Senators Criticize Trump Administration’s Demands to Access Health Data as a Condition for Lifesaving Aid by Sharon Lerner and Anna Maria Barry-Jester August 19, 2026, 6:00 am

Senators Criticize Trump Administration’s Demands to Access Health Data as a Condition for Lifesaving Aid Citing ProPublica’s reporting, eight senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio questioning the administration’s approach to foreign health data. They said it could set an “alarming precedent.” by Sharon Lerner and Anna Maria Barry-Jester August 19, 2026, 6:00 am https://www.propublica.org/article/senators-letter-health-data-africa-humanitarian-aid?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river

Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs. by Patricia Callahan August 18, 2026, 5:00 am

Measles Used to Be in Our Rearview Mirror. Now Cases Are Reaching Record Highs. In other parts of the world that have let their guard down to vaccine-preventable diseases, long-forgotten scourges have roared back and killed and disabled children. by Patricia Callahan August 18, 2026, 5:00 am https://www.propublica.org/article/measles-cases-vaccines?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=river

Clean Air Act: Dismantling One of the Country’s Bedrock Environmental Laws Join us for a discussion about the rollback of the Clean Air Act and what it means for public health in communities across America. Aug 25 4:00pm–5:00pm EDT

Clean Air Act: Dismantling One of the Country’s Bedrock Environmental Laws Join us for a discussion about the rollback of the Clean Air Act and what it means for public health in communities across America. Aug 25 4:00pm–5:00pm EDT https://events.propublica.org/clean-air/big-story Shortly after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, political appointees at the Environmental Protection Agency announced the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history.” Foundational environmental laws, rules and regulations that for decades had been used to clean up the nation’s air and waterways, protect its plants and animals, and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions were suddenly on the chopping block. Amid the deregulatory flurry, the administration set up an inbox within the EPA where executives who run chemical plants, coal power stations, copper smelters and other factories could email to request a temporary exemption to Clean Air Act rules. The president said it was a matter of national security because disruptions to the affected industries could interrupt supply chains. EPA staff and others disagreed. No rigorous application was necessary, no public comment, no EPA oversight — all it took was an email sent to that EPA inbox stating your case, which was passed to the White House for approval. ProPublica obtained thousands of pages of EPA communications that told the inside story of how quickly and sloppily the Trump administration received, processed and accepted these requests. As of mid-July, the administration had granted Clean Air Act exemptions to about 200 polluting facilities across 39 states and Puerto Rico, issuing its decisions in presidential proclamations full of typos and errors. In one case, a factory that doesn’t appear to exist received an exemption. The factories and plants that were given a temporary pass on Clean Air Act rules, while scattered across the country, fall disproportionately in majority nonwhite neighborhoods, according to EPA and U.S. Census Bureau data collected by the Environmental Defense Fund. Roughly 250,000 people live within a mile of at least one of the exempted facilities. An EPA spokesperson told ProPublica that the agency “played no role” in the decisions and “any requests sent to the EPA’s electronic mailbox were forwarded to the White House.” A spokesperson for the White House said that the “exemptions were issued due to crushing Biden-era regulations that required large swaths of our industrial base to adopt technologies that don’t exist outside the imagination of Biden’s EPA bureaucrats.”

“That Guy Is Still Out There” by Joaquin Sapien June 30, 2026, 6:30 am

“That Guy Is Still Out There” Five years after Anthony Broadwater was belatedly cleared for the sexual assault of Alice Sebold, the questions of how he came to be wrongly convicted and how one or more serial rapists operated for years with little consequence have only deepened. by Joaquin Sapien June 30, 2026, 6:30 am https://www.propublica.org/article/alice-sebold-anthony-broadwater-rape-exoneration-syracuse?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=secondary ProPublica reporter Joaquin Sapien spent years investigating the rape of bestselling author Alice Sebold and the wrongful conviction of Anthony Broadwater, who spent 16 years in prison. As Sapien dug deeper into the case, he discovered numerous failures in the justice system whose consequences are still being felt today. The current district attorney of Syracuse, New York, where the rape happened, said in court that the prosecution “should never have happened.” Watch below to see Sapien break down the failures that led to a wrongful conviction, the questions that remain decades later and the lasting impact on everyone involved. https://www.propublica.org/people/joaquin-sapien

Do You Know About U.S. Military Spending? Help ProPublica Understand Where the Money Goes. by Jesse Coburn August 19, 2026, 5:00 am

Do You Know About U.S. Military Spending? Help ProPublica Understand Where the Money Goes. Many Pentagon projects face delays, budget increases and performance issues. The causes of these problems are often opaque to the taxpayers who foot the bill. Help point us to the most important stories. https://www.propublica.org/getinvolved/share-military-defense-spending-tips?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=secondary by Jesse Coburn August 19, 2026, 5:00 am

The $1 Trillion Black Box by Jesse Coburn and Ruth Talbot August 19, 2026, 5:00 am

The $1 Trillion Black Box The U.S. military budget is vast and opaque. Projects touted as engineering marvels end up facing years of delays and ballooning costs. ProPublica has launched a series to report on the Pentagon’s spending. by Jesse Coburn and Ruth Talbot August 19, 2026, 5:00 am https://www.propublica.org/article/military-defense-spending-budget-series?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=feature

Israel publishes internal war crimes probe, in first since October 7 Massacre ByYONAH JEREMY BOB AUGUST 19, 2026 14:00 Updated: AUGUST 19, 2026 17:00

Israel publishes internal war crimes probe, in first since October 7 Massacre The IDF examined five major cases, including the Islamic Red Crescent and the death of Hind Rajab, resulting in two criminal probes, two disciplinary probes, and the closure of one file. ByYONAH JEREMY BOB AUGUST 19, 2026 14:00 Updated: AUGUST 19, 2026 17:00 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-906005