Self-driving cars are very much a reality and no longer a vision from science fiction. In the UK, automated vehicles (AVs) such as self-driving shuttles are already being tested on public roads.

Self-driving taxi services are expected to launch in 2026, and the Automated Vehicles Act is scheduled for implementation in 2027. This act establishes the legal groundwork for driverless cars to operate on Britain’s roads.

As these vehicles move from research labs to our streets, one question becomes critical: how will they communicate safely with the people around them? Researchers and designers have proposed installing equipment on the vehicles called external human–machine interfaces. These are designed to help driverless vehicles signal their behaviour to pedestrians and other road users (cyclists, wheelchair users and human drivers).

The driverless vehicles would employ pulsing lights around the vehicle, text displays showing the car’s intentions, and auditory cues that announce forthcoming actions, such as “I’m stopping” or a truck-like reversing sound.

However, much of this research still overlooks people with disabilities, including pedestrians with hearing loss. When accessibility isn’t built in from the start, the resulting designs often fail. So how can this be improved?

There are many examples of where current driverless vehicles fall short. Text-only displays may appear universal, but they can be less accessible for people whose primary language is sign language. They are also inacessible to blind people. Auditory cues, such as hums or droning sounds, could help the blind, but are difficult or impossible to detect for many people with hearing loss – even those with hearing aids.

Speech-based cues, meant to help people with low vision, can unintentionally introduce new risks. Hearing loss can distort speech, so a message like “I’m stopped” may be heard only as “stop” – completely altering its meaning.

One size fits all

Driverless vehicles are not inherently unsafe for deaf and hard of hearing people – the challenge lies in a design process that assumes a universal, one-size-fits-all approach. Historically, communication interfaces in regular vehicles have been built with an assumed “typical” hearing pedestrian in mind.

When accessibility becomes an afterthought, communication becomes unreliable, and the systems meant to increase safety may end up excluding the people who need them most. Technology alone cannot solve this problem.

Only thoughtful, inclusive design can. Our research shows that combining visual (pulsing lights and a text display) and audio (speech) cues can significantly increase trust and support safer decisions for pedestrians in general. But much more development is needed to ensure these communication interfaces are equitable for all people with special needs.

This gap between technological promise and lived experience reflects a broader pattern. Even though the Automated Vehicles Act aims to improve accessibility, most research in this area in this area still neglects people with special needs, including those with hearing loss.

If we want driverless vehicles to create more accessible streets – and not merely introduce new barriers – then people with special needs must be included in research, design and policy from the beginning.

Drawing on a series of user studies, we offer several practical recommendations to guide industry, researchers and policymakers toward a safer, more inclusive driverless car ecosystem.

Manufacturers should include diverse populations in the design and evaluation of their vehicles. We found that pedestrians with hearing loss may experience external human–machine interfaces differently from hearing people. Designers cannot fully anticipate the potential risks unless they inclusively involve user testing groups.

People need to understand not just that a vehicle exists, but what it intends to do. Displaying the vehicle’s “state”, such as “stopped”, and transitions, such as “slowing down”, helps pedestrians accurately judge the situation and feel more assured.

Combining audio and visual cues increases trust, acceptance and perceived safety. No single mode of communication is effective for everyone, but together, they offer back-ups and clarity.

Relying on just one type of visual cue is risky – lights, text or icons can fail in certain conditions. Providing combined visual information helps ensure that if one fails, another still supports pedestrian understanding.

Urban soundscapes can interfere with with audio cues, especially for pedestrians with hearing loss. Studying external human–machine interfaces in realistic environments is essential for ensuring they work when it matters.

Vehicle manufacturers must work with hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturers to help ensure that audio cues are distinguishable, rather than confusing.

In many cases, barriers to inclusion arise not from technology itself, but from a lack of awareness or consultation. When people with special needs are excluded from design decisions, systems are built on assumptions rather than lived experience.

When they are actively involved, however, we are a step towards an inclusive and equitable future. Driverless vehicles have the potential to make our roads safer for everyone. But that future depends on purposeful, inclusive design choices today.

If developers, policymakers and researchers commit to engaging with deaf and hard of hearing people, along with others, we can help create streets that are safer, more accessible and more equitable for all.

You could be left out of pocket if you do not act

The taxman has issued a stark warning that as many as one million Britons could be missing out on unclaimed tax refunds worth an average of £453 each.

It has also emerged that hundreds of thousands risk losing out simply because they have failed to check their accounts. In a brief post on X this week, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) revealed that approximately one million taxpayers have yet to claim money they are owed from overpaid tax – often because they never checked whether they were entitled to a refund.

The government body warned that ordinary workers and pensioners could be left thousands of pounds out of pocket if they fail to act promptly. According to the official alert, the typical sum owed to these taxpayers stands at around £453 per person, with many overpayments resulting from straightforward errors such as being placed on the wrong tax code, changing jobs, or retiring without updating HMRC’s records.

HMRC has stressed that this money will not be paid out automatically – claimants must check their personal tax account on GOV.UK or via the HMRC app and submit a claim themselves.

Officials have also cautioned that fraudsters are exploiting the situation by sending bogus texts, emails or making calls falsely claiming that taxpayers are owed refunds, in an attempt to steal personal and banking details. More than 135,000 HMRC-related scam reports have been logged recently, including around 29,000 involving fake tax refund claims, and the number of fraudulent approaches continues to climb.

Lucy Pike, HMRC’s Chief Security Officer, said: “Millions of people file a tax return each year and scammers mimic HMRC to try and catch unsuspecting victims out. I’m urging people to stay vigilant and if any emails, text messages or phone calls appear suspicious – don’t be lured into clicking on links or sharing your personal information – report it directly to HMRC.”

Experts say thousands are missing out on money simply by ignoring letters or failing to set up online tax accounts – and with scammers operating, the risk of handing over cash to fraudsters is significant. Genuine tax refunds will be communicated through HMRC’s secure system or by post – the department will never request bank or personal details via an unsolicited email or text.

Advisers are urging taxpayers to log into their accounts today – before it’s too late and the unclaimed refunds are lost.

Holidaymakers travelling overseas this Easter are being urged to do one thing before jetting off

Brits planning holidays this spring are being urged to check their passports immediately to avoid potential travel disruption. The warning comes as millions of families across the country prepare for travel during the busy Easter period.

The alert was issued by HM Passport Office in a social media post on Tuesday. Officials stated: “Planning spring or Easter travel? Check your passport now.”

They also directed travellers to the official government website to begin the process if they require a new passport, adding: “If you need to renew, go to: “https://www.gov.uk/apply-renew-passport.”

The UK Government advises holidaymakers to regularly ensure their passport is valid before making international travel plans. Officials warn against making any bookings until a valid passport is physically in hand.

This is due to the fact that a new passport will not have the same number as the old one, which could cause problems if travel arrangements are made prior to receiving the document.

Those still holding a burgundy passport with “European Union” on the cover can continue to use it until its expiry date. The design change following Brexit does not affect the validity of the passport.

Travellers can apply for, renew, replace or update their passport online via the official government service. Applying online is also £12.50 cheaper than applying by post.

According to the HM Passport Office, applicants will need a debit or credit card to complete the process online. It’s also recommended for travellers to check the current processing times before submitting their application.

For those urgently needing a passport, expedited services are available. These include the Online Premium service and the one-week Fast Track option.

Holiday hopefuls needing help with an online application can visit a Post Office branch. Staff there can take a digital photo and assist in filling out the application via the digital Check and Send service, although this does come with an extra fee.

Paper passport application forms can also be picked up from Post Office branches. However, the government notes that applying by post usually takes longer than applying online.

Officials advise that checking your passport now could save travellers stress closer to departure. With the Easter break approaching, making sure documents are valid could avoid last-minute travel headaches.

Amid the sound of bombs and distant gunfire, we heard church bells ripple through Beirut’s suburbs. Then we saw a large group of people congregate, all dressed in black. 

They had to come to a Maronite place of worship, Sacred Heart church, to commemorate the death of man called Sami Ghafari.

The 66-year-old had been killed in a drone strike in a village in south Lebanon.

Iran war latest: US strikes 16 ‘mine-laying boats’

The congregation was also commemorating the death of the village itself.

The community, Alma al Shaab, is home to some 200 Christian families who have all been forced to flee their homes.

The last group of evacuees, numbering 83, had been guided out of the area by UN peacekeepers that morning – the majority proceeding straight to the church.

We spoke to resident Elias Konsol as he got out his car. He said the past nine days had been “terrifying”.

“Every day that we sleep, we don’t know in the morning if we will be alive,” he said.

“Was there a moment,” I asked, “when you thought, ‘right, we need to leave?’”

“Yesterday, at midnight,” he replied. “We thought that they were coming inside.”

“Who, the Israelis?”

“Yes, [the Israelis] are coming to Alma,” said Elias. “What will we do?”

A cloud of sorrow hung over the church and we watched members of the congregation struggle to control their emotions. Many seemed completely exhausted.

On 1 March, the residents of Alma al Shaab rang the bells of the village church when they learnt the Israeli military had issued an evacuation order requiring them to leave.

But many refused to leave their homes.

When the Israelis started to bombard the village, residents brought their blankets and bedding and packed themselves into the hall beneath the church.

One villager, Joe Sayyah, told us they had tried to adapt.

“Every day at five or six, we went under the church to the hall. This is the time when the shelling and strikes would happen all around the village, even during the day,” he said.

“We could only check on our homes and come back. We couldn’t do anything else.”

Advertisement

Share

Iran war briefing: Day 11 with Sean Bell

‘We are not 83 martyrs to be’

It seems the death of Sami Ghafari was the final straw. He was killed, say residents, by an Israeli missile as he was watering vegetables in his garden

The mayor of Alma al Shaab is called Shady Saayah and he looked distraught. He has lost a friend, as well as his village.

“What is going through your mind?” I asked.

“Loss, the loss of our land, the loss of our dignity, Lebanon starts from Alma [al Shaab].”

Read more:
Why it took so long to deploy UK warship
What is crossing Strait of Hormuz?

The mayor said the remaining villagers had decided to flee when the local commander of the UN peacekeeping detachment (UNIFIL) said they could not protect them.

“He said you have the right to stay, but if you do we are not responsible. It is very dangerous. We asked the priest to contact the Vatican, [and they said] it is up to you, so everyone left us.

“So we decided we are not 83 martyrs to be.”

He then took off his jacket and showed me a tattoo of a cross and the patron saint of Lebanon on his left forearm.

“We believe in saints, not weapons,” he said. “All we want is peace.”

This gathering at the Sacred Heart church is one story of many – from little more than one week of war. But this conflict has created a humanitarian disaster that has turned a nation upside down.

Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur is an innovative feminist story set in Iran. The story follows five women and the circumstances that make them leave their lives to start anew in a garden on the outskirts of Tehran.

Written in the late 1970s, it was immediately banned on publication. Shortly after, Parsipur was arrested and jailed for her frank and defiant portrayal of women’s sexuality. This groundbreaking book is now available for the first time in English, translated by Faridoun Farrokh.

Set against the backdrop of the 1953 CIA-backed coup in Iran, the story deliberately shifts the lens of history away from the big politics to focus on its impact on intimate, gendered spaces. In doing so, Parsipur frames national upheaval as something lived and inscribed upon women’s bodies and interior lives.

The novel insists that authoritarianism doesn’t begin in the halls of power; it begins in the household within layered patriarchal systems that confine women’s autonomy. Parsipur’s blending of realism and magical elements unsettles conventional narrative authority and mirrors the instability of a society in crisis. The personal and the political are inseparable: women’s silences, desires and acts of refusal become subtle yet radical forms of resistance.

What makes this novel enduring is its refusal to separate the personal from the political. The magical elements are not decorative; they expose emotion that realism alone cannot capture. The garden the women flee to is not an escape from reality, but a feminist space where reality is reimagined.

The novel has sadly taken on an urgency and relevance in the face of the the US and Israel’s war on Iran. It reminds readers that foreign intervention often intensifies internal authoritarianism. By revisiting the legacy of the 1953 coup, the book encourages readers to see today’s crisis not as an isolated eruption. Instead, it is part of a deeper historical continuum, shaped by external intervention and power structures within Iranian society.

Through intimate storytelling, Parsipur invites readers to confront the cultural assumptions that have shaped women’s lives for generations. To read Women Without Men is to enter a layered narrative that is at once poetic, historical and contemporary. It bears to witness how deeply gender norms are embedded in everyday life, and how quietly, yet powerfully, women resist them.

Sexuality

In Women Without Men, virginity is an ideological construct by which a woman’s worth is regulated. Through the characters of Faezeh and Munis, we see how chastity functions as a mechanism of control long before any formal punishment is imposed.

Faezeh embodies internalised patriarchy, believing a woman’s honour depends entirely on social perception and reputation to survive. When she and Munis are sexually assaulted, the violence is overshadowed by shame.

The metaphor “watering the earth”, used by a man to describe sexual penetration, is chilling because it recasts violation as something natural and productive. It depicts a woman as if she were soil to be cultivated, rather than a person with agency.

By framing assault in agricultural terms, patriarchal language erases harm and presents male entitlement as biological inevitability, while placing the burden of “dishonour” on the woman’s body. This symbolic logic mirrors the broader Iranian legal and social framework in which virginity carries material and moral weight, reinforcing the idea that women’s bodies are sites of regulation rather than autonomy.

The Iranian Civil Code of 1931 codified male guardianship and authority in marriage and family matters. In this context, virginity becomes not only a cultural expectation but part of a larger system in which women’s bodies are governed by both family and state.

Zarrinkolah’s narrative offers one of the most unsettling critiques of patriarchal objectification in Women Without Men. Zarrinkolah is a prostitute who begins to see all of her clients as headless men. It is an attempt to “cure” this condition through an act of purification that leads her to abandon prostitution.

Zarrinkolah’s journey isn’t a simple redemption, but a reconfiguration of subjectivity. By shifting from being seen as nothing more than a body to recognising herself as a person with her own thoughts, emotions and agency, she disrupts the cultural logic that renders women’s bodies interchangeable and morally policed. Her withdrawal from prostitution is not a return to purity, but a refusal of the system that defined her solely through male consumption.

The stillness of marriage

Farrokhlaqa’s story reveals the psychological and social confinement of marriage. Her marriage was a “32-year-old habit of not moving”. Patriarchal expectations have infected her, and she has become self-policing. She does not need to be actively restrained; she restrains herself. However, she no longer experiences her lack of freedom as oppression but as natural and inevitable.

Her response to widowhood is not retreat but a shift from passivity to agency. She purchases the garden, transforming inherited wealth into spatial autonomy, creating space for “women without men”. Her liberation is, therefore, negotiated by unlearning the stillness marriage imposed. Through her, Parsipur suggests that domestic patriarchy is sustained not only by law but by cultural perceptions that normalise women’s obedience to husbands.

The garden functions as a feminist counter-public sphere outside patriarchal governance. Within its walls, women work, speak and rest without male supervision. Iranian women’s groups have created similar spaces of solidarity, which were fragile yet transformative. They demonstrated that collective awareness could exist even within repressive conditions before and after the Islamic Revolution.

Parsipur does not allow the garden to become utopia, however. The women do not remain there, most return to Tehran and reenter life. Liberation cannot survive in isolation from society, Parsipur tells us. This narrative choice mirrors Iranian women’s rights history: reforms have emerged through resistance, reversal, and renewed struggle – not through escape.

Women Without Men is not simply a novel about five women seeking refuge in a garden. It is about freedom, embodiment and the struggle for equal dignity. Shahrnush Parsipur gives us women who question, transform, challenge and resist.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something from bookshop.org The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

The court filings claim that, on one occasion, Indyke took two cheques to a New York bank to withdraw cash – $7,500 from one of Epstein’s personal accounts and $4,000 from Indyke’s business account. He cashed one of the cheques and, the papers claim, said he would return the following day to cash the second in order to “avoid all the paperwork”.

The best hand blenders (sometimes called immersion blenders or stick blenders) don’t just help you make delicious soups and smoothies: many have attachments that can whisk, chop, grate and mash your way to lump-free sauces, smooth baby food, creamy mash and crunchy slaws.

Blitzing multiple ingredients is a great way to up your healthy eating game and reach the 30 plants a week target. Fussy kids need never know you’ve hidden extra veggies in their pasta sauce if a hand blender can whizz them into a smooth, soft texture. More compact than a full-sized blender, a hand blender should be easier to store in your kitchen drawers or cabinets.

Hand blenders can be as basic or as sophisticated as you need, whether you’re a keen home cook or just want to whizz up a few smoothies. I tested hand blenders from under £50 to over £200 by leading brands including Morphy Richards, Bosch, Kenwood, Braun and more. You can read my full reviews below, followed by answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. But if you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at the top five:

The best hand blenders: At a glance

How to choose a hand blender

Chef Ben Palmer, 2024 winner of the BBC’s Great British Menu, regularly uses a hand blender in his kitchen. “I choose it over similar gadgets because it doesn’t take up much space, plus it’s quick and easy,” he says. Here are a few of the most important factors to consider, according to Palmer.

Basic features
Palmer says you should look for a wide range of controllable speeds, from slow to fast. “For anything that needs aerating, such as batter or a roux, I use a high speed at a tilted angle. But if you’re making mayonnaise, it’s not always good to go fast: a moderate speed is better. Anything with lumps, such as soups, should be started at a slower speed and speeded up towards the end.”

Size
Options range from simple compact hand blenders with the blending leg only, to multifunctional hand blenders that transform into choppers for chopping veg, crushing nuts and making dips, to food processors for slicing, dicing and grating and hand mixers for beating and whisking. Which is best for you partially depends on your budget but also how ambitious you want to be in the kitchen.

Power
Essentially, the higher the power, the more easily it can blend hard or tough ingredients. The hand blenders in this test ranged from 200W to 1200 W. Rechargeable cordless hand blenders are available and we tested a few, but mains-powered models are still the most common.

How we test hand blenders

References to Britain’s most notorious paedophile were discovered in FBI case files apparently recording an interview with a witness in 2021.

Jimmy Savile has been linked to Ghislaine Maxwell and other close Jeffrey Epstein associates in disclosures unearthed in the Epstein files.

References to Britain’s most notorious paedophile were discovered in FBI case files apparently recording an interview with a witness in 2021, reports the Mirror. The interview subject claimed that Savile had a partnership with a false nails brand – which she described as a “cult.”

The file reads: “People brought “sex slaves” to the trade shows and parties. They called themselves that. Everybody talked about sex slaves and laughed.”

She told agents they had attended a cosmetics industry trade show in New Orleans – thought to have taken place in 1998 – at which Savile was the “entertainment”. The event was “full of adults and men in attendance including Jimmy Savile,” one file reads. “[redacted name] described Savile as a sexual deviant”.

The file continues: “[Redacted name] went to a lot of trade shows and did a lot of international travel. [Redacted name] heard a conversation in Switzerland that children flew to the United States. The people she heard this conversation from were the same people that were having parties with Savile.” She said she couldn’t remember their names, and never saw “anything gross.”

The unnamed source claimed Maxwell was at the conference, and claimed pictures she supplied to investigators showed her wearing a red leather jacket.

She wrote in an email: “GM in red leather coat. I thought they were spying on us, I kept seeing them around.” She added: “I’m guessing they were all there. I think that was New Orleans the Jimmy Saville [sic] event. That trade show was during Marci Gras.”

In the interview, the witness described the event as “pretty disgusting”, explaining that it was “a room full of perverted men.” Hedge fund manager Glenn Dubin and investor Leon Black, both of whom had close ties to Epstein were also at the event, she claimed.

The same witness claimed Epstein had been her substitute teacher at Brooklyn’s George Washington High School in the 1970s.

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE.

Cleo Gray was delivered by her dad, Matt, with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck

A dad has delivered his baby after a “panicked” midwife fled the hospital room during a high-risk labour.

Cleo Gray was born on February 21, at the John Radcliffe Hospital Women’s Centre in Oxford. She was delivered by her dad Matt after a “panicked” midwife left the room. The umbilical cord wrapped around Cleo’s neck.

Matt, a former ambulance technician, was able to unwrap the umbilical cord from baby Cleo’s neck, the Sun reported.

Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source.

Matt’s wife Jo was cradling their little one when staff returned to the room. Jo was seething and told the Banbury Guardian: “It is terrifying. It could have gone so wrong.”

Cleo is the couple’s fourth child and the labour was expected to progress quickly. The birth was deemed high-risk, as Jo has several medical conditions.

The Oxford University Hospitals Trust (OUH), which runs the hospital, apologised to the family.

Jo went to the John Radcliffe Hospital Women’s Centre after going into labour two weeks early. She said she had a “lovely” midwife initially, but a replacement came to attend to the birth after the initial midwife was needed elsewhere.

“It went downhill from there; it was really bad,” Jo said.

She said the new midwife seemed less experienced and was not communicative or reassuring.

Jo said went into delivery shortly after. She added that the midwife kept moving her and that the baby’s heart rate kept changing but it was after every contraction, which is considered normal.

“But she started panicking, which in turn, made me panic,” Jo added.

Jo said the midwife told her that the baby’s heart rate was dropping and it was getting dangerous. Jo added that she was going into a panic attack because she had a traumatic birth prior and nearly lost her son.

“Before we knew it, she’d left the room. We were left on our own.”

Matt ran out to fetch the midwife, who returned, but who left again shortly after.

They claim she was gone for 10 to 15 minutes.

“After she ran out a second time, I realised we were going to have to deliver the baby ourselves. I put some gloves on and minutes later, baby’s was born,” Matt said.

“Once she was out, I saw the cord was actually around her neck. I managed to unwrap it but wasn’t able to get rid of the mucus.”

“I cleaned her and dried her and gave her to Jo. They came in about two minutes afterwards and told me it was good that I’d put on gloves!” Matt said.

The couple said they could not reach the call button behind Jo’s bed to get help.

Jo said the staff did not apologise at the time, telling the couple the incident “was very unfortunate but everything was OK.”

A formal complaint with OUH and the Care Quality Commission.

A spokesman for OUH said the issues are being taken seriously and a full investigation into what occurred will be carried out.

“We are unable to provide further detail while that investigation is underway but are committed to openness and transparency when sharing our full findings with Jordan and Matthew once the process has been completed.”

The OUH maternity unit is one of the 12 being investigated in the National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation.

An interim report found deep-rooted issues in NHS maternity care.

In a statement, the force said: “The decision to ban it this year is purely based on a risk assessment of this specific protest and counter-protests – we do not police taste or decency or prefer one political view over another, but we will do everything we can to reduce violence and disorder.”