News

— Baby race: the US under-1 population mapped

   (Thursday, 17 May 2012 20:34)

New figures released by the US census bureau show that most children born between July 2010 and July 2011 belonged to ethnic or racial minorities, with Hispanic families driving the demographic growth. We've mapped babies under the age of one across the US

— UK Border Agency 'detaining children in degrading conditions' at Heathrow

   (Monday, 14 May 2012 00:05)

Children held in small, stuffy rooms at airport for hours, often sharing space with adults they are not related to, watchdog finds

The UK Border Agency is detaining children in "degrading and disgraceful" conditions at Heathrow, according to an official watchdog.

The Heathrow independent monitoring board (IMB) says children of all ages are being detained at the airport for immigration purposes almost every day, and are sometimes kept overnight. They are held in rooms that are small, stuffy and have no natural light. There is no access to the open air, no sleeping accommodation and only hand...

— How the kindness of (virtual) strangers on Twitter saved my day | Momtaz Begum-Hossain

   (Wednesday, 16 May 2012 13:05)

After Twitter followers helped me remove a BNP banner from my street on election day, it's my first port of call from now on

I've made a decision. From now on, if I need help, I'm heading straight to Twitter. I've tweeted pleas before. I once posted that I needed a job and the same afternoon got commissioned to write an article. But a few weeks ago, I discovered the true benefits of the virtual world.

It was election day and on my way back from a lunchtime trip to the launderette I...

— Inspirational films: a Universal concern?

   (Tuesday, 01 May 2012 13:11)

Barack Obama, Denzel Washington and Judd Apatow wax lyrical on inspirational films, in aid of Universal's 100th birthday. Have movies influenced you? Or should cinema stick to entertainment, rather than enlightenment?

A few weeks ago, Barack Obama made a televised introduction to a US TV showing of To Kill a Mockingbird. Here's some video of Potus's intro.

Tom Shone wrote an astute piece at the time about the smartness of Obama's choice, and he highlighted the judiciousness with which the president had managed his own brand with reference to cinema.

… his election night scored with...

— Guess who's coming to dinner? Anger over Queen's jubilee bash guest list

   (Thursday, 17 May 2012 18:33)

Protesters say invitation list includes monarchs of several countries accused of human rights abuses

The trickiest part of hosting any big anniversary bash is always the guest list – as the Queen is discovering before an unprecedented lunch for the world's crowned heads on Friday.

Does one invite the ruler accused of turning a "blind eye" to human rights abuses? Or the one with the "glad eye" and, at the last count, 13 wives? Then there is the cousin who snubs you over a little local difficulty.

By Thursday evening, neither Buckingham Palace nor the Foreign...

— Eduardo Saverin's tax-free global citizenship | Dan Gillmor

   (Thursday, 17 May 2012 21:13)

Must we tolerate this new global elite of the super-rich and mega-corporations dodging tax obligations in any one country?

Eduardo Saverin imagines himself a "citizen of the world". His is an unofficial description, but one that an elite class of super-rich people and multinational companies increasingly take for granted.

Saverin's name stood out when the US government published its latest list of Americans who had renounced their citizenship. He is the co-founder of Facebook, owner of about 4% of the company; and with this week's public offering of shares, he is about to move from rich...

— Live Q&A: Open data for charities, Tuesday 22 May

   (Thursday, 17 May 2012 14:00)

Join our experts, from 1pm to 3pm, to discuss how open data could help your charity and the voluntary sector more widely

As the public sector opens up much more of its data, many in the voluntary sector are looking at what open data can do for their organisations.

Ed Anderton from the Nominet Trust recently wrote on the network that "a broad base of organisations using and supplying open data would allow for better understanding of the impact made by the social sector, potentially revealing gaps in provision and providing evidence of the quality...

— Hollande's cabinet shows Sarkozy how to do gender equality – see, easy | Agnes Poirier

   (Thursday, 17 May 2012 18:34)

For the first time, the French cabinet has an equal number of men and women, thanks to increased parity in higher education

Nicolas Sarkozy promised a parity government in 2007, but failed to deliver. Five years later, newly elected president François Hollande has just done it. For the first time, France boasts as many women as men in its 34-member cabinet. It may have looked gimmicky at first; it does however feel as if a hurdle has been finally passed, or a weight has been lifted off our shoulders. Gender equality can be done...