US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said the US funds more than 120 biological laboratories in more than 30 countries, while also announcing a policy change under President Donald Trump to end federal support for profit-based research around the world.These revelations were made on Thursday and were based on recently made public intelligence material. The revelations have sparked debate over foreign biological research and US national security surveillance.According to a statement from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), several facilities have been involved in work on dangerous and highly infectious pathogens under limited surveillance.Gabbard said, “ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government to identify where these laboratories are, what pathogens are in them, to end the dangerous gain-of-function research that threatens the health and well-being of the American people and people around the world.”Gabbard also said that declassified records show that more than 40 laboratories in Ukraine handled Soviet-era biological warfare pathogens and conducted research on particularly dangerous pathogens, including anthrax, Ebola, MERS, SARS and plague. One cited example was that of the Kherson Diagnostic Laboratory, which reportedly received $1,728,822 in funding, while its authorization to work with specific pathogens was still listed as “in progress”.“The ODNI statement said the intelligence community is expanding its review of foreign facilities and their activities, including clinical trials, to assess the risks associated with foreign-funded research programs.Gabbard also issued a directive to increase intelligence on such facilities, saying it was revealing more information about work already underway and raising significant ethical, financial, and security concerns.“Despite the clear potential for devastating global impact of research on dangerous pathogens in biolabs, politicians, so-called health professionals like Dr. Fauci, and entities within the Biden administration’s national security team lied to the American people about the existence of US-funded and supported biolabs and threatened those who attempted to expose the truth. ODNI will continue to work closely with partners across the government to identify where these laboratories are located, what pathogens they contain, to end dangerous gain-of-function research that threatens the health and well-being of the American people and people around the world, said DNI Gabbard.Separately, Gabbard has rescinded two Biden-era intelligence assessments on so-called “Havana syndrome,” also known as unusual health events (AHI), which affected U.S. diplomats and intelligence officials abroad.An ODNI memo said the earlier assessment “selectively excluded relevant intelligence, suppressed alternative analysis, relied on an ethically flawed medical study” and “limited intelligence collection to maintain an analytical line that depended on the absence of evidence.”The original assessment concluded that it was highly unlikely that a foreign rival was responsible for the incidents, although some officials said the small number of cases could not be completely ruled out. The amended move has been welcomed by some MPs. “This is huge news for the AHI victim community, analytical integrity, and the American people,” Representative Rick Crawford, Republican of Arkansas and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. “These flawed, fraudulent and fabricated Intelligence Community assessments have caused significant harm to some of our nation’s bravest people.”The issue of unusual health events first emerged in 2016 in Havana, Cuba, where US personnel reported symptoms including dizziness and severe headaches, with similar reports later in other countries. Intelligence agencies are divided on whether these cases were caused by directed energy attacks or other explanations.On Thursday, President Donald Trump also nominated Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, to replace Gabbard as director of national intelligence.