Italy withdraws contribution to Global Fund

Citing a tight economic environment, officials in Italy have decided to withhold $130 million the country had pledged to contribute this year to the United Nations-backed Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, Science reports. The withheld funds were part of a larger $325 million cut in assistance to nonprofit groups this year because of budgetary shortfalls. A spokesperson for the Global Fund called Italy's decision to cut the $130 million grant an example of "regrettable behavior at the international level."