Researchers issue ‘early warning' over antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Researchers have issued an "early warning" that this could reach the UK, highlighting how quickly antimicrobial resistance can spread globally.
The study, involving over 1,300 children, found that 76 per cent carried bacteria with ESBL genes, and 25 per cent carried carbapenemase genes, with many acquiring resistance during their hospital stay.
This situation provides stark evidence that humanitarian crises amplify the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance, putting vulnerable children at risk of untreatable infections.
Experts are calling for urgent global investment in antimicrobial stewardship, surveillance, and improved hygiene infrastructure, while the UK government recognises AMR as a major threat and is committed to tackling its spread.
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The Sun
3 hours ago
- The Sun
Prince Harry criticised over row that risks damaging his charity's reputation
PRINCE Harry was blasted last night for letting a boardroom battle damage his charity Sentebale. A watchdog said the public row risked undermining trust in good causes generally. 2 The Charity Commission said chances were missed to settle differences at Sentebale, set up by Harry and Lesotho's Prince Seeiso in 2006 for young people and kids living with HIV and Aids. It launched a probe when they stood down as patrons in support of trustees who quit in a dispute with Dr Sophie Chandauka over a fundraising strategy. Board of trustees chair Dr Chandauka said the 'toxicity' of Harry's brand since his move to live in the US had seen a drop in donors. She accused the Duke of Sussex, 40, of involvement in a 'cover-up' of a probe into bullying and harassment. Last night, she said the 'adverse media campaign' launched by those who resigned 'caused incalculable damage' to the charity. The Times reported a source close to Harry blasted the report and said the prince was 'devastated the chair had been allowed to succeed with a hostile takeover'. His spokesman said those who rely on Sentebale would bear the 'consequences of her actions'. The Charity Commission said the public airing of the row harmed Sentebale's reputation and risked overshadowing its achievements. The regulator, which cannot investigate individual allegations of bullying, found no evidence of systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir at the charity but acknowledged 'the strong perception of ill treatment' felt by some involved. David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: 'Passion for a cause is the bedrock of volunteering and charity, delivering positive impact for millions of people here at home and abroad every day. Harry QUITTING his own charity is utterly humiliating - misogyny row will hurt him deeply 'However, in the rare cases when things go wrong, it is often because that very passion has become a weakness rather than a strength. 'Sentebale's problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity's reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity's ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve.' 2
The Independent
3 hours ago
- The Independent
Prince Harry and others criticised by charity watchdog for letting ‘damaging' Sentebale dispute play out in public
A watchdog has cleared Prince Harry of 'over-reach' at the charity he co-founded – but says a string of failures amounted to mismanagement in its administration. Regulator the Charity Commission, which investigated Sentebale for four months, has condemned 'all parties to the dispute for allowing it to play out publicly'. The commission also says the then trustees' failure to resolve disputes internally severely affected the charity's reputation and risked undermining public trust in charities more generally. Pointing to 'a lack of clarity around role descriptions and internal policies' as the key cause for weaknesses in the management, the watchdog says the confusion inflamed tensions, which culminated in a row and mass resignations of trustees and both founding patrons, the commission found. In March, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, the co-founder, quit as patrons, saying the move was in support of the trustees – who also resigned – in a dispute with chairwoman Sophie Chandauka. 'It is devastating that the relationship between the charity's trustees and the chair of the board broke down beyond repair, creating an untenable situation,' the princes said at the time. Dr Chandauka said she had reported Sentebale's trustees to the Charity Commission and had taken legal steps to prevent her removal. She also made claims of misconduct. Prince Seeiso and Prince Harry founded the organisation in 2006 in honour of Harry's mother, Diana, to help young people and children in southern Africa, particularly those with HIV and Aids. The watchdog said the row began after 2023, when Sentebale's then trustees tried to implement a new fundraising strategy in the United States. A serious dispute then emerged between Dr Chandauka, some trustees and the Duke of Sussex. Members of the regulator said that after conducting interviews and reviewing evidence, they found the delegation of certain powers to the chair, including consideration of an executive chair role, was a 'confusing, convoluted and poorly governed' process, with a lack of clearly defined delegations. The watchdog said the then trustees failed to have proper processes and policies to investigate internal complaints. 'More generally, a lack of clear policies contributed to the failure to resolve disputes,' they concluded. And the commission said public statements made to the media and criticism made in television interviews, did not serve the charity's best interests. It found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or racism, but acknowledged 'the strong perception of ill treatment felt by a number of parties to the dispute and the impact this may have had on them personally'. Nor was there evidence of 'over-reach' by either the chair or the Duke of Sussex, it said. But the regulator concluded: 'The failure to clarify delegations within the charity to the chair, and the failure to have proper processes for internal complaints, both amount to mismanagement in the administration of the charity.' The commission has issued Sentebale with a regulatory action plan, saying the charity should have a clearly defined patron role set out in writing. The plan also includes improving complaints and whistleblowing procedures. The watchdog said all the charity's then trustees contributed to a missed opportunity to resolve issues that led to the dispute. Financial difficulties following the Covid-19 pandemic contributed to tensions, it added. David Holdsworth, chief executive of the Charity Commission, said: 'Sentebale's problems played out in the public eye, enabling a damaging dispute to harm the charity's reputation, risk overshadowing its many achievements, and jeopardising the charity's ability to deliver for the very beneficiaries it was created to serve.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Gorillas seek out old female friends when they move
The relationships built up between female mountain gorillas are more important than previously understood, new research from Rwanda shows that when one of these social great apes moves into a new group, she will seek out and join another female she already based the research on 20 years of data covering multiple groups of gorillas in Volcanoes National Park, in scientists found that even when two females had been apart for many years, a newly arrived gorilla would still try to join a female she had formed a previous connection with. The findings, published in the Royal Society Journal Proceedings B, show how important the relationship between two individual females is in gorilla society."Scientifically, I don't know if I can talk about 'friendship'," explained lead researcher Victoire Martignac, a PhD researcher form the University of Zurich. "But we're showing here that these same sex relationships really matter."Moving into different groups is key in shaping the animals' social structure. It's something that both males and females do - females will sometimes move several times throughout their lives. This dispersal, as it's known, plays a role in avoiding inbreeding, spreading gene diversity and shaping social relationships. "In the wild is is a very important," explained Ms Martignac. "But it's extremely hard to study, because once individuals leave a group, it's hard to keep track of them." Working in partnership with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, at a field site that has been monitored since 1967, Ms Martignac and her colleagues were able to track those movements. Pouring through decades of information on the animals' lives, the scientists followed the "disperals" of 56 female mountain gorillas - examining which new group they chose to join and why. The gorillas avoided groups that had males they were likely to be related to, but the presence of females they knew also "mattered a lot", Ms Martignac explained. The females gravitated towards their "friends", even if the animals had been apart for many years. They would often gravitate to a group with females they had grown up with, even if that was many years ago. They also sought out individuals with whom they had made a social connection - perhaps played and interacted with - recently. Ms Martignac explained that the gorillas would invest in these relationships because they deliver key social benefits. "New arrivals usually start at the bottom of the social hierarchy," she said. "Resident females can be pretty aggressive towards them, because they're potentially a competitor."Moving around is something that is also crucial in shaping human society. And the researchers say that studying its roots in other great apes can shed light on the evolutionary driving forces behind it. "Movement is a huge part of the way we live," said Ms Martignac. "But those decisions do not fossilise. "So we look at them in our closest evolutionary cousins."This new insight into gorillas' social lives, she added, "reframes how we think of female-female social relationships". "They're much more important to these animals than we used to think."
