‘We have the same monster’: three women brought down their rapist – this is what happened next

In 2023, the Guardian profiled a group of women who had formed an unshakeable bond after they saw their attacker convicted and decided to waive their anonymity. That interview has now led to a documentaryThe three women refer to each other as “the girls”, even though they are in their 40s and 50s, long past girlhood. They have a WhatsApp group called Sister Solidarity, even though they are biologically unrelated.The unshakeable bond between Laura Hughes and Lauren Preston, both 45, and Mary Sharp, 58, came about for the saddest reason – all three were raped and abused by Martin Butler, a manipulative drug dealer on their estate in London who groomed and coerced them decades ago.Butler is now serving a lengthy sentence for the rape and buggery of Sharp in 1988

Did breakthrough in US fentanyl crisis start in China?

As Donald Trump travels to Beijing this week, fentanyl – and China’s role in its supply chain – remains an enduring point of acrimony in bilateral relations.At a UN meeting in March, the US again accused China of failing to stop its chemical industry selling the precursors required to make the potent synthetic opioid, while China suggested the US was shifting the blame for its domestic drug problem.Yet there are growing signs that the US fentanyl crisis has turned a corner – and some experts believe that interventions made in China have played a key role.“There was a supply shock: the purity of fentanyl fell,” said Keith Humphreys, a professor at Stanford University. “The question is why was there a supply shock

Getting children to eat their vegetables starts in the womb, researchers suggest

Rather than bribery, or hiding carrots under ketchup, the key may be to expose foetuses to healthy flavoursIt is an age-old battle with small children that most parents will recognise: please, please, eat your vegetables.Some will read them books with titles such as The Boy Who Loved Broccoli. Others have been known to smother veg in tomato ketchup, or mix avocado and fruit with Greek yoghurt and call it icecream. Or resort to plain bribery.Now, a study suggests there may be a more effective approach – but mothers need to start early

Older people risk mental decline if they do long hours of caring, UK study shows

The stresses and strains of caring for someone for 50 hours or more a week leads to “accelerated cognitive decline” in middle-aged and older people, research shows.However, providing care for only five to nine hours a week has the opposite effect, boosting brain health so much that the benefits last until older age.Carers UK called the findings “extremely worrying” and said they highlight how long hours spent providing care raises the risk of social isolation and burnout.Dr Baowen Xue, an academic at University College London and the lead author of the paper, said: “Our study shows that the caring responsibilities many people take on in later life can be a double-edged sword.“On the one hand, lighter caring responsibilities can be good for you by providing mental stimulation from interacting with loved ones or others you’re helping and a sense of purpose and usefulness

Capacity of lifts not kept up with UK obesity levels, study shows

Lifts are no longer big enough to fit the UK’s larger citizens, according to researchers.A study of maximum capacity in elevators in the UK and mainland Europe found lifts have not kept up with increasing obesity levels, raising concerns about safety and equity.The research, presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, Turkey, used photos of weight limits for 112 lifts manufactured between 1972 and 2024 in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria and Finland.Prof Nick Finer, the president and chair of the International Prader-Willi Syndrome Organisation and lead author of the study, compared the average maximum weight allowance (total weight allowance divided by maximum passenger limits) with the average adult weight in the year the lift was manufactured.The research found that despite adults’ continued growing weight, total lift limits have not increased since about 2004

More than 6,000 children treated at obesity clinics in England, figures show

More than 6,000 children living with obesity, including hundreds as young as four, have required treatment at specialist NHS weight-loss clinics, new figures reveal.NHS England data, published for the first time, underlines the scale of the growing childhood obesity crisis.Since the first Complications from Excess Weight clinic (CEW) opened in 2021, the NHS has treated 6,497 children and teenagers. Of these, 423 were four years old, 1,088 were aged between five and eight, 1,791 were aged nine to 12 and 3,137 were aged between 13 and 17. The age of a further 58 is unknown