43 h. ago EU will struggle to fill gap left by USAID as European countries cut their budgets

NGOs warn of ‘some difficult years’ ahead as increasing humanitarian needs meet shrinking financesThe dismantling of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has captured headlines, but “very regrettable” reductions in European aid budgets are also contributing to a void in support for some of the poorest people in the world’s most fragile states, according to MEPs and NGOs.Isabella Lövin, a deputy chair of the European parliament’s development committee, said USAID cuts would have “very dramatic consequences around the world”. But she also criticised recent decisions by EU member states to reduce their aid budgets as “very regrettable” and “wrong”. It would be impossible for the EU to fill the gap, she added. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Manchester United investigate fan treatment after teargas incident in Lyon

French police used teargas at Europa League tieSupporter’ groups criticise response of authoritiesManchester United are investigating the treatment of their fans who attended Thursday’s 2-2 draw at Lyon. The local government admitted French police used teargas but said it was “proportionate” to restore calm.Posts on social media showed United fans feeling the effect of the spray at the Europa League quarter-final first leg. The Rhône prefecture said in a statement: “English fans were seated in the away section waiting to be allowed to join their bus. They attempted to force their way through the security measures deployed by the national police. Projectiles were also reported to be thrown at the police. The police therefore used moderate, proportionate and necessary force (tear gas) to restore calm. Continue reading...

Economics

5 d. ago Millions of Afghans will be ‘abandoned’ to famine thanks to Trump’s aid cuts, warns UN

World Food Programme says essential programmes to prevent malnutrition and death will not be possible unless Elon Musk-led USAID cuts are reversed

Events

6 d. ago Research highlights the critical age for friendship changes and the benefits of strong local ties

New research has found that the age of 31 is when adults start to lose touch with their friends, as life-changing events such as getting married or having kids take over

Politics

6 d. ago 50 years later, Vietnam's battlefields draw retrospective veterans and other tourists

Hamburger Hill, Hue, the Ia Drang Valley, Khe Sanh: Some remember the Vietnam War battles from the headlines of the 1960s and 1970s, others from movies and history books

Events

7 d. ago Cleanup underway of the Keystone oil pipeline spill in North Dakota

Trucks and workers started a cleanup effort at the site of a spill of the Keystone oil pipeline in rural North Dakota

Politics

7 d. ago WRU knew about Cardiff for 'several months' as boss says demise is 'unthinkable'

WRU CEO Abi Tierney insisted the Arms Park side were critical to Welsh rugby's success after assuming control of the capital club

Politics

7 d. ago ‘Some of these diseases are in the Bible’: despair as cuts halt progress on age

They are debilitating afflictions that people don’t know about, don’t understand and struggle to pronounce. Now health workers fear they will surge in Africa as USAID-funded drug distribution programmes are cutSince 2013, for around two weeks each year, Sulaiman Tarawallie has pulled on his community drug distributor (CDD) uniform and gone from household to household in his remote farming community to hand out medication to fight river blindness and lymphatic filariasis. Once he has completed the rounds of his village, he heads further out to take the drugs to even more remote homes – keeping the diseases that had plagued generations at bay with a handful of pills.But this year, Tarawallie, who works as a community health worker and primary school teacher in Sierra Leone’s northern Bombali district, will not be making his annual trip. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Trans teacher in Texas resigns after online attacks: ‘I’m heartbroken’

Rosie Sandri says her ‘hands were tied’ after slew of criticism, including death threats, led to her resignationA trans teacher at a Texas high school has resigned after becoming the target of conservative backlash and online attacks.Rosie Sandri came out as a trans woman about seven months ago. Her colleagues at Red Oak high school and the Red Oak independent school district were very supportive, she recalled to NBC News. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Millions of Afghans lose access to healthcare services as USAID cuts shut clinics

Fears of surge in malnutrition, measles, malaria and polio as 206 World Health Organization facilities forced to close ‘I begged them, my daughter was dying’: how Taliban male escort rules are killing mothers and babiesMore than 200 health facilities run by the World Health Organization in Afghanistan, providing medical care for 1.84 million people, have closed or ceased operating after the US aid cuts announced by the Trump administration shut off life-saving medical care, including vaccinations, maternal and child health services.On his first day in office in January, President Donald Trump announced an immediate freeze on all US foreign assistance, including more than $40bn (£32bn) for international projects coming from USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. It was later confirmed that more than 80% of USAID programmes had been cancelled. Continue reading...

Science

2 w. ago ‘Is it “woke” to care about the environment?’: how Trump’s cuts are dismantling global conservation work

Hundreds of projects supported by USAID have been thrown into doubt, as fears grow of an increase in crimes such as poaching and traffickingWhen the guns finally fell silent in 1992, little was left alive in Gorongosa national park. During the 15 years of Mozambique’s civil war – in which more than a million people died – the country’s wildlife also paid a terrible price. Poaching for meat and ivory was so intense that the small surviving elephant population rapidly evolved to lose their tusks. Leopards, wild dogs and spotted hyenas had all disappeared. Populations of zebra, buffalo and other herbivores had collapsed.In the following years, a huge effort to restore the park took shape. Led by the philanthropist Gregory Carr and Mozambique’s government, it was the start of the park’s journey to becoming one of Africa’s most celebrated wildlife conservation success stories. Today, elephants, lions, hippos, antelope, painted wolves, hyenas and leopards all thrive in the park once again...

Politics

4 w. ago Takeaways from the AP's report on how USAID cuts are imperiling Agent Orange cleanup

A multi-year cleanup at a former U.S. air base in Vietnam was abruptly halted when the Trump administration cut funding, leaving tons of dioxin-contaminated soil exposed

Politics

4 w. ago Agent Orange cleanup and other efforts critical to ties with Vietnam jeopardized by USAID cuts

A multi-year cleanup at a former U.S. air base in Vietnam was abruptly halted when the Trump administration cut funding, leaving tons of dioxin-contaminated soil exposed

Politics

4 w. ago DOGE's bitter blow after massive USAID shuttering is rejected as 'unconstitutional' by Obama

A U.S. judge has ordered the Trump administration and billionaire Elon Musk from further dismantling USAID as DOGE looks to make cuts across the federal government.

Politics

4 w. ago ‘It’s back to drug rationing’: the end of HIV was in sight. Then came the cuts

The abrupt halt to US funding threatens to undo decades of advances, dramatically increasing infections and deaths, but some see an opportunity for Africa to lead the responseThis year the world should have been “talking about the virtual elimination of HIV” in the near future. “Within five years,” says Prof Sharon Lewin, a leading researcher in the field. “Now that’s all very uncertain.”Scientific advances had allowed doctors and campaigners to feel optimistic that the end of HIV as a public health threat was just around the corner. Continue reading...

Events