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a bike in action

Tour de France: future heatwaves may make it untenable to hold the race in July

As the men鈥檚 Tour de France wraps up and the women鈥檚 tournament begins, the European heat wave rages on. If you look closely, the heat can be seen in photos of the event: cooling towels around racers鈥� necks, water splashed over red faces, ice packs sticking out from under race jerseys.

Weight loss advice from GPs really can help people slim down and stay that way 鈥� new research

For people looking to lose weight, it can be hard to know where to start. Not only are there scores of commercial weight loss programmes to choose from, there鈥檚 also plenty of confusing and contradictory weight loss advice to be found online or in magazines.
Landing of Italian Troops in Tripoli, Libya in October 1911. (Image supplied by the Illustrations Bureau (Whitefriars, London)).

Photos of wartime Europe still shape views of conflict 鈥� here鈥檚 how we鈥檙e trying to right the record

A war in Europe instantly creates parallels with the world wars for people in the UK and other European countries. This connection represents what most people know and are taught about conflict on the continent. The media coverage and response to the war in Ukraine have also invoked familiar images of the second world war, in particular those of bombed buildings, armed soldiers and civilians, and children clinging to their parents.
A child doing timestables

More maths testing could be good for primary schoolchildren 鈥� if done in the right way

Recently published UK government plans proposed that by 2030, 90% of children leaving primary school in England should reach the expected standards in reading, writing and maths, compared with 65% in 2019.

Menopause: HRT鈥檚 brain-protecting effect may be overstated

Many women expect hot flushes, dry skin and night sweats when they reach the menopause. But the effect the menopause can have on the brain is rarely mentioned. This is something a recent Channel 4 documentary presented by Davina McCall explored.

Ukraine war: Sweden and Finland eye the Nato option, but it鈥檚 a security dilemma for the west

The Kremlin has issued an ominous warning to Nato about the consequences for the Baltic if it allows Sweden and Finland to join the alliance, as has been widely reported.

Businesses are being hit by tax hikes and higher energy costs 鈥� and it will mostly hurt poorer people

In the UK, much attention has been paid to the fact that employees鈥� national insurance (NI) contributions have increased from April 6 鈥� from 12% to 13.25% for earnings between 拢9,880 and 拢50,270 and then from 2% to 3.25% for earnings above that threshold.

Ukraine war: Turkey鈥檚 unique role in peace negotiations

After more than a month of fighting, a fresh round of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine has begun in Istanbul in the hope that progress can be made. Following weeks of fruitless talks in Belarus, negotiations were hosted by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an, who made a short opening statement telling both sides: 鈥淭he world is waiting for good news, and good news from you.鈥�
St. Basil's Cathedral, Russia. Image courtesy of Getty Images.

Vladimir Putin: risk-taker who is gambling his country鈥檚 future

In the early 1990s, when he was deputy mayor of St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin was known to a member of the city鈥檚 legislature, Viktor Talanov. A psychologist by profession, Talanov prepared a study of Putin in which he concluded that one of his subject鈥檚 fundamental psychological characteristics was a very high tolerance of risk.

COVID bailouts helped politically connected businesses more than others 鈥� new research

COVID has been a painfully expensive ordeal for countries across the world. Aside from the medical cost of vaccines, testing and treatment, economic aid for furlough schemes and sector bailouts dealt a serious blow to public finances.

Ukraine war: how Ghana is vulnerable, and what can be done

The seismic aftershocks of Russia鈥檚 invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine, on 24 February 2022 continues to reverberate across the globe.
red square, moscow

SWIFT: ejecting Russia is largely symbolic 鈥� here鈥檚 why

Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine is horrifying. Western leaders, fearing a broader war, are responding primarily with economic sanctions. A prominent economic sanction has been Russia鈥檚 exclusion from the international payments messaging system SWIFT, presented as a powerful means of undermining its economy.

a child playing football

The fighting spirit of young African footballers who migrate overseas

When Sadio Man茅 scored the decisive penalty to secure Senegal鈥檚 triumph over Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, Isaak, a professional Ghanaian footballer in his late 20s, could not have been further away from the action.
a snowy mountain with a skier

Beijing 2022: environmental cost of world鈥檚 first Winter Olympics without natural snow 鈥� expert Q+A

The 24th Winter Olympic Games are underway in the Chinese capital, but winter itself seems far away.

a person warming up pre exercise

Three tips to help you stay motivated to keep exercising all year long

February. The month of shattered dreams and ambitions. The trainers are gathering dust and chocolate bars have replaced protein bars. The gusto with which we attacked our new year resolutions is a vague memory.

Man in suit holding mobile

COVID misinformation is a health risk 鈥� tech companies need to remove harmful content not tweak their algorithms

Many worldwide have now caught COVID. But during the pandemic many more are likely to have encountered something else that鈥檚 been spreading virally: misinformation. False information has plagued the COVID response, erroneously convincing people that the virus isn鈥檛 harmful, of the merits of various ineffective treatments, or of false dangers associated with vaccines.

鈥楽allets鈥� 鈥� how to eat healthily the 1600s way

When we think of food in the past, it is often images of Henry VIII with a table groaning with meat dishes that springs to mind. But in fact our ancestors knew more about the health benefits of eating salads 鈥� normally thought of as a cold dish of herbs or vegetables 鈥� than we might think.