⢠The acting Attorney General announced charges against the Southern Poverty Law Center alleging fraud in its informant program.
⢠Authorities assert that the SPLC's informant program paid sources to "stoke racial hatred," suggesting deliberate misuse of funds and inflammatory activities.
⢠The investigation remains ongoing with the possibility of future indictments naming SPLC executives as defendants.
Justice departmentās focus seems to be on SPLCās prior use of paid informants to monitor hate groups, groupās CEO says The Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), a prominent civil rights organization, the groupās CEO said on Tuesday.Bryan Fair, the CEO of the SPLC, said the details of the investigation were not entirely clear, though āthe focus appears to be on the SPLCās prior use of paid confidential informants to gather credible intelligence on extremely violent groupsā. Continue reading...
In todayās newsletter: More than one-fifth of āausterity-generationā British children live in poverty. Our social policy editor talks about the damage done and the way forwardThe austerity years cast a long shadow over Britain. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, a programme of cuts overseen by then-chancellor George Osborne and the work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith gutted parts of the welfare state, limiting the generosity of what is now universal credit, introducing a bedroom tax and the two-child limit for child benefit. By 2021, an estimated Ā£37bn had been cut from welfare spending each year alone, with further cuts made to other branches of government.The consequences of these decisions are all around us. Around four million children were classified as living in poverty in the UK, according to the most recent figures. This week, a University of Oxford study revealed that more than one-fifth of all āausterity generationā British children ā that is, children born since 2013 ā have been scarred by poverty for at least half their childhood.Southport attack | Axel Rudakubana was able to carry out the Southport atrocity because of ācatastrophicā failures by multiple agencies and the āirresponsible and harmfulā role of his parents, a damning inquiry has found.Middle East crisis | The US blockade of ships using Iranian ports in the Gulf began on Monday evening, turning the six-week-old conflict between the US-Israeli coalition and Iran into a test of economic endurance.Health | Metabolic liver disease (MASLD) will affect 1.8 billion people worldwide by 2050, driven by rising obesity and blood sugar levels, according to a new report. There are now 1.3 billion people worldwide living with MASLD, a 143% increase in just three decades.Scotland | A funding deal to raise Ā£100m from private investors for urgently needed nature restoration in Scotland has fallen through without the Scottish parliament being told, the Guardian has learned.XL bully ban | Police spending on kennels and veterinary bills in England and Wales has more than tripled since the XL bully ban came into force, with some forces recording an almost 500% spending increase since 2024. Continue reading...
Researchers say hardship is a direct legacy of welfare benefit cuts imposed by Tory governments in recent yearsMore than a fifth of all āausterity generationā British children have been scarred by poverty for at least half their childhood, a direct legacy of the welfare benefit cuts imposed by Conservative governments in recent years, research reveals.The proportion of children born after 2013 who spent at least six of their first 11 years of life in hardship surged after ministers froze working age benefits levels and imposed policies such as the two-child limit, it found. Continue reading...
āDevelopment in reverseā taking place involving rising energy and food costs and weaker economic growthMore than 32 million people worldwide could be plunged into poverty by the economic fallout from the Iran war, with developing countries expected to be hit hardest.In a report issued amid doubts over a fragile ceasefire, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said the world was facing a ātriple shockā involving energy, food and weaker economic growth. Continue reading...
About 38% of children in London live in relative poverty, compared with 29% in England as a wholeLondon has Englandās 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. Continue reading...
As Iran war threatens to exacerbate living costs, childrenās beds have become ālike a luxury itemā, says BarnardoāsMr Motivator is lobbying the government to tackle the number of children in the UK who have no bed of their own as Barnardoās reveals demand for furniture from struggling families has surged by 40% in the last year.The childrenās charity said beds had becomeālike a luxury itemā as the war in Iran threatens to exacerbate cost of living pressures. Continue reading...