Spanish woman who won legal battle for right to euthanasia has assisted death

A Spanish woman who spent months fighting her father for the right to euthanasia after being sexually assaulted and becoming paraplegic has finally ended her life on her own terms by means of an assisted death.Noelia Castillo, 25, had struggled with psychiatric illness since she was a teenager and tried to kill herself in October 2022 after being sexually assaulted. The attempt left her in constant pain and using a wheelchair. Eighteen months later, she used Spain’s euthanasia law, which was introduced in 2021, to secure permission to end her life.But her attempts to obtain euthanasia had been opposed by her father and by Christian Lawyers, an ultra‑conservative advocacy group that had supported him

Labour failing to shift power from Whitehall to local areas, analysis finds

Keir Starmer’s drive to overhaul public services is failing to live up to its aims of shifting power from Whitehall to local areas, a report from the Institute for Government (IfG) has found.Last summer, the government set out its three guiding principles for reform aimed at making public services such as the NHS, court system and children’s social care easier to access and better at helping people.The objectives were to make public services “organised around people’s lives”, to improve outcomes by focusing on prevention of problems, and devolving power to local areas that understand the needs of their communities best.However, the IfG’s analysis found that none of these were on course to happen by the next election, which is due by summer 2029.Stuart Hoddinott, a public services expert at the IfG who wrote the report, said: “Our assessment is that by the end of this parliament, on the government’s current trajectory, public services will be more centralised, integration will have slowed or even reversed, and a measurable shift towards prevention will not have occurred

London has England’s highest levels of child poverty, data shows

London has England’s highest levels of child poverty and most extreme concentrations of hardship, data has revealed. In two boroughs more than half of children live below the breadline.In Britain, child poverty rates flatlined in 2024-25 compared with the previous year. About 4 million youngsters (27%) live in households earning less than 60% of the national median income after housing costs are taken into account.The figures in effect set a benchmark for the government’s child poverty reduction strategy, which starts in earnest next month with the abolition of the two-child benefit limit

Coming across a terrible dilemma | Brief letters

I was struck by two adjacent headlines: “More frequent ejaculations may boost men’s fertility” and “Extra 11 minutes’ sleep each night can reduce heart attack risk”. What a terrible dilemma.Prof Gareth WilliamsRockhampton, Gloucestershire Given the impact of stress on the risk of heart attacks, I wonder how the worry about not sleeping for an extra 11 minutes is going to help me.Richard BarnardWivenhoe, Essex Let’s hope that Brabazon isn’t an entirely appropriate name for the future new town (Letters, 24 March). The Bristol Type 167 Brabazon aeroplane was an utter commercial failure – aimed at a luxury market that no longer existed

Resident doctors in England to begin six-day strike after rejecting offer in pay dispute

Resident doctors in England will strike for six days after Easter after rejecting what they said was the final offer by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to end the long-running pay and jobs dispute.The British Medical Association blamed the government for its decision to undertake its longest stoppage so far, from 7am on Tuesday 7 April to 6.59 on Monday 13 April.This will be the 15th industrial action that resident doctors have staged in their campaign for “full pay restoration” and means they will strike for the fourth year running.NHS leaders warned the strike would cost the health service an estimated £300m, lead to appointments being cancelled, and force patients to wait longer for tests, treatment and surgery

Fifteen new councils to be created in south and east of England

Fifteen new councils will be created in the south and east of England under the latest round of a major local government overhaul, aimed at boosting economic growth and accelerating mass housebuilding plans.The new unitary councils will replace 43 counties and districts across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Hampshire, with hundreds of councillors’ roles axed. A decision on future arrangements for East Sussex and West Sussex has been delayed.Ministers said the new councils, which will come on stream in 2028, will sweep away outdated administrative structures and enable local authorities to focus on government priorities such as building 1.5m new homes by 2029