Archive June 16, 2025

A Massachusetts federal judge has declared that cuts to National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants made by the administration of US President Donald Trump are “illegal” and “void,” and ordered that many of the grants be restored.

In a ruling issued on Monday, Judge William Young vacated the terminations that began in late February and said the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily cancelling more than $1bn in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Young told the court there could be little doubt the cuts represent “racial discrimination and discrimination against America’s LGBTQ community”, according to quotes published on X by Politico reporter Kyle Cheney.

In April, a group of researchers sued the NIH, saying hundreds of critical research projects were halted due to an “ideological purge”. The plaintiffs argued that the reasons given for the terminations – connections with “diversity, equity, and inclusion” and “gender identity” – were vague and lacking in concrete explanation.

Terminated grants included programmes focusing on women, racial minorities and the health of health of gay, lesbian and transgender people, but also included studies on cancer, youth suicide and bone health. The government has argued that the court lacks jurisdiction and that the NIH has discretion to set its own priorities.

Young said he was reinstating grants that had been awarded to organisations and Democratic-led states that sued over the terminations. And the judge strongly suggested that as the case proceeds, he could issue a more sweeping decision.

Young, who was appointed by US President Ronald Reagan, offered a harsh rebuke to the government, saying that in his 40 years on the bench, he had “never seen evidence of racial discrimination like this”.

‘Didn’t take job to terminate grants’

The ruling comes almost a week after Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), admitted that the Trump administration had gone too far in slashing biomedical research grants and said efforts were under way to restore some of the funding

Bhattacharya made the remarks Tuesday during a Senate committee hearing examining both recent cuts to his agency and deeper reductions proposed by the White House in next year’s budget.

“I didn’t take this job to terminate grants,” said the physician and health economist, who left a professorship at Stanford University to join the Trump administration.

World leaders assembled at this week’s Group of Seven summit in Canada will try to push United States President Donald Trump to back away from his punishing trade war, which experts say poses a risk to global economic stability.

Most countries represented at the G7 are already subject to Trump’s 10 percent baseline tariff with threats of more to come. European countries and Japan face additional levies on cars and steel and aluminium. The G7 consists of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the US.

Arriving for a meeting with the host, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Trump said trade would be the “primary focus” of the summit, which began on Sunday and runs until Tuesday.

The trade issue is of particular interest to Canada after the Trump administration announced several extra levies on Canadian goods in recent months.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has been invited to the summit and will have her own face-to-face time with Trump as her country tries to renegotiate its three-way North American free trade agreement, which also includes Canada.

While there is little expectation that the summit will end with a breakthrough in the trade negotiations between the US and the rest of the world, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is part of Trump’s delegation.

Dozens of countries are locked in negotiations with the Trump administration to clinch some sort of trade deal before the US imposes stinging “reciprocal” tariffs, threatened for July.

Last week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the date could be pushed back later for countries thought to be negotiating in good faith.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told reporters he would team up with his counterparts from France and Italy to discuss the US trade threat with Trump directly.

“[French President] Emmanuel Macron, [Italian Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni and I are firmly resolved to try, over the next two days, to talk again with the US government to see if we can find a solution,” Merz told reporters.

“There will be no solution at this summit, but we may be able to get closer to a solution in small steps,” he added.

The European Commission handles trade negotiations for the 27-country European Union and the bloc’s trade chief, Maros Sefcovic, was also attending the summit, accompanying the delegation of commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Shortly after arriving at the summit, von der Leyen on Monday made an appeal to “keep trade between us fair, predictable and open” in a veiled plea for Trump to back off from his tariff onslaught.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he will talk about implementing the UK’s trade deal with the US during his one-on-one with Trump.

The UK in May was the first country to sign a preliminary deal with Washington to avoid deeper tariffs although the 10 percent baseline levy stays in place.

Starmer said the deal was in its final stages and he expects it to be completed “very soon”.

Trade talks underscored by Iran and Israel

The trade talks come alongside increasing tensions between Israel and Iran as the two countries exchange attacks. On Monday, an Israeli air strike hit an Iranian state TV station midbroadcast. Calls for de-escalation have been a point of contention at the meeting, according to Al Jazeera’s James Bay.

“The problem with the G7 is that you have a range of views. You have President Trump on one end, who it seems will not even sign a statement on de-escalation. You have the Europeans, who have been saying ‘de-escalation’ since this current situation started on Friday,” Bay said.