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health

We tried 15 lotions over three weeks. Here’s which our testers loved – and which left them high and dry

From Jergens and Naturium to CeraVe and Eucerin, there’s a potion on this list that will keep every body soft and moisturized The best facial cleansers in the US for every skin type, recommended by dermatologists Sign up for the Filter US newsletter, your weekly guide to buying fewer, better things Your skin is the largest organ on the body. Taking care of it can feel like a full-time job, especially if you struggle with anything from dryness and sun damage to psoriasis, not to mention allergies and hormone fluctuations over time. Picking the right lotion for your skin is crucial – and it’s much more of a health decision than many people realize. Packaging, brand loyalty, fragrance or recommendations from your favorite influencers might factor into your decision. But when considering a lotion for long-term use, the best options are those that will actually benefit the skin...

The Guardian • 8/29/2026, 2:15:29 PM
science

Remaking the biscuit: from Doritos to digestives, why the UK’s snacks are being ‘reformulated’

Healthy eating rules are forcing brands to recook their recipes. Are consumers noticing the difference? Bite into a Ritz cracker today and you’re eating 80% less saturated fat than you would have been just a few years ago. The biscuit looks and snaps the same, and tastes close enough that most buyers have no idea they’re eating a new recipe. One of the biggest changes was swapping palm oil for sunflower oil, but there was much more to it than that. The reformulation took years to perfect in a laboratory, where scientists tested everything from density to how the cracker responds to heat, moisture and packaging...

The Guardian • 8/29/2026, 11:00:25 AM
health

‘In walked this big bundle of energy’: the day Dolly Parton came to Rotherham

Country star came to South Yorkshire town in 2007 for UK launch of the Imagination Library, her book donation scheme Shane Jarman was up a ladder decorating a Christmas tree at the school where he was deputy headteacher when he got a call asking him to come to Rotherham hospital ASAP. It was December 2007 and Jarman’s wife, Claire, had given birth the previous day to their first child, a girl called Emma, so of course he rushed to the phone. All was well, he was told, but that “everything would become clear” when he got to the hospital. Once there, his wife told him – somewhat unexpectedly – that they were going to meet Dolly Parton. “And literally within what felt like five minutes,” he recalled, “there were great camera flashes, lots of noise, lots of clicking and in walked this real big bundle of energy.”..

The Guardian • 8/29/2026, 7:00:21 AM
health

From The Dog Stars to Erykah Badu: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead

Jacob Elordi stars as a post-pandemic pilot in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi adventure, while the celebrated soul singer returns with a long-trailed collaboration The Dog Stars Out now Ridley Scott has got to be one of the most prolific octogenarians working today. The director’s latest, a sci-fi drama based on the 2012 novel, stars man of the moment Jacob Elordi as a former pilot surviving the aftermath of a pandemic, with Margaret Qualley as a medic/love interest and Josh Brolin as a pugnacious former marine...

The Guardian • 8/29/2026, 5:00:19 AM
health

China hospital joins nightclubs in offering marriage services to fight low wedding rates

Following temples and nightclubs, a Chinese bank and a hospital have recently begun offering marriage registration services, igniting discussions on the Chinese government’s commitment to promoting nuptials. In August, a branch of the Postal Savings Bank of China, located in the northern municipality of Tianjin, became the country’s first bank to provide marriage registration services. While online observers mocked the unusual pairing of finance and romance – joking that only nuptials at a...

South China Morning Post • 8/29/2026, 2:00:24 AM
health

Doctors promise care ‘revolution’ as they agree first universal definition of heart attack

New guidance by world’s top cardiovascular health groups upgrades types of attacks that primarily affect women Doctors have agreed the world’s first universal definition of a heart attack, paving the way for millions of women to finally receive better treatment after decades of being “deprioritised”. In one of the biggest procedural shakeups in a generation, the world’s four leading cardiovascular health groups have signed off on new guidance for healthcare professionals when seeing suspected heart attack patients...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 5:00:03 PM
health

Salmonella cases in UK likely to rise until source of outbreak is found

Experts say imported eggs served in cafes and restaurants may be behind hundreds of infections and one death Salmonella cases in the UK are expected to rise until the common source is identified, something that is notoriously difficult to establish, experts have warned. There have been 474 confirmed cases and one death linked to the current outbreak, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), with the latest investigations suggesting it is associated with eating imported eggs in cafes and restaurants...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 4:42:32 PM
health

UK urged to ban imports of Brazilian meat over health concerns

Brazil failed to prove compliance with EU rules on use of antibiotics in cattle and poultry farming The UK’s leading farming organisations and animal health experts have called for an urgent ban on imports of Brazilian meat, in light of concerns over the safety of imports. The National Farmers’ Union in England and its sister organisations in the devolved administrations wrote to the government on Friday warning that public health was at risk...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 3:13:43 PM
health

Vaccine misinformation spreads as RFK Jr suggests two measles deaths were ‘fabricated’

Anti-vaxxers are spreading conspiracy theories after two recent measles-associated deaths in Pennsylvania Anti-vaccine activists are trying to track down the families of two people, including at least one newborn, who died after contracting measles in Pennsylvania, as governor Josh Shapiro tangles with Robert F Kennedy Jr over his “inaccurate and misleading claims”. Kennedy, the secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), suggested late Wednesday that the deaths in the state may have been “fabricated” after a Republican coroner – an elected political office in Lancaster county – claimed one of the measles-associated deaths was unrelated to the virus, although the given cause would be consistent with measles...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 1:49:10 PM
health

Sweetener used in chewing gum and jam linked to strokes and heart attacks

High blood levels of xylitol associated with higher risk of major cardiovascular events, in largest study of its kind A common sweetener used in products such as chewing gum, toothpaste, jam, yoghurts and ice cream worldwide has been linked to an increased risk of strokes, heart attacks and death. Xylitol is a sugar alcohol present in some natural foods in very low amounts. It is also added – often in amounts 1,000 times higher – to artificially sweeten foods, beverages and oral care products...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 12:42:54 PM
science

‘So much fringe science’: RFK Jr’s advisers are pushing an extreme makeover in autism research

Experts warn the 336-page plan from RFK Jr’s advisers deflects federal dollars into unreliable alternative therapies Autism groups and researchers have reacted with alarm to a federal research roadmap drawn up by advisers handpicked by the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, fearing it will promote unproven fringe therapies at the expense of promising genetic research. A slew of scientific bodies and groups within the autism community are warning that the 336-page plan risks deflecting federal dollars away from potentially groundbreaking genetic research in favor of unreliable alternative therapies...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 12:00:57 PM
climate

Nepal-Tibet flood: this is the cost of not acting in the face of the climate crisis | Sunil Acharya

Nepalis and Tibetans must not pay the price – with their lives, livelihoods and money meant for education and health – for global heating caused by wealthy states Sunil Acharya is an international climate policy and just transition specialist based in Kathmandu, Nepal As a Nepali citizen working on international climate policy for more than a decade, it is difficult to look at the harrowing images coming out of the catastrophic flash flood that thundered down valleys in Nepal, sweeping down the Lhende Khola, Bhotekoshi and Trishuli rivers, and not feel angry. Not just because of the destruction, but because it comes after years of warnings from scientists and civil society that a rapidly warming planet would make disasters more frequent, more intense and harder to predict. This is what the cost of delaying global climate action looks like. Sunil Acharya is an international climate policy and just transition specialist based in Kathmandu, Nepal..

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 10:56:29 AM
health

ADHD and autism costs in England ‘running out of control’, NHS leaders warn

Soaring demand for services has led to tenfold increase in spending in a year in some areas, says NHS Alliance NHS leaders have warned that the costs of meeting soaring demand for ADHD and autism services in England are “running out of control” and have become unsustainable, with spending in some areas rising by up to tenfold over the course of a year. The NHS Alliance, which represents health managers, said the rise in demand since the coronavirus pandemic was forcing some to close waiting lists and look at reining in other services they provide. One integrated care board (ICB) cited in a report said its monthly spend had risen from £146,000 in 2024/25 to £1.5m last year...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 9:29:37 AM
health

China thinks big on brain-computer interfaces after world-first surgery

Chinese surgeons last month completed the world’s first commercial surgery to implant an invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) device in a patient with a spinal cord injury, a milestone in the neurotechnology development race with US companies like Elon Musk’s Neuralink. This month a Chinese company, state-owned PICC Property and Casualty, launched the world’s first commercial insurance policy covering BCI implantation surgery. September will see the first undergraduates in China to major in...

South China Morning Post • 8/28/2026, 3:17:36 AM
power

Why Filipino migrants are rethinking their futures in Japan

When Japan’s embassy in the Philippines extended applications for healthcare jobs on April 15, the pitch was straightforward: 50 positions for nurses and 300 for care workers in Japan, a three- to four-year placement, free Japanese-language lessons in both countries and a daily allowance during training. On social media, the post’s attractive terms drew widespread interest from Filipinos – a reminder that Japan is still urgently recruiting foreign labour even as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s...

South China Morning Post • 8/28/2026, 2:00:16 AM
health

FDA approves updated Covid-19 vaccines for dominant XFG variant

Decision allows manufacturers to begin shipping doses, but confusion remains about insurance coverage The US Food and Drug Administration approved updated Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, allowing manufacturers to begin shipping doses to pharmacies and doctors’ offices across the country. The FDA approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi and Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated Covid vaccines, the companies ⁠said on Thursday, ⁠after ​an advisory panel recommended that the shots should target ⁠the dominant XFG variant...

The Guardian • 8/28/2026, 1:19:48 AM
health

Thousands of UK women have undiagnosed PTSD after childbirth each year, study finds

Experts call for joined-up support through the postnatal period amid concerns GPs are not trained to spot symptoms Thousands of UK women develop undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after childbirth every year, research has found. The frightening and dangerous condition is being missed in at least 15,000 women a year across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the true toll could be double that or more, according to the authors of research in a leading medical journal...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 11:01:41 PM
health

Senator calls for criminal investigation of RFK Jr after Guardian report

Newly obtained records indicate health secretary lied about Samoa trip during Senate confirmation hearings last year A senior Democratic senator is calling for a criminal investigation into the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, following reporting by the Guardian that indicated he lied during Senate confirmation hearings last year. Ron Wyden of Oregon said: “RFK’s platform is built on lies and grifts that leave a trail of dead children in their wake. There are consequences for lying to Congress.”..

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 10:11:05 PM
health

Nigeria: the lucrative business of kidnappings

In tonight's programme, we speak to a Lagos analyst behind a new report laying out the figures behind abductions. Also, Tanzania's ruling party kicks the vice-president out even after he announces his plans to step down next week. And finally in Senegal, the first African-manufactured generic drug to treat sickle cell disease is raising hopes of better treatment and reduced reliance on costly imported medicine.

France 24 • 8/27/2026, 8:49:22 PM
health

How do you define good health – and achieve it – in a broken US medical system?

In a new book, Dr Lucy McBride aims to help us navigate US healthcare – and tread carefully in the wellness industry Most of us want to be healthy, but it’s easier said than done. In the US, people are caught between a broken medical system and a well-resourced wellness industry. The failings of the former – cost barriers, rushed appointments, impersonal attention – push them towards the snake-oil solutions of the latter. Over 25 years of practicing medicine, running a primary care practice in Washington DC, Dr Lucy McBride has seen patients struggle to navigate the medical system...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 4:00:32 PM
health

Food allergies when flying are no joke. That's why nuts should be banned on planes | Lucy Pasha-Robinson

People with allergies must be able to travel without fear, and a compassionate society should respect that What are you most scared of? Perhaps snakes send a chill down your spine. Or heights leave your knees weak. Peanuts may sound like an odd source of phobia, but they have taken on an absurd bogeyman quality for me since my daughter was taken to hospital by ambulance after eating peanut butter when she was six months old. Just the sight of a bowl on a pub bar, or their shells discarded on the pavement, can raise my heart rate – even when I’m not with her. Nowhere is the sight of peanuts more confronting than at 30,000ft, especially now when millions are jetting back from their holidays. Travelling with a severely allergic child can be a nightmare for all sorts of reasons, but the idea you could be sat next to a passenger consuming the very thing that has hospitalised them is its own kind of hell. Lucy Pasha-Robinson is a Guardian assistant Opinion editor..

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 3:00:32 PM
culture

Robert Carlyle: ‘When we did The Full Monty strip, the reaction from the crowd was terrifying’

The actor on which star he’d devour first on a lifeboat, why he prefers pigeons to dogs and how Trainspotting put the Scottish accent on the map You’re stranded on a lifeboat with Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, Kevin McKidd, Peter Mullan, James Cosmo, Keith Allen and Irvine Welsh. Who do you eat first? DarkAnaemicI77 I suppose you have to think about who’s the healthiest and has looked after their body best. I reckon Ewan would be a wee bit too chewy, and Irvine a wee bit pickled. I’ll go for Kevin McKidd because he’s been out in LA for 20 years, eating good food. Did you really not like Zippy the West Highland terrier who played Wee Jock in Hamish Macbeth? Campbell97..

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 2:00:16 PM
health

AI can detect heart disease in women using mammograms, study suggests

Experts say findings mean breast screenings for cancer could also flag cardiovascular problems in women Doctors have discovered a way to use routine mammograms that screen for breast cancer to spot heart disease, the world’s leading – and frequently underdiagnosed – cause of death in women. Researchers analysed the scans using artificial intelligence and were able to successfully identify women with coronary heart disease, high blood pressure or who had suffered a stroke...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 2:00:16 PM
health

‘I fight pain and fear with art’: how Yayoi Kusama blazed a trail for neurodivergent artists

The pioneering Japanese artist talked openly about how her mental health and neurodivergence informed her creativity, paving the way for the likes of Turner prize winner Nnena Kalu Yayoi Kusama – who has died at the age of 97 – was 10 when she first started experiencing vivid hallucinations consisting of visual and aural disturbances, which she described as “flashes of light, auras, or dense fields of dots”. A drawing from 1939, of a woman in a kimono assumed to be her mother, shows her obliterated by those dots; they would become Kusama’s artistic obsession. She hallucinated flowers, too. “I was looking at the red flower patterns of the tablecloth on a table, and when I looked up I saw the same pattern covering the ceiling, the windows and the walls, and finally all over the room, my body and the universe”, she once said, when asked about that recurring motif. “I felt as if I had begun to self-obliterate, to revolve in the infinity of endless time and the absoluteness of space, and be reduced to nothingness.” For Kusama, art making was a means of survival. “I fight pain, anxiety, and fear every day, and the only method I have found that relieved my illness is to keep creating art. I followed the thread of art and somehow discovered a path that would allow me to live”, she said in a 2012 interview. In so doing, she became one of the most acclaimed and admired contemporary artists, staging happenings and influencing the pop art movement as a pioneering figure in the New York avant-garde. Her exhibitions and major retrospectives draw huge crowds. In 2022, due to enormous public demand, Tate Modern in London extended her Infinity Mirror Rooms show for a whole extra year (it ended up running until 2024)...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 12:42:26 PM
health

RFK Jr lied in Senate confirmation hearings, newly revealed documents indicate

Letters obtained by Guardian and AP contradict testimony that 2019 visit to Samoa had ‘nothing to do with vaccines’ Newly obtained documents indicate that the US health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, lied during two congressional hearings last year, telling lawmakers who held the key to his confirmation that a 2019 visit to Samoa had “nothing to do with vaccines”. Letters obtained by the Guardian and the Associated Press contradict that testimony. In one he wrote to the Samoan prime minister before the trip, Kennedy explicitly said he wanted to study the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine in the Pacific island nation. In it, he used the words vaccine or vaccination eight times...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 12:00:14 PM
health

Yayoi Kusama, Japanese artist who became a global superstar, dies aged 97

From the 1950s to the 2020s, Kusama produced vivid paintings, sculptures and vast installations that often drew on her experience of hallucinations Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese outsider artist who reached superstar status after decades living in a psychiatric hospital, has died aged 97. Kusama died in a Tokyo hospital on 14 August. Her death was announced by her studio in a statement on her website...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 2:17:59 AM
health

Busy Philipps reveals brain tumour diagnosis: ‘I’m grateful to be alive’

Actor says she had the ‘weirdest six months of my life’, after being diagnosed days after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died of cancer Busy Philipps has revealed she had a brain tumour removed, which was diagnosed shortly after her Dawson’s Creek co-star James Van Der Beek died from bowel cancer. The 47-year-old, born Elizabeth Philipps, starred in the hit US teen drama as Audrey Liddell opposite Van Der Beek, who died in February aged 48 after being diagnosed with bowel cancer...

The Guardian • 8/27/2026, 1:09:43 AM
health

London neurosurgeons perform first successful AI-assisted operation to remove brain tumour

Surgeons aided by real-time analysis of camera footage that identified critical anatomy in brain to be avoided Neurosurgeons in London have performed the world’s first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, saving the sight of a 48-year-old man, health officials have said. The surgery was performed in May at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), part of University College London hospitals NHS foundation trust, but details were kept secret until Thursday while the patient, Rhys Hibbert, recovered...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 11:01:25 PM
health

‘Work is good for you’: how UK scheme could help tackle youth mental health crisis

Paid employment can boost confidence and wellbeing, says Pat McFadden as jobs guarantee scheme gets under way Work must be “part of the answer” to the mental health crisis among young people, the work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has said as he met some of the first beneficiaries of Labour’s youth jobs guarantee scheme. He was speaking on a visit to Boots’s headquarters in Nottingham on Wednesday, where several 18- to 21-year-olds were taken on under the job guarantee – with their wages paid by the taxpayer for six months...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 9:30:23 PM
health

Final witness in Lindsay Clancy trial says he doesn’t believe she heard a voice during killings

FBI psychiatrist Gregory Saathoff says he’s treated only two women with postpartum psychosis, both decades earlier The Lindsay Clancy trial was heading for closing arguments on Wednesday, as a final witness for the prosecution laid out that he believed the Massachusetts mother knew right from wrong when she took the lives of her three young children before attempting to commit suicide in 2023. An FBI psychiatrist, Dr Gregory Saathoff, testified in court in Plymouth that he does not believe Clancy’s account that she heard a voice ordering her to kill the children – five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson and eight-month-old Callan – as her defense team maintains that this occurred while she was suffering from the relatively rare condition of postpartum psychosis...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 7:06:51 PM
health

FDA gives expedited approval to new groundbreaking pancreatic cancer drug

FDA officials approve first-of-a-kind pill called daraxonrasib to fight one of the deadliest types of cancer The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a groundbreaking new drug for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, offering US patients a more effective treatment against one of the deadliest types of the disease. FDA officials gave expedited approval to the first-of-a-kind pill, called daraxonrasib, that blocks a mutated protein which fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases. It’s an approach that has eluded drugmakers for decades...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 4:48:27 PM
health

ADHD is no myth – but we should interrogate it all the same | Letters

Readers respond to Gina Rippon’s criticism of a controversial TV documentary about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder Three months ago, at 42, I was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Unlike many adults prior to receiving a diagnosis, I had not spent years wondering whether I had ADHD. In fact, I was oblivious until quite recently, when I strongly identified with several things a colleague said about their own experience of ADHD. The more I learned, the more I found myself thinking: “Wow, that’s me.” My forgetfulness, distractibility, messiness, chronic need for organisation and memory strategies, constant lateness, tendency to lose things daily, persistent perfectionism and habit of going, tyres screeching, right up to the last minute of every deadline suddenly made sense. Things I had spent my life viewing as daily frustrations or personal failings had an explanation. I had ADHD, and had always had it. There was a reason for the constant chatter and noise in my brain, with any gaps filled with, or interrupted by, a song. Honestly, literally anything can trigger a song...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 4:06:28 PM
health

‘I catch the signs a lot earlier now’: Amanda Anisimova on burnout and bouncing back

World No 10 is one of the best players yet to win a major and heads to Flushing Meadows in fine form after learning to embrace being uncomfortable Amanda Anisimova can see the signs now. It is just over three years since the American announced she would be taking an indefinite break for mental health reasons. A brilliant junior, she was a semi-finalist at the French Open in 2019 and seemingly destined for the top, only for her world to be rocked by the sudden death of her father, Konstantin, a few months later. Struggling for motivation and burned out, in May 2023, she revealed she would be stepping away from the sport. It turned out to be the best decision she ever made. “I learned how important it is to have a great balance on and off the court,” Anisimova says in an interview from New York, ahead of the US Open, where she will try to go one better than last year and win her first grand slam title...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 1:00:13 PM
health

Mpox is back – and in new countries. How can this outbreak be contained?

The public health emergencies in 2022 and 2024 saw the virus reported in 145 countries, but in the new cases children appear particularly affected A fresh outbreak of mpox in Guinea Bissau – the country’s first – means the virus formerly known as monkey pox is back in the headlines. So what has changed? Since 2022, there have been almost 190,000 lab-confirmed cases of mpox reported worldwide in 145 countries. Before then, outbreaks of mpox tended to be relatively small and in a handful of African countries, where the viral infection was known to be endemic...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 11:00:12 AM
climate

‘National scandal’: extreme heat linked to 40,000 deaths in England between 1988 and 2025

ONS data shows rising toll of climate crisis, with officials warning this summer on track to set further records More than 40,000 extra people died on the hottest days in England between 1988 and 2025 than would be expected in normal temperatures, according to data published by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday. The figures do not include this summer, when England has sweltered under a succession of heatwaves and is on track to record its highest ever number of heat-related deaths. The UK Health Security Agency announced on 30 July that an estimated 2,877 people had died in the May and June heatwaves alone. The total is almost double the figure for the whole summer in 2025...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 10:55:34 AM
health

Shingles vaccine linked to lower risk of heart attack and stroke, study finds

Researchers say benefits of two-dose Shingrix vaccine could be comparable to taking daily blood pressure medication The current shingles vaccine appears to significantly lower the risk of heart attack and stroke, according to scientists who say it could help prevent thousands of deaths each year. The research, based on records of 70,000 people in the US, found that those who had received Shingrix had a 12% lower risk of a cardiovascular diagnosis in the following three and a half years. If confirmed, this benefit would be comparable to taking a daily blood pressure-lowering medication, the scientists said...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 9:00:39 AM
health

Autism and ADHD care complaints more than triple in five years in England

NHS ombudsman warns of years-long waits and patients paying thousands to go private as demand for services soars Complaints about autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder services in England have more than tripled in five years, official figures show, with the NHS ombudsman warning of years-long waits and patients paying thousands of pounds for private care. One woman was removed from an ADHD medication waiting list without warning after almost four years, leaving her without the support she needed for about six months. Another patient was given an autism assessment lasting just 50 minutes that failed to follow guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, while a man referred to an ADHD service that was not yet operational ended up paying almost £4,000 for private treatment...

The Guardian • 8/26/2026, 5:00:34 AM
climate

Record-breaking heat dome expected to bring dangerous temperatures to US south-west

As wildfires rage and intense heat builds across the region, daytime highs of 110-11F (43-46C) are forecast Surging temperatures are expected to broil more than 45 million people as a heat dome settles in across the south-western US through the end of August and into early September, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). As wildfires rage in some parts and intense heat builds across the region, daytime highs of 110-115F (43-46C) are forecast, with limited cooling relief in the evenings and overnight. Experts predict that some record highs could be tied or broken this month and the weather agency warned of the scorching late summer heat as a potential health hazard...

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 10:40:43 PM
culture

Ulez has been a breath of fresh air for London | Letters

Sadiq Khan’s ultra-low emission zone in London is celebrated by Lorna Henderson, George Coleby and Leonard Neamtu after a study showed its health benefits for children In light of the astonishing results achieved in lowering air pollution by the introduction of the ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) in London by Sadiq Khan (Ulez led to better lung size and function among London children, study finds, 18 August), should we now not extend this philosophy into every city in the UK to save lives? Surely it is a human right to breathe clean air? Why does Ofsted or the Department for Education not insist on air-quality monitors and give data for each school so parents are aware of the risks? Lorna Henderson Newcastle upon Tyne..

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 4:44:13 PM
health

People’s bodies are changing in the age of Ozempic. How are we meant to talk about it?

Discussing people’s bodies can be fraught. We asked eating disorder experts how to do so – or not – responsibly In the age of Ozempic and people being open about plastic surgery, discussion about people’s bodies is rife. At the same time, nobody seems quite sure how to talk about them, as shown by recent coverage of celebrities like Ariana Grande. It is a fraught topic. We asked eating disorder experts for guidelines to follow when talking about other people’s bodies, and how to do so without doing harm...

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 4:00:18 PM
health

As a doctor, I say this: before we even consider assisted dying, fix how we care for the most vulnerable | Zubir Ahmed

A person’s wish to die can be shaped by whether they have access to proper palliative care – and in England and Wales, too many do not Zubir Ahmed is a transplant surgeon and former Labour minister As a doctor, I have spent much of my professional life caring for people at some of the most vulnerable moments they will ever face. I have seen the anxiety that surrounds the prospect of dying, and the desperate wish of patients and families to avoid unnecessary suffering. Naturally, we all want people facing the end of life to be treated with kindness and respect. But when considering the debate on assisted dying, true compassion demands that we ask a more fundamental question. What kind of society are we building if, before we’ve fixed the systems designed to care for people, we introduce a system designed to help them die? As a former health minister who has seen the system from the inside, I am able to say it is not ready or equipped to answer this question. Zubir Ahmed MP is an NHS vascular and transplant surgeon, and served as the parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Department of Health and Social Care from 6 September 2025 to 12 May 2026. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please..

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 11:00:34 AM
climate

'Thermal safety: Not just climate in action; it's biology & physiological capacity to cope & recover

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcome Ronita Bardhan, Professor of Sustainable Built Environment and Health at the University of Cambridge. Extreme heat is no longer simply a question of climate exposure. It is a question of thermal safety, public health, energy security, urban design and inequality, explains Professor Bardhan. Her starting point is that, in an emergency, protecting human life must come first: people need immediate access to cooling, through shade, hydration, cooling centres, passive design or, where necessary, air conditioning. The challenge, she says, is not to choose between adaptation and mitigation, but to pursue both simultaneously.

France 24 • 8/25/2026, 10:49:46 AM
health

Food has turned into a class war – and it’s ruined my appetite | Zoe Williams

More than half of what Brits eat is ultra-processed. Now we’re a nation of food snobs – with no ingredient safe from judgment Lewis Bassett is a young sociologist and chef who I first encountered through his podcast, The Full English, where he thinks about the cultural meaning of, say, Delia Smith; gazpacho; whelks. This was thinking you didn’t know you needed until you heard it. Now he’s written a book of the same name, asking: why do we eat the way we do in Britain, and why do we think the way we do, even about the stuff we wouldn’t be caught dead eating? About 57% of all the food eaten in Britain is ultra-processed, which feels familiar from at least a decade of hand-wringing about it, but is radically defamiliarised when set against the rest of Europe. In France it’s 14%, and Italy is also in the teens. It’s amazing they don’t all live to be 150. And while this plainly has its roots in inequality, there is a hefty side order of attitude, which Bassett contemplates while working through the history of sourdough, curry and olive oil, and describing his own life cheffing in fancy kitchens and gastropubs...

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 10:00:34 AM
business

From Scotland, I look at England’s water privatisation disaster. I wish you had done what we did | Devi Sridhar

Listening to debate, you’d think bringing English water companies into public ownership was a radical socialist idea. Here, we call it common sense Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh Every few months, there are more shocking headlines about the behaviour of England’s water companies. The latest are about the ever-increasing pay of the chief executives and chief financial officers, which rose to a total of £25.3m across 14 companies over the past year. Meanwhile, people living in England struggle with rising water bills and untreated sewage being discharged (often illegally) on to beaches and in to lakes, and companies such as Thames Water are on the brink of insolvency and want government backing. It’s not surprising that we’re in this situation: England’s water companies have long been accused of putting the interests of shareholders above those of customers. From their perspective, the privatisation of water has been an astounding success. Between 1991 and 2019, dividends to the shareholders of the parent companies totalled £57bn, which averages out to more than £2bn every year. The majority of these private parent companies are foreign-owned, so the profits aren’t even kept in Britain. Prof Devi Sridhar is chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh..

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 9:00:53 AM
climate

Europe’s heatwaves threaten insurers’ earnings, rating agency S&P says

Rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and illness, especially among older people, could drive up premiums Europe’s intense heatwaves could hit insurers’ earnings as companies face a rise in claims linked to heat-related deaths and worsening health conditions, the rating agency S&P has said. While a long summer of extreme heat will have increased drought and wildfire-related claims, the rating agency said there would also be fallout for life and health insurers, and for the reinsurers who provide financial protection to insurance companies...

The Guardian • 8/25/2026, 4:00:48 AM
health

Lindsay Clancy trial: psychologist says he doubts claim she was hallucinating

Dr Kirk Heilbrun says he believes Clancy took children’s lives so they wouldn’t ‘suffer’ after she killed herself With just days to go before the murder trial for Lindsay Clancy concludes, a forensic psychologist called by the prosecution testified on Monday that he did not believe she was experiencing acute psychosis when she killed her three children. Kirk Heilbrun, who reportedly performed psychiatric tests on Clancy in April, told the court that he questioned her claims that a hallucinated voice commanded her to commit the act, and that he believed she took their lives so they wouldn’t “suffer” after she killed herself...

The Guardian • 8/24/2026, 11:00:53 PM
health

Alfalfa sprouts linked to food-poisoning outbreak in 15 states, US officials say

Everything Sprouts recalls products after CDC says agency is aware of dozens of food-poisoning cases nationally US healthcare officials recently said a food-poisoning outbreak tied to alfalfa sprouts and involving multiple germs had sickened people in at least 15 states. Officials announced the outbreak after documenting more than three dozen cases in Minnesota and Wisconsin. On Friday, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the agency was aware of at least 55 cases nationally, including four people who had been hospitalized...

The Guardian • 8/24/2026, 6:58:12 PM
health

Children make up half of mpox cases in Guinea-Bissau as epidemic spreads

West African country reports 46 suspected cases in outbreak declared in July, amid fears virus may be spreading undetected More than half of the mpox cases reported in Guinea-Bissau have been among children, local authorities have said, almost two months since the country announced an epidemic. A national outbreak was declared on 4 July, just over a week after a 27-year-old woman became the first confirmed case of mpox in the west African country. Since then, there have been seven confirmed cases and 46 suspected cases. Half of those patients have been children, with 16 under the age of four...

The Guardian • 8/24/2026, 10:11:34 AM
health

New daily diabetes pill that helps with weight loss launches in UK pharmacies

Foundayo will be available on private prescription, with pharmacists warning of counterfeit GLP-1 problem A new daily pill that treats diabetes and helps with weight loss will be available in UK pharmacies from Monday. Pharmacists said the move would be welcome for people who cannot use weight-loss jabs, but also issued a warning over the growing problem of fake, unlicensed or counterfeit versions of GLP-1 tablets...

The Guardian • 8/24/2026, 5:01:52 AM
climate

Air conditioning push favoured over emissions cuts in five European nations, survey finds

Poll also finds sizeable majorities who believe it should be easier to install air con in homes Given the choice, more people across five major European nations including the UK favour encouraging the adoption of air conditioning over keeping carbon emissions down, a survey has found. After four extreme heatwaves that have caused thousands of excess deaths across the continent, the survey showed between 30% and 52% of people in six countries had feared for their household’s health in temperatures close to or above 40C (104F)...

The Guardian • 8/24/2026, 5:00:53 AM
health

‘An amazing relief’: implant offers hope for those with refractory angina

Study finds device brings significant fall in chest pain in 75% of patients, but further trials and NHS approval are needed “It’s an amazing relief, both physically and emotionally, to be able to live my life again normally, without feeling that I’m limited all the time in what I can do.” Cristian Jensen is describing the difference that an implant inserted in his chest – to reduce the symptoms of his debilitating angina – has had on his life...

The Guardian • 8/24/2026, 5:00:52 AM
business

UK productivity growing faster than official figures suggest, thinktank finds

Resolution Foundation suggests economy may finally be emerging from shadow of 2008 financial crisis Productivity in the UK – a vital measure of economic health – is growing more strongly than official figures suggest, according to analysis from the Resolution Foundation. The thinktank suggests the chancellor, John Healey, may have inherited an economy finally starting to emerge from the long shadow of the 2008 global financial crisis...

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 11:01:45 PM
health

Eight-year-old dies after contracting rare brain-eating amoeba in Louisiana

Lillian Smart of Ruston infected with fatal Naegleria fowleri, likely after swimming in Lake Claiborne, health officials say An eight-year-old Louisiana girl has died after contracting a rare, typically fatal brain-eating amoeba after a swim in Lake Claiborne. Lillian Smart, of Ruston, died on Saturday, one day after celebrating her birthday, her family announced in a public Facebook post on the “Love for Lillian” page...

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 10:17:53 PM
health

The Terror: Devil in Silver review – this psychiatric hospital horror is scary on so many levels

Expect gory set pieces and jump scares galore in the return of the supernatural anthology series, with Dan Stevens among the many poor souls terrorised by an evil spirit haunting their ward Things that go bump in the night? Bad. Things that go bump in the night in a dilapidated psychiatric hospital? Infinitely worse. That, basically, is the premise of Devil in Silver, the latest volume of anthology series The Terror, which began in 2018 with a supernaturally charged tale of a polar expedition to find out what happened to Sir John Franklin’s voyage. Crikey, it does not end well. The next was set during the second world war and was about shapeshifters from Japanese folklore terrorising a Japanese-American community in southern California. A hiatus followed, but now The Terror is back with a double dose of horror: a malevolent spirit moving in and out of the bodies of the patients of New Hyde psychiatric hospital, and the more tangible but no less frightening diabolism of the US mental healthcare system. Pepper (Dan Stevens, still of Downton Abbey fame despite his many varied roles since) is in New Hyde because the three policemen who arrested him after they caught a few punches he was aiming at his girlfriend’s controlling ex threw him in there rather than completing the paperwork the station would have required. There he meets the lost and suffering souls who have ended up in what amounts, due to underfunding and understaffing, to a holding pen rather than a rehabilitative or care facility. Dorry (Judith Light) is the longest-serving resident – put there decades ago by her husband because of her endless crying fits, though her later memories reveal a greater darkness. Kofi (Chinaza Uche) – or Coffee, as he is called by the rest of his companions until it is too late – was a structural engineer in Ghana but now depends on medication to keep himself steady. Loochie (played by non-binary actor b) ended up in the system after a violent incident with a sibling, but at least one member of staff believes her charge is able to cope in the real world and, as the hospital’s evil spirit gathers strength and wrath, gets the chance to prove it...

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 9:05:42 PM
health

It’s unwise to end local scrutiny of NHS trusts | Letters

Abolishing the role of statutory governors is ill-advised, says Jean Flanagan. Plus a letter from Jonathan Phillips on the abolition of Healthwatch I wonder how many members of the public are aware that the latest health plan for England, due to be ratified by parliament this autumn, abolishes the role of statutory governors on all of its constituent health trusts? For a number of years I have volunteered to act as a governor at two hospital trusts in Yorkshire. As a former health professional and principal nursing educator, I have brought years of experience to the role, for which I have been elected locally. For any organisation to wilfully remove hundreds of such skilled and committed activists from their supportive scrutiny seems ill-advised...

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 4:57:19 PM
science

Personal care products are awash in unlabeled toxic chemicals, study finds

Even products labeled ‘eco’, ‘green’ or ‘natural’ can contain dangerous compounds including Pfas Common personal care products widely contain unlabeled toxic chemicals, results from a new peer-reviewed study suggest. The testing of more than 110 items ranging from shampoo to baby lotions found evidence of unlabeled toxic chemicals in about 85%. Many contained multiple ingredients known to be carcinogens or health hazards, and even 26% of products labeled “eco”, “green” or “natural” contained at least one dangerous compound. The products averaged more than three times as many chemicals than were listed on labels...

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 11:00:31 AM
health

Ebola day 100: why this outbreak could become the deadliest in history – video explainer

More than 2,000 people have died from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since the first case of this epidemic was recorded in May. The Guardian's global health correspondent, Kat Lay, spoke to CDC Africa's Yap Boum II to understand why health teams on the ground are struggling and what is being put in place to try to contain the spread Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo now deadliest in country’s history..

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 10:50:36 AM
health

London’s low emission zone is working – so why are cities around the world so cautious about clean air?

Similar initiatives have been launched from Barcelona to Bogotá, but they have misinformation, political pressure and vested interests stacked against them Ten years ago, Alastair Harper was an advocate for young people’s health sitting in a stuffy meeting room in London planning an air pollution campaign. “My phone started buzzing,” he said. “I took the call, and then told the room I needed to leave immediately. “I had to get to UCLH [one of London’s major hospitals]. My own child was headed there in a blue-lit ambulance because she was struggling to breathe London’s toxic air.”..

The Guardian • 8/23/2026, 7:00:26 AM
health

40,000 bottles of eye drops across the US recalled over issues with sterility of product

Prestige Brand Holdings has voluntarily recalled a batch of its Clear Eyes eye drops after FDA alert Nearly 40,000 bottles of eye drops are being pulled from store shelves across the US over concerns about potential contamination, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Prestige Brand Holdings, based in Tarrytown, New York, has voluntarily recalled 39,060 bottles of Clear Eyes Maximum Itchy Eye Relief eye drops because of a “lack of assurance of sterility”, an FDA enforcement report states. The FDA classified the action as a Class II recall, defined on the agency’s website as a moderate-risk situation “in which use of or exposure to a violative product may cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote”...

The Guardian • 8/22/2026, 3:44:00 PM
health

DR Congo receives Ebola vaccines in face of 'exponential' outbreak

The Democratic Republic of Congo has received more than 16,000 doses of an Ebola vaccine, as authorities step up efforts against the ongoing outbreak. More than 2,500 people have already died and health officials from the WHO are warning this epidemic could surpass the deadliest on record – that occurred between 2014 and 2016 and caused over 11,000 deaths across West Africa. Dr Muhammad Munir, Professor of virology at Lancaster University in the UK, helps us understand the situation on the ground.

France 24 • 8/22/2026, 12:47:14 PM
health

Antwerp's 'human zoo': Belgium confronts shame of colonial past

In 1894, when the Belgian city of Antwerp was hosting a World's Fair, more than a hundred Congolese people were forcibly brought to the city to be exhibited in the Congo Pavilion. In this "human zoo", seven Congolese men ultimately died of disease. Today, this shocking episode still haunts Belgium as one of its colonial history's darkest chapters. This year, a monument to the victims was unveiled. Report by Alix le Bourbon and Dave Keating.

France 24 • 8/22/2026, 11:05:57 AM
health

US kindergarten vaccination rates dip as exemptions hit record high

New CDC data shows MMR vaccination among kindergarteners declining slightly as non-medical exemptions climb to 4.2% A week after Donald Trump made a series of misleading claims about vaccines – including that some injections look “like the size of a soda bottle” – the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the latest data on national kindergarten vaccination rates. CDC communications downplayed the changes – a three-sentence announcement said, “overall vaccination rates among kindergarteners remained high” – but medical experts immediately saw cause for concern in the trends...

The Guardian • 8/22/2026, 11:00:02 AM
health

Trump’s new attorney general poses a huge threat to abortion rights | Moira Donegan

A call revealing Todd Blanche’s plans to crack down on mifepristone lays bare the danger The abortion pill is a miracle. Mifepristone, then called RU-486, was synthesized by a French lab in the 1980s; in combination with misoprostol, commonly used as ulcer medication, it cuts off the body’s supply of progesterone, halts the development of a pregnancy, and incites contractions, which empty the uterus. The drug allows pregnancies to be terminated with a shocking degree of reliability and ease. Gone are the concoctions of ergot and Spanish Fly dispensed by 19th century midwives, which only sometimes worked to induce a miscarriage; gone are the backroom procedures of the pre-Roe US, when drunk, lascivious, incompetent or cruel providers wielded bent coat hangers in dirty rooms. The abortion pill is safe, effective and cheaper than ever. And since Dobbs, it’s everywhere: even if you live in a state with an abortion ban, you can get the pills shipped to your house in the mail. Since Roe was overturned, there has not been a return to the terror of mass death that marked the pre-Roe era of septic abortion wards, where women routinely found themselves maimed, sickened or killed. There’s exactly one reason why: because illegal abortions were largely unsafe without the pill, and they are extremely safe with it. So of course, the Trump administration and their allies on the American right are trying to get rid of it. And this month, they gained a powerful new ally when Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer and an anti-abortion zealot, was confirmed as attorney general...

The Guardian • 8/22/2026, 11:00:02 AM
business

‘The worst part is the guilt’: the owners who fear dog food caused pets’ eye problems

In the week that Years recalled all of its fresh meals, concerns grow about a potential link to dogs’ health conditions “It’s been horrible – Chester developed sudden red and gunky eyes in May,” said Elizabeth, whose six-year-old cavachon “can’t open his eyes” on many days. The 29-year-old civil servant is one of a number of people who contacted the Guardian because they are concerned about a potential link between a recalled dog food and their pet’s eye condition...

The Guardian • 8/22/2026, 7:00:57 AM
health

Trump administration asking public comment on vaccine recommendations

Asking people to weigh in on adoption of different categories in move that will sow confusion and create access challenges, say experts The Trump administration is asking for public feedback on changes to the ways it recommends vaccines – likely opening the door to greater access challenges and confusion, experts say. In a notice published by the health and human services (HHS) to the Federal Register on Friday, officials say they are now seeking comments from the public about the current categories for vaccine recommendations, which so far fall into routine, risk-based and shared clinical decision-making...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 7:11:43 PM
world

Millions in Cuba face water shortages as oil crisis deepens

In Cuba, seven months of an effective oil blockade imposed by the Trump administration has not only increased power outages but is also leaving more and more people without running water. In August 2025, 2.6 million people on the Caribbean island nation had difficulty accessing water, according to the Cuban Institute of Hydraulic Resources. Today, that figure has risen to 3.5 million – around a third of the population. FRANCE 24’s Ed Augustin reports on the health risks rippling through the island.

France 24 • 8/21/2026, 3:28:52 PM
health

Ditch the giant handbag, don’t overdo the botox and 16 other ways to extend your ‘hotspan’

If ‘lifespan’ is the time you’re alive and ‘healthspan’ the years you’re disease-free, then ‘hotspan’ is the period you’re attractive and vibrant. Want to increase yours? Experts share their tips Forget 12-step skincare routines, red light therapy and injectables – the single most important thing you can do for your skin is wear UV protection. “Not just sun protection, but UV protection, every single day, regardless of weather or season,” says Dr Jennifer Owens, resident aesthetic expert at the Reborne Longevity clinic in London. “Up to 90% of visible skin ageing is caused by UV exposure – nothing else comes close in terms of impact.”..

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 2:00:36 PM
health

What is salmonella, how does it spread and are eggs safe to eat?

UKHSA says imported eggs eaten in restaurants are source of outbreak that has infected more than 200 people Contaminated eggs have infected 207 people with salmonella across the UK, killing one and hospitalising 34. Eggs imported into Britain and eaten in cafes and restaurants were the source, the UK Health Security Agency has said. The outbreak has prompted public concern. But what is salmonella, and are eggs safe to eat?..

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 1:46:05 PM
power

Quarter of branded baby foods in UK still have too much sugar, analysis finds

Exclusive: Of 224 branded infant foods and snacks, more than half are in breach of guidelines brought in a year ago Almost a quarter of popular branded baby foods sold in UK supermarkets still contain excessive amounts of sugar, a year after the government introduced voluntary industry guidelines. In August 2025 the government gave baby food manufacturers 18 months to reduce the sugar and salt content of their products, stop marketing snacks to infants under 12 months and address misleading and inaccurate labelling that makes some infant foods appear healthier than they actually are...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 11:00:32 AM
health

Ex-Pakistan PM Khan taken back to jail after hospital checks

Former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan was transferred back to jail early on Friday, hours after being taken to a hospital for court-ordered medical checks, the government said. The Supreme Court ordered on Tuesday that Khan, Pakistan's most popular politician, be taken to the private Shifa International Hospital in the capital Islamabad within 48 hours for treatment, after his lawyers petitioned the court over concerns that his health was poor. The ex-cricket captain and his wife Bushra Bibi, who is also his spiritual guide, were both sentenced late last year to 17 years in prison.

France 24 • 8/21/2026, 9:44:53 AM
health

Ebola outbreak: five big questions

On 23 August, it will be 100 days since the Bundibugyo strain was first reported. How did it became the DRC’s most deadly outbreak and what must be done to stop it becoming the world’s largest? Almost 100 days ago, Africa’s public health watchdog reported an outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There have now been almost 5,000 cases and more than 2,000 deaths since 15 May, making this Ebola outbreak the biggest and most deadly in the DRC’s history...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 9:02:22 AM
world

Indonesian quake survivors recall trauma of all-day intense aftershocks, self-rescue

Carolus Winfridus was asleep when an earthquake struck off Indonesia’s island of Flores, as he was awoken by intense rumbling and saw his wardrobe doors flying open. He and his family quickly scrambled for a way out of their house in the town of Maumere, Sikka Regency, one of nine regencies hit by Saturday’s devastating 7.7-magnitude quake that killed almost 80 people and displaced nearly 100,000. Survivors and officials describe how blocked roads, power cuts and relentless aftershocks have...

South China Morning Post • 8/21/2026, 8:03:05 AM
health

UK men with heart disease at higher risk of developing and dying from cancer

Decade-long study finds stark gender difference in outcomes of people with heart disease Millions of men with heart disease have a higher risk of developing and dying from cancer, according to a decades-long study. The biggest drivers behind male cases were smoking, obesity and drinking too much alcohol, researchers said, with the link most pronounced in lung and oesophageal cancers...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 5:01:25 AM
health

‘Billy’s thriving’: family’s joy as boy who helped legalise cannabis medicine in UK turns 21

Mother of Billy Caldwell, who has severe epilepsy, celebrates son’s story while pushing for better access to prescription cannabis for families who need it When Billy Caldwell was a baby he was not expected to survive infancy. A severe form of epilepsy condemned his tiny body to daily seizures – brutal, draining and each one potentially fatal. “They couldn’t get the seizures under control,” his mother, Charlotte, recalled. “Billy was sent home to die – we were told he wouldn’t see past his first birthday.” That prediction was in 2005. Last month Billy, who is autistic, celebrated his 21st birthday at home in a bucolic corner of Northern Ireland with family, friends, cake and a wide smile...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 5:00:26 AM
climate

What happens to people’s health when air pollution is reduced?

Growing evidence that cutting coal use and bans on high-polluting vehicles are leading directly to health benefits Failing crops, wildfires and overloaded health systems are focusing minds on the local impacts of our changing climate. While carbon emissions reduction is normally framed as having a global benefit rather than a local gain, studies published in 2025 and 2026 from Greece have added to growing evidence that cutting coal use and air pollution can provide immediate health benefits to local communities...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 5:00:26 AM
health

Python named Jodie Foster first snake to receive pioneering cancer treatment

Chester zoo resident, 23, ‘back to her usual feisty self’ after electrochemotherapy for tumour in her jaw A 15ft (4.5-metre) python is believed to be the first snake in the world to be given a pioneering, life-saving cancer treatment normally used on humans. The 50kg reticulated python, named Jodie Foster after the Hollywood star, has just turned 23 and lives at Chester zoo. Keepers first became concerned that she may be unwell when she began eating less and spending more time inactive in her habitat...

The Guardian • 8/21/2026, 4:00:25 AM
health

‘Biased’ Channel 4 programme on ADHD misrepresented my views, says expert

Prof Katya Rubia withdraws support for The Great ADHD Myth? as other leading figures voice criticisms A contributor to a controversial Channel 4 documentary on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder has withdrawn her support for the programme, saying it was biased and could lead to an increased suicide risk by encouraging parents to take their children off medication. Katya Rubia, a professor of cognitive neuroscience at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, also said The Great ADHD Myth? misrepresented her views...

The Guardian • 8/20/2026, 5:54:51 PM
health

Extreme heat: 'We're really starting now to understand how global climate is impacting our health'

Annette Young is pleased to welcome Dr. Simon Williams, Behavioural Scientist, WHO Consultant, Lecturer in psychology and a public health researcher at Swansea University. What concerns Dr. Williams most is that the health consequences of extreme heat, particularly for older adults, are emerging sooner and at lower levels of warming than we had previously understood. We are already living with approximately 1.3°C of global warming, and increasingly severe summers are exposing profound age-related vulnerabilities, from reduced physiological capacity to cool the body to underlying cardiovascular and other health conditions.

France 24 • 8/20/2026, 5:53:16 PM
health

The Guardian view on Trump’s MMR executive order: endangering the children he claims to care about | Editorial

The president’s empty advice that children should receive separate jabs against measles, mumps and rubella will only lead to less take-up by parents Nobody wants to hurt a child. The howl of pain, the tears, the look of betrayed shock all make it very hard to deliver a cherished small person to the needle-wielding nurse. But that’s part of being a responsible parent. It becomes a lot tougher if mum or dad is being fed mixed and erroneous messages about the benefits and harms of vaccination. Parents have to make a lot of decisions about what’s right for their child, from the school they should go to and the food they should eat to the hours they should spend on the phone or watching TV. In the US, Donald Trump wants them to add another: do they choose to give their children separate jabs against measles, mumps and rubella, involving six visits to the clinic, or should they opt for the combined MMR vaccine, which does the job in two? For decades, the vast majority of families have been taking the advice of doctors, accepting their assurance that the MMR vaccine is safe and very effective. But what are they to think when a US president announces that the triple jab could be “quite lethal” and signs an executive order advising states to offer separate vaccines?..

The Guardian • 8/20/2026, 5:46:02 PM
culture

There is nothing scientific about The Great ADHD Myth? ‘documentary’ | Gina Rippon

Channel 4’s programme wastes a chance to ask important questions about how ADHD is diagnosed and treated, instead indulging in unscientific methods and conspiracy theories Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University When Channel 4 announced that it would air a documentary titled The Great ADHD Myth?, an outpouring of fury followed. Despite this, I set out to approach it as a scientist – not just as a scientist whose own work has dealt with developmental disorders, but as someone who has enormous respect for the scientific process and for the importance of evidence-led debate. Channel 4’s press release claimed the documentary sought to determine whether attention deficit hyperactivity disorder was a “genuine neurodevelopmental disorder, or a social construct”. At one level this is a brave enterprise. ADHD is recognised worldwide as a disorder, by the World Health Organization and our own NHS among others. Estimates suggest ADHD affects roughly 8% of children and adolescents and about 3% of adults worldwide. To overturn this consensus would require robust, reproducible findings capable of explaining away decades of genetic, developmental and clinical research. The press release described the documentary as “science-led”, which hinted at just such an enterprise. Was it really science-led? Prof Gina Rippon is emeritus professor of cognitive neuroimaging at the Aston Brain Centre, Aston University, and the author of the books The Gendered Brain and The Lost Girls of Autism Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please..

The Guardian • 8/20/2026, 12:18:28 PM
technology

Frustrated GP patients hang up as Yorkshire accent baffles AI receptionist

‘Emma’ the Rotherham chatbot has 17 languages says AI firm – but health watchdog says system struggling with local ‘twangs’ Patients in a South Yorkshire town are frustrated by an AI GP receptionist not understanding their “broad accents”, a health watchdog has said. Healthwatch Rotherham, a local health and social care watchdog, said a number of practices in the area had introduced a new AI receptionist called Emma...

The Guardian • 8/20/2026, 9:25:57 AM
health

Fewer anti-Asian hate crimes in US, but immigration crackdowns raise concerns

Almost five years after the pandemic-era surge in anti-Asian hate in the US, new Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) data shows a downward trend nationally. But advocates say concerns persist amid immigration crackdowns and heightened US-China geopolitical tension. A survey from Stop AAPI Hate, a self-reporting platform formed during the pandemic, paints an even more worrying picture, with almost half of individuals indicating they have been targeted but many decline to report it to...

South China Morning Post • 8/19/2026, 9:32:37 PM
health

Love You to Death review – is this all they asked the woman who faked her son’s illnesses?

Lisa Hayden-Johnson was convicted of child cruelty, but she still insists that she didn’t do anything wrong – and barely gets a grilling about it. Her children, who speak for the first time in this documentary, deserve much more There’s an increasingly common pattern emerging whereby documentary makers take a story that was run through the Outrage-A-Tron by the tabloids to produce headlines that warped public understanding (“Britain’s Worst/Most Evil/Most Deadly” and so on), then proceed to put back some of the lost nuance and present the more complicated original picture. Lucy Letby (“Britain’s Worst Child Killer”) has been the subject of at least two such films redressing the lost balance. Last week, the story of Rhianan Rudd (“Britain’s Youngest Terrorist”) was unpacked and its many sadder parts laid out for inspection in The Schoolgirl Terrorist? In Love You to Death, it is the turn of Lisa Hayden-Johnson, who became known as “Britain’s Most Evil Mum” during her trial and conviction for child cruelty after years spent fabricating her son Matthew’s apparent illnesses. He was put through more than 300 medical encounters, nine general anaesthetics, four operations by the age of nine, and endured many unnecessary constraints on his life, including using a wheelchair, feeding tube and oxygen tank, until Lisa was arrested when he was nine...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 9:00:33 PM
sports

Tongue and Robinson’s high fives put England in control against Pakistan

First Test day one: Pakistan 171; England 112-2 Root (37 ) and Cox (23 ) add 64 to leave deficit of 59 For all that Joe Root was playing his 167th Test match for England, and had led the side on 65 previous occasions, there will surely have been a few butterflies as he pulled on the blazer and walked out for the toss on his home ground. Root was resuming what he once described as an “unhealthy relationship” with the captaincy, while a supposedly one-off return to the job earlier this summer ended in a crushing defeat to New Zealand. Aged 35, England’s premier batter could easily have said a polite “no thank you” when the vacancy came around again...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 6:58:53 PM
health

The Guardian view on the Ebola outbreak in the DRC: a case study in why international aid matters | Editorial

The Trump administration’s ‘America first’ approach has contributed to the scale of the crisis now unfolding in one of the world’s poorest countries For months health experts have warned that the scale of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could surpass the one that swept west Africa in 2014-16. This week, the authorities in the DRC announced that a grim milestone has already been passed: at least 2,325 people have died from the virus, making it the deadliest of the country’s 17 outbreaks and the fastest-growing in history. There is no effective vaccine against Bundibugyo – a rare strain of the virus that spread fatally undetected during the spring, often being misdiagnosed as malaria or typhoid. In contrast to neighbouring Uganda, which succeeded in eliminating an outbreak, multiple factors are combining to let the disease rip through the DRC. The worst-affected region is contested by armed groups, and a context of population displacement and chronic insecurity has made monitoring and surveillance more difficult. Ebola treatment centres have been attacked as a result of misinformation and community distrust...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 5:59:29 PM
health

Stop putting women through brutal hysteroscopies without pain relief | Letters

The medical system is biased against women, says Carole Kendall, pointing to the very different way men who have colonoscopies are treated I fully endorse everything Anna Moore writes in her excellent article on the lack of pain relief for hysteroscopies (‘It was barbaric. I was crying my eyes out’: why are so many women left in agony by routine womb examinations?, 16 August). I have had three of these barbaric procedures, two of them being associated with being on hormone replacement therapy (HRT). All three were administered with very basic pain relief, ie a small amount of local anaesthetic, which I would compare to numbing a gum with a piece of ice and then proceeding with root canal treatment. I was offered a general anaesthetic on the third occasion, but this is way too much. At no point was anything else offered, like it is for colonoscopies...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 4:46:30 PM
health

Trump nominates abortion opponent Heidi Overton to be head of FDA

Overton has said that Congress should strictly regulate abortion drug mifepristone ‘to protect women and children’ Donald Trump nominated Dr Heidi Overton – an abortion opponent who stood next to the president as he made false claims about vaccines – to be commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “Today I am honored to nominate the wonderful Dr. Heidi Overton, MD, PhD, as our next FDA Commissioner. Dr. Heidi has been a ROCKSTAR in my Administration, where she has worked directly with Secretary Kennedy, Dr. Oz, and team, to deliver on the MOST TRANSFORMATIVE Health Agenda in History. She is known to take on the HARDEST issues, and bring me solutions that work best for the Country,” the president wrote on Truth Social on Wednesday...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 4:31:59 PM
business

PA financial crisis: No budget for 'essential services' including infrastructure, education & health

Annette Young is pleased to welcome Joost Hiltermann, Special Adviser for MENA and training for the International Crisis Group. He sees the Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis not as an approaching emergency, but as an ongoing process of institutional and economic erosion. The PA has already lost much of its capacity to provide essential services, pay public-sector salaries in full, maintain infrastructure, and sustain education and health care. All the while, settlement expansion, settler violence and Israeli restrictions are occurring alongside financial measures that are threatening Palestinian institutions and economic life.

France 24 • 8/19/2026, 2:33:26 PM
health

Medical researcher who touted Covid ‘cure’ and was hailed by Dr Oz under fire over ethics

New findings further call into question scientific judgment of current health leaders in the Trump administration A French researcher whose work was praised by Donald Trump and Dr Mehmet Oz during the Covid-19 pandemic published hundreds of papers with “substantial” ethical and legal concerns, according to a new analysis. An international team of scientists found concerns in 853 articles published by the Institut Hospitalo-Universitaire Méditerranée Infection, or the IHU, hundreds more than previously flagged by past investigations into work at the large research hospital. Of those, institute founder Didier Raoult was listed as co-author on 758 of them, according to one of the researchers behind the new analysis...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 11:00:13 AM
health

At 43, I was fit and happy. Then I developed a nasty – and very expensive - case of shingles | Arwa Mahdawi

Healthy women under 50 are now more at risk of the condition. What I didn’t know is that intense exercise could be to blame and the condition could cost me hundreds of dollars If you’re in your 40s, I have a great trick for getting people to spontaneously tell you how young you are: develop shingles. Friends, acquaintances and medical professionals will rapidly inform you that the painful rash is an older person’s disease and, “You’re a bit young to get that, aren’t you?” I say this because at the tender age of 43, I have come down with a horrible case of ocular shingles. When I first went to urgent care about a weird red spot on my nose, a swollen eye and a terrible headache, the nurse looked dubious when he told me it might be shingles. “You’re a bit young,” he said. When I then went to the ER as instructed – shingles near the eye is a medical emergency that can blind you – the ophthalmologist said the same thing. According to conventional medical wisdom, shingles is a disease you get if you’re elderly or immunocompromised...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 10:00:12 AM
health

Why are progressives winning across the United States? It’s not complicated | Bernie Sanders

Poll after poll shows the same thing. The American people know that the current economic system is rigged The media pundits have written article after article desperately trying to understand why progressive candidates, despite being heavily outspent, keep defeating establishment Democrats in primaries around the country. Well, the answer is not complicated. Whether it is a corrupt campaign finance system, unprecedented income and wealth inequality, a broken and wildly expensive healthcare system, the enormous threats posed by AI or an immoral and destructive foreign policy, progressives are talking about the real issues facing working families. And they are providing real solutions. Establishment Democrats are not...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 10:00:11 AM
health

Camilla found it ‘difficult’ keeping king’s cancer diagnosis private before announcement

In video celebrating Maggie’s cancer charity, queen recalls ‘longing to let it out’ on visit to centre in 2024 The queen has spoken for the first time of how difficult she found it to keep King Charles’s cancer a secret before it was announced publicly. Camilla found herself “longing to let it out” during an official visit to a Maggie’s cancer support centre in 2024, after Charles had received his diagnosis but before the news was released...

The Guardian • 8/19/2026, 4:01:04 AM
health

GPs’ advice service is causing cancer diagnoses to be missed, inquiry finds

Advice and guidance services for doctors in England found to be creating risk of missed or late detection of illness Cancer diagnoses have been missed or delayed because of a system designed for GPs to seek specialist advice before referring patients to hospital, according to an investigation. The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) identified patient risks linked to how advice and guidance (A+G) services have been implemented across England...

The Guardian • 8/18/2026, 10:10:48 PM
health

Social media on trial as $200bn case against Facebook and Instagram begins

Twenty-nine US states are seeking huge damages, claiming Meta’s platforms were addictive by design In 1994, more than 40 US states came together to sue one of the most powerful industries on earth: big tobacco. The suits brought together diverse claims centred on tobacco companies’ misleading advertising and contribution to a mounting public health crisis. They ended in a negotiated settlement with the US government, in which the companies agreed to pay more than any industry ever, and the states agreed to drop a large portion of their claims...

The Guardian • 8/18/2026, 6:27:09 PM
power

The Guardian view on global inequality: extreme wealth threatens democracy | Editorial

New York mayor Zohran Mamdani shows Britain’s Andy Burnham that confronting billionaires need not mean the end of cooperation with Donald Trump In November, Californians will vote on a one-off 5% levy on residents worth more than $1bn. The union-backed plan could raise $100bn, more than enough to replace federal healthcare funding stripped away by Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. About 200 very rich people would pay. But the referendum is becoming a test of whether extreme wealth can buy the political power to defeat a popular redistributive policy. Google co-founder Sergey Brin has already spent $100m backing opposition to the tax – a fraction of the $13bn bill he could face. Other billionaires are joining him. Whether voters can impose costs on the super-rich once their fortunes are big enough to shape the political process is now an open question. That alone should trouble any democracy. It’s a long way from Mr Brin’s west coast lair of Mountain View to Andy Burnham’s Makerfield constituency. But the prime minister should heed the call from prominent progressive academics – led by the Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz – urging Britain to join a new global push to tackle inequality. Prof Stiglitz wants help creating a new UN International Panel on Inequality (IPI). This stems from the G20’s first-ever inequality report, which warned that the yawning gap between rich and poor was a human-made crisis corroding democracy and social cohesion while blocking efforts to tackle the climate emergency...

The Guardian • 8/18/2026, 5:59:07 PM
health

Contemplating death helps us to really value life | Letters

Say the thing, mend the relationship, share the story – and then get on with living, says end-of-life doula Rebecca Jo-Rushdy, while Jane Andrew thinks EM Forster said it best What struck me most about this article (What end-of-life experts know about living well: love your wrinkles, celebrate birthdays and don’t obsess over work, 13 August) is the idea that preparing for the end of life can actually help us live more fully now. As an end-of-life doula, I have seen how a terminal diagnosis can suddenly bring clarity. The things that once felt urgent often fall away, while relationships, memories, unfinished conversations and the question of what we leave behind become profoundly important. But I don’t believe that we should have to wait for a diagnosis to begin that work...

The Guardian • 8/18/2026, 5:05:36 PM
health

Ebola in DRC: Deadliest outbreak on record ‘outpacing the response’

Eve Irvine is pleased to welcome WHO Spokesperson Tarik Jašarević. His central concern is that we do not yet know where all the places the Ebola virus is circulating: infected people remain outside treatment centres, transmission chains go undetected, and patients who seek care too late face much poorer chances of survival. Conflict, population mobility and other humanitarian pressures make surveillance more difficult, but community engagement is equally crucial. Without trust and cooperation, testing, contact tracing, safe burials and early treatment cannot work effectively.

France 24 • 8/18/2026, 10:55:17 AM
world

Fake troops loot earthquake-hit homes in Japan’s Kumamoto

Men in military fatigues identical to those worn by Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Forces (SDF) are reportedly prowling evacuated communities in Kumamoto prefecture to loot abandoned homes and businesses in the aftermath of last month’s earthquake. An official at the prefectural government confirmed media reports of “fake SDF personnel” attempting to enter properties in affected areas, although she said the authority’s immediate priority was still to find shelter and provide food and medical care...

South China Morning Post • 8/18/2026, 7:58:57 AM
health

I was abused as a child – and thought I had healed. Then I began drinking in lockdown

Decades after being sexually abused, the author and doctor Frank Spinelli believed he had moved on emotionally. But alcohol destroyed his sense of security. He describes how he confronted his shame Not so long ago, Frank Spinelli seemed to have sorted out his life. He was happily married, working as a doctor and had a sideline writing medical thrillers. He thought he had dealt with the sexual abuse he had suffered as a child – not only had he helped bring the man who groomed and abused him to justice, but also he had written a memoir about it. “I felt that I had closure,” he says. “I had the good fortune of working with some amazing therapists and I believed I had done the work and moved past it and I was a healed person.” Little did he know that his recovery was fragile. The Covid pandemic took away his routine and structure: “All the external pillars that were tightly holding me together – the engagements at the office, the work trips.” Two years earlier, he and his husband had moved from Manhattan to a leafy suburb, from where he is speaking to me over a video call today. He was dealing with uncertainty and felt isolated. “We know one thing about shame: shame breeds in isolation.”..

The Guardian • 8/18/2026, 4:00:14 AM
health

Extreme heat more dangerous for people 60 and over than previously thought

Study finds older adults could face harmful heat stress at just 1.5C of warming above preindustrial levels People aged 60 and over face dangers to their health from exposure to heat at much lower temperatures than previously thought, research has found. Older adults will bear the brunt of increasingly frequent sustained spells of extreme heat globally as the world continues to warm up, according to a study in The Lancet Public Health...

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 10:30:06 PM
health

Buried With Michael Sheen review – this vital look at a toxic waste scandal is deeply enraging TV

The actor does a brilliant job of probing the alleged dumping of ‘forever chemicals’ in Wales. After grilling a stranger for two days, his investigation turns up horrible incidents – including potential links to cancer cases You may scoff at celebrity-fronted documentaries, but there’s no need to moan about Buried With Michael Sheen, an investigation into how toxic “forever chemicals” were dumped in Welsh quarries in the middle of the 20th century. Much of our knowledge of the subject comes from a filmed interview given nearly 10 years ago by the environmental campaigner Douglas Gowan, who, after decades of trying to raise awareness, had only weeks to live and wanted to divulge all he had learned. The person behind the camera and asking the questions? Sheen. The actor and director is a little coy about how or why he came to spend two days – two days! – grilling a stranger to create the most valuable document we have about an underappreciated injustice. He says something about stumbling across Gowan online during a career lull and wanting to know more. But however it happened, the fact is that the best qualified person to present this two-parter is the award-winning Hollywood star, so here he is...

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 9:00:04 PM
health

Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo now deadliest in country’s history

At least 2,325 people have died from the virus, according to official data, with outbreak on track to be biggest in history The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is now the deadliest in the country’s history, with at least 2,325 people dead, according to government data, surpassing the toll from the 2018-20 outbreak. The DRC’s public health institute said confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 detected in the previous 24 hours...

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 2:07:31 PM
climate

Not all 'doom and gloom': Reform's deputy leader downplays climate crisis – video

Richard Tice suggested Britain should 'adapt' to the climate crisis, arguing we 'can't stop it', at a Reform UK press conference. When asked if climate change was real during the Q&A section of the event, the party's deputy leader sought to downplay the catastrophic effects of the crisis, including on crops, animal habitats and human health, amid the extended period of hot and dry weather this summer. Tice suggested people should adapt to the 'changing' climate and celebrate a boom in English sparkling wine UK politics – latest updates..

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 12:58:54 PM
health

What is Ebola and why is the outbreak in DRC causing so much concern?

Strain of virus with no vaccine has potential to overrun response impeded by conflict and misinformation Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are losing their battle to contain the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak. DRC’s health ministry declared an outbreak in Ituri province on 15 May, though sequencing shows it had begun in February. It has since spread to five other provinces and is on track to overtake the 2014-16 west Africa outbreak as the largest in history...

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 12:53:16 PM
health

Alzheimer’s research is latest casualty in Trump administration war against ‘DEI’

Grant cancellations at leading research institutions appear to target the study of the impacts of racism on brain health A new round of scientific grant cancellations has hit brain health and Alzheimer’s disease research at two leading research institutions, Emory University and the University of Pittsburgh. The latest cancellations are the Trump administration’s most recent effort to remove disfavored topics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) $47bn scientific portfolio – and appear to target the study of the impacts of racism...

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 12:00:54 PM
health

Nothing less than radical whole-system change is required to fix the NHS's maternity services | Julia Sanders

It’s vital that Yvette Cooper’s taskforce acts on the Amos and Ockenden reports – and puts the needs of women and families at the heart of maternity services It is hard to find the words to describe the agony for those who have experienced preventable baby loss, injury or maternal death. Understandably, families who have been through this have campaigned relentlessly for local and national investigations. Every family deserves to know what caused their loss or trauma, but current and past reviews have failed to deliver on resolution and accountability. The vital debate about how to ensure safe maternity care has intensified since the publication of two reports, led by Valerie Amos and Donna Ockenden, and the appointment of Yvette Cooper as secretary of state for health and social care, offering a golden opportunity for system-wide change. “I want to make it a personal crusade to put the cradle back at the heart of the NHS,” Cooper told the Guardian last week, adding that she was committed to introducing a new national maternity commissioner. Julia Sanders is professor of clinical midwifery at Cardiff University and was an expert adviser to the national maternity and neonatal investigation led by Valerie Amos..

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 5:00:46 AM
health

Coping with 54C heat: Delhi slum diaries detail living in extreme temperatures

With heatwaves now recognised as disasters, personal testimonies are key to a new project that looks to protect those living in the most cramped districts of India’s capital Every summer evening, Gulshan follows the same routine. She washes the floor of her one-room home several times so it cools a little for her four children to sleep on. Last summer, the family saved enough to buy a desert cooler, which uses evaporation as a cheaper alternative to air conditioning. The family uses the appliance cautiously to save on energy costs. But even when it is on, Gulshan, who does not use a surname, has to dampeneveryone’s clothes before sleeping. The 39-year-old and her children now have rashes and one has a skin infection from the wet cloth against their skin...

The Guardian • 8/17/2026, 4:00:45 AM
health

How surrogacy helped my sister and friends | Letters

Hazel Davis responds to a letter about the regulation and ethics of surrogacy I wish to respond to Lexi Ellingsworth’s letter (Regulation cannot eliminate surrogacy risks, 23 July). I gave birth to a baby for my friends in January. While the baby is living with its parents, my husband and I are the legal parents. We are waiting for our family court date in September to recognise the baby’s biological parents as legal parents. My surrogacy story started when my sister suffered complications following the birth of her first child. After a second difficult birth, the doctors told her that it wouldn’t be safe for her to carry any more children. I became an auntie via surrogacy when my sister’s friend carried her third child. Now my niece is a determined five‑year-old, just as much a part of the family as her older siblings, and I see no evidence that her origins have any impact...

The Guardian • 8/16/2026, 4:54:13 PM
health

Why cancer, not cost of living, may be the biggest issue in Iowa’s midterm elections

A broad group of diseases in the agricultural powerhouse is top of mind for the midterm elections In Iowa, one of the key battleground states in November’s midterm elections, just about every political candidate agrees on one thing: something must be done about the state’s rising rates of cancer. The midwestern state has the second-highest rate of cancer nationwide and, together with Utah and West Virginia, is one of only three states where incidences of the disease are rising, according to cancer rate monitoring from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities...

The Guardian • 8/16/2026, 12:00:25 PM
world

South Lebanon: Doctor describes escalating humanitarian toll

Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon have killed at least 11 people, in what local authorities describe as the largest escalation since the June agreement. Speaking to FRANCE 24, Pierre Catoire, an emergency doctor working in the area, described a deteriorating humanitarian situation, saying some doctors lost their homes in Saturday’s strikes and healthcare workers are increasingly worried that hospitals could also be targeted. He said the most common injuries are blast and compression wounds, while doctors are also concerned about infections, as well as the long-term psychological impact on civilians.

France 24 • 8/16/2026, 9:46:15 AM
health

Massive egg recall in US south and south-west due to salmonella outbreak

1.6m dozen eggs from Texas recalled amid one of the largest recorded foodborne illness outbreaks in US history A massive egg recall affecting nearly 1.6m dozen eggs has been elevated to the US Food and Drug Administration’s highest-risk warning as officials investigate a salmonella outbreak that has sickened nearly 100 people. The FDA on 12 August reclassified the recall of nearly 1.6m dozen white and brown cage-free eggs over concerns they may be contaminated with salmonella...

The Guardian • 8/15/2026, 4:01:10 PM
health

Lindsay Clancy murder trial: prosecutors revive theory of faked suicide attempt

Prosecutors pointed to internet searches made on the family computer in the months before the killings to make their case Prosecutors revived a theory in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial case this week, suggesting she had faked a suicide attempt after allegedly strangling her three children. While prosecutors have been arguing that Clancy acted intentionally and should be held criminally responsible, her defense has said she suffered from postpartum psychosis...

The Guardian • 8/15/2026, 11:00:56 AM
health

The Fauci hearing was painful to watch. But we need answers on Covid-19’s origin| David Relman

Despite the recent hearings in Congress, we seem to be even further from the goal of understanding Covid-19’s origin’s than we have ever been As a microbiologist and infectious disease clinician, it has been tough to watch the recent devolution of public discourse on Covid-19 origins. It has been especially difficult for me to read the comments of Anthony Fauci about the origins debate in his now-public diary. And it has been painful to watch the televised spectacle hosted by the US senator Rand Paul on 29 July involving a hostile interrogation of Fauci. Despite many early pleas, including my own, for a dispassionate, objective assessment of what we know, don’t know and need to know about Covid-19 origins, we seem to be even further from this goal now than we have ever been – plagued by politicization, polarization and illogical thinking. David Relman is a professor of medicine and microbiology at Stanford University. He was an inaugural member of the US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity and president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America..

The Guardian • 8/15/2026, 10:00:53 AM
health

‘Dangerously hostile’: heatwaves leave hospital wards unsafe, data reveals

Figures disclosed by 33 NHS trusts show temperatures on wards during July rose above 28C limit set by NHS England Hospitals in England have recorded temperatures of almost 42C this summer, with surgeries being cancelled because operating theatres’ cooling units stopped working in the intense heat. The Northern Care Alliance NHS foundation trust, which runs four hospitals in Greater Manchester, recorded a temperature of 41.8C during last month’s heatwave – 14C above the recommended safe maximum. Some patients are also cancelling their own surgery because it is too hot for them to travel. Hospitals and GP surgeries are offering frail elderly patients appointments at the start and end of the day, when it is less hot, to make it easier for them to attend. Ambulance services are struggling to keep some medications at the right temperature because it gets so hot in the back of their vehicles. NHS ambulance trusts have relaxed their usual dress code rules to help crews stay cooler, for example by wearing shorts rather than trousers..

The Guardian • 8/15/2026, 8:01:29 AM
sports

‘In the heatwaves, it’s crucial’: the fight to save France’s rural swimming pools

Ageing facilities offering daily refuge face funding threat as record temperatures parch the countryside Suzy Bernard took a breath and jumped into the deep end of her village swimming pool with a splash. “There’s a wonderful feeling of wellbeing in the water,” said the former hospital healthcare assistant, who recently learned to swim aged 75 and was now gliding along with her daughter and grandson...

The Guardian • 8/15/2026, 4:00:46 AM
health

Trump says record Navy deployment in Iran operations 'not nearly long enough'

US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed concerns about the toll on sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, who have endured a record deployment of almost nine months, saying that the deployment had been “not nearly long enough”. The Lincoln has been supporting the US war against Iran, and reports have emerged of sailors struggling with mental health issues.

France 24 • 8/14/2026, 8:17:38 PM
business

Canadian plasma clinics pause collections after deaths of two donors

Government launches investigation into potential unsafe practices at Spanish healthcare company Grifols A chain of private plasma donation clinics in Canada said Friday it is pausing collections after the deaths of two donors and a new government investigation into potential unsafe practices. Grifols, the Spanish healthcare company that runs 17 clinics across Canada and is the country’s only private clinic for plasma donation, said it informed Health Canada of its decision to temporarily pause collections on Wednesday...

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 4:21:39 PM
health

Iceberg, romaine, kale: which salad greens are healthiest?

If you’re trying to meet your daily serving of 2.5 cups of vegetables, you might have some questions If you want to eat lettuce, that no longer just means iceberg. In our bountiful age, there are many options: romaine, red-leaf lettuce, butter lettuce, beet greens, bok choy, bitter radicchio, every developmental stage of arugula. Sometimes, it’s simply up to preference. But if you’re trying to meet your daily serving of 2.5 cups of vegetables – or you’re rethinking your salad choices amid the US cyclospora outbreak, you might have some questions about which greens to go with...

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 4:00:32 PM
climate

The Great Barrier Reef isn’t dead yet. According to News Corp that makes climate science a ‘pseudo-religion’ | Temperature Check

‘High coral cover is evidence of recovery and resilience, not evidence that the disturbances causing mortality didn’t happen,’ scientist says Sign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter here The Australian newspaper appeared to think it had a slam-dunk this week with a front page story pointing to official government data which showed “the Great Barrier Reef is refusing to die” despite decades of warnings that global heating would cause its demise. In an editorial to back its reporting, the newspaper claimed the “continued good health” of the reef was a “welcome reminder that physics rather than the pseudo-religion of climate change doom still holds sway over the natural order.”..

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 3:00:32 PM
health

Can antihistamines really help with PMDD and menopausal symptoms?

Debilitating symptoms lead some to try over-the-counter medications Allegra and Pepcid due to a social media trend Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) and menopause can come with debilitating symptoms, like intense emotional changes and exhaustion. All over social media, women are claiming that a simple hack has helped enormously: a combination of two over-the-counter medications, both antihistamines – typically, the name brands Pepcid AC and Allegra...

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 12:00:27 PM
health

I’m a neuroscientist. Here’s why our brains need pop concerts | Bala Subramaniam

Attending a Nick Jonas show with my kids was an invitation to ‘collective effervescence’. We need these shared experiences now more than ever Three years ago, I agreed to accompany my children to a Nick Jonas concert. The appeal of the Jonas Brothers, and in this case only one of them, was unfamiliar territory. The concert happened to land on a particularly inconvenient day. As I sprinted out of the hospital, my mind was filled with the “what if’s” and “should haves” about our work that day...

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 12:00:26 PM
health

Three firefighters and a child hospitalised in England as fires blaze in UK, Greece, France and Croatia – Europe live

Four people taken to hospital in Stourbridge, West Midlands with 500 people evacuated in southwest France Four taken to hospital and homes damaged in West Midlands fires UK prime minister Andy Burnham also responded to the wildfire in West Midlands, saying his thoughts are with everyone affected. “I’m in touch with local leaders like [West Midlands Mayor] Richard Parker and will be speaking to emergency services on the ground as they continue their response. Our firefighters are working in incredibly difficult conditions and putting themselves at risk to keep others safe. A huge thank you to them and everyone supporting the effort tonight.” “Please stay safe and follow their advice.”..

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 7:41:58 AM
health

‘We’re seeing lots of people who feel dizzy’: how heatwaves are taking a toll on people’s health and the NHS

Doctors and nurses describe rise in fall injuries and other heat-related problems on top of stifling working conditions “The big thing A&E doctors are seeing during extreme heat now is falls in the elderly,” says Dr Adrian Boyle, an A&E consultant at Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge. “During this summer’s five heatwaves I’ve seen elderly people get light-headed and dizzy and fall down a whole flight of stairs and break multiple bones, purely because of the heat. The last fall down stairs because of the heat resulted in multiple broken ribs, a wrist and her lower leg...

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 7:00:22 AM
culture

‘It was lonely being a young queer artist’: Sam Smith on finding health, happiness – and their hazel-eyed fiance

On their new album, Smith is subverting their singer-songwriter roots to tell a queer love story. They talk about their shifting fanbase, the nasty undercurrents of fame – and finding sanctuary in New York City Sam Smith logs on to our video call with the username “Lily of the Valley”, the May-born singer’s birth flower. It sets a serene tone. They’re in Guadalajara, Mexico, for the latest stop of a residency tour, titled To Be Free, in support of their fifth studio album. Instead of Smith’s usual jet-lagged arena itinerary, this lower-key excursion stops at smaller venues in only six cities and sheds the ostentatious theatricality of their last outing. On stage on their last tour, “I was flailing around on a massive gold bum and had, like, seven costume changes,” Smith says with a chuckle. It’s intimacy they’re after now, the ability to satisfy their “craving to look at people again”, which matches the romantic feeling of their fifth album, Hazel Eyes. But for Smith, whose genre-shifting stardom has been accompanied by harsh controversies, it’s also a chance to observe who’s still in their corner: “There’s some wonderful people that have stayed, but it’s a completely different room than it was with In the Lonely Hour,” their 2014 debut...

The Guardian • 8/14/2026, 4:00:18 AM
health

What is the MMR vaccine and how does Trump’s executive order affect parents and children?

President’s order calls for several changes to childhood vaccinations – and experts say it’ll lead to confusion On Monday, Donald Trump signed an executive order pushing for revisions to how children in the US are vaccinated. The executive order calls for several changes. These include fewer vaccinations overall and a recommendation that the combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine be replaced with separate shots for each disease administered during separate medical visits. The latter direction is currently impossible to implement because no stand-alone shots for these diseases are licensed in the US...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 6:00:18 PM
power

New UN plastic treaty to end pollution is going backwards, experts say

NGOs say agreement held back by tenuous human health commitments and lobbying from plastic industry The latest version of the long overdue plastic treaty is even less ambitious than the previous one, according to experts. A year after UN plastics treaty negotiations collapsed in Geneva in 2025, diplomats met informally in Nairobi between 30 June and 3 July, aiming to flesh out a new “no surprises” document...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 5:59:36 PM
health

Food Standards Agency should do more in the fight against ultra-processed foods | Letters

Mike Pender responds to an article by Felicity Lawrence in which she reflects on why food firms are panicking and suing Felicity Lawrence’s alarming piece on ultra-processed foods (Why are ultra-processed food firms panicking and suing? Because they know time is running out, 7 August) made no mention of the UK’s Food Standards Agency, whose primary statutory objective is to protect public health from risks arising from the consumption of food. The FSA is an independent, non-ministerial government department. Its advice to ministers, and guidance to consumers, is informed by the most up-to-date scientific evidence, free of political or commercial considerations...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 4:38:57 PM
health

Parkrun is a joy for many. Get involved | Letters

Bill Hunter says the weekly 5k race at locations across the UK and beyond is for everyone, and should be celebrated, while Helen Beioley says it is the perfect excuse to meet friends and consume a croissant after I am sorry that the parkrun spoils Janet Knowlson’s experience of her local park (Letters, 7 August). I wonder if she has ever spoken to a parkrunner or a volunteer? Many would tell of the camaraderie and their improved physical and mental health. Strangers become friends and even partners. We do not take over the park, as she alleges, rather we recognise that we share the space with other park users and are respectful of their rights and needs. Parkrun is for everyone and anyone, from children upwards, and not only runners. It is only competitive if you want it to be, and is equally welcoming to walkers. Parkrun is a huge success story, both in the UK and many other countries, and should be celebrated. It receives no public funding and each event relies on an army of volunteers, without whom it wouldn’t happen. Long may it continue. Bill Hunter Honley, West Yorkshire • In response to Janet Knowlson’s letter complaining about the disruption to her daily peaceful walk through her park by parkrun, please can I suggest that she avoid just this one specific hour a week? Parkrun is an inclusive joy for hundreds of thousands of runners and walkers of all shapes, sizes, ages and levels of fitness. For me, it’s the perfect excuse to meet up with mates and wallop down a huge almond croissant as a post-run(walk) reward. Helen Beioley France Lynch, Stroud..

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 4:38:53 PM
health

DRC’s fast-growing Ebola outbreak spreads to sixth province

Man dies in Bas-Uele after travelling from Haut-Uele, as head of WHO says outbreak on track to be deadliest ever The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has spread to a sixth province, officials have said, a day after the head of the World Health Organization said the outbreak was on track to surpass the deadliest in history, which killed at least 11,000 people more than a decade ago. The current outbreak has killed more than 2,100 people out of more than 4,500 cases, according to the latest government figures released on Tuesday. At the same point in the 2014-16 outbreak in west Africa, the previous most deadly outbreak, 755 cases had been recorded, according to WHO data...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 3:17:13 PM
health

Polls open in Clacton, where Farage spent more than £10,000 in byelection against Count Binface – as it happened

The Reform UK leader resigned as the MP for Clacton at the start of July and forced a byelection The number of patients in England being cared for in hospital corridors or makeshift areas has remained above 3,000 a day for the second month in a row, as the NHS experiences a “summer surge”, the Press Association reports. This was happening as A&E attendance numbers reached 2.5m in July – higher than any other single month on record. May and June were also record months for A&E attendance, in part because of the extreme heat. Yvette Cooper, the health secretary, warned yesterday the health service must start planning for summer pressures in the same way as winter. However, the data shows overall waiting times for treatment fell slightly in June after rising for two months in a row. The NHS normally experiences spikes in demand during the summer months, as the public spends more time outside which can lead to a rise in accidents. But this summer has seen unprecedented pressure, with the heat contributing to an increase in admissions caused by more outdoor activity and respiratory issues linked to dry weather, as well as worsening of underlying medical conditions. The first minister is right to ask about this. This is 1,500 jobs in the north of Scotland. It’s also an area that is being transformed by that move towards offshore renewables, Scotland continuing to contribute. It’s an area which is, in general terms, important for security. Scotland is contributing to European energy security, which is a concern across Europe when you speak to leaders there...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 2:54:32 PM
health

California bans paraquat, highly toxic herbicide outlawed in more than 70 countries

State is US’s largest user of pesticide that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson’s disease California is banning paraquat, a highly toxic, controversial herbicide used across millions of acres of American cropland. Public health advocates characterize it as a deadly substance that is virtually proven to cause Parkinson’s disease. It is already outlawed in more than 70 countries, including China, the UK and the EU. Yet in the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reapproved it for use in 2021 and 2024...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 12:00:00 PM
health

How Trump’s order on vaccines is sowing confusion, doubt and fear

The order cannot effect change, and is only ‘undermining trust in vaccines’ as CDC guidance remains the same Donald Trump’s executive order on vaccines does not change the US recommendations for the shots – but experts say it does create confusion and doubt about vaccines, which will lead to more illness and possibly deaths among children and will make it harder for families and pediatricians to protect them. The executive order was an attempt to reinstate sweeping changes to the vaccine schedule made earlier this year by Robert F Kennedy Jr, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services and a longtime vaccine opponent – changes that were later halted by a federal judge...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 11:00:56 AM
technology

Trump administration finalizes rule to end federal support for gender-affirming care

Move blocking funds through Medicaid and Chip to make it harder for vulnerable children to get healthcare, experts say The Trump administration finalized a rule on Tuesday to end gender-affirming care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (Chip), a move that will make it harder for vulnerable children to access healthcare and that eschews evidence to advance an anti-transgender ideology, opponents say. The rule is set to take effect on 13 October – but legal challenges could delay or block it entirely...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 11:00:56 AM
health

What end-of-life experts know about living well: love your wrinkles, celebrate birthdays and don’t obsess over work

How can our understanding of mortality shape the way we live? Palliative care doctors and death doulas share the lessons they have learned We will all face death one day, but our attitude towards this is individual. How can our understanding of mortality shape our approach to life? Here, palliative care doctors and death doulas share what they know about the end – and how it informs the way they live...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 9:00:54 AM
health

Stop the bites! How to survive another summer of mosquitoes, midges and horseflies

Dress like a zebra, wash your feet, keep off the beer: insect experts explain what works and what doesn’t – and why some of us get bitten more than others It’s a good time to be a mosquito or other blood-sucking insect. In the UK and beyond, they are enjoying the summer heat, and there are lots of humans outdoors, some wearing very little, like an all-you-can-eat walking buffet. Some of the humans are drinking beer, which apparently makes them even more irresistible to mosquitoes. Many of us are warm and sweaty, which is all the better for the blood-suckers seeking us out. Insect populations are changing because of the warming climate and there are organisations keeping an eye on invasive species, especially mosquitoes, which can be vectors for diseases such as dengue and malaria (globally, more than 600,000 people a year die from malaria). The UK “will have a threat from mosquito-borne diseases as time goes on,” says James Logan, professor of medical entomology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and CEO of Dot, an “odour intelligence” company. “The biggest threats are arboviruses [viruses transmitted by arthropods, especially insects and ticks], such as dengue. We have mosquitoes throughout [mainland] Europe now that can transmit dengue. We also know that we do get those mosquitoes coming across to the UK, but they don’t seem to be breeding here successfully and surviving over the winter.” But, he warns, with milder winters and warmer summers, it is only a matter of time...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 8:59:43 AM
power

Europe heatwave live: Temperatures of 40C expected in Spain, with amber heat health warning in place across large parts of UK

In France, 80 departments have been placed on an orange heat warning The government will look at banning disposable barbecues as wildfires continue to rage across the UK, Andy Burnham has said. Disposable barbecues have been the cause of a number of serious fires over the last few years, but campaigners were critical of the prime minister’s failure to link those fires more broadly to the climate crisis. Macclesfield, Cheshire, July 2026: a large woodland fire that was tackled by dozens of firefighters. Cheshire fire and rescue service said a discarded barbecue was the probable cause Three separate fires in one day around London, July 2026: in Feltham, 6 hectares of heathland close to houses were damaged. The London fire brigade urged people not to use disposable barbecues and to properly extinguish cigarettes after crews tackled three grass fires. The Trossachs, Scotland, May 2025: covered 2 hectares in the Glen Finglas region of the national park. Glen Finglas is the biggest Woodland Trust site in the UK. The barbecue understood to have sparked that fire was found with a burger still on the grill...

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 8:06:03 AM
health

An Amputation Obsession: the Monster and the Surgeon review – an engrossing story, if you can stomach it

This documentary follows the shocking case of Neil Hopper, a top surgeon who had his own legs removed due to a fetish. No fetish or obsession is unique, and the internet can always connect you with others whose minds work the same way. It’s one of the great blessings and curses of the digital age, and central to An Amputation Obsession: the Monster and the Surgeon, a two-part documentary on which the “contains material some viewers may find disturbing” disclaimer is no exaggeration. We begin at the Royal Cornwall hospital, known locally as Treliske, in Truro, Cornwall. It used to have a man on its staff who was a minor medical superstar: Neil Hopper, a vascular surgeon, was well known for his clinical expertise and comforting bedside manner, particularly when advising on and performing amputations. He acquired full hero status in 2019, when he was diagnosed with sepsis and had both legs amputated below the knee but miraculously returned to work within six months, astonishing physiotherapists and other medical professionals with how well he adapted to disability. An Amputation Obsession: the Monster and the Surgeon is on Prime Video..

The Guardian • 8/13/2026, 4:00:47 AM
business

‘Real mummy’s curse’: health warning over growing trade in mummified human remains

Academic paper says often illicit trade exposes enthusiasts – and postal workers handling items – to serious risks A growing global trade in mummified human remains has been described by academics as “a real mummy’s curse” that poses a serious health risk to its enthusiasts and the postal services they use. Research into the secretive buying and selling of centuries-old human body parts including hands, feet and heads found alarming risks from dormant microorganisms and the toxic materials used to preserve the remains...

The Guardian • 8/11/2026, 1:25:07 PM
health

Trump’s vaccine order is about feelings, not facts | Robert B Shpiner

There’s no evidence that vaccines cause autism, or that we should separate MMR shots. This order is dangerous “This is based on what I feel.” That was the president last September, explaining why he wanted the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine broken into three separate shots. On Monday, he signed an executive order instructing exactly that. Four decades in intensive care have taught me what a feeling costs once it becomes national policy. Children will be hospitalized who did not need to be. Some of them will die. No one can name those the vaccine has saved, because prevented harm is invisible by definition, and that invisibility is what makes preventive medicine easy to dismantle and hard to defend...

The Guardian • 8/11/2026, 10:00:57 AM
health

Mental health: one step forward and two steps back? | Letters

Dr Kate Martin is encouraged by the new network of community clinics, while Prof Dr John R Ashton says the forthcoming mental health strategy is an opportunity to grasp the nettle, while Marjorie Wallace expresses concerns about plans to cut mental health jobs in the NHS It’s very encouraging to hear the announcement about the new network of community mental health clinics in England (Editorial, 6 August). The focus on early intervention is crucial, as it means that people can access treatment as early as possible, rather than waiting for their mental health to reach a crisis point. The centres should improve access, reaching people where they are. The government should make sure that they meaningfully involve people with lived experience of mental health problems to ensure the centres are co-designed and co-led with them. As your editorial says, parity between mental and physical healthcare became a policy goal in 2011. Mental health is an issue that unites us. According to new research, which we commissioned from More in Common, nearly three-quarters of the public believe that mental health is as important as physical health, most people are comfortable talking about it, and support for early intervention is high across the political spectrum. Three-quarters also say the government should do more to improve services...

The Guardian • 8/10/2026, 4:46:30 PM
health

DR Congo: Could a vaccine soon be available to the public?

The Ervebo vaccine has proved safe and effective against the more common Zaire strain of the Ebola virus, and World Health Organization experts say early data, notably from animal trials, suggest it may also offer some protection against the rarer Bundibugyo strain, which is spreading in the DR Congo. We discuss this with our guest, Dr. Paulin Mutombo Beya, deputy director at the Kinshasa School of Public Health.

France 24 • 8/10/2026, 1:57:47 PM
health

Louisiana warns beachgoers amid surge in flesh-eating bacteria infections

State confirms nine cases, including five deaths, from Vibrio vulnificus organism, which thrives in seawater Health officials in Louisiana are urging beachgoers to take precautions during a summertime surge in infections from a flesh-eating bacterium found in coastal waters. Louisiana has confirmed nine cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, the state’s health department said last week in a news release. All were hospitalized, and five died. During the same period over the previous decade, Louisiana reported an average of seven cases and one death...

The Guardian • 8/10/2026, 12:58:56 PM
technology

What happens when medical students rely on AI – and never develop their own judgment? | Simar Bajaj and Joseph Sakran

AI’s danger isn’t just in experts losing the ability to reason. It’s that trainees may never learn how to do so in the first place In healthcare, there’s growing concern over doctors becoming less clinically adept as they increasingly rely on AI tools. But what about the trainees – medical students, residents and fellows – who are using these tools before they’ve built their own clinical judgment? The idea of deskilling implies that someone possessed an ability and then lost it. Here, the danger is not just deskilling but never-skilling. Although a doctor who has forgotten how to reason is recoverable, one who never learned how may not be. OpenEvidence, essentially an AI chatbot for clinicians, has given this concern its most concrete form. About two-thirds of US doctors actively use OpenEvidence, asking about puzzling symptoms, drug interactions, and clinical guidelines, getting responses within seconds, anchored in the latest research. Trainees, unsurprisingly, have also begun to use this AI tool in many of the same ways – but at a far more formative stage...

The Guardian • 8/10/2026, 12:00:44 PM
health

Kurdish hunger striker says ICE force-feeding ‘mentally broke me’

Exclusive: Film-maker Gabar Choli describes how he endured coercive treatment over eight months in detention in Texas A Kurdish man who was force fed over the course of eight months while on hunger strike in US immigration detention has spoken out about it for the first time, describing how much the process harmed him physically and psychologically. Gabar Choli, a film-maker and activist now living in Canada after being deported, described how he endured the coercive treatment – a practice widely considered torture by international human rights groups – often twice a day after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when his asylum application was denied...

The Guardian • 8/10/2026, 10:00:40 AM
world

Calls for system review after lowest alert in force during record-breaking heat

Hong Kong authorities are under pressure to review the warning system for heat stress at work after the lowest-level alert remained in force on Sunday, despite the city sweltering through its hottest day on record. Labour unionists, joined by a leading meteorologist, also proposed relaxing the law to recognise heatstroke as a work-related injury, thus entitling workers to compensation. A scorching 36.9 degrees Celsius (98.4 Fahrenheit) was recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui...

South China Morning Post • 8/9/2026, 3:42:54 PM
health

Martin O’Neill absent from Celtic’s win at Kilmarnock as Høgh hits hat-trick

Høgh scored first goals since joining from Bodø/Glimt O’Neill ‘doing better’ after procedure in hospital Kasper Høgh scored a hat-trick, his first goals for Celtic, as the Scottish champions made light of the absence of their manager Martin O’Neill with a 5-1 win away to Kilmarnock on Sunday. Victory made it two wins out of two Scottish Premiership games for Celtic, with 74-year-old boss O’Neill missing the trip to Rugby Park after what the club had said earlier this week was a “small procedure” in hospital...

The Guardian • 8/9/2026, 3:04:54 PM
health

We know sleep, exercise and diet are vital for health. But why?

The benefits of all three come down to a crucial piece of cellular kit Sleep. Exercise. Eat well. It’s the oldest recommendation in medicine, repeated so often it’s become a cliche. We know the advice, even if we don’t always follow it. But have you ever stopped to wonder why these three seemingly different habits have such remarkably similar effects on our brains and bodies? For generations we’ve treated them as separate prescriptions – sleep restores us, exercise strengthens us and food fuels us. Yet neuroscience is beginning to suggest something rather more elegant: they’re all essentially doing the same job...

The Guardian • 8/9/2026, 11:00:15 AM
health

Britain is paying the price for failing to invest in its young people | Richard Partington

Alan Milburn has outlined a generation cut adrift by austerity. We must grasp the nettle and rebuild a preventive state Most people think Britain is not working as it should. For young people, the situation is at its most acute: Only one in four believe that everyone in society has a fair crack. Most think the game is rigged. It is clear why the generation who grew up during the post-2008 crash austerity years and in the shadow of the Covid pandemic are downbeat: the level of public service provision their parents enjoyed is gone, living costs are rising, the AI revolution is changing everything, and the planet is on fire...

The Guardian • 8/9/2026, 11:00:02 AM