20 h. ago My rare disease was getting closer to a cure. RFK Jr could undermine that | Jameson Rich

The Trump administration’s funding cuts to the NIH could destroy a wave of approaching research breakthroughsSince Robert F Kennedy Jr assumed control of the US health department in February, with a mandate to “[lower] chronic disease rates and [end] childhood chronic disease”, he has moved quickly to remake the US’s federal health infrastructure. But the Trump administration’s actions on medical research are already threatening that goal – and could end medical progress in this country for good.Kennedy’s office oversees the National Institutes of Health, the control center of disease research in the United States. Kennedy’s agency has killed almost 800 active projects, according to Nature, affecting medical research into HIV/Aids, diabetes, women’s health, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s and more. The administration wants to cut the NIH’s budget up to 40% while consolidating its 27 agencies – separated by disease area – into just eight. Elon Musk’s Doge has been reviewing previo...

Politics

31 h. ago Donald Trump bans 'dangerous' virus research funding to China after Covid

Donald Trump has issued an executive order to terminate all federal funding for risky virus research in countries deemed hostile or lacking proper regulation, five years post-COVID-19, which US intelligence now believes likely originated from a lab mishap

Science

43 h. ago Europe launches a drive to attract scientists and researchers after Trump freezes US funding

The European Union is launching a drive to attract scientists and researchers with offers of grants and new policy plans

Politics

49 h. ago UK wins £500m in science grants from EU Horizon scheme after Brexit lockout

Exclusive: British scientists ‘over the moon’ with re-entry to funding scheme after losing out for three yearsBritish scientists are “over the moon” to be back in the EU’s flagship science research programme Horizon after a three-year Brexit lockout, with new data revealing they have been awarded about £500m in grants since re-entry.As the EU secretly draws up strategies for the next seven-year funding cycle in 2027, the UK is hoping its success in the first 12 months since returning to Horizon will leave it in pole position with Germany and France to dominate European science, despite Brexit. Continue reading...

Economics

4 d. ago UK to launch scheme to recruit global research talent after Trump crackdown

Initiative backed by £50mn in government money comes as US administration seeks to cut funding and suppress research

Politics

6 d. ago We are witnessing slow constitutional collapse in the US | Moira Donegan

The vestiges of the US’s democracy are crumpling to the ground. We don’t yet know what will be erected in its placeIt’s possible that later, when we know more about how the Trump regime reshapes the US and about how it ultimately comes to an end, we will look back at this moment in 2025 and conclude that we were already living under an autocracy. Checks on executive power seem to have all but vanished; the Trump administration is not acting like either the courts, the judiciary or the people have any prerogatives that they must respect.Science is suffering: massive cuts to federal funding of research into medicine, climate change or anything that might include a word on a long list of banned ones – like “transition” – has decimated research, made the US a global laughingstock, and set the cause of human thriving back by years. The economy is in chaos, and the bribery is all but out in the open; it no longer seems to occur to many Americans that their politicians should not be on the...

Politics

1 week ago Norway launches scheme to lure top researchers away from US universities

Research council launches 100m kroner fund as Norwegian government calls for the protection of academic freedomNorway has launched a new scheme to lure top international researchers amid growing pressure on academic freedom in the US under the Trump administration.Following in the footsteps of multiple institutions across Europe, the Research Council of Norway on Wednesday launched a 100m kroner (£7.2m) fund to make it easier to recruit researchers from other countries. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Coatbridge Slimming World consultant and groups' members raise funds for charity Cancer Research UK

The money was collected by donating clothes, shoes and accessories that no longer fit to the charity's shops as part of the Big Slimming World Clothes Throw.

Science

2 w. ago Councils lose over half a million jobs in ten years as new research lays funding crisis bare

As its funding crisis has deepened, Birmingham council has lost tens of thousands of workers

Economics

2 w. ago Furious Trump officials are planning to pull a further $1 billion in funding from Harvard

Harvard University has the largest endowment of any college in the United States but still relies on the government to fund research

Politics

2 w. ago Trump administration’s letter of demands to Harvard that sparked standoff ‘sent without authorization’

The letter from the White House’s task force on antisemitism triggered a standoff between the Trump administration and the historic institution that continues to rumble on

Politics

2 w. ago Donald Trump dealt major blow as Elton John makes huge announcement

Donald Trump's administration recently cut $450 million (£339 million) worth of funding allocated to HIV and AIDS research - but Elton John and co-star Brandi Carlile have teamed up in an effort to reverse the deficit

Politics

2 w. ago Poll reveals Hamilton as biggest buyer of lamps from British Heart Foundation charity shops

British Heart Foundation Scotland (BHF) announced its second-hand shop in Hamilton Retail Park sold an impressive 995 lamps in just 12 months - helping to raise funds for its vital heart research.

Economics

2 w. ago Livingston revealed as biggest buyer of jigsaws according to charity research

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) Scotland announced today that its second-hand shop in The Centre sold an impressive 1890 jigsaws in just 12 months, helping to raise funds for its vital heart research.

Politics

2 w. ago Trump official threatens Harvard foreign student admissions as more universities rally in support

Kristi Noem demands university’s records on foreign students’ ‘illegal’ activities while president threatens to strip it of tax-exempt statusDonald Trump has declared that Harvard University should no longer receive federal funds, calling it a “joke” that “teaches hate and stupidity”, while his administration said the pre-eminent US university could lose its ability to enrol foreign students.Harvard made headlines on Monday by becoming the first university to stand up against a series of onerous demands from the Trump administration, setting the stage for a showdown between the federal government and one of the US’s most prestigious institutions. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Harvard sets up showdown with Trump as more universities rally in support

President calls elite university a ‘joke’ and threatens to strip it of tax-exempt status as $2bn in funding frozenDonald Trump has declared that Harvard University should no longer receive federal funds, calling the pre-eminent university in the US a “joke” that “teaches hate and stupidity”.Harvard made headlines on Monday by becoming the first university to stand up against a series of onerous demands from the Trump administration, setting the stage for a showdown between the federal government and one of the US’s most prestigious institutions. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Britain's surge in vaping appears to be at an end as youngsters ditch disposable e

Cancer Research UK-funded review suggests the rapid rise of vaping since 2021, when disposable e-cigarettes became popular, appears to have stalled

Politics

3 w. ago Harvard stands to lose $2.2 billion in federal funding. Researchers fear science will suffer

In a high-stakes standoff, President Donald Trump’s administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in federal research grants for Harvard University, which is pushing back on demands for changes to campus policy

Economics

3 w. ago Obama backs Harvard as Yale faculty members support standing up to Trump

Harvard faces funding freeze as Yale faculty asks leadership ‘to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands’US politics live – latest updatesBarack Obama has come out in support of Harvard after the Trump administration elected to cut $2bn of its federal grants after the Ivy League school in Massachusetts rejected what it said was an attempt at “government regulation” of the university.Meanwhile, faculty at Yale University – another prominent Ivy League institution – has asked its leadership “to resist and legally challenge any unlawful demands that threaten academic freedom and self-governance”. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Documents reveal Trump’s plan to gut funding for Nasa and climate science

Critics say Nasa faces ‘extinction-level event’ with budget plan, with climate research funding also to be slashedDonald Trump shows no signs of easing his assault on climate science as plans of more sweeping cuts to key US research centers surfaced on Friday.The administration is planning to slash budgets at both the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (Noaa) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), according to internal budget documents, taking aim specifically at programs used to study impacts from the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Politics