Category Archives: Society

The Guardian bans all gambling advertising

Posted on by

Ban will apply worldwide to all of media group’s online and print outlets, including the Guardian, Observer, and Guardian Weekly

The Guardian has announced a global ban on gambling advertising, arguing it is unethical to take money from services that can lead to “addiction and financial ruin”.

Anna Bateson, the chief executive of Guardian Media Group, said advertising – particularly online – could trap gamblers in an “addictive cycle” that caused financial distress, mental health issues and wider social problems.

Continue reading...

Google earned $10m from ads misdirecting abortion seekers to ‘pregnancy crisis centers’

Posted on by

Study finds the search giant has profited since Roe was overturned from anti-abortion groups buying misleading search terms

Google has made millions of dollars in the last two years from advertisements misdirecting users who were seeking abortion services to “pregnancy crisis centers” that do not actually provide care, according to a new study.

The tech giant has taken in an estimated $10m in two years from anti-choice organizations that pay to advertise such centers alongside legitimate results on the Google search page, according to a new report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), a nonprofit group that conducts misinformation research. Its study, published on Thursday, estimates that the search results have reached and potentially misled hundreds of thousands of users.

Continue reading...

Covid testing was a weakness in early pandemic response, DHSC tells inquiry

Posted on by

Health department and Cabinet Office make opening statements on second day of first module

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has admitted Covid testing was “a significant weakness” in the UK’s early pandemic response and stressed the need for proper funding to prepare the nation for the next emergency.

While the DHSC said it would not claim “it did everything right”, its opening statement to the UK Covid public inquiry highlighted wider government choices on funding in what will be seen as turning the focus on Downing Street and the Treasury.

Continue reading...

Heatwave brings surge in A&E patients as England doctors’ strike begins

Posted on by

Some hospitals record highest ever A&E attendance figures as heat, high pollen count and air pollution bring rise in demand

A&E units across the UK are experiencing a surge in patients seeking care as a direct result of the heatwave, which is leaving many people unwell with shortness of breath, heat exhaustion and sunburn.

The number of people suffering problems as a direct result of the sustained high temperatures in many parts of the country has resulted in some hospitals recording their highest A&E attendance figures.

Continue reading...

Anguish as rape survivors in Sudan unable to access vital medication

Posted on by

Emergency contraception, HIV-prevention and abortion drugs are locked in a warehouse in Khartoum – leaving women to turn to desperate measures

Rape survivors in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, are struggling to get hold of emergency contraception and abortion medication.

Access to a warehouse where 47,000 medical post-rape kits are stored has been cut off since the conflict began in April. Women are using social media to share information about where to find drugs to prevent pregnancies and infections – or are using herbal remedies.

Continue reading...

Calls for abortion to be decriminalised amid row over jailing of UK woman

Posted on by

Leading expert warns of ‘sustained attacks’ on reproductive rights after sentence imposed on Monday

Leading women’s health experts have warned of an attack on women’s reproductive rights and the potential for more prosecutions, following the jailing of a woman for terminating her pregnancy after the legal time limit.

The president of the UK’s leading body for sexual health professionals said that women should be “more worried than they are” following the sentencing, adding that it could lead to sustained attacks on established rights, and efforts to curtail reforms.

Continue reading...

‘Morale is very low’: evicted tenant’s three months and counting in a London Travelodge

Posted on by

Nicole Bent and her daughter are among dozens of homeless families being put up by council in hotel rooms

A hotel getaway should be a time to escape the stresses of everyday life – but for Nicole Bent, life in a hotel has become her everyday. “It’s been demoralising, to be honest. That’s the word I would use to describe this whole experience,” she said of her ongoing three-month stay in a north London Travelodge.

Bent, 28, and her three-year-old daughter have been living in the hotel since the beginning of March, when she was made homeless after her tenancy came to an end and the landlord wanted to sell the property. She is one of dozens of homeless families being housed there by Enfield council while it tries to find her a permanent home.

Continue reading...

Aid agencies raise alarm as solo children cross Chad border to flee Sudan fighting

Posted on by

Unicef says ‘more and more unaccompanied children’ among thousands of refugees streaming across 1,000km-long border

Hundreds of unaccompanied children have crossed the border from Sudan into Chad in recent weeks as fighting separates families and forces minors to make the arduous journey to safety without their parents.

Humanitarian workers say “more and more” children are arriving alone in the neighbouring country, to which more than 100,000 refugees, about 60% of them under-18s, have fled since fighting erupted between rival military factions in mid-April.

Continue reading...

Twenty-four UK doctors in five years censured over medical record breaches

Posted on by

GMC says cases were among 194 incidents of alleged violations of confidentiality between 2017 and 2022

Two-dozen doctors have been disciplined by the UK medical regulator in the last five years after accessing and using information from patients’ treatment records without good reason.

The General Medical Council (GMC) said it had struck off two of the 24 doctors it had sanctioned after finding that they had undertaken “inappropriate use” of medical records.

Continue reading...

Netherlands to provide free sun cream to tackle record skin cancer levels

Posted on by

Dispensers will be in place at schools, parks, sports venues and festivals across country this summer

Citizens of the Netherlands are to be offered free sun protection this summer in an effort to tackle record levels of skin cancer in the country.

Sun cream dispensers will be made available this summer in schools and universities, at festivals, parks, sports venues and open public spaces across the country, according to the government.

Continue reading...

NHS to deploy street mental health teams to help England’s rough sleepers

Posted on by

Exclusive: £3.2m plan aims to curb rise in people sleeping rough as councils cut homelessness budgets

The NHS will deploy street mental health teams in English locations from Devon to Doncaster in an attempt to curb a rise in rough sleeping in England.

Fourteen outreach teams will aim to get more rough sleepers on to a path to counselling, medication or other treatments and will seek out people “who have often been through incredibly traumatic experiences to ensure they get the help they need”, said Prof Tim Kendall, NHS England’s clinical national director for mental health.

Continue reading...

UK food giant calls for higher fat, sugar and salt taxes

Posted on by

Danone boss urges ministers to help people make healthy choices

One of the country’s biggest food firms has said ministers should consider taxing products high in fat, sugar or salt to combat the obesity crisis.

Danone UK & Ireland, which sells the Actimel yogurt drink brand, says government intervention is required to ensure consumers are offered healthier products. It says some food firms in the UK have not shown “enough appetite to change”.

Continue reading...

‘Sold a dream’: migrant workers at children’s care chain left without pay for months

Posted on by

They came to fill gaps in a sector desperate for staff. Now an Observer investigation finds Indian nurses stuck in debt and despair, and wounded by broken promises

Nurses hired from abroad to work for one of Britain’s biggest social care chains have been left in debt and are in some cases suicidal after being stranded without pay for months.

They have also been paid lower wages than they were told they would receive and were in some cases given false promises about their accommodation and employment terms, an Observer investigation has found.

Continue reading...

Thousands of Afghan refugees in UK set to be made homeless

Posted on by

Downing Street crisis meeting hears that about 8,000 who arrived under Operation Warm Welcome will be evicted this summer with nowhere to go

Thousands of Afghan refugees in the UK face homelessness this summer, the government was warned last week at a secret crisis meeting in Downing Street.

Council officials told No 10 and Home Office civil servants that about 8,000 Afghan refugees, allowed into the country in 2021 under the slogan Operation Warm Welcome, are due to be evicted from hotels as early as August because of a government deadline, yet have nowhere to go.

Continue reading...

Ministers accused of neglecting ‘tidal wave’ of child mental ill health in England

Posted on by

Exclusive: Research reveals only a quarter of primaries will have vital school-based support by end of 2024

Ministers have been accused of failing to grasp the “tidal wave” of mental ill health blighting children’s lives, after research found that only a quarter of English primaries will be able to offer vital school-based support by the end of next year.

With almost one in five pupils aged seven to 16 now thought to have a mental health disorder, specialist support teams were set up to work with children in schools, addressing early symptoms and reducing pressure on overstretched NHS services.

Continue reading...

Ministers urged to restrict marketing of vapes to children in England

Posted on by

Children’s commissioner points to research showing some are so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate in school

The children’s commissioner for England has urged ministers to crack down on the “insidious” marketing of vapes to young people, which is leaving them so addicted to nicotine they can’t concentrate on lessons.

Rachel de Souza said the government would be “failing a generation” if these “highly addictive and sometimes dangerous products” were allowed to become mainstream.

Continue reading...

Watchdog considers action over Oxfam cartoon of anti-trans ‘hate groups’

Posted on by

Oxfam International apologised and re-edited cartoon alleged to include racial stereotyping and JK Rowling attack

The UK charities watchdog is assessing whether it will take action against Oxfam after receiving complaints about a cartoon published by the charity that ignited a row about transgender issues.

Oxfam International put the cartoon out on Twitter last week to mark pride month, but took it down on Tuesday after a backlash against its use of the term Terf (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) in an image depicting anti-trans “hate groups”.

Continue reading...

Syphilis cases at highest level for 75 years in England last year

Posted on by

UKHSA figures also show gonorrhoea diagnoses rose by 50% to 82,600 – the most since records began in 1918

Cases of syphilis were at their highest level in 75 years in England last year while gonorrhoea cases reached a record high, figures show.

The UK Health Security Agency is urging people to use condoms, calling them “the best line of defence”, and advises people to go for a test if they have recently had unprotected sex.

Continue reading...

One in five unpaid carers in England and Wales ‘do not have access to a vehicle’

Posted on by

Census data shows nearly half a million households that cater for someone disabled or in bad health are without car or truck

About one in five households with an unpaid carer for someone who is disabled or in bad health across England and Wales have no access to a private vehicle, new analysis shows.

The findings show that nearly half a million households across England and Wales (486,341) that include someone disabled or in bad health did not have a car or truck at the time of the 2021 census.

Continue reading...