A powerful piece by @rachelschraer.bsky.social for the @the-independent.com, spotlighting the tireless work of health workers across Malawi - and the harsh realities of the maternal health crisis. Read more here: www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Why a solution to deadly bleeding in childbirth isn’t reaching mothers

A breakthrough to stop life-threatening bleeding in childbirth was only just starting to reach the mothers most at risk when Donald Trump’s aid cuts hit. Rachel Schraer speaks to health workers about ...

independent.co.uk

Wes Streeting has appointed Simon Wessley to review why mental health diagnoses are rising - a man who spent half his career insisting ME, a post-viral illness, was in patients' heads and caused by 'unhelpful thoughts and behaviours'

It all starts with a fever... I went inside the West African lab hunting for the next Disease X, and trying to spot outbreaks of known diseases before they spiral out of control www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Inside the African lab hunting for Disease X – and the next pandemic

As rich countries turn their back on foreign aid, the Institut Pasteur in Senegal is preparing the continent to fight deadly diseases that can spread silently across borders. Rachel Schraer reports

independent.co.uk

Quoting Hitler, talking about influencing laws and celebrating having already cancelled health programmes: I've been investigating the new missionary push by the US religious right into a number of African countries www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

How US evangelicals are using Trump’s cuts to attack women’s rights

As Donald Trump's aid cuts leave African health programmes scrambling, The Independent pieces together events at a number of conferences where American religious organisations are looking to move in t...

independent.co.uk

The government today announced what The Independent revealed on Friday - that it is cutting 15 per cent from the world's largest funder of the fight against HIV, TB and malaria, putting hundreds of thousands of lives at risk www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

UK risks many children’s lives with £150m cut to fund fighting deadly diseases

The cut from £1bn to £850m pledged to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria – risking 250,000 lives – was revealed by The Independent last week

independent.co.uk

The Israeli army killed Gaza civilians in a free-for-all, say ... ... Israeli soldiers who served there.

UK to put 250,000 lives at risk from HIV, TB and malaria with aid cuts, writes @rachelschraer.bsky.social www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

UK to put 250,000 lives at risk from HIV, TB and malaria with aid cuts

Exclusive: The UK is expected to pledge £850m to the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria – a cut of 15 per cent – despite previous assurances that funding would be protected

independent.co.uk

Exclusive: Keir Starmer is poised to slash £150m in aid to among the world's biggest funders of the fight against HIV, TB and malaria - despite govt saying it would be prioritised www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/poli...

UK to put 250,000 lives at risk from HIV, TB and malaria with aid cuts

Exclusive: The UK is expected to pledge £850m to the the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria – a cut of 15 per cent – despite previous assurances to protect funding

independent.co.uk

In Senegal, I learnt of three deaths at a single community centre from HIV as a direct result of Trump's aid cuts to the Global Fund. The UK is poised to announce its pledge with more pain expected www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

When Trump’s aid cuts robbed them of HIV drugs, these people died

Special Report: Three people have died at just one community centre on the outskirts of Senegal’s capital, Dakar, following US aid cuts to HIV care. Rachel Schraer meets the women fighting to stop mor...

independent.co.uk

When Trump’s aid cuts robbed them of HIV drugs, these people died. Now the UK is poised to slash funding further

When Trump’s aid cuts robbed them of HIV drugs, these people died

independent.co.uk

RFK Jr, whose whole platform is based around tackling the environmental causes of chronic diseases, whose supporters see as the only one willing to stand up to powerful financial interests damaging health, says the UN declaration on taxing alcohol, sugary drinks etc goes 'too far'

BREAKING: UN Declaration On Noncommunicable Diseases Fails To Win Approval After US Foils Consensus - Health Policy Watch

NEW YORK CITY - A painstakingly negotiated Political Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases with overwhelming support from UN member states failed to win

healthpolicy-watch.news

Trump's aid cuts have left at least 16 countries in Africa running out of essential contraception. In three countries I've identified, contraceptive methods have already gone out of stock, leaving women facing abuse and turning to unsafe alternatives. www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Exclusive: Trump’s aid cuts leave 16 countries running out of key 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...

independent.co.uk

Just for a second, take a step back, and remember that these are the actions of a 56 year old man towards a 17 year old girl.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · last yr.

Graham Linehan ‘relentlessly’ posted abuse about trans teenager, court told

+ watch Bel Trew's film on the devastating effects of cutting family planning www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/trum... + read her powerful reporting www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

‘We will lose so many girls’: The deadly impact of Trump’s war on contraception

The US President has slashed nearly $600 million in funding for contraceptives – and the impact could be deadly for tens of thousands of women, reports chief international correspondent Bel Trew from ...

independent.co.uk

Rachel Schraer@rachelschraer.bsky.social · last yr.

Exclusive from me today: Countries across Africa are running out of contraception because of US aid cuts, with at least three having already run out of key methods leaving women vulnerable to unsafe abortion and abuse www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Read the report here www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Exclusive: Trump’s aid cuts leave 16 countries running out of key 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...

independent.co.uk

The Independent@the-independent.com · last yr.

While supplies – such as pills, condoms and IUDs – remain stuck in warehouses, at least three countries have already run out of some contraceptives. 13 more are at high risk. Another 21 counties face a moderate risk of shortages.

WATCH: Mission Aborted: Trump’s War on Maternal Care

Mission Aborted: Trump’s War on Maternal Care

In the opening moments of his presidency, Donald Trump made dramatic and sweeping cuts to US international aid. His main target: family planning programs worldwide. The president even wrongly accused ...

independent.co.uk

Countries across Africa are running out of contraceptives.

Exclusive from me today: Countries across Africa are running out of contraception because of US aid cuts, with at least three having already run out of key methods leaving women vulnerable to unsafe abortion and abuse www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Exclusive: Trump’s aid cuts leave 16 countries running out of key 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...

independent.co.uk

Find this use of the term 'deep state' so so fascinating, bearing in mind it originally described policies and actions taken secretly outside of the official system of checks and balances. Means seems to be using it to describe that very system of checks - the fact the pres can't do w/e he likes

The thing you don’t see about lengthy libel cases like this is the mental impact on witnesses - and on news outlets’ willingness to do similar stories. Respect to all the women who chose to go to court to defend this story - plus Sirin Kale, Lucy Osborne, Paul Lewis and the Guardian team.

Henry Dyer@direthoughts.com · last yr.

The Guardian has successfully defended a libel action brought by the actor Noel Clarke over an investigation by the newspaper in which he was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 20 women. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/a...

Babies used to die on the bumpy road from Mahama refugee camp, Rwanda, to the nearest hospital. A fully-operational @savethechildren.org maternity clinic saved lives, but now the centre faces closures because of US aid cuts www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Inside the life-saving maternity ward at risk from Trump’s aid cuts

The health centre in Rwanda’s Mahama refugee camp delivers a thousand babies a year and without it, women face giving birth on the rough road to the nearest hospital. Rachel Schraer hears from the do...

independent.co.uk

Could direct cash transfers be part of the answer to shrinking aid budgets? www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

Giving mothers cash before they give birth could halve infant mortality, study finds

Households given a one-off payment of $1,000 dollars saw infant mortality drop by almost 50 per cent

independent.co.uk

love the en dash, fear the em dash

Eric Smith@ericsmithrocks.bsky.social · last yr.

People posting about how they’ve never seen em dashes used before the rise of ChatGPT are really great at telling folks they’ve never read a book before.

Delighted to have been shortlisted for podcast of the year for my BBC Radio 4/ BBC Sounds doc on the Lightning Process, the misleading treatment preying on long Covid patients and telling them their illness is in their minds #MJAAwards

Medical Journalists' Association@mja-uk.bsky.social · last yr.

🚨 Finalists for the 2025 Medical Journalists' Association Awards are revealed today. #mjaawards mjauk.org/2025/08/15/f...

After asking ChatGPT what to eat instead of salt, a man slowly poisoned himself over course of 3 months and gave himself a psychiatric illness that was common in the 19th century, according to a new medical case study: www.404media.co/guy-gives-hi...

Guy Gives Himself 19th Century Psychiatric Illness After Consulting With ChatGPT

"For 3 months, he had replaced sodium chloride with sodium bromide obtained from the internet after consultation with ChatGPT."

404media.co

On his decision to end $500M worth of research on mRNA vaccines, RFK Jr. said: “The the data show these vaccines fail to protect effectively against upper respiratory infections like COVID and flu”. These vaccines saved 3.2M lives in the U.S. He is running a disinformation op against Americans.

Why are they naming all these American detention facilities like pro wrestlers? www.newsweek.com/indiana-prep...

Indiana prepping "Speedway Slammer" similar to "Alligator Alcatraz"

DHS is preparing another ICE detention facility as deportation efforts continue.

newsweek.com

An update on this frankly mind-bending story that Trump's government plans to burn $10m of contraception rather than give it to those who need it - even tho it will cost them more to destroy it + they've had offers from charities to take on the cost of donating www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

Trump’s destructive plan ‘will deny 1.4m women and girls birth control’

The supplies could prevent an estimated 174,000 unintended pregnancies and 56,000 unsafe abortions if they were handed out, the International Planned Parenthood Federation says

independent.co.uk

We need to teach people the difference between being uncomfortable and being unsafe. Because the discomfort of the safest people is endangering the most vulnerable, all day every day.

A plan to destroy almost $10m worth of contraception already bought for use in low-income countries has now been set in motion. www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

Trump team sends $10m of birth control to be burnt instead of donating as aid

The supplies, including pills and implants, have already been paid for by US taxpayers - and will cost another $167,000 to destroy

independent.co.uk