Daily roundup 26 February: Pencils, Rotherham, and lettings

Children are increasingly finding it hard to hold pens and pencils because of an excessive use of technology, senior paediatric doctors have warned. The Guardian reports that an overuse of touchscreen phones and tablets is preventing children's finger muscles from developing sufficiently to enable them to hold a pencil correctly. Sally Payne, the head paediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust, said children are "not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago".


The UK's biggest investigation into child sexual exploitation needs 100 more officers to tackle the unprecedented scale of abuse in Rotherham, the head of the operation has said. The Guardian reports that the National Crime Agency, which is investigating past grooming offences in the town, has identified more than 1,500 potential victims and 110 suspects, and officers expect those figures to rise. Paul Williamson, the senior investigating officer on Operation Stovewood, said his team of officers had been able to contact only 17 per cent of the 1,510 possible victims due to a shortage of specially trained detectives.


Thousands of lettings agents and landlords around the country who reject housing benefit claimants could be flouting equality laws, due a recent legal case. The BBC reports that the widespread practice has led to "no-go zones" for those on lower incomes - especially in desirable residential areas. But single mother Rosie Keogh won compensation for sex discrimination from a lettings agency that refused to consider her as a tenant because she was on state benefit.


A teenager has been charged with stabbing two young men to death in north London. The BBC reports that Isaiah Popoola, 18, was charged on Sunday evening with the murders of Abdikarim Hassan, 17, and Sadiq Adan Mohamed, 20, in Camden on Tuesday (20 February). He has also been charged with causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) and attempted GBH of two other victims in attacks on the same night.