At the city’s Great Exhibition of 1904, 57 Somali men, women and children cooked, weaved and danced for visitorsIt was, the posters said, a rare chance to see a “little known but interesting people”: a live display of 57 Somali men, women and children who cooked, weaved and danced for the entertainment of hundreds of thousands of Edwardians who flocked to Yorkshire to see them.More than 120 years later, this controversial – and, in its time, incredibly popular – show will be revisited […]

My mother, Ruth Lesser, who has died aged 95, was held in high regard in the world of aphasia – loss of language – and speech therapy.She joined the sub-department of speech at the University of Newcastle in the late 1970s, at a time when it was under threat of closure. Ruth took it in hand, becoming senior lecturer in 1982, head of the department of speech in 1983, and in 1991 professor of speech and language pathology. The department became nationally and internationally respected under […]

Government’s pilot ban for under-16s accompanies consultation as peers vote on Australia-style restrictionsHundreds of UK teenagers will trial social media bans, digital curfews and time limits on apps under a government pilot, which will run alongside a consultation to decide whether the UK should ban access to social media for the under-16s.During the test, led by the UK government, a proportion of 300 teens across all four nations of the UK will have their social apps disabled, […]

Sharaz Ali, 40, sentenced over arson attack in which his ex-partner’s sister and her three children diedA man who killed his ex-partner’s sister and her three children by setting fire to their house has been sentenced to a whole-life order.Antonia Gawith said she was “haunted” because she was the intended target of the arson attack by her former boyfriend, Sharaz Ali. Continue reading...