Pace is critical in the fight to stop climate change. Anyone wanting to nudge the transition from fossil fuels along and install a domestic low-carbon energy source like solar would traditionally need access to their roof (and permission). But a quicker and more convenient alternative has arrived: plug-in solar panels.

Known as Balkonkraftwerk (balcony power plants) in Germany, where 1.5 million households have installed them, plug-in panels can be hung over balconies and plugged directly into a standard household socket to allow millions of flats and high-rise apartments to decarbonise some of their energy use without significant renovations. How much of a difference could these panels make in the UK? Engineering expert Dylan Ryan has the answer.

Mohamed Omar was one of only two survivors of Britain’s deadliest small boat disaster on November 24 2021, in which more than 30 fellow passengers died. His testimony to the Cranston Inquiry earlier this year forms part of our latest Insights long read, for which author Travis Van Isacker has pieced together the shocking events of that night – including the chaotic rescue efforts by understaffed and overstretched maritime officials on both sides of the Channel.

And from today, social media platforms and content creators have new obligations to protect children using the internet in the UK. Age checks will form a big part of how these measures are enforced, which will have consequences for adults too.

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