4 d. ago Former MI5 boss warns aid cuts risk UK’s influence on world stage

Baroness Manningham-Buller says the cuts will allow China to ‘move in’ and lessen Britain’s diplomatic power

Events

7 d. ago Trump’s aid cuts bring fresh hate for those with HIV in Kenya: ‘It takes little to push people back’

The slashing of foreign aid and closure of HIV programmes earlier this year is continuing to impact people living with HIV, writes Nick Ferris in Nairobi, causing serious damage to long-term efforts to end stigma around HIV and its treatment

Politics

7 d. ago They fled war and sexual violence and found a safe space in Athens. Then the aid cuts hit

Thirty women and their children found themselves out on the streets when their shelter closed. It was a direct result of US and European governments slashing their aid budgetsThe night of 29 May was sombre at 15 Mitsaki Street, a women’s shelter in the centre of Athens. Shoes, winter coats, shampoo bottles and sheets lay strewn around: belongings the 30 refugee women and five children living there had worked hard to acquire, and would now have to abandon. The next day, the shelter would be shuttered for good.“I was so stressed I couldn’t sleep,” says Oksana Kutko, a Ukrainian. “I knew I had nowhere to go.” Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago The nation where Trump’s aid cuts are colliding with a deadly Ebola outbreak: ‘What we feared has now happened’

As the Democratic Republic of Congo faces its 16th Ebola outbreak, aid cuts mean support for its response is dwindling, writes Rachel Schraer

Politics

2 w. ago UN needs to cut $500m from 2026 budget and lose 20% of staff after US funding reductions

Job losses and global reorganisation expected amid Trump administration’s slashing of funding and ‘UN80’ reviewThe UN will need to cut $500m (about £370m) from next year’s budget and lose 20% of its staff as it struggles to cope with a massive reduction in funding by the Trump administration.The plan, in gestation since Donald Trump started cutting his foreign aid budget, is likely to involve an initial minimum 3,000 job cuts out of a 35,000-strong main workforce. The overall UN core or regular budget would be cut from $3.7bn to about $3.2bn next year. It means reductions of 15.1% in resources and 18.8% in posts in the regular budget compared with the 2025 budget. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago UN faces $500m budget cut and 20% job losses after big drop in US funding

Core budget to fall to $3.2bn next year and initial minimum 3,000 job cuts expected amid streamlining processThe UN will need to cut $500m (about £370m) from next year’s budget and lose 20% of its staff as it struggles to cope with a massive reduction in funding by the Trump administration.The plan, in gestation since Donald Trump started cutting his foreign aid budget, is likely to involve an initial minimum 3,000 job cuts out of a 35,000-strong main workforce. The overall UN core or regular budget would be cut from $3.7bn to about $3.2bn next year. It means reductions of 15.1% in resources and 18.8% in posts in the regular budget compared with the 2025 budget. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago How Mpox revealed an epidemic of untreated HIV in Sierra Leone – as Trump’s aid cuts begin to bite

The impact of the US slashing foreign aid on the country’s Mpox response has likely been huge, activists on the ground tell Rachel Schraer

Politics

3 w. ago Trump’s US aid cuts could cause more than two million extra TB deaths in five years, study warns

America contributed at least 55 per cent of external funding for global TB programmes at the end of 2024, but losing this could result in an extra 10 million cases worldwide

Events

3 w. ago Global health fund battles Trump’s aid cuts by giving more to poorest nations

‘Parts of the world which are suffering... and the idea that we can leave those parts of the world to their own devices, is morally repugnant,’ says Global Fund chief

Politics

4 w. ago Judge orders Trump administration to release billions in foreign aid approved by Congress

Trump had told Mike Johnson that he would not spend $4.9bn in congressionally approved foreign aidUS politics live – latest updatesThe Trump administration must release billions of dollars in foreign aid approved by Congress, including money that Donald Trump said last week he will not be spending, a federal judge has ordered.US District Judge Amir Ali in Washington ruled on Wednesday that the move by the Republican administration was probably illegal and issued a preliminary injunction ordering the release of $11.5bn that is set to expire at the end of the month. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Trump’s aid cuts leave countries across Africa running out of crucial contraception

Exclusive: At least three countries are already out of some contraceptive methods – with more set to follow suit – leaving women vulnerable to high risk pregnancies and unsafe abortions, writes Rachel Schraer

Politics

last month Trump’s aid cuts in east Africa led to unwanted abortion and babies being born with HIV – report

Doctors, nurses, patients and other experts describe the loss of decades of progress in beating the virus in 100 days after Pepfar was disruptedAid cuts in east Africa have led to cases of babies being born with HIV because mothers could not get medication, a rise in life-threatening infections, and at least one woman having an unwanted abortion, according to interviews with medical staff, patients and experts.A report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) sets out dozens of examples of the impact of disruption to Pepfar – the president’s emergency plan for aids relief – in Tanzania and Uganda. Continue reading...

Politics