Home news in brief
Grenfell fraudster who claimed £100,000 is jailed
A fraudster who claimed more than £100,000 meant for Grenfell Tower victims was jailed yesterday for six years. Sharife Elouahabi falsely claimed he was staying with relatives in a flat on the 21st floor of the high-rise, where a family of five died.
Sentencing, Judge Robin Johnson said: “In the aftermath of a tragedy you sought and received profit and attempted to obtain a permanent property advantage over others. The facts of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy are well known. The effect on those who died, their families and friends, cannot be imagined by those who were not directly affected.
“The fact that the unscrupulous sought to enrich themselves with accommodation, services and money is all the more shocking in the light of the outpouring of grief and sympathy that followed the disaster.”
Elouahabi, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to fraud on 5 November, the first day of his trial. He is the
13th person to be convicted of fraud relating to the funds for survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire. Collectively, they have taken or tried to take more than £600,000 intended for those who lost their homes in the disaster, which killed 72 people.
Scientists unveil silent aircraft with no moving parts
A new aircraft – partly inspired Star Trek – that has no moving parts and moves silently, has been unveiled by engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The plane flies using “ionic wind” – travelling on electrically charged air molecules that push it through the air. In the tests, the batterypowered unmanned aircraft, that weighs just five pounds, managed sustained flights of 60 metres (197ft) at an average height of just 0.47 metres (18 inches).
In the near future, ion wind propulsion could be employed to power quiet drones, the team predicts. Further down the line, the technology could be paired with more conventional propulsion systems to produce highly fuel efficient hybrid passenger planes.
Lead researcher Dr Steven Barrett, from MIT, said: “This is the first-ever sustained flight of a plane with no moving parts in the propulsion system. This has potentially opened new and unexplored possibilities for aircraft which are quieter, mechanically simpler, and do not emit combustion emissions.” He said that he was partly inspired by the TV sci-fi series Star Trek, which he watched avidly as a child.
The aircraft, described in the journal Nature, carries an array of thin wires strung beneath the front end of its wings. A high voltage current passed through the wires strips negatively charged electrons from surrounding air molecules. This produces a cloud of positively charged ionised air molecules that are attracted to another set of negatively charged wires at the back of the plane. As they flow towards the negative charge, the ions collide millions of times with other air molecules, creating the thrust that pushes the aircraft forward.
Facebook fights £500,000 Cambridge Analytica fine
Facebook has appealed a fine imposed by the UK data watchdog following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) handed a £500,000 fine – the maximum penalty possible – for what it said amounted to a failure to protect UK Facebook users.
It was originally reported that the personal information of 87 million Facebook users was compromised by a personality quiz app that shared data with Cambridge Analytica for the purpose of political profiling in 2016. Roughly 1.1 million of those affected were said to be based in the UK.
However a subsequent investigation by the ICO found no evidence that UK-based Facebook users were affected. A fine was still imposed on the technology giant for failing to adequately protect the data of UK users.
Facebook’s legal challenge will be reviewed by a General Regulatory Chamber tribunal. “Any organisation issued with a monetary penalty notice by the Information Commissioner has the right to appeal the decision to the First-tier Tribunal,” said a spokesman for the ICO.
Record number of young people with diabetes
The number of children and young people with diabetes is the highest it has ever been, a charity has said. Diabetes UK reported that 6,836 children and young adults have Type 2 diabetes in England and Wales,
according to data from GP surgeries. It said that the main driver behind the figures was the rise in obesity. Other factors which could also play a part include family history and ethnic background, it added.
Type 2 diabetes is much more aggressive in youngsters and complications of the disease – which can include blindness, amputations, heart disease and kidney failure – can appear earlier. Diabetes UK warned that thousands more children and young people could be diagnosed with the condition over the coming years, as the latest figures on childhood obesity show that more than a third of children in England will be overweight or obese by the time they leave primary school.
Bridget Turner, director of policy and campaigns at Diabetes UK, said: “Type 2 diabetes can be devastating for children and young people. To help shape a future where fewer children develop the condition, we need continued commitment across society to create an environment that reduces obesity.”