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A river in England looks set to be granted legal rights as part of plans to improve the health of local waterways. Like many English rivers, the River Ouse, which flows into Lewes, East Sussex, is polluted and often gets filled with wastewater. Growing concerns about the river’s poor water quality led local councillor Matthew Bird to spearhead a movement to give it similar protection to humans. “This motion is about valuing the river in its own right and rethinking our relationship with nature,” he said.

💬 The “WhatsApp War” rages on

It’s day two of The Telegraph’s headline-grabbing Lockdown Files investigation and the latest batch of leaked messages has revealed the tension that occurred between ministers about school closures at the height of the pandemic.

What have we learned about school closures?
WhatsApp messages written by the former health secretary Matt Hancock reveal that he fought to have schools in England closed at the end of 2020 as Covid cases rose, despite opposition from the then-education secretary Gavin Williamson.

What else do the messages reveal?
They also show Hancock and Williamson criticising teaching unions. In May 2020, when schools were preparing to reopen after the first lockdown, Hancock described them as “absolute arses”, to which Williamson replied: “they really really do just hate work”.

Has the investigation raised other concerns?
PM Rishi Sunak’s spokesperson said yesterday that using instant messaging platforms to discuss ministerial business is “part and parcel of modern government”. But transparency campaigners say the widespread use of platforms like WhatsApp makes it even more difficult to hold the government to account - especially as policy dictates that these chats automatically delete shortly after receipt.

How might all this impact the Covid inquiry?
The leaked messages have fuelled MPs’ calls to speed up the public inquiry. Labour leader Keir Starmer asked Sunak to give the investigation enough resources for it to report by the end of the year, but No. 10 has insisted that the inquiry is independent and it has no control over its timeline.

🤳 A freaky new filter

TikTok’s new “Bold Glamour” filter has come under fire for being too realistic, sparking a fresh outcry over the harmful effects of so-called “beauty” effects.

What does the filter do?
Described as “beyond uncanny”, the “Bold Glamour” filter seamlessly alters a user’s facial features by subtly chiselling their cheekbones, darkening their eyebrows and airbrushing their skin, making them look more conventionally attractive.

But what’s so special about this filter?
Facial filters have been around since 2015 (remember Snapchat’s iconic dog face or rainbow puke lenses?). And while they have certainly become much more sophisticated in recent years, users have claimed that this new effect is in a league of its own.

The filter uses the latest AI image processing, which means it doesn’t glitch when a person moves or puts a hand in front of their face. As a result, it’s difficult to know when someone is using “Bold Glamour”.

How have users reacted?
While some content creators appear to enjoy toying with the new effect, others have expressed outrage over its promotion of unrealistic beauty standards. Critics argue that the filter could worsen self-esteem, and have expressed particular concern over its potential impact on younger teenagers.

And there’s a whole body of scientific evidence backing up these concerns: research has found that 80% of girls have applied a filter or used a retouching app before the age of 13. Other studies have shown that even those who are generally satisfied with their looks feel less secure in their natural appearance after using a filter.

Is there anything else I should know?
Filters like “Bold Glamour” have also been criticised for reinforcing western beauty standards (for example by giving users blue eyes) and for making people more likely to consider cosmetic surgery.

Above all, it’s crucial to remember that TikTok - and social media more broadly - is not real life, and nor should it be.

🏠 House and home: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have confirmed that they were asked to “vacate” Frogmore Cottage just weeks after Spare, Harry’s controversial memoir, was released.

🐔 Avian flu latest: The government is considering vaccinating the UK’s chickens against bird flu in a bid to curb the worst-ever global outbreak of the virus, according to an exclusive in the i newspaper.

​​🏥 Gardening prescriptions: GPs are set to prescribe art, music or gardening classes instead of painkillers such as tramadol or codeine, under NHS plans which aim to avoid a US-style opioid crisis.

🚶‍♀️ Walk this way: A daily walk - or 11 minutes of an equivalent exercise - prevents as many as one in 10 early deaths, a new University of Cambridge study has found.

💸 Time is money: An extremely rare 1936 banknote from the Bank of England’s branch in Leeds has sold at auction for £24,000 - despite being worth just £500..

Trivia answer: B) Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography, a Penguin book based on the megastar’s life and career, is set for release on May 2.

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