3 d. ago Trump asks Supreme Court to slash teacher training funds in war on DEI

The Trump administration has escalated its legal battle over funding cuts

Events

4 d. ago The 'state secrets privilege' sounds mysterious. Here's what it is and how it works

The Trump administration is invoking a powerful tool in seeking to cut off a judge’s inquiry into whether it defied his order to turn around planes carrying Venezuelan migrants being deported from the United States

Politics

4 d. ago Trump administration to cut vaccine aid to developing countries

Administration plans to end funding to Gavi, a global health organization that helps provide life-saving care for childrenThe Trump administration is planning to end funding for Gavi, a global health organization that helps provide vaccines and other life-saving care to developing countries.A 281-page spreadsheet obtained by the New York Times lists the Trump administration’s plans for thousands of foreign aid programs, including financial cuts to the organization that buys vaccines for children, as well as scaling back on programs that combat malaria in developing countries. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago US honeybee deaths hit record high as scientists scramble to find main cause

US Department of Agriculture calls in university to help study decline as Trump administration staff cuts stingHoneybee deaths have hit record highs in the US, with the unprecedented loss of colonies pushing many beekeepers close to ruin as scientists scramble to identify the main cause of the huge declines.Commercial beekeepers have reported losing more than 60% of their colonies, on average, over the winter, according to an ongoing Project Apis m. survey that covers more than two-thirds of America’s managed bees. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago European universities offer ‘scientific asylum’ to US researchers fleeing Trump’s cuts

Academics from US hoping to escape funding freezes and ideological impositions are being actively recruitedLaced with terms such as “censorship” and “political interference”, the Belgium-based jobs advert was far from typical. The promise of academic freedom, however, hinted at who it was aimed at: researchers in the US looking to flee the funding freezes, cuts and ideological impositions ushered in by Donald Trump’s administration.“We see it as our duty to come to the aid of our American colleagues,” said Jan Danckaert, the rector of Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), in explaining why his university – founded in 1834 to safeguard academia from the interference of church or state – had decided to open 12 postdoctoral positions for international researchers, with a particular focus on Americans. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago Trump’s shuttering of global media agency endangers reporters, staff say

Employees who may have to return home risk death or imprisonment at hands of authoritarian governmentsForeign workers at US government-backed media outlets being cut by the Trump administration say they face deportation to their home countries, where some risk imprisonment or death at the hands of authoritarian governments.Earlier this month the Trump administration moved to defund the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), an independent federal agency that oversees the Voice of America (VoA), the US’s largest and oldest international broadcaster, and provides grants to Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other news agencies. Staff have been placed on administrative leave and contractors have been fired. The agency had around 3,500 employees with an annual budget of $886m in 2024. Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago A French university is offering ‘scientific asylum’ for US talent. The brain drain has started | Alexander Hurst

The Trump administration is cutting funding, while specifically targeting institutions like Columbia. No wonder academics want outIn six weeks, the Trump administration’s “rapid scheduled disassembly” of American science has been as sharp and deep as its trashing of the US’s alliances and goodwill; Earth science, weather forecasting and early warning systems, medical research (including cancer research), Nasa. Academic grants more broadly have been cut, paused and subject to review for a long list of banned words (including such contentious terms as “political” and “women”).This has caused universities across the country to reduce their intake of PhD students, medical students and other graduate students, introduce hiring freezes and even rescind some offers of admission. More than 12,500 US citizens currently in other countries on Fulbright research grants recently had their funding paused, along with 7,400 foreign scholars currently hosted in the US, leaving them financially stran...

Events

9 d. ago Trump administration cuts legal help for migrant children traveling alone

The Trump administration is ending a key program providing legal help to migrant children entering the country alone, raising concerns they'll be forced to navigate the complex legal system alone

Politics

9 d. ago Trump’s executive order to dismantle Department for Education sparks fears for low

Eliminating department, which distributes billions in federal money to schools and manages federal student loans, would likely require act of CongressGood morning and welcome to the US politics live blog. I’m Tom Ambrose and I’ll be bringing you all the latest news on this Friday morning.We begin with the news that president Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling for the dismantling of the Education Department, an agency Republicans have talked about closing for decades. The order says education secretary Linda McMahon will, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.” Eliminating the department altogether would be a cumbersome task, which likely would require an act of Congress, AP reported. In the weeks since he took office, the Trump administration already has cut the department’s staff in half and...

Politics

1 week ago Here’s how some human rights and LGBTQ+ groups prepared for major foreign aid cuts under Trump

The Trump administration's cuts to foreign aid have defunded groups that campaign for LGBTQ+ communities and for democracy around the world

Politics

1 week ago Trump administration weighs deep cuts to CDC’s HIV prevention program

LGBT+ groups and public health advocates warn against potential threats that could jeopardize progress and ‘set us back decades’

Politics

1 week 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

1 week 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

1 week ago Trump's funding freeze leaves US allied Afghan refugees struggling for the basics

An Afghan father of two is among thousands of newly arrived refugees who lost financial assistance when the Trump administration cut off funding for the federal refugee program in January

Politics

1 week ago US evangelical groups urge Trump to spare HIV/Aids program from aid cuts

Christian organizations helped create Pepfar, credited with preventing 25m early deaths, particularly in AfricaChristian evangelical organizations instrumental in creating the US program that has saved millions of lives from HIV/Aids are pressing the Trump administration to rescue the scheme from crushing cuts to foreign assistance.The state department has said that the two-decade-old President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief (Pepfar), which is estimated to have prevented 25m early deaths, is exempt from the cancellation of most US overseas aid. But the program is heavily reliant on logistical support from the US Agency for International Development (USAid), which has seen most of its projects killed off. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump administration demands Columbia make sweeping changes – or have funding cut

Columbia has been told to relinquish control of its international studies department and ban masks

Politics

2 w. ago Notable Tesla investor says he hopes Musk’s government role is ‘short

Christopher Tsai retains faith in carmaker’s earnings potential despite backlash that has seen its shares take a hitA devoted investor in Elon Musk’s Tesla – and once a close childhood friend of the US president’s eldest son and namesake – says he hopes the world’s richest man’s role in cutting federal spending for Donald Trump’s administration is “short-lived” and that he returns to managing his businesses.Investment manager Christopher Tsai, whose firm has tens of millions of dollars tied up in Tesla, said the stock market had demonstrated clear signs of displeasure with Musk’s activities at the so-called department of government efficiency. And, in an interview with the Guardian, Tsai said: “I hope his involvement with [Doge] is short-lived so he can spend even more time on his businesses.” Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Marco Rubio declares South African ambassador to US persona non grata after Trump criticism

Declaration comes after Trump administration cut off aid to South Africa

Politics

2 w. ago Marco Rubio declares South African envoy to US persona non grata over speech criticizing Trump, Musk and Vance

Declaration comes after Trump administration cut off aid to South Africa

Politics

2 w. ago Critics warn staff cuts at federal agencies overseeing US dams could put public safety at risk

Experts are warning that Trump administration workforce cuts at federal agencies overseeing U.S. dams are threatening their ability to provide reliable electricity, supply water to farmers and protect communities from floods

Events