Category Archives: Society

Only 5% of UK medical school entrants are working class, data shows

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Sutton Trust says underrepresentation of poorer students is ‘outrageous’ but number has doubled in 10 years to 2022

Students from working class backgrounds still only make up 5% of entrants to medical schools across the UK, a proportion that has doubled over the past decade, analysis has found.

The research, conducted by the Sutton Trust and University College London (UCL), looked at almost 94,000 applicants to UK medical schools between 2012 and 2022, which represent almost half of all UK medical applicants.

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Covid inquiry to hear evidence about Michelle Mone-linked firm in private

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Chair rules that details about PPE contracts given to company linked to Tory peer will be heard in closed session

The Covid inquiry will hear detailed evidence about the multimillion-pound PPE contracts awarded during the crisis to a company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone, but in private, the inquiry chair has ruled.

The National Crime Agency has since May 2021 been investigating potential criminal offences committed in the procurement of the contracts awarded to the company, PPE Medpro, and argued that its investigation could be prejudiced if the inquiry heard evidence in public.

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South Korea birthrate rises for first time in nine years amid surge in marriages

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Rise comes from very low base and remains far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to stabilise population

South Korea’s birthrate rose last year for the first time in nine years, as a surge in marriages raised hopes that the country may be lifting itself out of its demographic crisis.

Preliminary data released by the government body Statistics Korea on Wednesday showed that the number of babies born per 1,000 people in 2024 stood at 4.7, the first rise since 2014.

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Wes Streeting to axe thousands of jobs at NHS England after ousting of chief executive

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NHS staff fear power grab by health department as health secretary looks to shrink body due to ‘duplication’ of roles

Wes Streeting will axe thousands of jobs at NHS England after his ousting of its chair and chief executive in what health service staff fear is a power grab.

The health secretary’s plan follows Amanda Pritchard’s shock announcement on Monday that she was stepping down as the organisation’s chief executive next month.

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Activists call for state of emergency in Nigeria over gender-based violence

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Deaths of 22 women reported this year include 240% rise in January, campaigners say, as abusers act ‘with impunity’

Almost two dozen women have died due to gender-based violence across Nigeria in 2025 alone, activists and civil society organisations have said in a call for a state of emergency.

According to Femicide Observatory, run by the Lagos-based nonprofit Document Our History (DOHS) Cares Foundation, there were 17 cases reported in January, a 240% increase from the same period last year, with an additional five by 16 February. More than 100 femicides were documented in 2024.

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Thousands of children in England accused of witchcraft in past decade

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Figures emerge as Kindoki Witch Boy film tells true story of Mardoche Yembi who underwent an exorcism as a child

Thousands of children in England have been accused of witchcraft over the past decade, according to new figures that come alongside a film released on Monday.

Faith-based abuse is a worldwide phenomenon but experts found 14,000 social work assessments linked to witchcraft accusations since 2015. In the year running to March 2024 alone, there were 2,180 assessments linked to witchcraft.

Children accused of witchcraft can call Childline on 0800 1111 or NSPCC on 0808 800 500.

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‘A source of national shame’: shelters in England turn young people away as number of rough sleepers soar

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Charities across the country highlight the rising demand for emergency accommodation as costs spiral to care for those most in need

Holly Udobang is packing the last bag: a sleeping mat, gloves, woolly hat, waterproof poncho, hand warmers. It’s the sort of kit that teenagers might need for a Duke of Edinburgh trip.

But this bag is for young homeless people, to give them a fighting chance of getting some sleep on the streets of London. Holly and her colleagues at the New Horizon Youth Centre are packing them to give to the young people they now have to turn away every day, as an increasing number of emergency shelters shut their doors.

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Texas measles outbreak grows to 90 cases, worst level in 30 years

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Epicenter of latest outbreak had one of state’s highest immunization exemption rates for 2023-24 school year

The measles outbreak in Texas has grown to at least 90 cases, reaching historic levels, according to officials.

Since late January, 90 cases of measles have been identified in the South Plains region, the state’s department of state health services (DSHS) reported Friday. At least 16 patients have been hospitalized as a result.

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‘Revenge porn’ abusers allowed to keep devices with explicit images

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Prosecutors in England and Wales are failing to obtain orders requiring the deletion of intimate content shared without consent, analysis reveals

Perpetrators of “revenge porn” offences are being allowed to keep explicit images of their victims on their devices, after a failure by prosecutors to obtain orders requiring their deletion.

An Observer analysis of court records in intimate image abuse cases has found that orders for the offenders to give up their devices and delete photos and videos are rarely being made. Of 98 cases concluded in the magistrates courts in England and Wales in the past six months, just three resulted in a deprivation order.

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UK creative industries set behaviour standards after Strictly and MasterChef rows

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An independent standards authority says the industry must learn from recent scandals and create safer working environments

New guidelines will be issued this week for the UK’s creative industries after a series of scandals including reports of inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace and Gino d’Acampo, and bullying allegations on the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing.

The Creative Industries Indep­endent Standards Authority (CIISA) will set new standards with the aim of stamping out bullying, harassment and discrimination, and address “power imbalances”.

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NHS doctor who ‘glorified terrorist violence’ wins deportation challenge

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Home Office moved to cancel Menatalla Elwan’s leave to remain over posts on Hamas’s 7 October attack

An Egyptian NHS doctor who “glorified terrorist violence” by mocking Israeli civilians fleeing the Hamas attacks in October 2023 has won a legal challenge against deportation.

In one of three social media posts hours after the attacks began, Dr Menatalla Elwan, 34, who worked at an NHS trust in Liverpool, reposted footage of music festivalgoers running from Hamas terrorists and wrote “if it was your home, you would stay and fight”, accompanied by a smiling face emoji.

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NHS facing ‘crisis of public trust’ as most people fear being failed by A&E services

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Public concern about NHS is worrying and frightening, says leading emergency doctor after poll revealed

Three in four people in the UK fear getting stuck on a trolley in a hospital corridor or an ambulance not arriving after dialling 999, prompting claims that the NHS is facing “a crisis of public trust”.

Huge numbers also worry about their local A&E not having enough beds (77%) and not being able to get care at their GP surgery (70%), research also found.

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Long-term effects of Gaza war could quadruple Palestinian death toll, warn UK doctors

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Surgeons who worked in Gaza fear disease, malnutrition and eradication of healthcare will reverberate for decades

British doctors who worked in Gaza during the war have issued dire predictions over the long-term health of Palestinian civillians, warning that large numbers will continue to die.

The prevalence of infectious disease and multiple health problems linked to malnutrition, alongside the destruction of hospitals and killing of medical experts, meant mortality rates among Palestinians in Gaza would remain high after the cessation of Israeli shelling.

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Pilot of domestic abuse experts helping in 999 call rooms begins in England

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Jess Phillips says ‘Raneem’s law’ scheme will support ‘force-wide cultural change’ as initial phase is rolled out

Domestic abuse specialists embedded in control rooms receiving 999 emergency calls will help “create force-wide cultural change”, said Jess Phillips as the first phase of “Raneem’s law” was rolled out across England.

The new law is named in memory of Raneem Oudeh, who was killed alongside her mother, Khaola Saleem, in Solihull by Oudeh’s ex-husband, whom she had reported to the police at least seven times, as well as making four 999 calls on the night she was murdered.

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Off air: one by one, the Taliban are removing women’s voices from Afghan radio

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As one of the last female-run stations in the country is silenced, a former broadcaster gives an inside view of the crackdown on women working in the media

When the Taliban began marching towards cities across Afghanistan in the summer of 2021, Alia*, a 22-year-old Afghan journalist, found herself doing some of the most important work of her short life and career.

In the weeks leading up to the Taliban takeover in August, Alia’s voice on the radio became familiar to many in northern Afghanistan. She reported on the withdrawal of foreign troops, the siege of government offices and on the detention of former officials in her province.

Above all, Alia reported on the situation for women and their fears and concerns – emotions she was experiencing herself. As the Taliban gradually began imposing restrictions on them, Alia was documenting history repeating itself.

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Retailers to be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives

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New raft of measures labelled Ronan’s law include tougher sentences for those caught selling blades to under-18s

Retailers will be required to report suspicious or bulk purchases of knives, and those caught selling blades to under-18s will face tougher sentences under a new raft of measures to clamp down on young people’s access to weapons labelled Ronan’s law.

Named after Ronan Kanda, the 16-year-old killed in Wolverhampton in 2022 by a teenager carrying a 22in ninja blade he had ordered online, the new laws are part of a raft of anti-knife crime plans announced by the government on Wednesday.

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Life expectancy growth stalls across Europe as England sees sharpest decline, say researchers

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Poor diet, obesity and inactivity blamed on decline with Norway the only country seeing a rise

Life expectancy improvement is stalling across Europe with England experiencing the biggest slowdown. Experts are blaming this on an alarming mix of poor diet, mass inactivity and soaring obesity.

The average annual growth in life expectancy across the continent fell from 0.23 years between 1990 and 2011 to 0.15 years between 2011 and 2019, according to research published in the Lancet Public Health journal. Of the 20 countries studied, every one apart from Norway saw life expectancy growth fall.

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Devon man jailed for sending ‘utterly deplorable’ email to Jess Phillips MP

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Jack Bennett, 39, given 28 weeks for message sent a day after criticism of minister by X owner Elon Musk

A 39-year-old man has been jailed for sending an “utterly deplorable” email to safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, one day after she was criticised by X owner Elon Musk.

Jack Bennett, from Seaton, Devon, pleaded guilty to sending malicious communications to three people between February 2024 and January 2025, including the Birmingham Yardley MP, at Exeter magistrates court on Tuesday.

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Prison system crisis due to overreliance on long sentences, says Gauke review

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Successive governments’ ‘penal populism’ has driven England and Wales justice system to brink of collapse, report finds

Successive governments’ overreliance on prison sentences and desire to seem “tough on crime” have driven the justice system in England and Wales to the brink of collapse, an official review has found.

A form of “penal populism” where longer incarceration is seen as the only effective means of punishment has contributed to the crisis in the prison system, according to the interim findings of a review led by former justice secretary David Gauke.

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Reeves warned UK inflation will push public sector unions to seek higher pay rises

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Plan for ‘reasonable’ 2.8% rises may prove insufficient, forcing chancellor to find billions in extra funding

Rachel Reeves has been warned public sector unions will demand higher pay increases to compensate for accelerating inflation, heaping pressure on the chancellor to find billions of pounds in extra funding.

The government made recommendations in December for a 2.8% pay rise for teachers, NHS staff and other public sector workers for the financial year beginning in April, saying it was a “reasonable amount” given forecasts for the economy.

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