Exclusive: Call for nudity-detection tech on phones as number of under-18s reporting blackmail attempts rises by 34% • ‘I felt ashamed and scared’: how an online friendship became a sextortion nightmare Children are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers in the UK, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the crime. The Report Remove service, which allows children...
Exclusive: Call for nudity-detection tech on phones as number of under-18s reporting blackmail attempts rises by 34% • ‘I felt ashamed and scared’: how an online friendship became a sextortion nightmare Children are reporting online sextortion attempts in record numbers in the UK, as campaigners urge tech companies to do more to stamp out the crime. The Report Remove service, which allows children to flag intimate images or videos of themselves that have appeared, or could appear, online, said it received 394 reports from under-18s last year of blackmail attempts after sending sexual images to predators. The figure is 34% higher than in 2024. Continue reading...
Withdrawal of additional speciality training roles amid strike deadlock has left some doctors with uncertain future After almost two years on the NHS frontline as a resident doctor, Heather Gunn says she is bracing herself for unemployment. Like many of her colleagues, she was desperate to secure one of the up to 4,500 additional training posts the government agreed to introduce in England over th...
Withdrawal of additional speciality training roles amid strike deadlock has left some doctors with uncertain future After almost two years on the NHS frontline as a resident doctor, Heather Gunn says she is bracing herself for unemployment. Like many of her colleagues, she was desperate to secure one of the up to 4,500 additional training posts the government agreed to introduce in England over three years to help doctors progress into more specialised fields. The posts were promised in negotiations between the doctors’ union, the British Medical Association (BMA), and the government in a long-running dispute over resident doctors’ pay and job security. Continue reading...
State-funded savings accounts set up for children at birth going unclaimed, with £1.5bn estimated to be sat in bank accounts As Elle Middlemas approached her 18th birthday, she began wondering if she had a child trust fund, a government savings account given to all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, that can be accessed as soon as they officially hit adulthood. She quickly ...
State-funded savings accounts set up for children at birth going unclaimed, with £1.5bn estimated to be sat in bank accounts As Elle Middlemas approached her 18th birthday, she began wondering if she had a child trust fund, a government savings account given to all children born between 1 September 2002 and 2 January 2011, that can be accessed as soon as they officially hit adulthood. She quickly hit a dead end. She wasn’t sure if she was even owed the money and could find no information online. An email to HMRC seeking clarity led her nowhere. Continue reading...
Worst polluters hold world’s future in their hands as they benefit from higher fossil fuel prices, but global trends favour renewables Oil stands at about $110 a barrel and some forecasts have predicted it could reach $150 . Food prices are on the rise and are expected to leap further owing to the fertiliser supply crunch, leading the World Food Programme USA to warn that global food insecurity co...
Worst polluters hold world’s future in their hands as they benefit from higher fossil fuel prices, but global trends favour renewables Oil stands at about $110 a barrel and some forecasts have predicted it could reach $150 . Food prices are on the rise and are expected to leap further owing to the fertiliser supply crunch, leading the World Food Programme USA to warn that global food insecurity could reach record levels , with 45 million more people pushed into acute hunger. Industries from steel to chemicals have alerted markets that they face shortages and soaring costs, while households across the world are feeling the pinch – people have been told to turn down their thermostats, take the bus or cycle, and cut their speed on motorways. The impact of the US-Israel war on Iran – the third global shock in six years, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic – has laid bare how reliant our economies still are on fossil fuels . Simon Stiell, the UN climate chief, said in March: “Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty and replacing it with subservience and rising costs.” Continue reading...
With polls suggesting Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Sinn Féin could be in power after May vote, constitutional challenges may lie ahead In four weeks, the shape of British politics is likely to change dramatically. For the first time, nationalists who aspire to break up the UK are expected to be in control of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland simultaneously. “The change will be seismic,” said Angus ...
With polls suggesting Plaid Cymru, the SNP and Sinn Féin could be in power after May vote, constitutional challenges may lie ahead In four weeks, the shape of British politics is likely to change dramatically. For the first time, nationalists who aspire to break up the UK are expected to be in control of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland simultaneously. “The change will be seismic,” said Angus Robertson, a senior minister in the Scottish government. Opinion polls consistently suggest that after the elections on 7 May, England will be flanked by countries run by restless centre-left nationalist parties – Plaid Cymru in Cardiff , the Scottish National party in Edinburgh and, in Belfast, Sinn Féin, which shares power with the Democratic Unionists. Continue reading...
Signed acoustic guitar used on (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – the bestselling album of the 90s – could fetch up to £60,000 at Sotheby’s Incredibly, some critics were lukewarm about Oasis’s second album, with one calling it “ laboured and lazy ” and another dismissing it as a “marginally less hook-laden reprise” of their debut. But (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? went on to become the bestse...
Signed acoustic guitar used on (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? – the bestselling album of the 90s – could fetch up to £60,000 at Sotheby’s Incredibly, some critics were lukewarm about Oasis’s second album, with one calling it “ laboured and lazy ” and another dismissing it as a “marginally less hook-laden reprise” of their debut. But (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? went on to become the bestselling British album of the 90s and a guitar Noel Gallagher used to write it will, Sotheby’s has announced, be a star lot of its April rock and pop sale. Continue reading...
These companies now own everything from nurseries to care homes, squeezing vital services for profit while we foot the bill It was the free croissants that gave it away. And the Scandinavian-style furniture. And the tasteful pastel walls. It was different from other nurseries I’d viewed: marginally more expensive, the aesthetic equivalent of a WeWork for toddlers. I was eight months pregnant, on a...
These companies now own everything from nurseries to care homes, squeezing vital services for profit while we foot the bill It was the free croissants that gave it away. And the Scandinavian-style furniture. And the tasteful pastel walls. It was different from other nurseries I’d viewed: marginally more expensive, the aesthetic equivalent of a WeWork for toddlers. I was eight months pregnant, on a tour of various nurseries in south-east London for my daughter. At the time, I didn’t realise that this wasn’t just a nursery, but a prototype for an immense experiment that is quietly playing out across Britain. The nursery I visited is backed by private equity, a surreptitious and tremendously powerful realm of finance that now has its hands on just about everything . Private equity funds and related asset managers own water companies , apartment blocks , student accommodation , care homes , children’s homes , funeral parlours and more. The titans of this industry have perfected a cradle-to-grave model of investment focused on the places we live, work, grow old, and eventually die, capturing these core services and squeezing them for profit. Hettie O’Brien is a regular contributor to the Guardian Long Read, an assistant Opinion editor and the author of The Asset Class : How Private Equity Turned Capitalism Against Itself, published 9 April Continue reading...
Government should look at ways to help as firms are paying disproportionate bills, says MakeUK British manufacturers have said they will have to pay an extra £940m a year in business rates because of changes by Rachel Reeves that come into effect this month. Manufacturers face a disproportionate business rates bill because they often have large factory floors, according to analysis by MakeUK, an i...
Government should look at ways to help as firms are paying disproportionate bills, says MakeUK British manufacturers have said they will have to pay an extra £940m a year in business rates because of changes by Rachel Reeves that come into effect this month. Manufacturers face a disproportionate business rates bill because they often have large factory floors, according to analysis by MakeUK, an industry lobby group. It said that factories accounted for a fifth of England and Wales’s property by rateable value, despite manufacturers only accounting for a 10th of economic output. Continue reading...
Aid cuts mean the ethnically-cleansed refugees from Myanmar face a return to cooking over toxic flames, or keeping children out of school to spend all day scouring for firewood Four years ago the US recognised the genocide of my people, and nations around the world came to our aid. Today, we ask the world to reaffirm that commitment. What do we ask for that will save lives, the local habitat and e...
Aid cuts mean the ethnically-cleansed refugees from Myanmar face a return to cooking over toxic flames, or keeping children out of school to spend all day scouring for firewood Four years ago the US recognised the genocide of my people, and nations around the world came to our aid. Today, we ask the world to reaffirm that commitment. What do we ask for that will save lives, the local habitat and even dollars for Rohingya refugees? Cooking gas. Continue reading...
Thomas found connection online after moving to a rural village with no friends nearby. Then things started to spiral • Children in UK report online sextortion attempts in record numbers “I still describe them as the best friend I’ve had.” Thomas* knows how it sounds, but it’s his honest description of what he initially thought was an online friendship with another teenager who, just as he did, fel...
Thomas found connection online after moving to a rural village with no friends nearby. Then things started to spiral • Children in UK report online sextortion attempts in record numbers “I still describe them as the best friend I’ve had.” Thomas* knows how it sounds, but it’s his honest description of what he initially thought was an online friendship with another teenager who, just as he did, felt lonely and like he didn’t quite fit in at school. Continue reading...