6 h. ago Pupils from Wishaw school create digital equality law to come out top in public speaking competition

Michelle Agbo and Emily Traynor triumphed in four rounds before reaching the national finals.

Politics

8 h. ago Wishaw pupils' trip to Rome coincides with beginning of Pope Leo's tenure

The 20-strong group from St Aidan's took in the tourist sights

Politics

28 h. ago Use closed London schools to help tackle SEND crisis, urges Education Secretary

Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson urges councils to ‘think creatively’ about how to use London’s old school buildings

Events

30 h. ago London's plummeting birth rate 'a challenge' amid school closures, says Education Secretary

Exclusive: Bridget Phillipson urges councils to ‘think creatively’ about how to use London’s old school buildings

Politics

30 h. ago New Rio de Janeiro law requires public hospitals to display anti

Opponents view the controversial act as part of a growing trend across Brazil to further restrict abortion accessA new law has just come into force in Rio de Janeiro requiring all public hospitals and clinics run by the municipal government to display anti-abortion signs bearing messages such as: “Did you know that the unborn child is discarded as hospital waste?”Reproductive rights activists view the act as the latest example of a growing trend across Brazil to further restrict access to abortion in a country that already has some of the world’s most restrictive laws. Continue reading...

Politics

36 h. ago Is this an artist – or a coffee pot? The great William Kentridge reveals the strange secret to a great self

The South African artist has exhibited everywhere, bagging awards in art and theatre, while his work sells for millions. So why did he find becoming an artist so unnatural? Ahead of a major British show, he reveals allYou only have to glance at William Kentridge’s family tree to realise why he is such an outsider. His maternal grandmother, Irene Geffen, was South Africa’s first female barrister while his mother, Felicia Geffen, became an anti-apartheid lawyer. Then there’s his father, Sydney Kentridge, the indomitable QC who represented Nelson Mandela in the 1960s and fought for justice for Steve Biko in the 70s. Studying law would have been the obvious path. “Public speaking, thinking on my feet, were natural and easy skills,” said Kentridge back in 1998. “Being an artist was a very unnatural and hard thing for me to do.”That’s quite a statement. Because in the three decades since, Kentridge has conquered the international art world with the oomph and verve of an emerging twentysom...

Politics

48 h. ago Shabana Mahmood says UK will seek reform of human rights convention

Justice secretary says ‘public confidence in the rule of law is fraying’ but she wants to protect ECHR by changing itEchoes of Brexit as Starmer is pressed to seize initiative on human rightsThe justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has said Britain will pursue reform of the European convention on human rights (ECHR), both at home and in Strasbourg, saying “public confidence in the rule of law is fraying”.Mahmood’s warning in her speech at the Council of Europe came as the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said she would undertake an examination of how the courts were applying the right to freedom from degrading treatment. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Government urged not to weaken ‘Hillsborough Law’ as MPs demand Bill is passed

Labour MPs have insisted that the law that would ensure a duty of candour on public bodies and workers must not be watered down amid further delays.

Politics

1 week ago In Spain, a chat on the doorstep is a custom worth preserving in the digital age | María Ramírez

It’s great to see so much support for the value of ‘taking the breeze’ – the authorities must respect public space tooThe mayor of a small town in southern Spain felt compelled, a few days ago, to clarify that there is no new municipal ban on older women sitting out on the pavement in their own chairs. He was responding to a furious online backlash directed mostly at the town’s police after they posted a message on social media urging the residents of Santa Fe to show “civility” by not sitting in the streets in the late hours disturbing neighbours.This plea for respect for the public space was hardly a draconian law and order crackdown: it was a reasonably worded reminder. “We know that putting chairs or tables outside the door is a tradition in many towns,” it said, “but public spaces are regulated. If the police ask you to remove them, do so out of respect and in the interests of coexistence.”María Ramírez is a journalist and the deputy managing editor of elDiario.es, a news outle...

Politics

1 week ago Stop bending the knee to Trump: it’s time for anticipatory noncompliance | David Kirp

US institutions have been doing Trump’s bidding before he even comes after them. Here’s the counterstrategyDuring the first 100-plus days of his presidency, Donald Trump has done his damnedest to remake the US in his image. Fearing Hurricane Donald, a host of universities, law firms, newspapers, public schools and Fortune 500 companies have rushed to do his bidding, bowing before he even comes calling. Other institutions cower, in hopes that they will go unnoticed.But this behavior, which social scientists call “anticipatory compliance”, smoothes the way to autocracy because it gives the Trump regime unlimited power without his having to lift a finger. Halting autocracy in its tracks demands a counter-strategy – let’s call it anticipatory noncompliance. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Pupils and staff at Motherwell school hold goodbye party ahead of Wishaw move

After the summer holidays, Bothwellpark High School will move to a new home in the Coltness area.

Politics

2 w. ago Budapest police deny LGBTQ+ march request, citing Hungary's legislative Pride ban

Police have denied a permit for an LGBTQ+ event in Budapest, citing a new law banning public displays linked to homosexuality

Events

2 w. ago Ousted Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina formally charged with crimes against humanity

Prosecution says Hasina unleashed all law enforcement agencies and her armed party members to crush public uprising

Politics

3 w. ago Trump gets tariff reprieve as he prepares Oval Office goodbye to Musk – US politics live

Appeals court agrees to temporary pause to previous ruling blocking tariffs; president says tech billionaire will ‘always be with us’Donald Trump’s tariff policy was derailed by a libertarian public interest law firm that has received money from some of his richest backers.The Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against the US president’s “reciprocal” tariffs on behalf of five small businesses, which it said were harmed by the policy. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago A new Hungarian law could ban Pride events. A majority of EU countries are urging a rethink

Seventeen European Union countries are demanding that Hungary revise a new law that allows the government to ban public events by LGBTQ+ communities

Politics

3 w. ago Vape ban chiefs ask for public's help reporting those flouting new law

Trading Standards bosses have issued a plea for the public to report suppliers who ignore the upcoming ban on disposable vapes.

Politics

3 w. ago Prince William prevented from 'very public insult' to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are still very much estranged from their royal relatives and no longer speak to King Charles or Prince William. However, according to one royal expert, the Prince of Wales allegedly shielded his younger brother and sister in law from a 'very public insult'

Politics

4 w. ago Wishaw pupils' theme park design takes school to the finals of engineering competition for third year running

Almost 1000 young people from across the UK entered The Big Bang Competition

Sport

last month Supreme Court set to rule on whether public have right to wild camp on Dartmoor

Alexander and Diana Darwall are challenging a Court of Appeal ruling that said the law allows the public to camp on the Dartmoor Commons in Devon.

Events