Life & Society

Published: 29 August 2026 .The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online. A small Norfolk town with a long history of migration and cultural integration has become the centre of an increasingly bitter dispute over plans to accommodate asylum seekers at a nearby former military base, with repeated demonstrations and several nights of violent disorder deepening tensions in the community. Thetford, a town closely associated with the popular British television...

**Published: 28 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online** Residents in Reading are being urged to prepare for possible flooding despite months of unusually dry and hot weather, with local authorities warning that drought-hardened ground could increase the risk of rapid surface-water flooding when heavy rain returns. Reading Borough Council has advised residents, particularly those who have experienced flooding in the past, to take precautions before the...

Published: 27 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online An abandoned railway route in Somerset has been named Britain’s favourite path after a community-led transformation turned the former railway line into a popular destination for walkers, cyclists and other users of the countryside. The Strawberry Line path, near Winscombe in North Somerset, won this year’s national competition organised by walking charity The Ramblers. The route was selected...

Published: 27 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Recent protests in India have triggered an unusual but revealing political debate over whether women face different standards when they use profanity in public. Footage of young female protesters swearing at Prime Minister Narendra Modi during demonstrations has reignited questions about gender, political expression and the expectations placed on women in Indian public life. The controversy gained renewed...

Published: 27 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese avant-garde artist whose polka dots, pumpkins and immersive mirror installations transformed contemporary art and made her one of the world’s most recognisable cultural figures, has died at the age of 97. Kusama died at a hospital in Tokyo on 14 August 2026, according to an announcement from Yayoi Kusama Inc and Yayoi Kusama Studio...

Published: 27 August 2026 | The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online More than 300 people have died in Nepal after a catastrophic flash flood swept through the country's Himalayan border region, while rescue teams continue searching for more than 900 missing people and experts warn that another surge of water could threaten communities downstream. The disaster struck along the Nepal-Tibet border on Wednesday after a massive collapse...

Published: 26 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online France is temporarily relaxing some of the strict production rules governing several of its most celebrated traditional cheeses after severe drought and repeated heatwaves left grazing pastures severely depleted. The decision is intended to protect farmers and cheesemakers whose livelihoods depend on cattle and sheep being raised according to tightly controlled traditional methods. The temporary changes will initially...

Published: 27 August 2026 | The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online The Australian government is working urgently to establish the whereabouts of at least 35 Australians reported missing after a catastrophic flash flood devastated parts of the Nepal-Tibet border region, as rescuers continue searching an area where roads, bridges and communications networks have been severely damaged. Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Matt Thistlethwaite said Australian officials were...

Published: 27 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Professors at Belgium's Ghent University had raised serious concerns about Nathan Cofnas's suitability for an academic research position months before he became embroiled in allegations of plagiarism against Cambridge sociology professor Jason Arday, according to documents seen by the Guardian. The academics questioned whether Cofnas had sufficient expertise for a postdoctoral role examining the future of liberalism and...

Published: 07 August 2026. The English Chronicle Desk. The English Chronicle Online Animal rights campaigners in France are stepping up efforts to end the hunting of Alpine marmots, arguing that shooting the animals for recreation is increasingly difficult to justify as their populations face growing pressure from climate change. The campaign comes ahead of the annual hunting season, which begins in September, only weeks before marmots retreat into their burrows...