11 h. ago Fire destroys seven minibuses used by disabled people and school children

Police and fire crews were called to the incident at Silk Mills Park and Ride in Taunton, Somerset, shortly after 7.50pm on Saturday.

Events

22 h. ago Full list of people who qualify for disabled Blue Badge parking

Blue Badges allow eligible people to park in disabled car park spaces, generally meaning a shorter walk to their destination

Politics

36 h. ago Class act: can Harrow sell an elitist British boarding school fantasy to New Yorkers?

The private school will open its first US campus in Long Island. Will it assimilate Americans into the upper crust – or is it more about branding?This fall, the British boarding school Harrow will open its first offshoot in the US: a lush 170-acre waterfront campus in Long Island. For $75,000 a year, parents can wave away their children to the prestigiously named school, renowned for its centuries-old traditions (such as calling teachers “beaks” and bad behaviour “skew”). Classes will take place in the Bourne mansion, the opulent former home of a wealthy American businessman, around which modern facilities will be built.A shiny teaser video paints an idyllic picture of an anglophile life at Harrow New York. “The school is like an oasis,” says Nick Page, former deputy head of Harrow UK, as drone footage pans out over pristine lawns and lakes, where ducklings and deer roam wild. “Yet so close to this huge metropolis of New York.” (The new school is almost equidistant from New York Cit...

Culture

53 h. ago Stalker in 'trench coat' kept sick diary as he targeted mums on school run

Travis Ward, 22, Londesborough, sprayed a woman with bodily fluid from a syringe as he stalked mothers taking their children to a Hull school and kept sick diaries about meeting them, a court heard

Events

61 h. ago Disabled people detained by Ice sound alarm over overcrowded jails

Rodney Taylor, whose legs were amputated as a toddler, just one of many people with disabilities at risk from detentionIn his three months locked up at Stewart detention center in Lumpkin, Georgia, Rodney Taylor has missed meals and showers, lived with increasing pain in his hips, developed a swollen thumb on his right hand and blisters on the stumps where his two legs were amputated when he was a toddler.Taylor’s mother brought him to the US from Liberia on a medical visa as a small child. He went through 16 operations and is a double amputee. He has two fingers on his right hand. Now 46, he has lived in the US nearly his entire life, works as a barber, is active in promoting cancer awareness in his community, and recently got engaged. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago French PM calls for crackdown on knife crime after fatal high school stabbing

Boy, 15, arrested after at least one child killed and three injured at Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides school in NantesThe French prime minister, François Bayrou, has called for a crackdown on teenage knife crime after a high-school student stabbed four other children at his school, killing at least one and injuring the others before being arrested.The 15-year-old reportedly attacked fellow students with a knife during lunch break on Thursday at the private Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides secondary school in the city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast. The attack took place at around 12.30pm (11.30am BST), before teachers overpowered the boy. One female student was killed. At least one other student is in a critical condition in hospital. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago School’s out, screens on: Virgin Media O2 broadband data shows after

Virgin Media O2 has today released new data that shows children are reaching for screens as soon as school finishes, with a clear spike in broadband traffic at 3:40pm every weekday. The surge is being driven by data-heavy TV streaming and families watching YouTube.

Culture

3 d. ago School knife rampage in France leaves one student dead and multiple children seriously injured

A student armed with a knife launched the attack at the private Notre-Dame-de-Toutes-Aides high school in Doulon area of Nantes on Thursday afternoon.

Events

3 d. ago Danny Dyer tearfully reveals wife Joanne still controls all their finances 25 years after his wild youth which saw him cheat on her and go on drug

The actor, 47, gets a grilling in ITV 's new show The Assembly, which sees a celebrity face questions from a group of autistic, neurodivergent and learning disabled people.

Events

4 d. ago Danny Dyer takes cheeky swipe at his 'nepo baby' kids as he defends parenting decision

EastEnders star Danny Dyer took part in a new series called The Assembly, where he answered questions from autistic, neurodivergent and learning disabled people

Politics

4 d. ago Producers wanted to avoid being ‘unpleasant’ to interviewers on The Assembly

The show sees celebrities interviewed by a group of autistic, neurodivergent and learning disabled people.

Politics

4 d. ago Children in school shelter among 25 killed in wave of Israeli strikes on Gaza

Israel launches wave of airstrikes as Arab negotiators make new ceasefire proposalAt least 25 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza, including 11 in the bombing of a school turned shelter, the strip’s civil defence agency said, as Israel’s war against Hamas in the besieged Palestinian territory grinds on despite a new ceasefire proposal from Arab mediators.Intense Israeli bombings hit several areas of Gaza on Wednesday, killing 11 in a school sheltering displaced people in al-Tuffah, a neighbourhood of Gaza City. The strike ignited a huge fire that claimed most of the casualties, said a civil defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Assisted dying coercion risk greater for disabled people – Tanni Grey

Discrimination against disabled people in society has ‘risen remarkably’ in recent months amid discussion of welfare reforms, the peer said.

Events

5 d. ago US supreme court seems inclined to allow exemption of LGBTQ+ books for elementary schoolers

Justices heard from Christian and Muslim parents from Maryland seeking to pull children from certain classesThe US supreme court appeared inclined to rule in favor of Christian and Muslim parents in Maryland seeking to keep their elementary school children out of certain classes when storybooks with LGBTQ+ characters are read in the latest case involving the intersection of religion and LGBTQ+ rights.The nine justices heard arguments on Tuesday in an appeal by parents with children in public schools in Montgomery county, located just outside of Washington, after lower courts declined to order the local school district to let children opt out when these books are read. The plaintiffs – including Muslim, Roman Catholic and Ukrainian Orthodox parents – contend that the school board’s policy of prohibiting opt-outs violates the US constitution’s first amendment protections for free exercise of religion. Donald Trump’s administration backed them in the case. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago US supreme court weighs efforts to exempt elementary schoolers from LGBTQ+ books

Parents argue constitutional religious rights should allow them to opt children out when LGBTQ+ books are readThe US supreme court is considering on Tuesday an attempt by Christian and Muslim parents in Maryland to keep their elementary schoolchildren out of certain classes when storybooks with LGBTQ+ characters are read in the latest case involving the intersection of religion and LGBTQ+ rights.The justices are hearing arguments in an appeal by parents with children in public schools in Montgomery county, located just outside Washington, after lower courts declined to order the local school district to let children opt out when these books are read. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Last year, a town’s primary schools banned smartphones. This is what happened

Just under a year ago, headteachers at primary schools in St Albans told families their learning environments would be smartphone free and urged parents not to give their children the devices until the age of 14. Nearly a year into the experiment, Holly Bancroft explores the impact at one school

Events

6 d. ago Last year, an entire town’s primary schools banned smartphones. This is what happened

Just under a year ago, headteachers at primary schools in St Albans told families their learning environments would be smartphone free and urged parents not to give their children the devices until the age of 14. Nearly a year into the experiment, Holly Bancroft explores the impact at one school

Events

6 d. ago Supreme Court to intervene as parents remove children from school over LGBTQ books

A prince and knight fall in love and the Supreme Court is asked to intervene

Society

8 d. ago Rollout of free breakfast clubs to begin this week for 750 schools

They are designed to give parents of primary school children 30 minutes of free childcare a day, or up to 95 hours a year.

Politics

8 d. ago A prince and knight fall in love and the Supreme Court is asked to intervene

Some parents in a suburban Maryland county want to pull their children from elementary school classes that use books featuring LGBTQ characters

Politics