‘We need more people to go by bike’: meet Amsterdam’s nine-year-old junior cycle mayor

Posted on February 12, 2019 by Admin

As the world’s first junior cycle mayor, Lotta Crok wants to draw attention to the obstacles kids on bikes face – and inspire other children to cycle

During Amsterdam’s chaotic rush hour, nine-year-old Lotta Crok cycles to a very busy junction. “Look,” she says. “There’s traffic coming from everywhere. Four trams from four different directions. For a child on a bike that’s really confusing!”

Lotta is the first junior cycle mayor in the world and her working area is the Dutch capital. It is her mission to inspire children to cycle every day and draw attention to the obstacles that kids on bikes are facing.

Breast-ironing: British peer to raise issue in parliament

Posted on January 28, 2019 by Admin

Leading QC Alex Carlile hopes to force wider scrutiny of the practice after Guardian revealed ‘dozens’ of girls subjected to abusive custom

A British peer is to table questions in parliament on the secretive practice of “breast-ironing”, after the Guardian revealed that the abusive intervention is spreading in the UK.

Alex Carlile, one of the UK’s leading QCs who is a former deputy high court judge and a member of the House of Lords, told the Guardian that he hoped to trigger a wider scrutiny of the practice in the UK.

Revealed: ‘dozens’ of girls subjected to breast-ironing in UK

Posted on January 26, 2019 by Admin

Perpetrators consider it a traditional measure to stop unwanted male attention

An African practice of “ironing” a girl’s chest with a hot stone to delay breast formation is spreading in the UK, with anecdotal evidence of dozens of recent cases, a Guardian investigation has established.

Community workers in London, Yorkshire, Essex and the West Midlands have told the Guardian of cases in which pre-teen girls from the diaspora of several African countries are subjected to the painful, abusive and ultimately futile practice.

‘These children are crucial’: teaching forgiveness in CAR’s besieged camps

Posted on January 25, 2019 by Admin

With peace talks starting this week in Khartoum, a quarter of the population of the Central African Republic have had to leave their homes – some into camps where makeshift teaching facilities offer hope to a potentially lost generation

Marie was fast asleep when the rebels came. “They wanted to kill all the men,” she says, “and to destroy our homes.”

Three militants burst into her room then moved to the next house, leaving her screaming in terror but unscathed. In a conflict zone where rape is routinely used as a weapon of war, other girls were less fortunate that night. She was just 12.

‘I’ve absolutely had enough’: Tory MP embarks on anti-austerity tour

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Admin

Heidi Allen joins former Labour MP Frank Field on mission to highlight the poverty caused by her party’s policies

Heidi Allen and Frank Field make an odd partnership at first glance. Allen, 44, the Conservative MP for one of Britain’s richest constituencies, and Field, 76, a Labour MP for 39 years until he resigned over antisemitism in the party, have bonded across the Commons over a shared outrage at poverty. Now they have embarked on a nationwide tour in search of the “other England” shaped by the austerity policies pioneered by Allen’s party. It is proving emotional.

Visits to the poorest corners of Newcastle, Glasgow, Morecambe and Cornwall beckon, but they have started in London and Leicester, where on Thursday they heard stories of an illiterate man sanctioned so often under universal credit that he lives on £5 a week; a man so poor he sold all but the clothes he was wearing; and someone being told to walk 44 miles to attend a job interview, despite having had a stroke, to save the state the cost of a £15 bus ticket.

Junior high school students caught forming swastika with their bodies

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Admin

California youths traded racist and violent messages in county called ‘hotbed for white supremacists’

A group of California junior high students were caught forming a swastika with their bodies on school grounds and exchanging racist and violent messages on a group chat, administrators said.

The scandal at Matilija junior high school, which culminated in an emotional meeting with parents and school officials Monday night, has sparked intense debate in a region that has experienced a sharp increase in reported antisemitic incidents.

‘I saw things I’d never imagined’: Caracas street children – in pictures

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Admin

Drugs, violence and harassment are part of daily life for the growing population of homeless children in Venezuela

All photographs: Miguel Gutiérrez/EPA

Archbishop of Lyon goes on trial accused of helping cover up abuse

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Admin

Philippe Barbarin could face up to three years in jail if convicted of failing to report priest who abused Scouts

The highest-profile Catholic cleric to be caught up in a paedophile scandal in France is going on trial charged with failing to report a priest who abused Scouts in the 1980s and 90s.

Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, is accused along with five others from his diocese of helping cover up abuse in one of the parishes in the area.

Six ways to raise a resilient child

Posted on January 5, 2019 by Admin

Want to help your children deal with stress and adversity? It’s easier than you think

Helping our children navigate the stresses and strains of daily life is more important than ever. Figures released in November last year by NHS Digital show a worrying rise in young people’s mental health problems; sadly, my experience as a GP confirms this. One in eight children aged between five and 19 in England has a diagnosable mental health condition; the prevalence of emotional disorders, including anxiety and depression, has risen by 48% since 2004. “The pressures young people face range from school stress, bullying and worries about job and housing prospects, to concerns around body image,” says Emma Saddleton, helpline manager at the charity YoungMinds.

While we may not be able to remove all these challenges, we can pass on skills to help young people cope with stress and adversity. “It’s what’s known as resilience,” Saddleton says. “The ability to overcome difficult experiences and be shaped positively by them.” Our brains respond to the information around us, so resilience can be taught, modelled and nurtured at any age. “By doing this, through strong support networks and encouraging communication, we can help young people understand when they feel down and know what they can do to make themselves feel better,” she adds.

The world in 2018: how much do you know? – quiz

Posted on December 31, 2018 by Admin

The year began with the Oxfam scandal and ended with a withering verdict on the food we eat. What do you remember?

Allegations of harassment at aid agencies and charities were frequent in 2018. Which organisation was branded 'a boys' club' by one employee?

UN Women

UNAids

Oxfam GB

ActionAid

Students in Cape Town scored a world first by creating a bio-brick from which substance?

Human saliva

Cow's milk

Horse manure

Human urine

Which singer came out in support of a Brexit-beleaguered Theresa May, suggesting the PM's gender made her a target for unfair criticism?

Lady Gaga

Paloma Faith

Kate Bush

Rae Morris

In a report condemning the 'diabolical state' of our diets, nutritionists found that more than four in 10 children worldwide consume what daily?

Chocolate

Cake

Crisps

Sugary drinks

Researchers at Harvard University believe it may be possible to protect countries in the global south from climate change using what?

A gigantic sunshade in the sky

Blanket distribution of sunscreen

A gigantic heat-absorbing sponge

Tibetan prayer beads

Which of the following food staples is threatened by a virulent fungus that could wipe it out of existence?

Wheat

Potatoes

Bananas

Chocolate chip cookies

Scientists working in Tanzania have developed an innovative method of diagnosing tuberculosis – involving the use of what?

Giant pandas

Giant armadillos

Giant frogs

Giant rats

In a speech on equality at the UN, which actor said she was tired of 'being undervalued, undermined and disrespected, because of my gender'?

Sienna Miller

Nicole Kidman

Gal Gadot

Emma Watson

Ethiopian girl band Yegna made headlines after losing UK aid funding. To which British girl band have they been compared?

Girls Aloud

The Spice Girls

The Saturdays

Sugababes

To which of the following did the Trump administration NOT make aid funding cuts in 2018?

Abortion services

Palestinians

Polio

Pakistan

10 and above.

Take a bow, you're a bonafide newshound!

7 and above.

My, my, now that was impressive – you really didn't miss much in 2018, did you?

4 and above.

A solid effort. Let no one say you ignored the headlines in 2018

0 and above.

Oops. It would seem the world passed you by somewhat in 2018. Was it all that talk of Brexit and Trump?

Roundup Newswires

Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network

Category Archives: Children

‘We need more people to go by bike’: meet Amsterdam’s nine-year-old junior cycle mayor

Breast-ironing: British peer to raise issue in parliament

Revealed: ‘dozens’ of girls subjected to breast-ironing in UK

‘These children are crucial’: teaching forgiveness in CAR’s besieged camps

Junior high school students caught forming swastika with their bodies

‘I saw things I’d never imagined’: Caracas street children – in pictures

Archbishop of Lyon goes on trial accused of helping cover up abuse

Six ways to raise a resilient child

The world in 2018: how much do you know? – quiz