Category Archives: Children

Hundreds of asylum seekers removed from UK to France have disappeared, say NGOs

Posted on by

Rights groups say those missing after being deported under one in, one out deal include dozens of age-disputed children

Hundreds of asylum seekers including at least 41 age-disputed children who were removed to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, human rights organisations have said.

The pilot scheme was hailed as “groundbreaking” by the former prime minister Keir Starmer when he and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced it in July 2025. Under a treaty drawn up for this agreement, it forcibly returns small-boat asylum seekers to France in exchange for others brought legally to the UK from France.

Continue reading...

UK chancellor urged to remove £100k childcare ‘cliff edge’ prompting parents to cut work hours

Posted on by

Critics say threshold pushes higher-paid staff to cut back on work and often mothers to stop working to avoid losing entitlement

John Healey has been urged to fix the £100,000 childcare “cliff edge”, that means some higher-paid employees cut back on work to avoid losing their entitlement.

Since the latest expansion of taxpayer-funded childcare in 2024, families with young children in which both parents earn less than £100,000 a year can be entitled to 30 hours a week of care - or none at all, if one of them cross that threshold.

Continue reading...

Babies born to anaemic mothers have smaller brains, study finds

Posted on by

Key regions of the brain linked to movement, learning and emotions were affected and may lead to cognitive problems

Babies born to mothers with anaemia have smaller brains, particularly in key regions linked to movement, learning and the regulation of emotion, according to a study.

Researchers said the differences, first detected at the age of one, could lead to cognitive problems when children started school.

Continue reading...

UK to force Apple and Google to block explicit images on children’s smartphones

Posted on by

Lisa Nandy says government will introduce legislation after talks deadline ends without breakthrough

Apple and Google will be forced to block explicit images on children’s smartphones by law in the UK after talks failed to produce a breakthrough, the government has said.

The legislation commitment puts ministers on a collision course with two of the biggest players in Silicon Valley, months after the government announced a social media ban for under-16s.

Continue reading...

Pupils with Send plans in England likely to double to one in 10 in rush for support

Posted on by

Schools and councils express financial concerns as EHCP applications surge before potential change in provision

Schools and councils across England are expecting the proportion of children with special needs plans to double to one in 10, with families rushing to secure support before ministers bring in changes.

Headteachers have reported an “unreal” surge in applications for education, health and care plans (EHCPs) mandating support for needs or disabilities such as speech and learning difficulties, autism or ADHD. In 2025, just one in 20 school-age children had EHCPs.

Continue reading...

Labour condemns Reform’s plan for £100bn in cuts as ‘half-baked’ and ‘incredibly reckless’ – UK politics live

Posted on by

Labour chair says uch cuts ‘could mean vital public services like hospitals, schools and law enforcement are put at risk’

The Electoral Commission has released political donation figures for the second quarter of 2026. They show that Reform UK continues to rake in far more than other parties. Nigel Farage’’s party had declared donations worth £5.3m. Labour got £3.6m, and the Conservatives £2.8m.

Most of Reform UK’s money came from Ben Delo, who gave £4m. As Rowena Mason reported earlier this year, Delo is a British billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money-laundering controls in his cryptocurrency business.

Continue reading...

North Carolina teenager dies from rare infection caused by brain-eating amoeba

Posted on by

Naegleria fowleri is commonly found in warm freshwater, and if it enters through the nose, can cause brain damage

A North Carolina teenager has died after contracting a rare and often fatal brain-eating amoeba.

The state’s health department (NCDHHS) confirmed the boy’s death on Monday, saying: “NCDHHS has been informed that the teen who developed a rare illness, caused by Naegleria fowleri died on Aug. 31, 2026. We extend our condolences to the family, friends and community impacted by this loss.”

Continue reading...

Eight-year-old dies after contracting rare brain-eating amoeba in Louisiana

Posted on by

Lillian Smart of Ruston infected with fatal Naegleria fowleri, likely after swimming in Lake Claiborne, health officials say

An eight-year-old Louisiana girl has died after contracting a rare, typically fatal brain-eating amoeba after a swim in Lake Claiborne.

Lillian Smart, of Ruston, died on Saturday, one day after celebrating her birthday, her family announced in a public Facebook post on the “Love for Lillian” page.

Continue reading...

‘Biased’ Channel 4 programme on ADHD misrepresented my views, says expert

Posted on by

Prof Katya Rubia withdraws support for The Great ADHD Myth? as other leading figures voice criticisms

A contributor to a controversial Channel 4 documentary on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has withdrawn her support for the programme, saying it was biased and could lead to an increased suicide risk by encouraging parents to take their children off medication.

Katya Rubia, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, also said The Great ADHD Myth? misrepresented her views.

Continue reading...

Young vapers ‘at risk of breathing problems and becoming smokers’

Posted on by

Review by paediatricians links child vaping with poor respiratory health such as coughing, wheezing and asthma

Young people who start vaping risk developing breathing problems and going on to smoke cigarettes, children’s doctors have warned.

Child vaping is consistently linked with poor respiratory health, such as coughing, wheezing, bronchitis symptoms and asthma exacerbations, while vapes have been shown to act as a gateway to smoking cigarettes, according to one of the most comprehensive reviews of the available evidence so far undertaken by the Royal College of Child and Paediatrics Health.

Continue reading...

OpenAI launches ChatGPT for Teens with stronger safeguards

Posted on by

Teen version is intended for children aged 13 to 17 and includes content protections on self-harm and sexual chats

OpenAI is launching a version of ChatGPT designed for teenagers – the first generation to grow up with artificial intelligence – who are already using it for schoolwork, questions about daily life and even companionship.

The San Francisco-based company says ChatGPT for Teens, which launches on Tuesday, is tailored for children aged 13 to 17 with stronger protections including content restrictions around things such as suicide, self-harm and romantic or sexual chats. It also provides homework and study support designed to help students learn rather than spit out answers and school essays.

Continue reading...

‘My heart breaks into a million pieces’: emotional tributes to Kumanjayi Little Baby at Alice Springs funeral

Posted on by

Hundreds gathered with flashes of pink to farewell the five-year-old girl, who was allegedly murdered in April

A sombre funeral service for Kumanjayi Little Baby has been attended by hundreds of people from the Alice Springs community and surrounds.

Wearing pink and some dressed in T-shirts bearing the face of the five-year-old girl, the crowd gathered under grey skies in the red centre capital on Saturday.

Continue reading...

French court blocks Macron’s social media ban for under-15s

Posted on by

Constitutional council says curbs infringe freedom of expression and privacy as president vows to rework legislation

France’s top court has blocked a ban on social media access for under-15s, ruling that it infringed freedom of expression and privacy.

The decision is a blow to President Emmanuel Macron as momentum builds around the world for Australian-style restrictions on children’s use of social media.

Continue reading...

Number of children injured in e-scooter crashes in England surges

Posted on by

Calls for speed limiters or mandated helmet use after research into injuries at three paediatric trauma centres

The number of children involved in crashes on e-scooters has soared in recent years, with some as young as nine involved in collisions, research has found.

Researchers carried out a review of injuries among the under-16s at three specialist paediatric trauma centres – Alder Hey in Liverpool, and Sheffield and Royal Manchester children’s hospitals – between January 2019 and December 2024.

Continue reading...

Parents of baby girl killed at nursery fear unsafe sleeping ‘rife’ in sector across England

Posted on by

Katie and John Meehan say responses to campaign they launched after death of daughter Genevieve must be ‘wake-up call’

The parents of a nine-month-old girl who died after being placed in an unsafe sleeping position at nursery said they feared poor practice may be “rife” across England.

Genevieve Meehan suffocated when she was strapped face down to a beanbag for an hour and 37 minutes at a nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in May 2022.

Continue reading...

High court clears way for clinical trial giving puberty blockers to children

Posted on by

Legal challenge to King’s College London research study claimed it could harm participants but was rejected

A clinical trial of drugs that can delay puberty can go ahead after a high court judge threw out a legal challenge on Friday.

Campaigners had launched the attempt to halt the planned research into puberty blockers, to be run by researchers at King’s College London (KCL), on the grounds that they believed it could harm the children taking part.

Continue reading...

More than 1 million children lost access to food benefits after Trump bill passed

Posted on by

Analysis finds more than 4 million Americans lost Snap benefits, or food stamps, from July 2025 to March 2026

More than a million children across the US have lost access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Snap) food benefits since Congress approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP).

The analysis found that more than 4 millions Americans were removed from Snap from July 2025 to March 2026, marking a significant decline in participation in the federal food assistance program.

Continue reading...

France becomes first EU country to ban social media access for under-15s

Posted on by

Parliament votes to stop children using apps such as TikTok in policy championed by Emmanuel Macron

France’s parliament has approved a bill banning social media access for children under 15, making it the first EU country to bar children from apps such as TikTok.

The president, Emmanuel Macron, has championed the ban as a key reform of his final term in office and pledged to enforce it by September.

Continue reading...

Developing countries spend more repaying foreign debt than on education, UN reveals

Posted on by

Unesco report shows children lost out to servicing debt in 113 countries, with 18 spending five times more on loans

Most developing countries spent less on education than they did repaying debt last year, according to the UN, at the same time as global aid to education is predicted to decline by up to 30%.

More was spent on servicing foreign debt than on education in 113 developing countries in 2025, according to research by the UN’s culture and education agency, Unesco. In sub-Saharan Africa, countries spent 3.6 times more on debt than education.

Continue reading...

Arizona toddler declared dead after near-drowning was alive for hours in ‘cold room’, records say

Posted on by

Officers say they saw signs of life multiple times, and after hospital treated the child, he was taken to hospital’s morgue

A toddler who was declared dead after being discovered in a backyard pool in February was actually alive and found hours later in a room that serves as the hospital morgue, recently released police records show.

Two Gilbert police officers saw possible signs of life multiple times, but the child was still taken to the hospital’s “cold room” after being treated by staff, according to the documents.

Continue reading...