1 hour ago ‘Something has gone very wrong’: how the carers scandal was exposed

A Guardian investigation revealed how hundreds of thousands of people were plunged into debt – and some criminalised – for looking after their loved onesOne February afternoon in 2016, Sir Robert Devereux, at the time the most powerful official in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), was stopped by a junior colleague as he walked through the car park of a civil service office in Preston, Lancashire. Was he aware, the worker asked, about the problems with carer’s allowance?Devereux, on a flying visit to the DWP outpost, asked for details and promised to look into it. A few days later, Devereux’s office received a long and detailed note, complete with 80 anonymised case studies, setting out how years of shortcomings in the administration of the carer’s allowance benefit had wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and inflicted untold hardship and misery on thousands of unpaid carers. Continue reading...

Politics

16 h. ago Brazilian tribe sues New York Times for allegedly portraying members as porn addicts

Defamation suit claims Marubo people were depicted as tech-addled and porn-obsessed after introduction of internetAn Indigenous tribe from the Brazilian Amazon has sued the New York Times, saying the newspaper’s reporting on the tribe’s first exposure to the internet led to its members being widely portrayed as technology-addled and addicted to pornography.The Marubo tribe of the remote Javari valley, a community of about 2,000 people, filed the defamation lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages this week in a court in Los Angeles. Continue reading...

Politics

65 h. ago Two people die attempting to cross English Channel as hundreds more migrants arrive in small boats

The pair reportedly lost consciousness on a boat carrying nearly 80 people

Events

68 h. ago Amanda Holden wears ‘Aperol Spritz’ orange mini dress she raves is ‘gorgeous’ and it's in stock

Amanda Holden just showed off a recent look that she said was inspired by her 'favourite drink, an Aperol Spritz' - and the good news is, Amanda's exact orange mini is still in stock

Politics

3 d. ago Trump the AI salesman makes deals in the Gulf – and rich men benefit

The president sold the US model of the industry that made it: enormous power concentrated in the hands of a few menHello, and welcome to TechScape. This week in tech: Donald Trump the AI salesman visits the Middle East; 23andMe gets bought, mostly for its data; and Elon Musk’s bot hallucinates an offensively incorrect historical record – twice.Legal aid hack: data from hundreds of thousands of people accessed, says MoJHow to protect your data after a cyber-attackScattered Spider hackers in UK are ‘facilitating’ cyber-attacks, says GoogleLargest US crypto exchange says cost of recent cyber-attack could reach $400m Continue reading...

Economics

4 d. ago ‘First aid fear’ is costing hundreds of lives a year as people afraid to act, charity warns

Many are hesitant to provide assistance during emergencies, new research shows

Events

4 d. ago Why hundreds of people wearing orange and blue ran through Cardiff's Bute Park

Lily McGarry was in her third year of medicine when she developed septic shock and had all four limbs amputated

Politics

5 d. ago Israeli air strikes overnight kill 100 Palestinians across the Gaza strip as ceasefire talks appear to stall

Israel has expanded its strikes on the enclave, killing hundreds of people since Thursday, in preparation for a new ground offensive to achieve 'operational control' in parts of Gaza.

Events

6 d. ago ‘This is what death feels like’: The terrifying reality of Ukraine’s landmine crisis

Hundreds of people have been killed in landmine explosions across Ukraine. Bryony Gooch speaks to two survivors who have lived through that pain, and don’t want anyone else to have to experience it

Events

8 d. ago ‘Love, hope, community and resistance’: ACLU to unveil 9,000 sq ft quilt for trans rights

Giant quilt with messages of hope for the trans community is now arriving in DC at a particularly troubling time“It would be a lie if I said I wasn’t anxious,” Abdool Corlette said while discussing his latest project with the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom to Be. An award-winning film-maker and head of brand at the ACLU, Corlette has been working for nearly two years with hundreds of trans people across the country to create a 9,000 sq ft quilt, composed of 258 panels that are packed with responses to the question: what does freedom mean to you?Corlette is anxious because Freedom to Be is all about trans joy and trans freedom, and it will make a defiant stand for both on 17 May in Washington DC in spite of the war that Donald Trump has waged against the trans community since his inauguration. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago Legal battle over use of park for music festivals reaches High Court

Brockwell Park in Lambeth hosts a series of events called Brockwell Live, attracting hundreds of thousands of people to six festivals.

Events

8 d. ago Netflix fans have just days to watch 'inspirational' film with huge star

The powerful biographical drama, Harriet, tells the story of real-life hero, Harriet Tubman, who escaped slavery and went on to free hundreds of enslaved people during the civil war

Politics

9 d. ago Governor warns Pennsylvanians will lose health care, hospitals will close under GOP cuts to Medicaid

Gov. Josh Shapiro is warning that cuts to Medicaid health care that Congress is considering would mean billions of dollars in lost federal aid to Pennsylvania, hundreds of thousands of people losing access to the program and more rural hospitals shutting their doors

Events

1 week ago People in mental health crisis waiting up to three days in A&E in England

Royal College of Nursing findings described as ‘a scandal in plain sight’ with with conditions ‘close to torture’Thousands of people in a mental health crisis are enduring waits of up to three days in A&E before they get a bed, with conditions “close to torture” for those in such a distressed state.At one hospital, some patients have become so upset at the delays in being admitted that they have left and tried to kill themselves nearby, leading nurses and the fire brigade to follow in an attempt to stop them.Some trusts that previously had no long waits for mental health patients now have hundreds.The number of people seeking help at A&E for mental health emergencies is rising steadily and reached 216,182 last year.The recruitment of mental health nurses has lagged far behind the rise in demand.The number of beds in mental health units has fallen by 3,699 since 2014. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Milwaukee apartment fire kills four people, displaces hundreds

The 85-unit building wasn’t equipped with sprinklers, the Milwaukee fire chief said

Events

1 week ago Royal family hijacked VE Day anniversary, says republican protest organiser

Several hundred people gathered in Trafalgar Square on Saturday for the demonstration, organised by anti-monarchy group Republic.

Politics

2 w. ago Manchester Airport hit by 'power cut' as computer terminals go down

Hundreds of people 'being shoehorned into corridors' at Terminal 3 passport control

Events

2 w. ago DWP PIP points system: Which three conditions are 'most likely' to keep their payments

The Resolution Foundation has warned that changes to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will affect the living standards of hundreds of thousands of disabled people

Politics

2 w. ago Drone strikes hit Port Sudan airport and army base in third day of attacks

Loud explosions reported at dawn and plumes of smoke as RSF targets Sudanese government’s seat of powerDrones have struck the airport and targeted an army base in Port Sudan, officials said, the third straight day the seat of power of the government, which is aligned with the Sudanese army, has come under attack.The country’s main fuel depot was hit on Monday, causing a massive blaze just south of the eastern city that had until Sunday been considered a safe haven for hundreds of thousands of displaced people fleeing a two-year war. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago ‘My moment of glory’: Nicolas Cage lookalikes assemble in London

To mark the release of his new film, hundreds of people who sort of look like the actor gather outside Prince Charles cinemaOn a sunny, bustling late afternoon outside a cinema in Soho, central London, more than a hundred people have gathered, a number of whom sort of, if you squint, look a little bit like the actor Nicolas Cage.There is a Raising Arizona Cage, moustachioed and with a Hawaiian shirt. There are several Con Air Cages in white vests, one of whom has a toy bunny in a small cardboard box. Several can genuinely claim an uncanny likeness to the actor; one or two others might uncharitably be said to be closer to Cage’s character in Face/Off, who surgically swaps his own distinctive features for the face of someone else – in that case, John Travolta – who looks nothing like him. Continue reading...

Politics