An advocate for women’s reproductive health, she started one of the world’s smallest pharmaceutical companies to bring an emergency birth-control method to market.
Some recipients have seen their benefits return but are worried they could still be taken away. Others wonder whether the funding could be stopped again at some point.
Baek SongYi, who works at Salesforce in South Korea, said she had been subject to sexual harassment for years. The company, she said, failed to address her claims against her former boss appropriately.
As many elite colleges struggle to adapt to the technology, the nation’s most prestigious universities said dozens of students used artificial intelligence tools to cheat.
The special educational needs and disabilities system for children in England faces "total collapse" and the government must not "keep ducking" reforms, council leaders have warned.
The County Councils Network, which represents some of England's largest local authorities, said councils had deficits which will reach £4.4bn a year by the end of this parliament in 2029, as they struggled to cope with increased demand.
The government has put off planned reforms to the SEND system until next year, and a white paper setting out those reforms was delayed recently.
But ministers face pressure from Labour MPs who warn there would be political danger in watering down support for children.
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Amanda Quick's 12-year-old Ezra who has autism and ADHD attends a specialist school
The number of Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) - the legal document entitling children to support from local authorities - have increased, according to the Department for Education.
There were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025, up 10.8% on the same point last year. The number of new plans which started during 2024 also grew by 15.8% on the previous year, to 97,747.
The County Councils Network (CCN) says one in every 20 children in England could end up needing this kind of support by the end of the decade.
Councils have a statutory duty to provide support to children with an EHCP, depending on what the document outlines.
The CCN also says demand for EHCPs alone is not the only factor driving spiralling expenditure, with "over-reliance on higher costs placements and special provision" also a factor, including "expensive private school places".
There are now record numbers of pupils in special schools. In England, there are around 194,000 pupils, compared with 109,000 in 2014/15 according to the CNN.
The CCN has projected that councils could be spending £8bn on these placements by the end of the decade.
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Claire Naylor with sons six-year-old MJ and Jaxon, who is eight
While the government wrestles with provision for children, many families continue to struggle.
Amanda Quick, who has a 12-year-old son with ADHD and autism, really appreciates the support at her local Taunton café, set up specifically for parents to bring their children with special educational needs.
Amanda's son Ezra attends a specialist school, but Amanda says she had a long fight with their local authority in Somerset to get him the support he needs.
"My mental health took a hit. I couldn't cope with all the paperwork so I ended up getting a solicitor, which is about £200 an hour," she said.
Claire Naylor, who owns the café, said she felt "dismissed" in trying to get support for her six-year-old son MJ, who has non-verbal autism.
"The EHCP process became a real fight and a real battle to get those provisions put in place. We ended up having to go to court which took us over a year," she says.
"We had to spend thousands of pounds on private reports just to prove what we already knew.
"We needed him to fail to be able to prove [he needed support] which is a really really sad way of basically being heard and it affected a whole family. We lost friendships, we've lost a lot of money and a lot of time."
Budget deficits
The CCN has called for the council deficits incurred by SEND provision to be written off and for changes to the law to focus EHCPs on those "most in need".
Councillor Bill Revans, Lib Dem leader of Somerset County Council and SEND spokesman for the CCN, said spiralling demand is fuelling the crisis and better inclusion in mainstream schools should be a priority.
"The whole system needs looking at, including EHCPs," he said.
"That pressure is unsustainable and it will make the system collapse within this parliament.
"All councils that have responsibility for special educational needs and disabilities carry a deficit on their budget which isn't included on their accounts.
"We will have no way of paying that off unless there is a solution from government."
PA Media
MPs have praised the approach of Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson whose team are on a "listening exercise"
But changing EHCPs is a political battleground and campaigners have warned against watering down legal protections for families.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has refused to say whether the government would change or abolish EHCPs.
Labour chair of the Education Select Committee, Helen Hayes, has joined campaigners saying this entitlement must stay in place.
Rachel Filmer, a parent of children with special educational needs, set up Save our Children's Rights campaign in direct response to the government refusing to commit to these plans.
"Without [EHCPs] children have no legal right to any support so things could be catastrophic," she said.
Keeping EHCPs in place but diluting them into a more generalised format that offers less tailored support is also a concern amongst campaigners, and some MPs have suggested the delay to the government's reforms are due to tension over whether to change or scrap these plans.
One said the pushback to changes to EHCPs would be "serious and significant" and would endanger already low levels of trust families have.
The Conservatives have said the delay in publishing the white paper had been "seriously damaging".
Tory MP Saqib Bhatti said: "SEND provision is vital to so many children and that's why we all need the government to get its reforms right."
He added: "Speculation that the government may scrap EHCPs has caused further anxiety to families that already face a struggle to get their children the support they need."
Reform UK are expected to set out its own plans for the SEND system soon.
The party's deputy leader, Richard Tice, recently suggested some parents were "abusing" the system – limiting support for those in "genuine need".
Phillipson favours an approach of earlier intervention, something that is welcomed by campaigners and MPs.
Schools Minister Georgia Gould, who recently inherited the SEND brief, has been visiting constituencies on a "listening" tour exercise.
A Department for Education spokesperson said the government inherited a SEND system "on its knees".
"We're determined to put that right by improving mainstream inclusion so every child can thrive at their local school," they said.
"We've held over 100 listening sessions with families and will continue engaging parents as we deliver reform through the Schools White Paper."
Phillipson has had praise from MPs for being accessible and ready to hear their thoughts, and they point to this as evidence that Downing Street has learned lessons from the summer, when numerous Labour MPs rebelled against the government's proposed cuts to welfare.
Ministers favour setting up more specialist provision in mainstream schools, but MPs have warned that there cannot be a half-hearted approach to giving schools and councils what they need.
"If SEND reform is about saving dough rather than improving the system then it's not headed in the right direction," said Labour MP Neil Duncan-Jordan.
Labour MP Rachael Maskell said that if the upcoming budget does not show that the government is adequately equipping schools and councils - such as increased workforce funding for roles such as speech therapists, health visitors and physiotherapists - then she will not be supporting reforms.
And Jen Craft, a Labour MP who has a disabled daughter, says the approach of groups like the CCN may not be the right one.
"I don't think you should be coming at it from a position of these children, these families cost too much money," she said.
Writing off billions in council deficits would be challenging for a government already facing what's widely expected to be a difficult budget, with warnings about the existing pressure on public finances.
Ministers have signalled that reform of the SEND system will focus on increasing and improving inclusive mainstream provision and early intervention, but that would require extra resource for schools.
Either way it is a challenge ministers are trying to carefully navigate, conscious of the consequences if they don't get this right.
When Rebecca Middleton became pregnant, she had no idea that she would end up in a wheelchair for the final three months before she gave birth.
Rebecca had had a difficult first trimester dealing with nausea and sickness, and began to develop pelvic pain four months into her pregnancy.
"I could hardly walk, I'd always had some problems with lower back pain in my life. But nothing that significant and it escalated quite quickly," she says.
After complaining about the pain, she was referred to an NHS physio, and eventually diagnosed with an extreme case of pelvic girdle pain (PGP), also known as symphysis pubic dysfunction.
Problems with your pelvic joints are a common symptom of pregnancy, affecting one in five expectant mothers to some degree.
"I was terrified, would I ever walk again? How would I have my baby, how would I care for it?"
Rebecca Middleton
Rebecca now helps raise awareness of the issue
After giving birth, Rebecca was in less pain, but she still struggled with basic things like walking, lifting her son or pushing a pram.
"I was disabled for seven months and had to have someone helping me all the time," she says.
"I just couldn't do the things that you should be able to do in looking after a baby, it was a really challenging time."
Prior to becoming pregnant, it was an issue Rebecca was unaware of and since her experience she volunteers for The Pelvic Partnership, a charity which helps raise awareness and support women with this condition.
It says the condition is treatable with the right action.
As soon as your symptoms start, the charity advises you get hands-on individualised treatment, including manual therapy, and ask for a referral for NHS physiotherapy from your GP or midwife.
If you aren't offered this support initially, the charity suggests going back to your GP or midwife and asking for a second opinion.
They can also refer you to maternal mental health support to help you manage the emotional impacts of living with PGP.
Dr Nighat Arif, a women's health specialist, says higher awareness and early assessment could prevent patients like Rebecca needing wheelchairs or crutches.
"Without that early identification based on a really good understanding of the female body, we leave some of these women with negative effects for life," she says.
Gynaecologist Dr Christine Ekechi says the lack of research around the condition means it is less likely to be identified and suitably treated, particularly post birth.
"We don't necessarily see them unless they then come back into a gynaecology clinic presenting with pain.
"So we don't have a great understanding as to the proportion of women that have persisting pain that has started off during pregnancy."
Victoria Roberton
Victoria says her second pregnancy was much easier to manage
Victoria Roberton, co-ordinator at the Pelvic Partnership, is an example of how awareness can help.
Like Rebecca, she didn't know what PGP was when she began experiencing the condition during her first pregnancy.
She tried to stay as active as possible as advised and was referred to NHS physio sessions online and by phone, but found the pain worsening as her pregnancy progressed.
"They gave us exercises, stretches to do. By this point I couldn't do any of them. It was too painful," she says.
It got to the point where even sitting became uncomfortable for Victoria, and she was largely homebound until her baby was born.
The pain lessened after the birth of her daughter, but she began experiencing the same problem when she became pregnant with her second child.
It's not an option for many mothers, but Victoria said given her medical history she decided to pay for a private physio as the NHS wait for referral was long.
The physio gave her a full assessment and hands-on treatment including joint mobilisation, and taught her different ways to move her body to not aggravate her hip joints, which helped ease the pain.
Victoria still struggles with a degree of PGP today, four years on, but her second pregnancy was much easier to manage because she understood her condition and how to handle it.
Rebecca's second pregnancy has been similarly a much more positive experience.
This time round she knew she was at risk of PGP and was able to have it treated throughout her pregnancy before it became debilitating.
She has made a full recovery from PGP, just two months post birth compared to two years for her first child.
"I'm probably in better shape now than I was before either of my children because I now know what caused that pelvic girdle pain, and have had it fully treated and resolved with manual therapy," she says.
"It was five years of hell because of the pain I was in because of a lack of knowledge and understanding about the subject."
Sheikh Hasina is facing the death penalty over a deadly crackdown on student-led protests last year that ousted her from power
Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has denied committing crimes against humanity during a deadly crackdown on last year's uprising that ousted her, days before the special tribunal trying her is due to deliver a verdict.
Hasina is accused of being the main architect behind hundreds of killings during the mass protests against her autocratic rule - an allegation she denies.
In her first interview with the BBC since she fled the country on 5 August 2024, she said her trial in absentia was a "farce" orchestrated by a "kangaroo court" controlled by political opponents.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Hasina if she is found guilty on Monday.
Hasina claimed the trial was destined to deliver a "pre-ordained guilty verdict".
Security has been tightened in and around the tribunal in the capital Dhaka ahead of Monday's verdict.
It will mark a significant moment for the country as well as for the relatives of those killed during the student-led anti-government protests that ousted Hasina.
UN human rights investigators have said up to 1,400 people were killed when Hasina and her government used systematic, deadly violence against protesters in the failed bid to hold onto power.
The former prime minister has refused to return from India to attend the trial.
She has been accused of personally ordering security forces to fire at protesters in the weeks before she fled.
In an email interview, Hasina told the BBC she "categorically" denied such allegations.
"I'm not denying that the situation got out of control, nor that many lives were lost needlessly. But I never issued any order to fire on unarmed civilians," she said.
Hasina was formally indicted along with two others in July this year. They are former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.
Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for the former, who is in hiding. The latter pleaded guilty in July but has not been handed a sentence.
Speaking about the trial, Hasina said she hadn't been able to defend herself or appoint her own lawyers.
She added her political opponents had gone after her in an attempt to "liquidate" her Awami League party as a political force.
Lawyers representing her issued a statement on Monday saying they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.
The Awami League is already banned from standing in general elections due in February.
The BBC interview also covered other serious allegations of abuses committed during Hasina's 15-year rule, which will be heard in another case at the special tribunal. Hasina denies charges of crimes against humanity in that case too.
After Hasina was ousted from power, a number of secret jails were discovered holding prisoners who had been detained for years without any legal process. Many other critics and opponents of Hasina who had been abducted or held in these prisons are alleged to have been killed unlawfully.
Asked who was responsible for this, Hasina said she "did not have knowledge" of them.
She also denied her involvement in alleged extra-judicial killings and disappearances, which rights group say she was responsible for as the head of government during her leadership.
"This is denied in terms of my own involvement, but if there is evidence of abuse by officials, let us have it examined properly in an impartial, depoliticised process," she said.
Hasina and other senior members of her former government are also facing trial for corruption in a separate court, charges they deny.
Issued one day before the deadline set by the US president, the BBC's official apology to Donald Trump leads the way on the front page of the Guardian. Under the headline "BBC apologises to Trump over Panorama, but rejects $1bn claim" the paper quotes the BBC's public statement that "sincerely regrets" how it edited a clip of his speech in a Panorama documentary clip, but strongly disagrees there is a basis for Trump's defamation claim.
The Daily Telegraph, which originally broke the story about Panorama, has a new angle involving another big BBC show. It says that Newsnight also misleadingly edited a Trump clip from the same speech, for a programme in 2022, two years prior to Panorama. The paper says the "spliced footage" appeared to suggest that Trump was encouraging his supporters to riot. In response, a BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC holds itself to the highest editorial standards. This matter has been brought to our attention and we are now looking into it."
Meanwhile, Metro turns its attention to the long-standing debate on how politicians can deal with asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats. Its headlne "84 in... 113 out" collates the latest total in the government's recently-introduced one-in-one-out strategy. That would be encouraging news for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood but the paper argues that figure is "dwarfed" by the total of more than 8,000 people who have arrived on small boats since the deal began.
In a further effort to crack down on illegal migration methods, the i Paper reports that Mahmood will reveal tougher "Denmark-style" laws which include deporting 95% of failed asylum seekers and creating barriers to family reunions. The move aims to deter new arrivals and restrict refugees to a temporary stay in the country, the paper says.
Those new measures, expected to be announced next week, would be "the most radical asylum reforms since the second world war" says the Times. The home secretary hopes the stricter rules will help tackle the "pull factors" that have made the country Europe's destination for "asylum shoppers", the paper says.
The fallout from newly released Jeffrey Epstein emails continues to dominate the news agenda for the Daily Mirror. The paper focuses on allegations from accuser Virginia Giuffre that Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was aware of the late sex offender's conduct. "Andrew 'knew Epstein abused girls'" is the headline, featured alongside the infamous photo of Andrew and Epstein walking in New York's Central Park from 2010. Andrew has consistently denied Ms Giuffre's allegations.
Andrew's ex-wife Sarah Ferguson is also caught up in the Epstein fallout as the Daily Star reports she is planning to move to her daughter Princess Eugenie's villa in Portugal to escape the media storm. "Ferg off... and don't come back" is the paper blunt send-off.
The Daily Mail shifts its focus to revelations from an independent review of the Sara Sharif case which identified multiple failings from agencies before her murder in Surrey in 2023, after years of abuse by her parents. The paper highlights a finding that revealed neighbours of the Sharif family heard things that worried them but were hesitant to raise concerns for "fear of being seen as racist".
"Sara failed by officials 'afraid to cause offence'" echoes the Daily Express, as it says the "damning review" found that social workers did not fully question why Sara wore a hijab - which hid her injuries - because they were "too scared of being branded racist".
The Independent leads with another damning report, one conducted by cross-party MPs who warn that Afghans who served with UK forces remain vulnerable after the Ministry of Defence failed to implement safeguards following multiple data breaches. Also gracing the front page is a photo of Sir David Beckham giving a thumps up, as the paper says the former footballer is backing its campaign to launch a lifeline for missing children.
Meanwhile in Europe, a "call to arms" in Germany provides the lead for the Financial Times. Berlin has ruled that all 18-year-old German men must have medical inspections to see if they are fit enough to serve in the military as part of a recruitment drive, the paper reports.
Finally, the Sun splashes with another "Ramsay wedding feud exclusive". The paper reports that Adam Peaty's brother has been arrested over allegations he sent threats to the Olympian during his stag-do, ahead of the swimmer's wedding to social media influencer Holly Ramsay . James Peaty was questioned by police and later released on conditional bail.
现居香港的政治学家、《面对中国：战争与和平的前景》(Facing China: The Prospect for War and Peace)一书的作者高敬文(Jean-Pierre Cabestan)将本周的中日冲突描述为“战狼外交的明显回归”。他还说，日本首相对议会所说的“是事实：如果中国攻击台湾，日本不可能置身冲突之外。看看地图就知道了”。
The Rhode Island Democrat will participate in events on offshore wind, shipping and greenhouse gas emissions before delivering a keynote speech at a roundtable with elected officials from other nations.
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