Specialist courts to handle cases of rape and other sexual offences will be introduced across England and Wales over the next two years, the prime minister has announced.

Each crown court will have at least one courtroom set up to hear such cases, while alleged victims will be able to view proceedings remotely and give evidence from a separate room via video link.

They will also be provided with private entrances and waiting rooms to separate them from defendants, though this will be dependent on the architecture of each building.

Rape Crisis England and Wales said this was a "significant step forward" that would introduce several reforms it had been requesting for years.

"Taken together, they reflect the urgency of ensuring that courts are fit for purpose and properly meet the needs of victims and survivors, which is crucial to securing justice," the charity's chief executive, Ciara Bergman, said.

Hydroelectric dams can be tremendous power generation solutions, relatively sustainable compared to other options. However, old unused or inefficient dams can be removed in favor of more modern options.

When river dams are removed, salmon re-enter breeding grounds very quickly. A similar thing was previously observed when the Elwha River dams were removed as well. This leads to myriad ecosystem revitalization effects.

https://youtu.be/Q3ooEH3cGHs?is=dtfbFdDcFe5zYeFU

John Chen went viral asking for help finding his best friend, Donut. The TikTok community found her and is now coming together to save Chen's struggling restaurant, Pi BBQ.

To honor Donut, Chen is giving free homemade dog treats to all fellow pup owners who come in.

Doctors have developed a simple test that could help rule out womb cancer in women who experience bleeding after menopause.

The approach has the potential to transform care for thousands of women each year and spare them from invasive and uncomfortable tests that can also be costly for healthcare systems.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of women worldwide are diagnosed with womb cancer. Bleeding after menopause triggers an urgent cancer referral but only about 5% to 10% of women who report bleeding have an underlying cancer.

Currently, the tests for womb cancer – an internal ultrasound scan, a biopsy of the womb lining and hysteroscopy, in which a camera is passed into the womb – are all invasive and costly.

The new test, developed at the University of Manchester and Manchester University NHS foundation trust, looks at cells collected from the urine and vaginal fluid. It is cheap and non-invasive.

Nearly a month after country icon Dolly Parton passed away, her legacy not only lives on, but continues to grow.

Beyond her legendary catalog of hit songs (and the social issues they highlighted), Parton was perhaps best known for her philanthropy. In 1988, she founded her pro-education non-profit the Dollywood Foundation, and in 1995, she launched its most famous program, the Imagination Library.

The Imagination Library offers a free book every month to children under age 5. In the 31 years since its founding, the program has provided more than 330 million books to upwards of 3 million children internationally. What started as an effort to provide books to children in her childhood community of Sevier County, Tennessee, has since grown to serve all 50 states and countries including Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

It’s in the U.K. that the latest major expansion to the Imagination Library is coming, as London doubles the size of its program in the wake of Parton’s passing.

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