20 h. ago Gaza’s children: what can the future possibly hold for them?

Tens of thousands of children have been wounded in Gaza, which now has the most child amputees per capita in the world. Even those evacuated for treatment face an impossible pathWhen I entered the home in north-east Philadelphia, Elias, a lively four-year-old boy, grabbed the pack of KitKats I had brought with me and began swinging it over his head. He whirled around in circles, hollering something unintelligible. In a familiar scene – I have small children of my own – his mother tried to impose order, but yielded to the greater force of a kid on sugar kept indoors by a cold snap.Elias, his five-year-old sister Taline and nine-year-old brother Khaled were in the US because Elias and Taline needed urgent medical care. They had sustained staggering injuries when Israel’s military shot a missile at the house they were taking refuge in. The explosion cleaved Elias’s right leg off below the knee. Taline’s injuries were also severe; she arrived in the US with external fixators – pins and ...

Politics

20 h. ago There are more child amputees in Gaza than anywhere else in the world. What can the future hold for them?

Tens of thousands of children have been wounded in Gaza. Even those evacuated for treatment face an impossible pathWhen I entered the home in north-east Philadelphia, Elias, a lively four-year-old boy, grabbed the pack of KitKats I had brought with me and began swinging it over his head. He whirled around in circles, hollering something unintelligible. In a familiar scene – I have small children of my own – his mother tried to impose order, but yielded to the greater force of a kid on sugar kept indoors by a cold snap.Elias, his five-year-old sister Taline and nine-year-old brother Khaled were in the US because Elias and Taline needed urgent medical care. They had sustained staggering injuries when an Israeli pilot or drone operator shot a missile at the house they were taking refuge in. The explosion cleaved Elias’s right leg off below the knee. Taline’s injuries were also severe; she arrived in the US with external fixators – pins and steel in her legs – as she battled infection. ...

Politics

69 h. ago Autistic children bear hidden cost of violent police raids in Brazil’s favelas

Life in poor urban communities can resemble a war zone – but self-help groups are helping neurodiverse kids copeIn January, as about 500 police officers carried out a 15-hour raid in one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela complexes, Rafaela Figueiredo de França was trying to distract her six-year-old daughter, who has been diagnosed with autism.To prevent Maria from panicking amid the seemingly endless barrage of deafening gunfire – so intense that it even brought down the wall of a nearby house – De França shut the windows and turned on two fans. “It’s a way of shielding her from the sounds of war,” said the mother. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago I spoke to children in Gaza this week and here’s what they told me: they just want to live | Shaima Al

As war resumes, so does the death sentence for Gaza’s children. The UK must not be an ally to further atrocitiesShaima Al-Obaidi is a senior media manager at Save the Children UKWhen I was woken up in the middle of the night on Tuesday by the roar of airstrikes and blaring ambulance sirens, I quickly realised that, once again, Israeli forces were unleashing hell on Gaza. It was a night of terror, but one that is all too familiar for Gaza’s children and families after 16 months of war. A reported 174 children were killed – one of the largest child death tolls in a single day.Events have escalated rapidly since then. The attacks persist, and Gaza is once again divided. The Israeli military has imposed restrictions, blocking access to northern Gaza from the south. More than 50 of my colleagues in the north now confront the choice of staying to face tanks and bullets or leaving their homes with barely a moment to process their losses.Shaima Al-Obaidi is a senior media manager at Save th...

Society

7 d. ago Keir Starmer praised Adolescence. Now he needs to show he’s learned from it | Gaby Hinsliff

The government balked at protecting children from the perils of social media. TV has made the issues plain; now politics must do its jobIt’s the story every parent of teenagers I know has been watching horrified through their fingers. The Netflix drama Adolescence starts with armed police breaking down an ordinary front door to arrest a 13-year-old boy for murder, in front of his bewildered parents. Though initially it seems there must have been some terrible mistake, Jamie’s Instagram account soon yields clues that all the adults – police, parents and teachers alike – had initially blundered past, oblivious.Though talk of misogynistic “manosphere” influencers such as Andrew Tate hovers over the storyline, this isn’t really a story of radicalisation. What it skewers is the feeling of growing up very publicly in a world where sending nudes risks them instantly being shared round the class and everyone automatically films playground fights on their phones, and how that intensifies dan...

Politics

8 d. ago Voices: Adolescence is every parent’s nightmare – but what worries you about raising children in 2025?

Have your say as Stephen Graham’s latest series sparks urgent conversations about children’s online safety, revealing how hidden digital influences are shaping young minds as much as family and school

Society

1 week ago Trump revokes Secret Service detail for Joe Biden’s children

President made change effective ‘immediately’ to security protection for Hunter and Ashley after a reporter’s inquiryUS politics live – latest updatesDonald Trump said Monday he was ending “immediately” the Secret Service protection details assigned to Democrat Joe Biden’s adult children, which the former president had extended to July shortly before leaving office in January.Trump posted his intention on Truth Social after a reporter asked him about Hunter Biden’s Secret Service detail: “Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for an extended period of time, all paid for by the United States Taxpayer,” Trump said. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘Kids can bypass anything if they’re clever enough!’ How tech experts keep their children safe online

From hacking screen time settings to bypassing website restrictions, young people make responsible parenting in the age of tech feel like a game of whack-a-mole. Here’s how to do it successfully I know I’m not alone as a parent when I admit I have often felt like an exasperated failure in trying to restrict what my children see online. There were the times they hacked their devices’ screen time settings, or managed to stumble into inappropriate content in spite of the controls, not to mention the ever inventive workarounds to access restricted sites. Worst of all is the ill will the rigmarole creates between us all. So when in the first minute of my conversation with digital parenting coach Elizabeth Milovidov, she says, “I think parents need to just kind of give themselves a hug, breathe and start over,” I feel so heard and comforted I could cry.“Parents are incredibly busy. They’re overwhelmed,” says Milovidov. “And then this whole idea of trying to lock things down is not easy. I...

Science

1 week ago Best children’s savings account for 2025 with families able to earn 5.5%

Everything you need to know to open a savings accounts for your young ones - and what to do for the older ones too

Society

2 w. ago ‘Baby jails’ and first steps behind bars: Trump’s immigration agenda embraces family detention again

As the US ramps up enforcement, scenes of family separation and despair from Trump’s first term are repeatedThe United States has resumed placing immigrant families in detention, re-embracing harrowing operations where scenes unfold such as toddlers learning to walk under the supervision of private prison corporations and children marking their birthdays at government facilities they can’t leave.If the Obama and first Trump administrations are anything to go by, parents will have to watch their little ones go hungry without familiar foods, the kinds families cook if their children aren’t stuck in so-called “baby jails”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Police launch new search for fugitive father and children missing in New Zealand wilderness for three years

Over the next few days police will be ‘present’ in the remote Marokopa area where Tom Phillips and his three children are believed to be hidingNew Zealand police are launching a fresh operation in the rugged North Island wilderness to track down a fugitive father and his three children who have been missing for more than three years.Just before Christmas 2021, Tom Phillips fled into a remote area of Waikato with his children Ember, thought to be now aged 9, Maverick, 10, and Jayda, 11, following a dispute with their mother. Phillips does not have legal custody for his children. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago ‘If you don’t get early years right, children are unlikely to catch up’: why South Africa is trying to reboot its school system

With 80% of 10-year-olds unable to read for meaning, the government is prioritising literacy and numeracy among pre-school pupils as it tackles its education problemsWhen she noticed children hanging around with nothing to do after school in the sprawling Johannesburg township of Soweto in 2016, Faith Nedoboni decided to start an after-school programme. But as she helped them with their homework, she realised many, some as old as 13, were struggling to read and write.Nedoboni, a 57-year-old single mother of three adult children, had never been a teacher. But she was an entrepreneur, first taking over her father’s restaurant and grocery store business after his death and then also selling secondhand clothes. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Children in UK as young as 11 targeted by sextortion criminals, data reveals

Internet Watch Foundation says ‘worrying’ trend shows criminals are casting their nets wider to trap victims• Our son was targeted by sextortionist online – here’s what we didChildren as young as 11 to 13 are being targeted by sextortion criminals for the first time, according to data.The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) said the “worrying” trend showed that criminals behind extortion attempts were casting their nets wider in an attempt to trap victims. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago I adore my children. I’m also scared that one day my son will kill me

In the UK, more than 170 women have been murdered by their sons in the past 15 years. An anonymous mother reveals what it is like to be frightened of your child while desperately wanting to support himI am staring at the faces of women on my screen, transfixed by emotions too complex to disentangle; discernible, though, are grief, rage... and fear.For the women pictured are some of the more than 170 who have been killed by their sons in the UK in the past 15 years. Their appalling tragedy – being killed by the person to whom they gave life – has a chilling resonance. Like many of those whose deaths have been highlighted in the 2,000 Women report by the Femicide Census, I am a professional with adored adult children and a close circle of friends. I am also frightened of my son. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago KSI's incredible net worth ahead of Sidemen match as YouTuber makes billionaire claim

KSI will lead his Sidemen FC team out onto the hallowed field of Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon for the 2025 Sidemen Charity Match in aid of Children In Need, BrightSide, and M7E

Politics

3 w. ago World Book Day 2025: Children don adorable fancy dress outfits to celebrate favourite literary characters

Children across the country are going into school dressed as their favourite literary characters to mark World Book Day.

Culture

3 w. ago Rest of Europe should follow Denmark’s lead in banning phones in schools, says expert

Chair of Danish wellbeing commission says whole continent should halt digitalisation of children’s livesThe whole of Europe should follow Denmark’s lead by banning mobile phones from schools to stop them from being “colonised by digital platforms”, the chair of the country’s wellbeing commission has said.Removing mobile phones from schools gave young people a “pause” from online life, teaching them how to be part of analogue communities and train their attention spans, said Rasmus Meyer, who led the government commission to investigate growing dissatisfaction among children and young people. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘We wish we could have taken more’: 29 children evacuated from Gaza to Jordan for treatment

Wounded and sick children in need of urgent treatment crossed through Israel to reach King Hussein hospital in Amman A slow convoy of a dozen ambulances and buses brought 25 wounded and sick Palestinian children from Gaza and across Israel on Tuesday, past the heavily armed forces that bombarded the territory for 15 months, and that may be about to start again.The patients were among the 4,500 people in Gaza believed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be in urgent need of evacuation, and they were transferred to Jordan by a joint operation by the Jordanian army, the country’s health ministry and the WHO. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Harvey Weinstein breaks silence on Adrien Brody mentioning his children in Oscars speech

Jailed Harvey Weinstein's shock response to Adrien Brody mentioning his children in his Oscars acceptance speech has been revealed.

Politics

3 w. ago Adrien Brody reveals Georgina Chapman and Harvey Weinstein's children now call him 'popsie'

Adrien Brody delivered an emotional Oscars acceptance speech that included an unexpected shout-out to girlfriend Georgina Chapman's two children.

Politics