Month: August 2024

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) believes the ongoing mpox outbreaks in Africa might be stopped in the next six months, and said on Friday that the agency’s first shipment of vaccines should arrive in Congo within days. To date, Africa has received just a tiny fraction of the vaccines needed to slow the spread of the virus, especially in Congo, which has the most cases – more […]

A Brazilian Supreme Court justice on Friday ordered the suspension of Elon Musk’s social media giant X in Brazil after the tech billionaire refused to name a legal representative in the country, according to a copy of the decision seen by the Associated Press. The move further escalates the months-long feud between the two men over free speech, far-right accounts and misinformation. Justice Alexandre de Moraes had warned Musk on […]

Reality TV star and influencer Molly-Mae Hague has confirmed she will not publicly disclose reasons behind her split from Tommy Fury but will always “value, respect and have a lot of love” for him. The pair, who met on ITV dating show Love Island, announced they had split in separate social media messages earlier this month, with fans flocking to support Hague online. Professional boxer Fury later described “false allegations” […]

Swimmers Poppy Maskill and Tully Kearney delivered Great Britain’s first Paralympic golds of Paris 2024. Maskill, 19, set a new world record of one minute and three seconds to claim the women’s 100m butterfly S14 title. Kearney then took the S5 200m freestyle crown in 2:46.50, upgrading the silver she won at Tokyo 2020. The victory secured a second career Paralympic gold for the 27-year-old, who is reigning S5 100m […]

Aston Villa will face a battle of Britain against Celtic and a nostalgic visit from Bayern Munich in their debut Champions League campaign. At the draw in Monte Carlo, the revamped 36-team competition threw up a showdown with the Scottish champions and a repeat of Villa’s finest hour, their European Cup victory over Bayern in 1982. The new format sees all 36 teams forming a single league, with each entrant […]

A series of weekend strikes by train drivers on LNER have been called off. Members of Aslef were due to walk out on Saturday after the union claimed there had been a breakdown in industrial relations. More than 20 days of strikes were planned on weekends in the next few months which would have disrupted services. The dispute is separate to the long-running pay row involving drivers across the country […]

Sir Keir Starmer has said the Government will “take decisions” on a potential outdoor smoking ban in an effort to curb preventable deaths and alleviate pressures on the NHS. Industry leaders have warned that the proposed plans to ban outdoor smoking, including in beer gardens and outside stadiums, would be another “nail in the coffin” for pubs and bars. According to leaked proposals seen by The Sun newspaper, the Government […]

Suicide rates registered in England and Wales last year were the highest in more than two decades, new data shows. Around three-quarters of deaths by suicide were among males, the Office for National Statistics said, noting this has been the case since the mid-1990s. But while the rate for women was lower, it was at its highest last year since 1994. The ONS said its work monitoring registrations of deaths […]

Hotel prices have soared in Edinburgh after Oasis announced a reunion tour and added a third date in the city, with one basic double room costing almost £1,000. An extra Edinburgh date was among those added to the Oasis Live 25 tour on Thursday, with the Manchester rockers now set to perform at Murrayfield on August 8, 9 and 12 – during the Edinburgh festivals. The Haymarket Hotel, which is […]