Category Archives: Society

Environmental groups in UK ‘still very white – especially at the top’

Posted on by

Greenpeace co-director responds to report finding fewer than one in 20 working in sector identifies as non-white

Environmental organisations “are still very white, especially at the top”, the co-director of Greenpeace has said as research showed little to no improvement in the ethnic diversity of their workforces.

Areeba Hamid’s comments came as the third annual racial action on the climate emergency (Race) report into diversity among environmental charities found fewer than one in 20 of those working in the sector identified as people of colour or as other racial or ethnic minority groups.

Continue reading...

‘Reform is a challenge’: Eluned Morgan hits south Wales valleys in constant campaign mode

Posted on by

The Labour first minister talks to people in Blackwood, as Reform and Plaid snap at her heels

The next Welsh parliament elections are more than a year away but the first minister, Eluned Morgan, appeared to be on the campaign trail already as she swept through the town of Blackwood in the south Wales valleys.

Within half an hour, she had spoken to dozens of people, asking what they wanted of her government, acknowledging where things needed to be improved, challenging voters who she felt were not being fair on her party.

Continue reading...

AI tools used for child sexual abuse images targeted in Home Office crackdown

Posted on by

UK will be first country to bring in tough new laws to tackle the technology behind the creation of abusive material

Britain is to become the first country to introduce laws tackling the use of AI tools to produce child sexual abuse images, amid warnings from law enforcement agencies of an ­alarming proliferation in such use of the technology.

In an attempt to close a legal ­loophole that has been a major ­concern for police and online safety campaigners, it will become illegal to possess, create or distribute AI tools designed to generate child sexual abuse material.

Continue reading...

UK betting giants under fire for ads targeting at-risk gamblers

Posted on by

Judge condemns firm for use of customer’s data after problem gambler was sent 1,300 emails over two years

Gambling companies in Britain could be forced to overhaul their advertising practices after a betting firm was ruled to have unlawfully targeted a problem gambler who was bombarded with more than 1,300 marketing emails.

In a ruling at the high court, a judge found that Sky Betting & Gaming sent the man personalised marketing without proper consent after gathering hundreds of thousands of pieces of data about him and his gambling habits.

Continue reading...

‘Are we dating the same guy?’: Women turn to Facebook to uncover cheating and violence

Posted on by

Experts say use of groups to warn others about dangerous men is indictment on governments’ failure to keep women safe

“Any info on Chris* please? Thanks.” The words in a Facebook post, above three pictures of a man. In the comments, a woman replies: “He was also posted a few days ago by someone.”

Further down, a second woman replies: “I’m shaking, I’m his fiancee.”

Continue reading...

‘This is sacred land’: an off-grid Wales community battles to keep their home

Posted on by

Legal action has begun to remove the tenants after the 80-acre site was sold to be turned into a healing retreat

Lunch around the huge sycamore and oak table in the farmhouse kitchen of the off-grid Brithdir Mawr community in the Preseli mountains of west Wales is a warm, gentle affair.

Members of the housing co-operative share soup made from leeks and potatoes grown in the gardens, served with crumbly goat’s cheese from its own herd, all washed down with mugs of mountain spring water.

Continue reading...

Just Stop Oil protester, 78, released to home detention after fitting tag found

Posted on by

Gaie Delap had prison term extended because contractors could not find wrist strap of right size

A 78-year-old climate protester has been released on home detention curfew just a week after her prison term was extended because government contractors were unable to find the right-sized tag for her wrist.

Gaie Delap, 78, a retired teacher and Just Stop Oil protester, was sentenced to 20 months in prison for her participation in a climate protest on the M25 in 2022 and was released last November under the home detention curfew (HDC) scheme.

Continue reading...

Freed Gaza hostage told Starmer that Hamas held her in Unrwa premises, her mother says

Posted on by

British-Israeli Emily Damari was taken on 7 October 2023 and says Hamas denied her medical treatment after shooting her twice

The freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari spoke to Keir Starmer on Friday and told the prime minister Hamas held her in facilities belonging to the UN refugee agency Unrwa, her mother, Mandy, has said.

Damari, 28, who was released 12 days ago, after more than 15 months in captivity in Gaza, with two fingers missing, also told Starmer that Hamas had denied her access to medical treatment after shooting her twice.

Continue reading...

Gamblers complain to Bet365 over outage during Champions League matches

Posted on by

Online gambling firm’s service ‘issues’ left bettors apparently unable to ‘cash out’ on busy night in European football

The online gambling company Bet365 has been flooded with complaints after it suffered an outage during one of the busiest nights of European football this season.

Customers claimed to have lost out on thousands of pounds owing to what the company called “issues with our service” during the second half of Wednesday night’s 18 Champions League games.

Continue reading...

‘Groundbreaking’: scientists develop patch that can repair damaged hearts

Posted on by

Cells taken from blood and ‘reprogrammed’ into heart muscle cells may help patients with heart failure

Damaged hearts can literally be patched up to help them work, say researchers, in what has been hailed as a groundbreaking development for people with advanced heart failure.

According to a recent study, heart failure affects more than 64 million people worldwide, with causes including heart attacks, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease.

Continue reading...

First outbreak of rare bird flu strain reported at California poultry farm

Posted on by

Discovery of H5N9 came alongside detection of the more common H5N1 on the farm, leading to 119,000 birds’ deaths

The first outbreak of a rare bird flu in poultry has been detected on a duck farm in California, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Monday.

Authorities said the discovery of H5N9 bird flu in poultry came alongside the detection of the more common H5N1 strain on the same farm in Merced county, California, and that almost 119,000 birds on the farm had been killed since early December.

Continue reading...

Quarter of people in England had poor NHS care in past year, report says

Posted on by

Survey for patient watchdog finds over half of those who made complaint were not satisfied with process or outcome

A quarter of people in England experienced poor NHS care over the last year but fewer than one in 10 of them complained about it, a report by the patient watchdog has revealed.

When people did complain, more than half were not satisfied with either the process involved or the outcome, Healthwatch England said. Complaints take many months to resolve.

24% of patients had received poor care in that time – the equivalent of 10.7 million people in England.

56% took no action – and only 9% made a complaint.

20% were scared that complaining would affect their treatment.

34% did not trust the NHS to use a complaint they made to improve services.

Continue reading...

Spooky kettles and a girl in white: Adele’s ‘scary’ mansion not all that’s haunting Sussex village

Posted on by

Owners claim singer ‘blighted’ sale of property she once rented but Partridge Green has no shortage of ghostly tales

At first it was the strange rumblings that would wake her. Then bright lights would fill the bedroom as a face appeared, looking down on her. Her husband, who worked nights, never believed her until one day, he saw it too.

Shaken by the sightings, the couple sold the cottage and moved far away from Partridge Green, a quaint, isolated village in West Sussex. Thirty years later, a short distance away from where these night-time hauntings took place, the village welcomed a surprising new arrival.

Continue reading...

Wes Streeting to criticise Nigel Farage’s ‘miserabilist, declinist’ vision of Britain

Posted on by

Health secretary will say it is time to fight battle of ideas against populist right and repairing NHS is vital for success

Wes Streeting is to criticise Nigel Farage for pushing a “miserabilist, declinist” vision of Britain, arguing it is time to start fighting a battle of ideas against the rightwing populists.

In a speech on Saturday the health secretary will say failing public services have been a “fertiliser of populism” because they have bred cynicism about the ability of politics to effect change.

Continue reading...

Gender dysphoria diagnoses among children in England rise fiftyfold over 10 years

Posted on by

Study of GP records finds prevalence rose from one in 60,000 in 2011 to one in 1,200 in 2021 – but numbers still low overall

The number of children and young people in England with a diagnosis of gender dysphoria recorded by a GP has risen fiftyfold over 10 years, researchers have found, though numbers are still relatively small.

The growing number of birth-registered females seeking referrals to gender clinics has raised concerns in recent years, with tensions over how best to tackle gender dysphoria in children resulting in the Cass review last year.

Continue reading...

Unpaid internships ‘locking out’ young working-class people from careers

Posted on by

UK charity calls for positions of four weeks or longer to be banned to help close social mobility gap

Young people from working-class or disadvantaged backgrounds are being “locked out” of careers by unpaid or low-paid internships that benefit middle-class graduates, according to a social mobility charity.

Research by the Sutton Trust found that middle-class graduates made more use of internships as stepping stones into sectors such as finance or IT, even in cases where the internships paid nothing or below the minimum wage as required by legislation.

Continue reading...

Prisons minister aims to close one women’s jail in England and Wales

Posted on by

Exclusive: Timpson says government plans to reverse rise in female inmates and use alternative forms of punishment

A women’s jail in England or Wales should be closed by diverting offenders to alternative forms of punishment and rehabilitation, the prisons minister, James Timpson has said.

In an interview with the Guardian, the former head of the shoe repair chain said the government planned to reverse the rise in the number of women being sent to jail, around half of whom are mothers.

Continue reading...

‘A vicious circle’: how the roof blew off Spain’s housing crisis

Posted on by

Rents spiral and neighbourhoods lose charm as cities report tourist flat boom and surge in housing speculation

Ciutat Vella, the old city of Barcelona, was once quirky and mysterious.

Now it has become a parody of itself, a place from which the local population has been exiled in the interests of tourism and maturing investments. Doorways have sprouted combination key safes, a telltale sign of an apartment given over to tourist lets. A 100-year-old apothecary and shirtmaker that stood on La Rambla for two centuries have been replaced by shops selling flamenco dolls and ceramic bulls.

Continue reading...

Treasury seeks to keep water firm fines earmarked for sewage cleanups

Posted on by

Exclusive: Restoration fund in England could be ‘siphoned off’ to be used for general government spending, not repairing rivers

Rachel Reeves’s Treasury is looking to keep millions of pounds levied on polluting water companies in fines that were meant to be earmarked for sewage cleanup, the Guardian has learned.

The £11m water restoration fund was announced before the election last year, with projects bidding for the cash to improve waterways and repair damage done by sewage pollution in areas where fines have been imposed.

Continue reading...

Indian court finds police volunteer guilty of rape and murder of trainee doctor

Posted on by

Case was fast-tracked after crime in Kolkata sparked protests across India amid concern for women’s safety

A police volunteer has been found guilty of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor who was on duty in Kolkata, a crime that sparked protests across India amid concern about violence against women and girls.

The outcry over the killing of the 31-year-old physician in August led to the trial being fast-tracked through the legal system.

Continue reading...