy Star and Stephen Malkmus, Freak Slug is all about hitting a mood. Everything that fuels her creative output is raw, authentic, sometimes weird, but always totally true self-expression. I Blow Out Big Candles is a strong statement of all of this and more. Down there, picking through the curious mix of sounds and feelings, from nostalgic, ‘90s-influenced and dreamy as well as eccentric and experimental, lives Freak Slug. The 10-track project gives listeners a taste of what they will be in for at her Aotearoa shows, a journey of both soft soulfulness and sonic songwriting, all laid out on the table.
I Blow Out Big Candles is as fearless a record as Xenya herself and was met with features and reviews throughout some of the most prestigious radio and media platforms in the United Kingdom. With her 4 piece band, Freak Slug has performed at SXSW Austin – and was the most searched UK artist at the 2025 edition – alongside many other showcases and festivals. Earlier this year Freak Slug completed her Big Candles tour of the US, CA, UK and EU taking in 40 cities including sold out dates in LA, Chicago, Seattle, London, Paris and Amsterdam, she also has a busy summer of festivals festival with a headline slot on the alcove stage at Latitude.
FREAK SLUG BIG CANDLES TOUR NEW ZEALAND, OCTOBER 2025
San Fran, Wellington Monday, 20 October
Tuning Fork, Auckland Tuesday, 21 October
Live Nation Presale: Thursday, July 10th, 10am (local) General Sale: Friday, July 11th, 10am (local) For complete tour & ticket information, visit: livenation.co.nz
