96 m. ago Trump’s aid cuts blamed as food rations stopped for a million refugees in Uganda

UN World Food Programme says $50m is urgently needed amid fears that Uganda may now begin forced repatriationsFood rations for a million people in Uganda have been cut off completely this week amid a funding crisis at the United Nations World Food Programme, raising fears that refugees will now be pushed back into countries at war.The WFP in Uganda warned two weeks ago that $50m (£37m) was urgently needed to help refugees and asylum seekers fleeing conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Sudan. Continue reading...

Politics

7 h. ago Trump reportedly eyes $26m in funding cuts for US national parks

New York Times reports Elon Musk’s Doge agency has created spreadsheet of federal grants earmarked for cuts The Trump administration is reportedly eyeing dozens of grants across the National Park Service for termination, according to reporting from the New York Times, one of several moves destabilizing the US’s investment in public lands.According to the newspaper, staff members at Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” have created a spreadsheet of federal grants earmarked for cuts, with total funding cuts amounting to some $26m. Continue reading...

Politics

14 h. ago 15 House Republicans – a group large enough to turn the tide in any vote – warn Trump about Social Security cuts

GOP collective issues open letter to new commissioner calling for end to cutbacks that might ‘further deteriorate customer service’ and impact constituents

Events

17 h. ago Greece and Egypt reaffirm their commitment to an undersea power cable

Greece and Egypt have reaffirmed their commitment to a major undersea electricity interconnection to deliver renewable energy from North Africa to Europe

Politics

17 h. ago US renewable energy has tripled in a decade – but Trump cancels almost $8bn in projects

Political uncertainty under Trump has dampened the market, even as red states see a boom in renewable energyRenewable energy in the US has surged to unprecedented levels, with the combined power generated by solar, wind and geothermal more than tripling over the past decade, according to a new report by a network of state environmental groups.The growth has slashed harmful greenhouse gas emissions, made the nation’s energy system more resilient and prevented thousands of premature deaths from power plant pollution, according to the report by Environment America.The amount of solar energy produced in 2024 – enough to power 28m homes – was nearly eight times higher than a decade earlier. Solar power production increased 27% from 2023 to 2024.Wind produced even more energy – enough to power 42m homes in 2024. The amount of power from wind has more than doubled over the past decade.Wind, solar and geothermal energy accounted for 19% of all retail sales of electricity last year, accordin...

Politics

17 h. ago US renewable energy has tripled in a decade – but Trump cuts almost $8bn in projects

Political uncertainty under Trump has dampened the market, even as red states see a boom in renewable energyRenewable energy in the US has surged to unprecedented levels, with the combined power generated by solar, wind and geothermal more than tripling over the past decade, according to a new report by a network of state environmental groups.The growth has slashed harmful greenhouse gas emissions, made the nation’s energy system more resilient and prevented thousands of premature deaths from power plant pollution, according to the report by Environment America.The amount of solar energy produced in 2024 – enough to power 28m homes – was nearly eight times higher than a decade earlier. Solar power production increased 27% from 2023 to 2024.Wind produced even more energy – enough to power 42m homes in 2024. The amount of power from wind has more than doubled over the past decade.Wind, solar and geothermal energy accounted for 19% of all retail sales of electricity last year, accordin...

Politics

17 h. ago US renewable energy has tripled in a decade – but almost $8bn in projects now face cuts

Political uncertainty under Trump has dampened the market, even as red states see a boom in renewable energyRenewable energy in the US has surged to unprecedented levels, with the combined power generated by solar, wind and geothermal more than tripling over the past decade, according to a new report by a network of state environmental groups.The growth has slashed harmful greenhouse gas emissions, made the nation’s energy system more resilient and prevented thousands of premature deaths from power plant pollution, according to the report by Environment America.The amount of solar energy produced in 2024 – enough to power 28m homes – was nearly eight times higher than a decade earlier. Solar power production increased 27% from 2023 to 2024.Wind produced even more energy – enough to power 42m homes in 2024. The amount of power from wind has more than doubled over the past decade.Wind, solar and geothermal energy accounted for 19% of all retail sales of electricity last year, accordin...

Politics

20 h. ago Trump administration to stop US research on space pollution, in boon to Elon Musk

SpaceX and Starlink owner may benefit from Trump cuts to projects that could have led to regulations and costsThe Trump administration is poised to kill federal research into pollution from satellites and rockets, including some caused by Elon Musk’s space companies, raising new conflict-of-interest questions about the billionaire SpaceX and Starlink owner.The pollution appears to be accumulating in the stratosphere at alarming levels. Some fear it could destroy the ozone layer, potentially expose some people to higher levels of ultraviolet radiation or help further destabilize the earth’s climate during the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Technology

26 h. ago ‘Conversation on future of aid long overdue’: UK looks to lead response to swingeing US cuts

Huge cuts by Trump administration to international aid budgets has left a vacuum and Britain is looking to lead efforts to find a path forwardThe huge US-led cuts to international aid programmes and to the UN budget has prompted the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, to propose a global conference as part of what he described as “a long overdue conversation about the future architecture of aid”.UK Foreign Office officials said the conference was likely to be in the early autumn, and reflected a UK view that since aid cuts were not reversible in the foreseeable future, a discussion about priorities was required. Continue reading...

Politics

35 h. ago Columbia lays off 180 staff members after Trump cuts $400 million from Ivy college’s budget

The New York City university said cuts were indicative of ‘intense’ pressure for funding it is experiencing following Trump’s federal cuts

Economics

39 h. ago Columbia University to cut 180 jobs due to federal grant revocations

White House axed grants even as college agreed to demands including ceding control of Middle East studies departmentNew York’s Columbia University is slated to cut 180 staffers whose work was supported by federal grants that have now been revoked by the Trump administration, the college’s acting president, Claire Shipman, announced on Tuesday.“We have had to make difficult choices and unfortunately, today, nearly 180 of our colleagues who have been working, in whole or in part, on impacted federal grants, will receive notices of non-renewal or termination,” Shipman said in a lengthy notice posted on Columbia’s website. Continue reading...

Culture

40 h. ago Americans’ health at risk as Trump cuts EPA staff to 1980s levels, experts warn

Advocacy groups say gutting EPA’s scientific research arm would turn it into a purely political agencyAmericans’ health is being put at risk after new cuts were announced by Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce staffing to 1980s levels and gut its scientific research arm, experts and advocacy groups warned.The EPA’s administrator, Lee Zeldin, announced on Friday that the agency would slash its budget by $300m in the fiscal year 2026 as part of a broad overhaul that he said was designed to cut it to levels resembling those in the Reagan administration. Continue reading...

Events

44 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

53 h. ago Pete Hegseth orders Pentagon to cut top military positions by 20 percent

Pete Hegseth has demanded that the active duty military cut 20 percent of its four-star generals in a further move toward Donald Trump's mandate to cut government waste.

Events

59 h. ago Trump passes the buck on image of him as the Pope and falsely claims all Catholics loved it

The president said that those that were offended by the image couldn’t ‘take a joke’ and that his wife – First Lady Melania Trump – thought the image was ‘cute’

Politics

67 h. ago Trump cuts will increase devastation after disasters, expert warns: ‘It is really scary’

Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will hamstring emergency managers, warns professor Samantha MontanoThe Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost American lives, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned.Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. Continue reading...

Events

67 h. ago Trump cuts will lead to more deaths in disasters, expert warns: ‘It is really scary’

Layoffs and funding cuts to Fema and Noaa will impact how they predict and respond to disasters, warns professor Samantha MontanoThe Trump administration’s sweeping cuts to disaster management will cost lives in the US, with hollowed-out agencies unable to accurately predict, prepare for or respond to extreme weather events, earthquakes and pandemics, a leading expert has warned.Samantha Montano, professor of emergency management at Massachusetts Maritime Academy and author of Disasterology: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis, said the death toll from disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and water pollution will rise in the US unless Trump backtracks on mass layoffs and funding cuts to key agencies. That includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema), whose work relies heavily on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), which is also being dismantled. Continue reading...

Events

67 h. ago Bank of England poised to cut rates as fears grow over impact of Trump tariffs

Markets suggest quarter-point reduction to 4.25% is almost certain but some economists say Bank must go furtherThe Bank of England is poised to cut interest rates on Thursday amid growing concerns over the hit to UK jobs and growth from Donald Trump’s increasingly erratic global trade war.In the Bank’s first intervention since the US president’s “liberation day” tariff policy announcement sent shock waves through the world economy, Threadneedle Street is expected to reduce its key base rate from the current level of 4.5%. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Trade union advises staff at newly christened Reform UK councils to sign up after jubilant Nigel Farage promised Trump

Mr Farage warned council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives to seek 'alternative careers' after his party took control of Durham council.

Politics

4 d. ago Geneva fights to remain ‘kitchen’ of world diplomacy as Trump cuts bite

US and European withdrawals force soul-searching in the city that is home to 450 international bodies

Politics