9 h. ago Concern over Devon scabies outbreak as schools closed to protect children

Several cases of scabies — described by the NHS as "an itchy rash spread through close skin contact" — have been reported in the UK recently, which has led to school closures

Politics

31 h. ago Tom Phillips case: New Zealand to hold public inquiry into disappearance of fugitive father and children

Hearings will be held in private to assess ‘whether government agencies took all practicable steps to protect the safety and welfare of the Phillips children’, says attorney generalA public inquiry will be held into the authorities’ handling of the disappearance of fugitive father Tom Phillips with his three children, who hid in New Zealand’s wilderness for nearly four years, the government has announced. Phillips disappeared into the rugged North Island wilderness with his children just before Christmas in 2021, following a dispute with their mother. He did not have legal custody of his children.In August, he was killed in an exchange of fire with police after reports of a burglary in the remote town of Piopio, in the central North Island. A police officer was shot and required surgery. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Keir Starmer backs SafeCall campaign to protect missing children as donations surge past £75,000

Prime minister hails The Independent’s appeal in supporting the 70,000 children who go missing each year, as major donors and public figures join effort to fund new national service

Economics

2 w. ago Revealed: Raheem Sterling confronted masked burglary gang with a kitchen knife to protect his young children during terrifying break

Raheem Sterling confronted masked burglarers with a knife to protect his children during a terrifying break-in, it has been revealed.

Events

2 w. ago Sir Stephen Fry backs The Independent’s SafeCall campaign to help missing children find safety and support

The actor and broadcaster, a long-time advocate for mental health, says the cause is deeply personal after he once went missing himself. He is urging readers to support The Independent’s campaign with the charity Missing People to protect children in crisis

Events

2 w. ago ‘I went missing 50 times as a child – now I need to stop it happening to others’

After going missing dozens of times as a teenager, Jade Knight says the charity Missing People helped her turn her life around. She tells Tara Cobham why she’s supporting The Independent’s SafeCall campaign to protect children in crisis

Events

3 w. ago 'Wear face mask' urgent warning issued by doctor as millions of people to suffer

People and children are being urged to protect themselves if they suffer from a common medical condition

Events

3 w. ago South London children with SEND 'being broken by education system that should protect them'

Families protest amid ‘endless’ battles to get right support for their children

Politics

3 w. ago From the childcare scandal to regressive ‘tough on crime’ policies, Australia is failing to protect its children | Anne Hollonds

There is an urgent need to make child safety, rights and wellbeing a national priority and to fix the accountability gaps putting them at riskLooking back at the past five years since I began in the role of national children’s commissioner, I am struck by how difficult it has been throughout this time to get political attention on the unmet needs of our most vulnerable children, who continue to be “left behind”.Far too many of these children end up in the overwhelmed child protection and justice systems because of poverty, disabilities, health and learning problems, discrimination and disadvantage. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Mississippi woman fatally shoots monkey escaped from overturned truck

Jessica Bond Ferguson said her 16-year-old told her about animal in the yard and she shot it to ‘protect her children’One of the monkeys that escaped after a truck overturned on a Mississippi roadway on 28 October was shot and killed early Sunday by a homeowner who said she feared for the safety of her children.Jessica Bond Ferguson said she was alerted early Sunday by her 16-year-old son who said he thought he had seen a monkey running in the yard outside their home near Heidelberg, Mississippi. She got out of bed, grabbed her firearm and her cellphone, and stepped outside where she saw the monkey about 60 ft (18 meters) away. Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Afghan knifeman who attacked a group of toddlers, stabbing one to death and killing a man who tried to intervene, is placed in psychiatric care in Germany

The stabbings nine months ago in a park in the western city of Aschaffenburg killed a two-year-old boy and a 41-year-old man who tried to protect the children, and left three others wounded.

Events