Ebola and hantavirus outbreaks prompt raft of conspiracy theories in divided US 25. May 2026 (14:00) Ever-growing influence of social media and AI means such ideas spreading at faster rates than before, experts sayHantavirus and Ebola outbreaks carry with them familiar attendants in the US: extreme conspiracy theories about a planned pandemic, or “plandemic”, designed to upend midterm elections or push new vaccines or any one of a myriad of wild ideas.Ebola, which the World Health Organization warned on Friday is spreading rapidly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, poses a “very high” risk at the national level. In the upside-down world of conspiracy theories it could be a bioweapon, a financial plot, or a scheme to extract national resources. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Decision not to jail three UK boys for rape is ‘unusual’ and could be reviewed, says ex-attorney general 25. May 2026 (13:04) Dominic Grieve says people are ‘perfectly entitled’ to ask Richard Hermer for review of teenagers’ sentencesAppeal judges would be unlikely to criticise the attorney general, Richard Hermer, if he asked them to review “unusual” non-custodial sentences handed to three teenage boys convicted of raping two girls, one of his predecessors has suggested.Dominic Grieve, who also served as home secretary, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the goal of rehabilitating offenders – particularly younger ones – needed to be balanced with providing deterrence. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rise in shoplifting and theft in UK finds nine in 10 retailers in rural areas targeted 25. May 2026 (13:00) Exclusive: Research shows cost of crime for each affected business was on average £83,000 in past yearNine in 10 retailers based in rural locations have been victims of crime in the past 12 months, according to research, underlining the widespread impact of the rise in shoplifting and theft even in more remote parts of the UK.Rural retailers include farm shops as well as stores selling machinery and other equipment. The financial cost of crime for each affected retailer was on average £83,000 during the past year, according to a survey carried out by the commercial insurer NFU Mutual. Meanwhile, one in 20 victims said crime had cost them more than half a million pounds. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Reform MP refuses to say whether Farage should produce evidence for Russian hack claim 25. May 2026 (12:52) Danny Kruger says matter is ‘private’, after party leader claimed hack was behind Guardian story about £5m giftA senior Reform UK figure has refused to call on the party’s leader, Nigel Farage, to hand evidence to the UK’s security services to support his claim he was hacked by Russian agents.Farage has come under mounting pressure to substantiate the claim that a state-sponsored Russian hack was behind the disclosure published by the Guardian last month of a £5m gift he had received from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne. Labour and the Conservatives have both stressed the threat to national security posed by the Russian state. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
