Author:

August GDP data from ONS gives strong signal that UK is entering recession Britain’s economy shrank by 0.3% in August from July, hit by weakness in manufacturing and by maintenance work that slowed the oil and gas sector, official data showed on Wednesday. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to zero growth in August. Continue reading… ​August GDP data from ONS gives strong signal that UK is entering recessionBritain’s economy shrank by 0.3% in August from July, hit by weakness in manufacturing and by maintenance work that slowed the oil and gas sector, official data showed on Wednesday.A Reuters…

Read More

Rapid analysis of patients’ entire genome will allow treatment to begin much faster Very sick babies and children will be diagnosed and start treatment more quickly thanks to a “revolutionary” new genetic testing service being launched by the NHS. Doctors will gain vital insights within as little as two days into what illnesses more than 1,000 newborns and infants a year in England have from the rapid analysis of blood tests. Continue reading… ​Rapid analysis of patients’ entire genome will allow treatment to begin much fasterVery sick babies and children will be diagnosed and start treatment more quickly thanks to…

Read More

All-party group report on menopause also calls for more workplace support and training for health workers Millions of women across the UK should be invited for an NHS health check at the age of 45 to discuss the menopause and HRT prescriptions should be free, MPs have said. The all-party parliamentary group on menopause (APPG) said on Tuesday that more needs to be done urgently to help women, including boosting support in the workplace, introducing fresh training on symptoms for health workers, and improving access to treatment. Continue reading… ​All-party group report on menopause also calls for more workplace support…

Read More

Trains over Planes report says disruption to commuters would be minimal Banning flights on routes with fast rail connections could cut the UK’s emissions from domestic aviation by a third, a report has found. The report by the thinktank Intergenerational Foundation (IF) found that domestic aviation was responsible for the emission of 2.7 megatonnes of CO2 in 2019 alone – the equivalent of the annual emissions from 1.7 million petrol cars or the energy to power 700,000 UK homes for a year. Continue reading… ​Trains over Planes report says disruption to commuters would be minimal Banning flights on routes with…

Read More

Four women say BBC failed to act until high-profile man became Alex Belfield target, and still refuses independent inquiry The BBC has been accused by senior female employees of failing to help them during a 10-year campaign of harassment against them by a former local radio presenter, Alex Belfield, who is now in jail for stalking. The women – who include the corporation’s outgoing director of BBC England, Helen Thomas – are furious that the BBC wouldn’t commission an independent investigation into how it “ignored” their suffering until a high-profile man, Jeremy Vine, became a Belfield target. Continue reading… ​Four…

Read More

Christopher Backhouse falsely portrayed Erica Smith as a sex worker and signed her up for far-right groups and fetish websites A former academic at University College London must pay almost £50,000 in damages to a former colleague after falsely portraying her as a sex worker on social media as part of a months-long campaign of harassment. Christopher Backhouse, a former research fellow at the department of physics and astronomy at UCL, has settled to pay £49,975 to Erica Smith, a physicist and a postdoctoral fellow at Indiana University in the US. Continue reading… ​Christopher Backhouse falsely portrayed Erica Smith as…

Read More

Irish research shows infants were slightly less likely to speak, point or wave at 12 months but were more likely to crawl Babies born during the first lockdown met fewer developmental milestones aged one compared with those born before the pandemic – although they may have been faster to crawl, data suggests. About 600,000 babies were born in Britain, and a further 60,000 in Ireland, during 2020 – when Covid restrictions and mask wearing put a stop to many social activities, including toddler rhyme-times, antenatal group outings and cuddles with grandparents. Since then, parents and psychologists have pondered the impact…

Read More