Climate and Science, Sharm el-Sheikh The UN’s climate change summit has opened in Egypt with a warning that our planet is “sending a distress signal”. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was responding to a UN report released on Sunday saying the past eight years were on track to be the warmest onContinue Reading
Global leaders are about to meet for another UN climate summit – COP27 starting in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sunday – and the reality of climate change for many people can be overwhelming. Record-breaking heatwaves, devastating floods in Pakistan, and drought in East Africa – and that is just this year.Continue Reading
Up to a third of UK children – mostly young teens – consume at least one energy drink a week, while some are having them almost daily, new research suggests. Those who drink lots may get headaches and sleep problems, warn the authors of a report in the BMJ Open. HighContinue Reading
People with high blood pressure who take paracetamol on prescription could be increasing their risk of heart attacks and strokes, a study suggests. Doctors should think about the risks and benefits to patients taking it over many months, the University of Edinburgh researchers say. Taking the painkiller for headaches andContinue Reading
Fossil fuel emissions aren’t just driving climate change and worsening air quality, they’re also hurting crop yields enough to cause some $63 billion in annual losses in East Asia, scientists say. With high levels of ozone pollution, China, South Korea and Japan are seeing diminished yields in wheat, rice, andContinue Reading
Novak Djokovic could be barred from playing in the French Open as things stand now after the Sports Ministry said on Monday there would be no exemption from France’s new vaccine pass law. World number one Djokovic, who has not been vaccinated against COVID-19, was deported from Australia on SundayContinue Reading
Tsunami-hit Tonga remained largely uncontactable on Sunday with telephone and internet links severed, leaving relatives in faraway New Zealand praying for their families on the Pacific islands as casualty reports had yet to come through. An underwater volcano off Tonga erupted on Saturday, triggering warnings of 1.2-metre tsunami waves andContinue Reading
The Information Commissioners’ Office (ICO) is to talk to Meta about how its virtual reality (VR) business Oculus complies with the regulator’s “children’s code”. The code aims to ensure that online services likely to be accessed by children are appropriate for their use. A campaign group recently found evidence ofContinue Reading
People are spending an average of 4.8 hours a day on their mobile phones, according to app monitoring firm App Annie. In 2020, UK regulator Ofcom found similar amounts of time spent, although its research included watching TV. App Annie’s report indicates that apps were downloaded 230 billion times in 2021, whileContinue Reading
Daily coronavirus cases in Saudi Arabia have climbed above 1,000 for the first time since August, while daily infections in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) haven crossed the 2,500-level. Authorities in the two Gulf Arab states did not break down the cases by COVID-19 variant. Both countries confirmed their firstContinue Reading