🇹🇳 Turmoil in Tunisia

Image: Encyclopædia Britannica

Tunisia was thrown into turmoil this week after its president suspended parliament, seized executive power, and cracked down on recent public protests, citing concerns over public violence.

📜 Blast from the past... In late 2010, protests in Tunisia led to the overthrow of longtime autocratic leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and the establishment of free and democratic elections.

• The North African country's protests inspired similar pro-democracy actions throughout the Arab world – a chain reaction commonly known as the Arab Spring.
• Tunisia was the only democracy to emerge from the uprisings.

📉 Recent struggles... Tunisia entered the pandemic with slow growth, rising debt levels, and an unemployment rate of 15%, per the World Bank.

• The country's GDP contracted by 8.8% in 2020, while unemployment rose to 17.8% in Q1 2021 (including over 40% among 15-24 year-olds).
• Trust in the government had fallen to 15% by March, according to polling from Arab Barometer, with 89% of Tunisians saying corruption was prevalent.

📅 Earlier this week... On Sunday, Tunisian President Kais Saied fired top government officials, including the prime minister, and suspended parliament. On Monday, he imposed a public curfew alongside a ban on gatherings of three or more people, which largely halted protests.

• Some demonstrators on Sunday cheered the firings, while others accused Saied of orchestrating a coup.
• Many of Tunisia's overseas allies, including the U.S., expressed concern for the future of the country's democracy. 

From the Right: WSJ 

From the Left: NPR

🎁 DONUT Headline: Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney alleging breach of contract over the release of "Black Widow."

Image: Kevin Dietsch

A bipartisan group of senators agreed on Wednesday to begin official debate on an eight-year $1.2 trillion infrastructure package featuring $550 billion in new spending.

• Seventeen Republicans joined all 50 Democrats in voting 'yes' to overcome the necessary 60-vote threshold after a failed effort to do so last week.

🤿 A deeper dive... The new spending in the package would be paid for in part by tapping $205 billion in unspent COVID-19 relief aid, $53 billion in halted state unemployment insurance aid, and $49 billion for delaying a drug rebate rule.

• It also relies on economic growth bringing in $56 billion, along with other measures like corporate user fees ($21 billion) and strengthened tax enforcement for cryptocurrencies ($28 billion).

According to a White House release, the legislation would allocate:

• $110 billion for roads, bridges, and major projects.
• $73 billion for the country's electric grid and power structures.
• $65 billion for broadband internet.
• $55 billion for clean drinking water.
• $50 billion for flooding and coastal resiliency.
• $66 billion to invest in Amtrak passenger rail.
• $39 billion for modernizing public transit and improving access for the elderly and people with disabilities.

✋ Yes, but... "Many Senate Republicans are skeptical of the bipartisan framework and want to see legislative text and details about whether the bill is fully financed before moving forward," reports Politico.

• The measure would need at least ten Republicans to vote with all 50 Democrats to move from the Senate to the House.

👁️ Looking ahead... Wednesday's procedural vote means the Senate can move forward with debating the legislation to resolve outstanding issues, after which a final vote will be held.

• If the measure garners the necessary 60+ votes, it'll head to the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) previously promised to not even consider the bill until the Senate passes a Democrat-backed $3.5 trillion reconciliation package.

💉 Injection Protection

Image Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

About 1.6 million Americans live with Type 1 diabetes – and although doctors have managed the disease with insulin injections since 1922, studies estimate fewer than one-third of Type 1 diabetics in the U.S. consistently achieve target blood sugar levels.

Omid Veiseh and Jordan Miller are two bioengineering professors who partnered to create an implant that senses and regulates blood sugar levels by responding with the correct amount of insulin necessary at a given time.

• Using 3D-bioprinting technology, the researchers engineered special beta cells (cells that produce insulin) coated in a hydrogel material they aim to eventually implant in diabetic patients near their bloodstream.
• The hydrogel material is designed with pores small enough to keep the manufactured beta cells from being attacked by the immune system, but large enough to allow the passage of insulin.

The first test of the researcher’s invention will be to show whether the implant can effectively regulate blood sugar levels in diabetic mice for at least six months.

Keep reading.

Images: Meaghan Barrow

From koalas to turtles to bearded dragons – wildlife vet Meaghan Barrow is an expert at treating a variety of exotic animals.

• When a coworker brought in a two-centimeter-long wild frog with a puncture wound in his side, Meaghan went right to work on her smallest patient to date.

The tiny amphibian needed stitches to seal the wound – but at less than half-a-gram in weight, too much anesthesia could be deadly. Meaghan had to dilute the anesthetic by one in 1,000 before sedating the little frog and getting to work.

She successfully administered a single dissolvable stitch and some pain medications, and a week later she released the frog back into the wild.

Keep reading.

What is the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time?

A) My Big Fat Greek Wedding
B) Hitch
C) There's Something About Mary
D) Crazy Rich Asians

(keep scrolling for the answer)

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A) My Big Fat Greek Wedding

The independent film starring Nia Vardalos - who also wrote the script - cost a reported $5 million to make but grossed nearly $370 million worldwide (inflation adjusted).