5 h. ago It is hay fever or Covid? Key symptoms and how to tell the difference as cases continue to rise

Covid symptoms can sometimes be mistaken for hay fever 🤧

Science

3 d. ago ‘Everyone’s scared’: little appetite for mirth before White House correspondents’ dinner

Annual event likely to prove gloomy affair amid Trump attacks on press and rise of Maga media ecosystemIt is no laughing matter. The annual dinner for journalists who cover the White House is best known for American presidents trying to be funny and comedians trying to be political. But this year’s edition will feature neither.Instead the event in a downtown Washington hotel on Saturday night will, critics say, resemble something closer to a wake for legacy media still trying to find an effective response to Donald Trump’s divide-and-rule tactics and the rise of the Maga media ecosystem. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago 'Worrying' surge in Victorian disease resistant to antibiotics is 'ticking time bomb', expert warns

Cases of a Victorian-era lung disease continue to rise in England and experts warn its growing resistance to antibiotics is a "huge concern"

Events

5 d. ago Evidence of alien life, a clue about the rise of colon cancer, and a new colour? – podcast

Madeleine Finlay and Ian Sample discuss three intriguing science stories from the week. From a hint at alien life on a distant planet, to a clue in the search for answers over why colon cancer rates are rising in the under 50’s, and news from a group of scientists who claim to have experienced a colour no one has ever seen before. Are we alone? New discovery raises hopes of finding alien lifeChildhood toxin exposure ‘may be factor in bowel cancer rise in under-50s’ Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Why the Northern Super League can change football in Canada for good

Without a pathway to follow in their own country, players have had to look overseas to make a career. But no moreAs “O Canada” reverberated around Vancouver’s BC Place last Wednesday, the emotion was clear on the faces of those on the pitch and in the crowd. There were hugs, there were tears, and there was an unbeatable cacophony of noise when Quinn slotted home the winning penalty, the first goal of the Northern Super League era. All 14,000 inside the stadium were aware of how momentous this occasion was, the moment professional domestic women’s football had finally arrived in Canada.For many of the Canadian players involved in Vancouver Rise and Calgary Wild, it was the first time they will have heard only their anthem at the start of the match. “It was something I said to our team before the game,” the Rise midfielder Quinn reflected after the game. “That was pretty neat.” Continue reading...

Sport

1 week ago Lionel Messi hails teenage star who is already 'one of world's best'

Lamine Yamal has continued to enjoy a rapid rise and has claimed numerous individual accolades with Lionel Messi already ranking him among the world's best players

Politics

1 week ago How RFK Jr’s mixed messages on vaccines are impacting scientific research – podcast

As a measles outbreak expands across the US, comments by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr have come under scrutiny. Kennedy has said that the best way to prevent measles is to get vaccinated – but he has also caused alarm among paediatricians, vaccine experts and lawmakers by promoting vitamin A and nutrition as treatments for measles and questioning the safety testing of the MMR vaccine. He also recently announced a US-led scientific effort to establish the cause of what he terms the ‘autism epidemic’, with some experts concerned that this study will support the widely discredited association between autism and vaccines. US health reporter Jessica Glenza tells Ian Sample, the Guardian’s science editor, how these mixed messages are already impacting scientific research.RFK Jr says his response to measles outbreak should be ‘model for the world’RFK Jr contradicts experts by linking autism rise to ‘environmental toxins’ Continue reading...

Science

1 week ago Doctor is charged with murdering 15 palliative care patients and trying to hide evidence by setting fire to their homes

The Berlin-based physician was first arrested in August last year on suspicion of killing four people. But as investigations progressed, the number of suspected victims continued to rise

Events

1 week ago Doctor with 'a lust for murder' is charged with murdering 15 palliative care patients

The Berlin-based physician was first arrested in August last year on suspicion of killing four people. But as investigations progressed, the number of suspected victims continued to rise

Science

2 w. ago What I’ve learned after 40 years as the Observer’s science editor

Almost as amazing as the knowledge we have gained in the past four decades is the fact that some people continue to deny the damage we are doing to our worldEarlier this year I received an email from a reader asking background questions about an article I had written more than four decades ago. Given the time gap, my recollection was hazy. To be honest, it was almost non-existent. So I was intrigued – and then astonished when I read the feature.I had written about the British glaciologist John Mercer, author of a 1978 Nature paper in which he warned that continuing increases in fossil fuel consumption would cause amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide to soar. Global temperatures could rise by 2C by the mid-21st century, causing major ice loss at the poles and threatening a 5-metre rise in sea levels, he warned. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The case against Mahmoud Khalil is meant to silence American dissent | Moustafa Bayoumi

The open door of American democracy is slamming shut faster and louder than we could have imaginedOn Friday afternoon, a federal immigration judge in Louisiana ruled that Mahmoud Khalil, the lawful permanent resident who was arrested last month for his advocacy for Palestinian rights at Columbia University, was removable – that is to say, deportable – under the law.Let’s be absolutely clear about how outrageous this decision is. The judge, Jamee Comans, had given the Trump administration a deadline to produce the evidence required to show that Khalil should be deported. In a functional state, such evidence would rise to a standard of extreme criminality necessitating deportation. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago The only way is up: a celebration of Bolivia’s Indigenous female climbers – in pictures

The word cholita has in the past been used as a pejorative term for the Indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia. But the women in these photographs are reclaiming the word: they are “Cholitas Escaladoras”, or climbing cholitas. In 2019, they summited the 6,961 metre (22,841ft) peak of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain outside Asia, while wearing traditional dresses and shawls. After reading about them in an article, photographer Todd Antony flew out to feature them in a series. “I wanted to capture their strength and pride,” he says. “In the very recent past, Aymara women were socially ostracised and systematically marginalised. Their act of climbing breaks the stereotypes associated with them and mirrors their rise out of oppression.”See more at instagram.com/toddantonyphoto Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Travellers arriving in Great Britain face import ban on EU meat and dairy

Government introduces measure to prevent spread of foot-and-mouth disease after rise in cases across EuropeTourists from Great Britain who travel to the continent to satisfy their epicurean desires for cured meats and fragrant cheeses will be frustrated in their attempts to bring home some of their favourite foods after a ban on meat and dairy imports from EU countries came into force this weekend.From Saturday, holidaymakers will no longer be able to bring meat from cattle, sheep, goats or pigs, or dairy products, from EU countries into Great Britain for personal use, in a move aimed at preventing the spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) after a rise in cases across Europe. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump insists tariff war is ‘doing really well’ as recession fears mount

S&P 500 and Dow Jones rise sharply after extraordinarily volatile week as experts warn of continued turbulenceDonald Trump insisted his trade war with much of the world was “doing really well” despite mounting fears of recession and as Beijing hit back and again hiked tariffs on US exports to China.As the US president said his aggressive tariffs strategy was “moving along quickly”, a closely watched economic survey revealed that US consumer expectations for price growth had soared to a four-decade high. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago 7 Emmerdale spoilers as John exposes his past, Caleb gets to the truth and Anthony's body is gone

It's another week in the Dales as tensions continue to rise

Politics

3 w. ago 'Hawaii of Europe' where you can buy a beer for £2.28 and return flights for £30

While prices continue to rise in the UK due to the cost of living the good news is you may still be able to afford a summer holiday in the sun and it doesn't need to break the bank

Economics

3 w. ago Torrential rain and flash flooding follow deadly tornadoes as storms rage in central US

Days of heavy rains have led to rapidly swelling waterways and prompted a series of flood emergencies from Texas to OhioAnother round of torrential rain and flash flooding on Saturday hit parts of the US south and midwest already heavily waterlogged by days of severe storms that also spawned deadly tornadoes. Forecasters warned that rivers in some places would continue to rise for days.Day after day of heavy rains have pounded the central US, rapidly swelling waterways and prompting a series of flash flood emergencies from Texas to Ohio. The National Weather Service (NWS) said dozens of locations in multiple states were expected to reach major flood stage, with extensive flooding of structures, roads, bridges and other critical infrastructure possible. Continue reading...

Events

last month Full list of new Cardiff Bus fares as prices go up because of 'cost pressures'

The firm which runs the majority of the capital's bus transport says costs have continued to rise

Economics

last month Before and after satellite images show devastation caused by Myanmar earthquake – video

Rescue efforts are entering their third day and attempts to find survivors are intensifying after a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar and neighbouring Thailand, killing at least 1,600 people and injuring more than 3,400, with at least 139 others missing. The initial quake struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, collapsing buildings, downing bridges and buckling roads, causing mass destruction in the country's second largest city. 'What we’re seeing here in Myanmar is a level of devastation that hasn’t been seen over a century in Asia,' the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies wrote in a post on X Myanmar earthquake: search for survivors continues as UN warns over medical supply shortage – latest updatesAftershocks frighten Myanmar survivors while death toll from Bangkok high-rise collapse rises Continue reading...

Culture

last month Myanmar earthquake: search for survivors continues as UN warns over medical supply shortage – latest updates

At least 1,700 people killed with at least 139 missing as UN says rescue operations are severely hindered by blocked roads and lack of medical suppliesProviding an updated death toll, Myanmar’s ruling junta has said in a statement issued today that about 1,700 people have been killed by the earthquake, about 3,400 injured and around 300 more remain missing.The death toll is expected to rise significantly. Continue reading...

Events