Category Archives: Society

ADHD may have been an evolutionary advantage, research suggests

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Traits associated with the neurodevelopmental disorder could have helped early humans when foraging for food

Traits common to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), such as distractibility or impulsivity, might have been an evolutionary advantage for our ancestors by improving their tactics when foraging for food, researchers have said.

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder with symptoms including impulsiveness, disorganisation and difficulty focusing. While estimates of prevalence have varied, diagnoses have been rising in many countries, including the UK.

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Teachers in England could face ban for failing to report evidence of sexual abuse of children

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Home secretary’s mandatory reporting legislation plan already covered by statutory duties, say school leaders

Teachers in England face being banned if they fail to report evidence of children being subjected to sexual abuse under plans for new legislation announced by the home secretary, James Cleverly.

The new law would make it a legal requirement for healthcare professionals, teachers and others who work with children and young people to identify and pass on cases of possible sexual abuse.

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Combining three healthy behaviours can lower IBS risk, study finds

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People who tick at least three out of five boxes including not smoking and good sleep are found to have 42% lower risk

Combining three healthy behaviours can reduce the risk of irritable bowel syndrome by 42%, a study suggests.

IBS affects the digestive system and its symptoms include stomach cramps, bloating, diarrhoea and constipation. People can suffer for days, weeks or months at a time, and symptoms can come and go. IBS is thought to affect up to one in 10 people worldwide.

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Ukrainians can extend UK visas by 18 months in new scheme

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Refugees will have ‘certainty and assurance’ says Home Office, but charities say move insufficient as many face homelessness

Ukrainians who sought sanctuary in the UK after the Russian invasion will be permitted to extend their visas for an extra 18 months, the Home Office has announced.

More than 200,000 Ukrainians visa holders have arrived in the UK since March 2022, with the first visas to expire in March next year. The Home Office said that the new scheme would provide “certainty and assurance” for Ukrainians in the UK.

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Taunts, bullying… then groping: how sexual assaults are increasing in schools

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Billy (not real name) is now being home-schooled after bullying turned into physical violence

Starting secondary school had not been easy for Billy (not his real name). What started as verbal taunts from one boy soon saw him become the target of a group of four boys. Bullying became physical violence. Yet the abuse got even worse, escalating to sexual assault. The group would corner him in the toilets and grope and touch his genitals. Unsurprisingly, Billy’s mental health quickly deteriorated. He is now being home-schooled and he struggles to leave the house because of anxiety.

Billy is receiving support from Embrace, a charity that works with children who have been the victims of crime. He says that he is starting to feel stronger, while his parents say his panic attacks and nightmares are receding thanks to the support he is getting. However, what he experienced was part of an increase in “peer-on-peer abuse” that is worrying schools, police and professionals who work with young people.

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‘Toxic’ online culture fuelling rise in sexual assaults on children by other children, police warn

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Observer investigation in England and Wales reveals 40% increase in reports of sexual assaults and rapes where both victim and perpetrator were under 18

An alarming rise in sexual assaults on children by other children is being fuelled by access to a “toxic” online culture, Britain’s most senior child protection officer has warned, as an Observer investigation revealed a sharp increase in abuse by under-18s reported to police.

Police records of rape, sexual assaults and incidents of abuse carried out by young children in England and Wales have all seen a significant increase since the Covid pandemic. The Observer has also uncovered an 81% rise in reported incidents that took place on school property. One leading expert said the problem had reached “alarming levels”.

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A greener weed: the UK firm growing carbon-neutral cannabis

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Glass Pharms hope its approach could show the way for all kinds of energy-intensive horticulture in the UK

For 26 years, Olivier Dehon worked in the corporate sector, ending up as chief financial officer for Xerox in the UK and Ireland before retiring four years ago. Last month he delivered his first consignment of high-strength cannabis.

Dehon’s dope is legal and above board, produced to supply the UK’s burgeoning market for medical cannabis on prescription. What’s more, Dehon and his colleagues believe it is the first carbon-neutral indoor weed grown anywhere in the world.

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Woman who handed over British girl, 3, for FGM in Kenya given seven years

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Amina Noor travelled from north London with the child to Kenya where the procedure was carried out in 2006

A woman who was found guilty of handing over a three-year-old British girl for female genital mutilation (FGM) during a trip to Kenya has been jailed for seven years.

Amina Noor, 40, was convicted last year of assisting a Kenyan woman to carry out the procedure overseas in 2006. The conviction was the first for assisting in such harm under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003.

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Greece becomes first Orthodox Christian country to legalise same-sex marriage

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Lawmakers in the 300-seat parliament voted for the bill drafted by centre-right government despite church officials’ objections

Greece has become the world’s first Christian Orthodox nation to legalise same-sex marriage after the Athens parliament passed the landmark reform amid scenes of both jubilation and fury in the country.

In a rare display of parliamentary consensus, 176 MPs from across the political spectrum voted in favour of the bill on Thursday. Another 76 rejected the reform while two abstained from the vote and 46 were not present.

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London hospital and Sheffield clinic affected by faulty egg-freezing products

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Guy’s hospital and Sheffield clinic may have used faulty freezing solution that could damage eggs and embryos

Scores of women have been affected by the use of a faulty freezing solution at fertility clinics in London and Sheffield, with frozen eggs and embryos potentially destroyed as a result, the fertility regulator has said.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) confirmed the issue was limited to Guy’s and St Thomas’ assisted conception unit in London, and Jessop Fertility in Sheffield.

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Tennessee advances bill to ban people from helping minors obtain abortion

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Proposed bill that could see prison sentences of up to 15 years for breaching rules moves forward in state legislature

Tennessee state legislators moved on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban people from taking minors for an abortion without parental permission – an act that the bill has dubbed “abortion trafficking”.

If someone illegally “recruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor” for an abortion, they could face three to 15 years in prison under the proposed bill, which has now advanced out of a state house subcommittee after a hearing.

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Trial offers hope for millions that jab could prevent rheumatoid arthritis

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An existing drug for the chronic disease could slow or stop its progression, researchers say

Scientists have discovered a jab that could prevent rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a development experts say could offer hope to millions at risk of the disease.

RA is a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the body and triggers pain in the joints. About 18 million people globally are affected by the condition, which can lead to heart, lung or nervous system problems, according to the World Health Organization.

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Brianna Ghey’s mother warns tech bosses more children will die without action

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Exclusive: Esther Ghey says she believes social media use left her daughter vulnerable, while killers were able to access violent content online

The mother of Brianna Ghey has called for her murder to be a “tipping point” in how society views “the mess” of the internet, warning that a generation of anxious young people will grow up lacking resilience.

Esther Ghey said technology companies had a “moral responsibility” to restrict access to harmful online content. She supports a total ban on social media access for under-16s – a move currently under debate in certain legislatures, including Florida in the US.

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Dozens of civilians killed by Ethiopian state troops in Amhara region, say reports

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Witnesses claim victims shot ‘execution style’ during house raids after clashes between government forces and Fano rebels

Ethiopian government troops went door-to-door killing dozens of civilians last month in a town in the country’s Amhara region, according to residents, who said the bloodshed took place after clashes with local militia.

The killings in Merawi appear to be one of the deadliest episodes in Amhara since a rebellion by Fano, an armed Amhara group, erupted last year over a disputed plan to disarm regional forces.

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Record one in five NHS staff in England are non-UK nationals, figures show

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Figure of 20.4% is highest since records began in 2009, prompting warnings over growing reliance

One in five NHS staff in England are non-UK nationals, according to figures that show the pivotal role foreign workers play in keeping the health service afloat.

Healthcare workers from 214 countries – from India, Portugal and Ghana to tiny nations such as Tonga, Liechtenstein and Solomon Islands – are employed in the NHS. And the proportion of roles filled by non-UK nationals has risen to a record high, according to analysis of NHS Digital figures.

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More than 1.5m patients in England waited at least 12 hours in A&E in past year

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Lib Dems say last month an average of 5,735 people a day faced waits of 12 hours or more to be seen

More than 1.5 million patients in England had to wait 12 hours or longer in A&E in the past year, according to figures that MPs say lay bare the impact of the government’s neglect of the NHS.

Last month 177,805 patients faced waits of 12 hours or more to be seen in emergency departments, an average of 5,735 a day. It means one in 10 patients (12.4%) arriving at A&E waited 12 hours before being admitted, transferred or discharged.

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Why does the UK lag behind on cancer care? – podcast

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Britain’s cancer survival rates are improving but the UK still lags behind comparable countries. The Guardian’s health editor, Andrew Gregory, reports

The announcement last week that King Charles had been diagnosed with cancer has been met with sympathy and support for the 75-year-old. But alongside the focus on what it means for his future role as monarch, it has also led to a closer examination of what cancer care looks like in the UK in 2024.

For many, such as 37-year-old Nathaniel Dye, it has meant a diagnosis that has come too late. He has stage 4 bowel cancer, which has spread to other parts of his body. Dye has been told that in similar cases only 10% of people survive five years.

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Michael Gove says no-fault evictions will be banned this year

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UK housing minister promises section 21 evictions in England will have ended by time of general election

Michael Gove has vowed that no-fault evictions will be banned this year, as he warned separately that democracy was under threat if young people were shut out from owning their own home in future.

Ministers have come under fire in recent days from campaigners who have said its bill to get rid of so-called section 21 evictions in England, whereby landlords can remove tenants for no reason, is inadequate. The ban was also a pledge made in the Conservatives’ 2019 manifesto.

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Private tenants in Scotland face ‘big rent rises and mass evictions’ from April

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Campaigners say renters served notices of increases of 30% to 60% in advance of cap and other emergency protections ending

Private tenants in Scotland are facing big rent rises and mass evictions as emergency protections expire at the end of next month, campaigners have warned.

The Scottish government has “in effect rubber-stamped rent increases from April”, says Ruth Gilbert, the national campaigns chair of the Scotland-wide tenants’ union Living Rent, while transitional measures are inadequate and confusing, leaving many unaware what their legal rights are.

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Local authority leaders criticise Sunak’s call for ‘restrained’ council tax rises

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Prime minister’s comments ‘remarkable’ given government cuts to town hall funding in England, say LGA bosses

Council leaders in England have criticised Rishi Sunak for demanding that local authorities show “restraint” in putting up council tax bills, saying the government is to blame for underfunding.

The prime minister on Friday called for authorities to be “restrained in the council tax rises they put in place”, saying it was “incumbent on local councils to be respectful of the demands on people’s family budgets”.

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