From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground.
Fragmented and stop-start technology investment has resulted in the police being slow to adopt new technologies - and benefit from the expected productivity improvements - at a national level, according to a report from the National Audit Office (NAO). The UK's independent public spending watchdog said that in the financial year 2024-25, His Majesty's Treasury provided £234 million over four years to help fund investments in police technology, including £55.5 million in that year.
Democracy flourishes when Black Americans advance. The evidence is clear: birthright citizenship, constitutional due process, anti-discrimination laws from education to housing to employment and equitable small business investments, are all byproducts of the systemic corrections known today as DEI. Yet, in recent years, DEI has been used as a smokescreen by cynical politicians and activists to roll back progress and consolidate power.
We are here to serve our communities and to fulfill our mission of giving them news, giving them entertainment, giving them emergency alerts and giving them school closings. We do lost and found pet notices. We do funeral announcements. We have a listing of community events that is read multiple times a day. We do weather forecasts. We're a critical part of the community, Smith told Al Jazeera.
The U.S. Department of Justice through the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) provides grant funding to combat human trafficking, but the monies expired last month. Applications to renew funding are not available presently. The grant covered funding for advocates, training for trauma-informed interviewing and overtime, hampers the county's ability to fund operations during the sporting events, according to attorney Bryan Slater, who oversees human trafficking prosecutors in the District Attorney's office.
But the proposed deal, announced in June, appears to have come as a surprise to the School Board, which now says in a state court lawsuit filed Wednesday in Miami that the proposed acquisition is not authorized under the Media Group's management contract that has been in force since 2022. Moreover, the money earmarked to pay for WFLM belongs to WLRN, not the Media Group, the lawsuit asserts.
Following congressional approval of the public broadcasting budget cuts last week, GBH put up three words on its digital billboard in Brighton - "Local. Trusted. Defunded." - and the message went viral over the weekend.
The Migrant Education program, vital for children of agricultural workers, is defunded, resulting in halted and cut back services across California, affecting many students.
Over 40 percent of AmeriCorps grantees were terminated suddenly, with little notice, impacting low-income high school students' transition decisions regarding college funding and choices.
"Nobody really knows what's happening," one project manager running a Syria-based project told DW about the US cuts in aid funding. "They haven't put a complete stop to it yet so we're just spending the money on a monthly basis and hoping for the best."
"The recent significant shifts in federal government priorities and funding approaches in 2025 represent the final hardship, not the first," they wrote, noting that 92% of BRAVE's operating budget relies on federal funding.
Private criminal prosecutions allow individuals, companies, or charities to seek justice, but can also lead to abuse, as shown by the Post Office's 918 successful prosecutions.
