Banned

New PEN America report analysed 3,743 unique titles removed from libraries and classrooms and found books about activism and social movements were targetedA new report has found that the number of banned non-fiction books doubled during the 2024-2025 school year in the US.PEN America analysed the 3,743 unique titles removed from school libraries and classrooms in the July to June period and found that over 1,100 or 29% were non-fiction, more than double the year prior. Continue reading...

Bamber, 65, has long used press interviews to campaign against convictions for murder of five family membersJeremy Bamber, who has served more than 40 years in prison for murdering five members of his family, has been banned from communicating with the media.Bamber was convicted in 1986 by a 10-2 majority of shooting his adoptive mother and father, his sister and her six-year-old twins at the parents’ family farmhouse in Essex a year earlier. He has always protested his innocence. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Union body finds workers describing themselves as ‘gambling’ because wages felt like the outcome of chance rather than workThe practice of using “dynamic pricing” to set pay on gig economy platforms including Uber should be banned because it leaves workers at the mercy of shadowy algorithms with no certainty over their earnings, trade union leaders have urged.In a report exposing the human cost of the gig economy practice, the Trades Union Congress said pay was becoming decoupled from time, skill or effort. Instead, work had become a speculative practice with the rewards determined by an algorithmic process with little transparency. Continue reading...

PM worried about ‘cumulative’ effect of marches, as Met chief says Jewish communities facing biggest threatSome pro-Palestinian demonstrations could be stopped, the prime minister has warned, as the UK’s most senior police officer said the threat to the Jewish ­community was greater than it has ever been.Keir Starmer indicated he wanted the language expressed on some protest marches to be subjected to “tougher action” as he sought to allay the fears of British Jews after a series of attacks on their communities in recent weeks. Continue reading...

Campaigners saying public spaces protection orders also being used to criminalise wide range of everyday activitiesOne in five local councils have banned swearing under new “busybody” orders, up from one in 20 councils in 2022.A new report by the Campaign for Freedom in Everyday Life has found that public spaces protection orders (PSPOs) – originally intended to tackle serious anti-social behaviour – are being used by councils in England and Wales to criminalise a wide range of everyday activities, including standing in groups, shouting and picking up stones. Continue reading...

Most-banned book was Sold, a 2006 novel by Patricia McCormick about sex trafficking in IndiaSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxThe American Library Association (ALA) has reported a record high in the number of books banned in US libraries.In 2025, 5,668 books were banned – representing 66% of the total number challenged – with an additional 920 censored through access restriction, such as relocation on the library shelves. Continue reading...

Government amendment to children’s wellbeing and schools bill to replace existing guidance with statutory banA ban on mobile phones in schools in England is to be introduced by the government to ensure that “critical safeguarding legislation” is passed.The government will table an amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill in the House of Lords after the bill was held up by peers on opposition benches. Continue reading...

Exclusive: ministers consider restricting pesticide-based treatments, which can get into waterways and harm wildlifePet owners across the UK could be banned from buying flea treatment for cats and dogs under new government rules.Ministers have begun an eight-week consultation on letting only veterinary practitioners or pharmacists give out the potent, pesticide-based flea treatments, to ensure “correct usage”. At the moment, the flea and tick treatments can be bought from any pet shop. Continue reading...

ASA rules ads on Instagram and Daily Mail website broke ban on promoting items high in fat, salt and sugarLidl and Iceland have become the first companies to have ads banned after the introduction of rules cracking down on the marketing of junk food in the UK.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has been policing the ban on ads featuring junk food on TV before 9pm, and in paid online advertising at any time of the day, since 5 January. Continue reading...

Amendment calling for step-incest to be included in ban on harmful content tabled by Conservative peer Gabby BertinThe government has agreed to ban the production of porngraphy depicting sex acts between stepfamily members following a vote in the House of Lords.An amendment calling for step-incest to be included in a ban on harmful content was tabled by Conservative peer Lady Gabby Bertin, who led a review into pornography regulation that was published last year. Continue reading...

Lanre Bakare on the UK government’s decision to revoke Kanye West’s visa after Wireless festival booked him as a headlinerWhen Kanye West was announced as the headliner for Wireless festival in London this summer, the backlash was immediate.“He’d been on a campaign of four or five years of antisemitic trolling,” Lanre Bakare, the Guardian’s arts and culture correspondent, tells Nosheen Iqbal. “Embracing neo-Nazi imagery, pushing out far-right conspiracy theories about Jewish people.” Continue reading...

Peter Achterstraat says protections are essential as apartments increasingly become ‘the only place people can afford to buy’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales productivity commissioner wants exorbitant commissions for strata managers banned “sooner rather than later”, with apartments expected to make up half of all Sydney homes by 2041.The NSW government is yet to commit to implementing the recommendations contained in Peter Achterstraat’s report. He has advised outlawing commissions on insurance premiums and other services. Continue reading...

Kiis FM could face cancellation of radio station licence if ban breached, regulator saysAny Kiis FM radio program hosted by Kyle Sandilands and or Jackie “O” Henderson must not air strong sexual content for the next five years or ARN Media could face penalties as serious as the cancellation of the radio stations’ licence.However, the penalty from broadcasting authorities has come two weeks after the Kyle & Jackie O Show was taken off the air and Henderson’s contract with ARN was terminated. Continue reading...