Girls miss more school or college days due to periods than any other reason – including colds, mental health or truancy, according to a new report. Periods cause girls to be absent from school or college for three days a term on average, compared with colds and flu (2.6 days), mental health (1.9 days) and truancy (1.2 days), the data released by washroom provider phs Group has revealed. This equates to 54 lost education days over the course of their teen years, the equivalent of 11 academic weeks. The findings form part of phs Group’s Period Equality: Breaking the Cycle report, now in its third year, for which Censuswide polled 1,262 girls aged 13-18 years across the UK. The majority (82%) cited cramps as the main reason for this, while almost one in five (19%) said they stay away from lessons because they’re embarrassed about being on their period, and one in 12 (8%) said it’s because no period products were available to them. This is despite the introduction of period equality measures in recent years, designed to improve access to free period products in education settings. “It’s important to recognise that huge advances have been made in giving girls access to free period products in schools across the UK. What we must do now is close the gap between providing schools with all the products they need and getting them into the hands of any girls that need them, for whatever reason,” said Kelly Greenaway, period equality lead at phs Group. “We know from our own data providing schools with products, that they have more than enough for their girls, so we need to tackle the misconceptions around free access to products in washrooms, and the stigma and shame that goes hand-in-hand with failing to have open conversations about menstruation.” Since the launch of the Government’s Period Product Scheme in January 2020, which provides free period products to education settings in England, via phs Group, 99% of secondary schools and 94% of post-16 organisations have ordered products through the scheme. However, the report published today highlights how periods remain a barrier to education for many girls – with the number of girls missing school due to their periods almost the same for the 2023 findings (54%) as the findings in 2019 (52%), before free sanitary product schemes were introduced. Despite the roll-out of such schemes, over half (52%) of the students surveyed said they did not find period products freely available in their school and college settings, while one in seven (14%) said they did not know if they were available. To help tackle the issue and raise awareness, phs Group is launching a new period equality podcast – called The Blobcast: Free The Period – hosted by menstrual wellbeing and confidence educator Kasey Robinson. Robinson said: “I know too well about the barriers facing so many of us when it comes to our menstrual health. It’s simply not enough to blame absenteeism figures on access to products alone. “On the ground, the story is clear: we aren’t being educated, supported and informed enough about periods. Menstruation is still a taboo subject, and our experience is a secret to keep to ourselves and something we feel forced to hide. In education settings, this is leading to more and more girls staying away from school. “Without workshops, learning resources and the support for and from teachers and caregivers, this issue will stay the same, or get worse,” Robinson added. “It should not be a revolutionary act to teach people about periods, it’s a right. We need to break the cycle of shame and encourage open and honest conversations about periods – exactly what The Blobcast is seeking to do.” The Blobcast: Free The Period launches on all free streaming platforms on October 18. More information can be found at www.phs.co.uk/TheBlobcast.

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Senator Tim Scott, the only Black Republican member of the upper chamber, has officially declared himself a candidate for president in next year’s Republican primary election. According to a statement of candidacy filed on Friday with the Federal Election Commission, Mr Scott has designated his official campaign committee as “Tim Scott for America”, with a campaign address in the Palmetto State’s capital, Charleston. Mr Scott, who has served as South Carolina’s junior senator since 2013, was first appointed to his Senate seat by one of his presidential primary opponents, then-South Carolina governor Nikki Haley. He filled a vacancy left by the resignation of Jim DeMint, who left the Senate to lead the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. At the time of his appointment, Mr Scott was the first Black senator to represent a state that had been part of the Confederacy during the American Civil War and the first Black Republican since Massachusetts senator Edward Brooke left the body in 1979. The then-freshman GOP senator retained the seat he’d been appointed to in a 2014 special election and was reelected easily in 2016 and 2022 with at least 60 per cent of the vote in both elections. He has long been considered a rising star in the Republican Party, and was given the honour of delivering the party’s response to president Joe Biden’s inaugural address to Congress in 2021. Mr Scott, whose campaign website has teased a “special announcement” on 22 May, joins a GOP primary field that includes Ms Haley, former president Donald Trump, ex-Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Florida governor Ron DeSantis and ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie are also expected to officially enter the GOP presidential field in the coming days. Mr Trump, who has retained his preeminent position in the GOP despite being impeached twice by the House of Representatives, losing the 2020 election, inciting a deadly attack on the US Capitol in an effort to remain in power, facing criminal charges in his former home state of New York and his status as a potential defendant in at least two more criminal probes, currently holds a commanding advantage in most polls. Read More Parents of transgender kids seek to block DeSantis ban on gender-affirming care for minors How one North Carolina lawmaker's defection from the Democratic Party upended abortion protections Missouri governor to announce his pick as new St. Louis prosecutor after Kim Gardner resignation

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Elon Musk's chip implant company Neuralink is looking for its first volunteer since the company got approved to perform tests on humans by the FDA. Prior to its approval for human clinical trials, Reuters reported that the company had killed roughly 1,500 animals during testing. The volunteer would have to be willing to have a piece of their skull removed so a robotic surgeon can insert thin wires and electrodes into their brain. The company told Bloomberg News, the ideal candidate will be a quadriplegic under the age of 40. Neuralink hopes to eventually make a device that will allow people to send messages or play games using only their thoughts. Ashlee Vance, the author of the 2015 biography 'Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future', said in his Bloomberg report that despite "an outpouring of interest from thousands of prospective patients," the company is still seeking its first volunteer. The chip would enable computer functions to be performed using only thoughts via a "think-and-click" mechanism. If the ideal volunteer is chosen, a surgeon will remove part of the person's skull, before a robot dubbed "R1", equipped with cameras, sensors and a needle will push 64 threads into the brain whilst doing its best to avoid blood vessels. Reassuring. Each thread has roughly the diameter of 1/14th of a strand of human hair, and is lined with 16 electrodes that are programmed to gather data about the brain. The electrodes record neural activity related to movement intention, which is then decoded by Neuralink computers. Neuralink did not reveal how many participants would be enrolled in the trial or how many patients the FDA ultimately approved, after a negotiation between the company and agency which raised safety concerns, according to current and former employees. DJ Seo, co-founder and vice president for engineering of Neuralink told Bloomberg: "The short-term goal of the company is to build a generalised brain interface and restore autonomy to those with debilitating neurological conditions and unmet medical needs." "Then, really, the long-term goal is to have this available for billions of people and unlock human potential and go beyond our biological capabilities." Indy100 has reached out to Neuralink for comment. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings. How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel