33 h. ago Trump to meet with Project 2025 architect on cutting ‘Democrat agencies’ amid government shutdown – live

Trump touts meeting with Russ Vought ‘of Project 2025 fame’ to determine where cuts can be made as the federal government remains shut for second dayHere’s what the shutdown means for travel, national parks and housingSince the US government shut down at midnight on Wednesday, tens of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed (told not to work), while others must work without pay until Congress passes a budget. The shutdown will have a wide range of effects on government services and programs as well as the US economy, from national parks to travel and housing.My colleague Marina Dunbar explains what it means for everyday people:This isn’t the way to have a discussion, shutting down the government and lowering the GDP. We could see a hit to the GDP, a hit to growth and a hit to working America. Continue reading...

Politics

34 h. ago Trump to meet with Project 2025 architect on cutting ‘Democrat agendas’ amid government shutdown – live

Trump touts meeting with Russ Vought ‘of Project 2025 fame’ to determine where cuts can be made as the federal government remains shut for second dayHere’s what the shutdown means for travel, national parks and housingDonald Trump is up and truthing as the White House presses on with seizing the opportunity provided by the shutdown to axe federal jobs and Democratic spending priorities. “I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity,” Trump writes this morning.He said he has a meeting today with Russell Vought, “of Project 2025 fame” who is now the head of the office for management and budget, “to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent”.I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and wheth...

Politics

34 h. ago Record Converge funding is ‘watershed moment’ for academic entrepreneurship in Scotland

“The multi-year Scottish Funding Council investment provides the stability we need to plan long-term support for university innovators” – Adam Kosterka, Converge

Politics

53 h. ago US government remains shut as senators fail to agree funding plan

Republicans and Democrats trade blame as services grind to a halt

Politics

1 week ago Denmark plans payout for Greenlandic women affected by forced IUD scandal

Mette Frederiksen announces ‘reconciliation fund’ plan on same day decision to remove Greenlandic woman’s baby is reversedDenmark intends to pay reparations to Greenlandic women who were fitted with contraceptive coils by Danish doctors and to other people in its former colony who were subjected to “systematic discrimination because they are Greenlanders”, the Danish prime minister has said.In a historic move for relations between Copenhagen and Nuuk, Mette Frederiksen said on Monday she would discuss a planned “reconciliation fund” when she visited Greenland on Wednesday for an event to mark Denmark’s official apology for the IUD (intrauterine device) scandal. Continue reading...

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

4 w. ago Council facing ten million funding gap for plan to build new swimming pool

Pontardawe’s former swimming pool closed in August 2024

Economics

last month Protesters demand release of HIV funds ‘illegally’ withheld by Trump

People take to streets against Trump administration plans to rescind funding for life-saving international programsAs Congress reconvened on Tuesday, activists gathered near the White House to protest against cuts to global HIV funding, calling attention to funds they say are being withheld illegally by the Trump administration despite being appropriated by Congress.The end of the fiscal year 2025 is 30 September, which means the majority of the withheld federal funds will disappear. The activists called for the release of the funding for programs such as Pepfar (the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief), a program established in 2003 that has saved an estimated 26 million lives around the world and promised to help bring the HIV epidemic to an end. Continue reading...

Events