Mattel release disabled doll who has scoliosis

Mattel, the creator of the Barbie doll, have created a doll with a disability.

Meet Chelsea, Barbie's little sister, she has scoliosis - curvature of the spine - she has a removable back brace.

The aim with the new Chelsea doll is to encourage children to celebrate inclusion.

Mattel worked closely with Dr. Luke Macyszyn, who is a neurosurgeon and a specialist in spinal disorders. He advised the designers throughout Chelsea's development.

Chelsea adds to the ranged of diversified dolls, including dolls with no hair, dolls with vitiligo - a visible skin disorder - dolls in wheelchairs, and dolls with prosthetics, as well as a wider range of personal choices, including dyed hair and a Ken doll with long hair.

After being criticised in the past for making dolls too thin, which can be a trigger for some people, the company have now been creating a more diverse range.

Prepaid gas meters halted amid revelations in British Gas

All energy companies order by Ofgem have been told to stop forcibly installing pre-payment meters.

On Thursday an undercover reporter revealed some customers had faced debt collectors and were filmed breaking into homes to install meters.

Pre-payment meters work on a top-up basis, if the meter is not topped up then the gas and/or electricity is cut off.

Households with vulnerable people such as, young children, pregnant women, elderly people should not have pre-payment meters installed

The footage from The Times shows debt collectors working with British Gas to forcibly install prepayment meters.

Energy companies can obtain a court warrant which does give them the legal right to enter people’s homes and switch customers to a pre-payment meter, if the customer has not been paying their bill.

The investigation by The Times revealed how customers were ‘mistreated’ and forced onto pre-payment meters, victims included disabled and mentally ill people.

Ofgem are now ordering their biggest ever review into the industry to uncover poor practice.

How will the strikes affect you?

The UK saw a huge wave of strikes throughout December and January which will now stretch into February.

Union representatives across multiple industries will start strike action all with a common pursuit of pay in line with inflation during the cost-of-living crisis.

February 1st was the TUC’s “protect the right to strike” day and five other unions striked too, UCU, NEU, ASLEF, PCS, and RMT, making this the biggest strike in over a decade.

The was protest against the Conservative’s plans to introduce strict anti-strike measures, which will set a minimum standard of service for industries such as rail, ambulances, and fire services.

TUC tweeted: “We're going to fight this government's anti-strike laws every step of the way.”

They also created a petition, find out more here.

Business Secretary, Grant Shapps said: “We must ensure the safety of the British public.”

Whilst there has been an inconvenience to many, most people I spoke to still feel that frontline employees are justified in striking, especially for better working conditions.

The UCU tweeted: “We are not going anywhere until we WIN these disputes.”

The UCU will continue to strike into March making it a total of 18 days of industrial action before Easter.