The UK scandal of women handcuffed while in labour: ‘I was so shocked when the restraints weren’t removed’

Pregnant women prisoners in England are being handcuffed to prison officers – often male – during intimate vaginal examinations and long, agonising births. Will this dehumanising treatment be stopped?The worst moment of Joanna’s labour was an internal examination. She was handcuffed with her legs splayed apart and a female prison officer at the foot of the hospital bed saw everything. She had prepared for the arrival of her first baby as carefully as she could. But she understood that birth can be unpredictable – and this was complicated by the fact that, during the latter part of her pregnancy, she was serving a jail sentence

More than 220m children will be obese by 2040 without drastic action, report warns

Without drastic action more than 220 million children could have obesity by 2040, an international report has warned.Globally, in 2025 about 180 million children were obese. But new figures from the World Obesity Federation suggest that by 2040, about 227 million of all five- to 19-year-olds will have obesity and more than half a billion will be overweight.According to the federation’s 2026 world obesity atlas, that would mean that at least 120 million school-age children would have early signs of chronic disease caused by their high body mass index (BMI).Someone is classed as obese if their BMI is 30 or above, and overweight if it is above 25

Unemployment set to hit 5.3% this year amid ‘worrying’ rise in young jobless

Unemployment in the UK is set to peak this year at a higher rate than previously estimated, with a “worrying” increase in young people being out of work, the government’s official forecaster has said.The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said unemployment will peak at 5.3% this year, up from its previous forecast in November of 4.9%.The figure would be the highest unemployment level since the final quarter of 2020, when the UK was in lockdown during the Covid pandemic

Recruiting nurses overseas must work for all | Letter

Your report on the 93% fall in overseas nurses (Drop in overseas workers is ‘car crash’ for UK hospitals and care homes, say experts, 26 February) lays bare how dependent the UK has become on international recruitment. When visa policy shifts can trigger warnings of an “impending car crash”, it shows a workforce model built on fragility, not resilience.For years, the UK – like other high-income countries – has relied on internationally educated nurses to fill domestic shortages. That may have eased immediate pressures, but it masked chronic underinvestment in training, pay and retention at home. Tightening migration without first building self-sufficiency simply exposes that failure

Quarter of healthy years lost to breast cancer are due to lifestyle factors, research finds

More than a quarter of healthy years lost to breast cancer are due to lifestyle factors such as red meat intake and smoking, according to the largest study of its kind.The study, published in the Lancet Oncology, used data from population-based cancer registries to produce a comprehensive analysis of breast cancer and its risk factors.The data used, spanning from 1990 to 2023 from more than 200 countries, was also used to produce forecasts of trends regarding breast cancer up to 2050. In the UK, about one in seven women will develop the disease in their lifetime.New breast cancer cases in women are predicted to rise by a third globally, from 2

Scotland becomes first UK country to legalise water cremations

Scotland has become the first part of the UK to legalise hydrolysis, an environmentally friendly alternative to cremation or burial, reflecting increasing demand for more sustainable funeral arrangements.Also known as water cremation or aquamation, the process is already available in many parts of the world, and regulations approved by the Scottish parliament on Monday mark the most significant change to funeral law since cremation was introduced in 1902.Replicating the natural process of decomposition that occurs after burial, but over a much shorter period of time, hydrolysis uses a strong alkaline solution to break down the body of the deceased person.The body is immersed in water and 5% alkaline, such as potassium hydroxide, for three to four hours in a pressurised metal cylinder and heated to about 150C (300F).This dissolves the body tissue, leaving only bones, which are then dried and pulverised into white dust