Society

Majority of special education staff in US education department laid off – report

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Layoffs ‘decimating’ office responsible for protecting rights of infants, children and youth with disabilities, says worker The majority of staff in the education department handling special education has been laid off, according to multiple reports. Friday’s total of 466 layoffs across the education department also affected the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, which … Read more

Border failings in Europe are eroding trust in nation states, warns Mahmood

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Home secretary to tell meeting of interior ministers that international cooperation is way to curb irregular migration The failure to bring order to European borders is eroding trust in politicians and the concept of nation states, Shabana Mahmood will warn. As she hosts a meeting of fellow interior ministers to discuss migration routes through the … Read more

UK must prepare buildings for 2C rise in global temperature, government told

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Climate advisers warn that current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate Britain must prepare for global heating far in excess of the level scientists have pegged as the limit of safety, the government’s climate advisers have warned, as current plans to protect against extreme weather are inadequate. Heatwaves will occur in at least … Read more

Watchdog rules Red Tractor exaggerated its environmental standards

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The Advertising Standards Authority agrees with River Action that the food safety body’s 2023 advert misled the public The UK’s advertising watchdog has upheld a complaint that Britain’s biggest farm assurance scheme misled the public in a TV ad about its environmental standards. The Red Tractor scheme, used by leading supermarkets including Tesco, Asda and … Read more

Vets could be made to cap prescription prices after UK watchdog investigation

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Market ‘not fit’ for purpose, CMA says, as it proposes shake-up including publishing treatment costs Vets in the UK could be forced to cap prescription prices after an investigation by the markets watchdog found pet owners may be paying twice as much for some common medicines from practices than online. The Competition and Markets Authority … Read more

In reading, the nation’s students are still stuck in a pandemic slump

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When it comes to reading, the nation’s third- through eighth-graders are still mired in a pandemic-era slump, according to new testing data. In math, the news is only a little more heartening: Student achievement in those grades either held steady or improved slightly, though all grades remain behind performance levels of same-grade students in 2019. … Read more

Data centers are booming. But there are big energy and environmental risks

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Google recently courted the township of Franklin, Ind., so that it could construct a giant campus to house the computer hardware that powers its internet business. But the company needed to rezone more than 450 acres in the Indianapolis suburb, and residents weren’t having it. Many were concerned the facility would consume huge amounts of … Read more

In new memoir, John T. Edge explores Southern identity and a troubled family history

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OXFORD, Miss. — Writer John T. Edge has spent much of his career telling stories about a changing American South filtered through the lens of food and culture. He’s published cookbooks and food histories, and he’s been a contributor to the New York Times, the now-shuttered magazine, Gourmet, the Food Network, and NPR’s Weekend All … Read more