Grant

Wyden says in a letter addressed to Robert F Kennedy Jr that HHS is preparing an ‘unprecedented legal framework’Ron Wyden, a US senator of Oregon, accused the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of preparing to use what he describes as an “unprecedented legal framework” to deport more than 500 unaccompanied migrant children currently in the custody of the agency’s Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR).In a letter addressed to the HHS secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, Wyden said he had obtained “credible information” that the department was using a list of more than 500 children as targets for expedited removal under a new administrative process that he says lacks statutory authority. He called the reported initiative “deeply alarming” and urged HHS to immediately suspend any related screening or removal efforts. Continue reading...

• The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on ideological lines to allow the Trump administration to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for thousands of immigrants. • The decision affects approximately 350,000 Haitians and 6,000 Syrians who were granted legal protections after fleeing war, natural disasters, or other catastrophes. • This ruling is significant because it removes the legal shield preventing these individuals from being deported from the United States.

• Five projects based at Irish universities have been selected as recipients of the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant. • Announced on June 23, the funding total is €838 million, distributed among more than 300 researchers globally as part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. • These grants are designed to support senior researchers in pursuing ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to significant scientific breakthroughs.

Withdrawal of TPS designation puts workers who fill vital role in peril – and risks further shortages in US health systemWhen Dolores Jacoby’s doctor told her there was little she could do to treat her acute myeloid leukemia, a deafening silence filled the hospital room, where she was surrounded by her family. Dolores had only recently been diagnosed with the rare aggressive cancer. Her beloved nursing assistant, Janeth, was standing just outside her room. After the doctor left, Janeth entered with a tray containing each family member’s favorite beverage. “If there’s anybody who can recover, it’s your mother,” she told John Jacoby, Dolores’s son, before leaving the room as inconspicuously as she had arrived.It was 2012. More than a decade later, John still remembers that day in his mother’s hospital room in the San Francisco Bay Area clearly. “We had just heard the worst news of our lives, and Janeth injected life into my mom, into her veins, into the atmosphere, you know, for all of us,” he said. Continue reading...

People smugglers have been using lorries to bring people deported to France under the deal back to the UKThe UK and France have been forced to rewrite the “one in, one out” deal because of concerns over the numbers of people re-entering the UK after being removed to the continent.The original treaty said people arriving in small boats could be returned to France. But people smugglers have used lorries to bring people who had been deported to France under the deal back to the UK. Continue reading...

• Imperial College London has secured two major research grants to co-lead landmark AI innovation programmes in partnership with institutions in Singapore. • The initiatives will focus on leveraging artificial intelligence to accelerate the pace of chemistry discovery and enhance the reliability of software systems. • This collaboration highlights the growing intersection of AI and scientific research, aiming to solve complex problems in materials science and computing.

• The Trump administration and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed rewriting federal grant rules on May 29, 2026, to ensure awards "demonstrably advance" the President's policy priorities. • The 400-page proposal would shift the criteria for government grants—ranging from childcare and public safety to research—away from objective standards toward political goals. • While the White House claims these changes will improve transparency, accountability, and oversight, critics argue that federal grantmaking will become overly politicized.