Alcohol-related deaths in the UK have hit a record high, with 10,473 people dying in 2023 as a result of heavy drinking, statistics have revealed. That is an increase on the 10,048 deaths the Office for National Statistics recorded across the four countries of the UK during 2022, the first time more than 10,000 such…
Banning smartphones at school does not improve academic grades and children’s wellbeing, a study suggests. Researchers from the University of Birmingham did find that spending longer on phones and social media in general was linked to lower grades, poor sleep, disruptive behaviour and a lack of exercise. But these outcomes did not differ between schools…
The brother of a man allegedly connected to a caravan found laden with explosives in Sydney has said his sibling is “just a normal person, he doesn’t hate anyone”. Scott Marshall, 36, and his partner, Tammie Farrugia, 34, were named on a police search warrant as part of the investigation into the caravan, which police…
François Bayrou, the French prime minister, is almost certain to survive a vote of no confidence on Wednesday after the move that threatened to topple the government – for the second time in two months – lost the support of socialists and the far right. The decision by the Socialist party (PS) not to support…
A newly formed group dedicated to fighting what it calls the covert use of affirmative action in admissions decisions by colleges in the University of California system announced on Monday that it was filing a lawsuit, aiming for an injunction to prohibit any consideration of race in student admissions. “The University of California has not…
The Trump administration is placing US Agency for International Development direct-hire staffers around the world on leave, except those deemed essential. A notice posted online on Tuesday gives the workers 30 days to return home, upending the aid agency’s six-decade mission overseas. Thousands of USAid employees already had been laid off and programs worldwide shut…
“China is operating the Panama canal and we didn’t give it to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back.” Donald Trump’s claim in his inauguration speech that Panama had “broken its promises” to the US was alarming for many Panamanians. Washington relinquished control of the canal in 1977, so why is…
A Melbourne man alleged to be the creator of the prolific “Pam the Bird” graffiti will remain behind bars, with a magistrate saying there was a risk of him continuing to target prominent locations to boost his social media notoriety if released. Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, appeared in the Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday morning where…
Staffers with Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (Doge) reportedly entered the headquarters of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) in Silver Spring, Maryland, and the Department of Commerce in Washington DC today, inciting concerns of downsizing at the agency. “They apparently just sort of walked past security and said: ‘Get out of my…
Hundreds of protesters and a contingent of Democratic lawmakers rallied outside the Department of the Treasury in Washington on Tuesday, denouncing what they called Elon Musk’s “hostile takeover” of federal financial systems, as demonstrations spilled on to, and took over, the street outside the building. The protests targeted reports of the “department of government efficiency”…
