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Canceled $600K research grant, Musk empathy quote & International Women's Day

Plus: No, mussels don't shut off Warsaw's water supply if they sense toxins — but they help monitor it

Author

Izz LaMagdeleine
March 11, 2025

TUESDAY EDITION

Snopes Debunker

A row of pads are shown. The left background color is pink, while the right background color is blue.

Canceled $600K research grant didn't fund study of menstrual cycles in trans men

On Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on X that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) had canceled a $600,000 grant for a study on "menstrual cycles in transgender men." Rollins shared a link to a news article that said the American Principles Project, a conservative political advocacy group, discovered the grant and included it in its "Funding Insanity: Federal Spending on Gender Ideology under Biden-Harris" database.

While the USDA did issue a $600,000 grant to Southern University and A&M College and — according to Rollins — since canceled it, the university said on Sunday that the grant didn’t fund research on menstrual cycles in transgender men but rather research into disposable feminine hygiene products (also known as period products). This is backed up by the project proposal originally submitted to the USDA. Snopes reporter Laerke Christensen investigated.

A white man wearing a blue suit appears to play a piano on the front lawn in front of a large white building.

Fake video shows Trump singing about Jesus while playing piano at White House

YouTube comments displayed under the video indicated users believed the clip genuinely showed Trump in performance.

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Snopes has been busy looking into hot political claims, including what to know about a canceled $600K research grant and fact-checking a fake video about Trump, which are both featured above. We need your help to keep doing this work. By building our membership, we will be able to continue cutting straight to the facts on any subject our readers are interested in. We appreciate any support you can give.

A whie man wearing a blue suit stands with his arms crossed over his chest.

Yes, Musk said 'The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy'

The X owner delivered the quote during the Feb. 28 episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast.

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No evidence Apple removed International Women's Day from calendar app

The globally celebrated day falls annually on March 8.

A white woman wearing a baby blue hat and blue jacket stands in front of a beach.

Here's what we know about the British tourist allegedly detained by ICE

Becky Burke, 28, had planned to travel around North America for four months.

Staff Pick

No, mussels don't shut off Warsaw's water supply if they sense toxins — but they help monitor it

Since 2009, mussels have played a key role in Warsaw, Poland's biomonitoring system.