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The GuardianSource report

‘I didn’t know what to do’: collapse of providers of high-end digs leaves students in shock

Cost of living crisis and drop in international students hits market for purpose-built accommodation “It was dead in the middle of summer, it was a shock,” says Nathalie Sriwiboonrattan. The fourth-year game design student at Abertay University was at home with her family thousands of miles away in Thailand when she discovered the owner of her Scottish studio flat had abruptly gone bust. “I was like, my hands are tied. I’m not in the country. I don’t know what to do,” she says. Sriwiboonrattan was forced to act quickly to secure new housing for the academic year, which has just begun, paying £850 to have her possessions moved. Continue reading...

The GuardianSource report

‘Sadness, cynicism and deep disappointment’: the Cornell gang-rape case and the failure of #MeToo

As the university and local police defend their treatment of the alleged perpetrators, women decry a familiar story Student safety advocates in the US call the start of the fall semester at universities “the red zone”. Fraternities, sororities and off-campus bars throw parties welcoming students back to school. It’s supposed to be fun, but it can also be dangerous: more than 50% of sexual assaults that occur at colleges happen during that six- to 10-week period. It was mid-October of 2024, during the red zone and just before a deluge of Halloween celebrations, when, a former Cornell University student says, she was gang-raped by a group of fraternity brothers. Recent attention on these allegations sparked widespread outrage this week, reviving a contentious national debate about how author

The GuardianSource report

‘He feels more relatable’: Burnham’s conference speech wins praise from drifting Labour voters

The UK prime minister has earned his party a rehearing but the battle of public opinion is not yet won “He’s offering what no other politician has offered for a long, long time. He actually feels like he’s one of us,” was how Neil, a geography teacher, described Andy Burnham in our focus group on Thursday night. Neil wasn’t alone in his praise: this group of Labour 2024 voters – some of whom had drifted to Reform, the Tories and Greens during the Starmer era – provided the most positive reception for a politician since Boris Johnson at the height of his Covid-vaccine bounce. Continue reading...

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