9 h. ago Generation Green 2: A landmark success connecting young people with nature

A generation of young people, including local youngsters has rediscovered the power of the outdoors thanks to the 12-month Generation Green 2 project.

Politics

58 h. ago I was getting lonely. Here’s what happened when I tried to make new friends in my 30s

From streaming services to food-delivery apps, the modern world conspires to keep us home and alone. But I went out looking for a human connectionI am lucky enough to have some wonderful friends. But recently many of them have moved away because they can’t afford, or simply can’t be bothered, to live in a huge city like London any more. And when you’re in your 30s, meaningfully connecting with new people is no mean feat.I’m not alone in feeling a little lonely: in 2023, the World Health Organization said that social isolation was becoming a “global public health concern”. From the decline of the office to the rise of single-occupancy flats, our social lives are being leached away from us. Meanwhile, streaming services and food-delivery apps discourage us from going out, their ads extolling the safety and convenience of staying home and not seeing or talking to another human. It’s almost as if they want to keep us single and friendless, with nothing to spend our money on but a d...

Politics

6 d. ago ‘I don’t think my brain should have gone through that’: five young people on their experience of smartphones as teens

What do people who got – and one who didn’t get – internet-connected phones in their adolescence actually think about the impact they had on them?Debate and anxiety about teen and preteen access to smartphones and social media is raging. One paper has likened smartphones to a “parasite” on our brains, while another study suggests moderate use of social media does not have a harmful effect on young people. In the US more than 100,000 parents have joined an online pledge to delay giving children smartphones until at least the eighth grade and in Australia a ban on under-16s using social media will come into effect in December. Despite all this, OECD figures released in May show 70% of 10-year-olds and 98% of 15-year-olds have internet-connected smartphones.So is giving teenagers smartphones that big a deal? Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Suspect in Minnesota lawmaker’s killing was ‘prepper’ preparing ‘for war’

Vance Boelter had texted his family that they needed to flee their house before ‘people with guns’ showed upThe man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday “prepper” who instructed his family to “prepare for war” as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings.Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal and state murder charges after allegedly shooting dead the Democratic Minnesota state house speaker emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in the early hours of 14 June. Boelter is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding the Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, about 90 minutes earlier. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Suspect in Minnesota killings accused of being ‘prepper’ preparing ‘for war’

Vance Boelter texted family that they needed to flee their house before ‘people with guns’ showed up, filings allegeThe man charged in connection with the recent shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses was a doomsday “prepper” who instructed his family to “prepare for war” as he tried to evade capture, according to new court filings.Vance Boelter, 57, faces multiple federal and state murder charges after allegedly shooting dead the Democratic Minnesota state house speaker emerita Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in the early hours of 14 June. Boelter is also accused of shooting and seriously wounding the Democratic state senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, about 90 minutes earlier. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Several firearms and drugs found in raid on Cwmbran property

Two people have been arrested in connection with the raid

Events

2 w. ago ‘Own less, have more’: French app rents out underused household items

Poppins connects people who have things they use rarely with those who want to buy or rent themDo you need a kitchen mixer, a drill, a tent or a raclette machine? Perhaps you have a bread machine, an ice-cream maker or a toastie maker in the cupboard gathering dust?If the answer to either question is “yes”, Lucie Basch has a solution. The French entrepreneur and pioneer of a hugely successful anti-food waste app is now turning her attention to a different problem: the simultaneous underuse and overconsumption of everyday household objects. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Trump administration orders LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline to close within a month

The 988 crisis line connects thousands of young LGBT+ people to counseling every month

Politics

3 w. ago ‘When the river swells, it forces them to run backwards’: rising waters push Colombia’s farmers into hunger and despair

Communities in the Salaquí basin face deepening food insecurity, armed conflict and the collapse of a way of life – while government schemes ignore the real problemPhotographs by Antonio CascioRiosucio was established between rivers and swamps. For most of the year, the people of this Colombian municipality live above water and have developed ways to manage the fluctuating river levels. A network of makeshift wooden boards connects the houses in the town, allowing people to move between them.Despite the resilience of these communities, their increasingly harsh environment is beginning to overcome all the methods and systems designed to tame it, causing crop destruction, hunger and deepening poverty. Continue reading...

Society

3 w. ago Should you let your pets sleep on the bed? Does it even matter what the experts say?

Lots of pet owners let their animals sleep on their bed, even though it's probably disturbing their sleep

Politics

3 w. ago Murder probe launched after teenage boy 'stabbed to death outside pub'

Three people have been arrested in connection with the incident on Sunday night.

Events

3 w. ago 8 now arrested in North Carolina house party shootings and more attempted

Eight people have now been arrested and charged in connection with last weekend’s shootings at a North Carolina house party

Events

4 w. ago Inside the plush Love Island 2025 villa with supersized hideaway, walk

The Love Island 2025 villa has been revealed as this year's contestants get ready to enter the villa on Monday. 

Politics