Martyn Webster obituary

My twin brother, Martyn Webster, who has died aged 86, was influential in the development of microsurgery both in the UK and internationally.In 1971 he joined the Canniesburn regional plastic surgery unit at Glasgow Royal Infirmary, one of the UK’s most respected centres for reconstructive surgery, with an international reputation as a centre of excellence, and in 1976 he became a consultant and senior lecturer there. His clinical experience covered a wide range of reconstructive procedures, especially microsurgery, head and neck surgery, hand surgery and breast reconstruction.He was a founding member of the early microsurgical societies – including the Microsurgery Travelling Club (1977) and the British Microsurgical Society (1981). He developed and directed training courses in microsurgery, and in 1986 published Free Tissue Transfer, one of the earliest books on the subject

‘It feels like a worse version of Lotto’: what Australians told us about the great intergenerational wealth transfer

Over the next two decades, economists predict that $5.4tn will be passed down from ageing baby boomers to their beneficiaries. We asked Guardian Australia readers to share their experience of giving, getting or living without an inheritance. Here is what some told us.Ash, Western Australia I don’t think inheritance should be assumed

Local reporter ‘shocked’ over picture of his face on punchbag at UK town hall

A local newspaper journalist has said he was “shocked” after a picture of his face was printed out and attached to a punchbag at a town hall.Joe McCann, who has worked for the Melksham News for 10 years, was tipped off by a contact that a print-out of his face had been attached to a freestanding punchbag inside the building.As first reported by the Melksham News, McCann raised the issue at a full council meeting on Monday, where councillors “appeared shocked”.“It has recently come to my knowledge that within this council building, there is a punchbag with my face cut out and stuck to it, with the word ‘punch me’ written at the bottom of the punchbag,” McCann told the meeting in the Wiltshire town. “I have a photo of it

Tech firms must remove ‘revenge porn’ in 48 hours or risk being blocked, says Starmer

Deepfake nudes and “revenge porn” must be removed from the internet within 48 hours or technology firms risk being blocked in the UK, Keir Starmer has said, calling it a “national emergency” that the government must confront.Companies could be fined millions or even blocked altogether if they allow the images to spread or be reposted after victims give notice.Amendments will be made to the crime and policing bill to also regulate AI chatbots such as X’s Grok, which generated nonconsensual images of women in bikinis or in compromising positions until the government threatened action against Elon Musk’s company.Writing for the Guardian, Starmer said: “The burden of tackling abuse must no longer fall on victims. It must fall on perpetrators and on the companies that enable harm

NHS to spend more to settle lawsuits over negligence during childbirth after court ruling

The NHS will have to spend more money settling lawsuits involving negligence during childbirth after a supreme court ruling that lawyers said puts right a “historic injustice”.The court ruled on Wednesday that children in England who suffer catastrophic injuries while they are being born can claim damages for future earnings they would otherwise have had.The ruling on “lost years damages” means that children whose life expectancy is shortened can recover compensation for being unable to work.It comes amid mounting concern at the rising cost of medical negligence to the NHS in England – its liabilities have hit £60bn – much of which is due to errors made during childbirth.“The supreme court today has put right an historic injustice which set injured children’s rights in negligence cases at a lesser level than those of an adult,” said James Drydale, the lawyer for a girl known only as CCC

Ketamine addiction making teenagers wet the bed, says UK’s first specialist clinic

Children are using incontinence pads and urinating in buckets next to their bed at night due to bladder problems caused by ketamine addiction, according to the first specialist NHS clinic dealing with the issue.Medics at Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool have opened the first ketamine clinic for young people in the UK in response to a surge in urology problems linked to addiction of the drug.“Some of our patients start wetting the bed or find going to the bathroom at night is actually too hard, so they’ll either choose incontinence products or a bucket by the bed,” said Harriet Corbett, a consultant paediatric urologist at the clinic.“I hate to say it, but a lot of them get to the point where they’re not fussed about where they go, because the need to go overrides their desire to find somewhere private. And I suspect more of them are incontinent than are willing to tell us