5 h. ago Brit grandad fighting for life in Tenerife after heart attack leaves family with £31,000 medical bill

John Lockyer Drury, 55, was in his 'favourite place' with his wife Lisa when he suffered a heart attack in September - he is still in a coma weeks later

Economics

7 h. ago Forget house deposits... the Bank of Mum and Dad is now funding private medical treatment

The Bank of Mum and Dad has long funded their children's young adult life, from paying rent while at university to gifting tens of thousands of pounds for housing deposits.

Economics

15 h. ago ‘Planetary health diet’ could save 40,000 deaths a day, landmark report finds

Diet allows modest meat consumption and would also slash food-related climate emissions by half, says report by 70 leading experts from 35 countriesAdoption of a plant-rich “planetary health diet” could prevent 40,000 early deaths a day across the world, according to a landmark report.The diet – which allows moderate meat consumption – and related measures would also slash the food-related emissions driving global heating by half by 2050. Today, a third of greenhouse gas emissions come from the global food system and taming the climate crisis is impossible without changing how the world eats, the researchers said. Food production is also the biggest cause of the destruction of wildlife and forests and the pollution of water. Continue reading...

Events

19 h. ago Wildfires are getting deadlier and costing more. Experts warn they’re becoming unstoppable

Of 200 fires in the past 44 years, half of the fires that cost US$1bn or more were in the last decadeWildfires tore through central Chile last year, killing 133 people. In California, 18,000 buildings were destroyed in 2018 causing US$16bn (A$24bn, £12bn) in damage. Portugal, Greece, Algeria and Australia have all felt the grief and the economic pain in recent years.As the headlines, the death tolls and the billion dollar losses from wildfires have stacked up around the world, so too have the rising temperatures – fuelled by the climate crisis – that create tinderbox conditions. Continue reading...

Events

31 h. ago Visions of resistance: women fighting to save their homeland – in pictures

The theme of this year’s Women By Women exhibition, Rooted in Resistance, is to showcase images of women defending their land and communities from destruction – by powerful people and corporations or the climate crisis. The pictures, taken by female photographers from Nepal, Cambodia, Brazil and Nigeria, will be on show at the Oxo Gallery in London from 9 to 12 October Continue reading...

Politics

32 h. ago Tea farmers struggle to pay medical bills as the climate crisis impacts crop sizes

As part of Fairtrade Fortnight, Kenyan tea farmers supplying the UK tell Nick Ferris that extreme weather is bringing new health problems – which they are struggling to deal with as declining production impacts their income

Society

38 h. ago NHS could save billions each year by having pharmacists review patients’ medication, study reveals

The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) estimate medicine checks will save money and also reduce hospital stays

Science

38 h. ago Expanding pharmacy services ‘could cut hospital admissions and save billions’

The NHS in England spends around £19 billion a year on medicines.

Events

66 h. ago Mormon worshipper who came under fire from church gunman left with shattered ankle and mounting medical bills, family reveals

Exclusive: Jeff Kubiak’s wife told The Independent that her self-employed husband, who owns a small carpet cleaning business, is going to be out of work for a while

Events

67 h. ago US energy department cracks down on workers’ use of climate crisis language

Efficiency employees reportedly told to avoid ‘climate change’ and similar terms in their work in latest clampdownThe US Department of Energy has told employees in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to avoid using the words “climate change” in what seems to be the latest incident in a crackdown on discussing the climate crisis in the US government.“Please ensure that every member of your team is aware that this is the latest list of words to avoid – and continue to be conscientious about avoiding any terminology that you know to be misaligned with the Administration’s perspectives and priorities,” says an email from an agency acting director obtained by Politico. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Our world is hurtling into climate disaster and what do politicians give us? Oilfields and new runways | Bill McGuire

In the name of ‘pragmatism’, green measures are being ditched, net zero derided. Be very clear: without slashing emissions we are in deep, deep troubleThe hope that followed the signing of the Paris climate agreement in 2016 has long gone as the global community has failed utterly to rein in emissions, which – barring a small pandemic-induced blip in 2020 – have headed remorselessly upwards ever since. And there is little sign of this changing anytime soon. Indeed, as global heating has accelerated over the past few years, instead of trying harder, the world is turning its back on measures to tackle the climate crisis.In the UK, Labour is considering the approval of two major new oilfields in the North Sea – Rosebank and Jackdaw – with both Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves reported to be backing the proposals, which would lock in reliance on fossil fuels at the expense of renewables. Alongside this, instead of the government introducing measures to reduce aviation emissions, such as a...

Politics

3 d. ago World’s major cities hit by 25% leap in extremely hot days since the 1990s

Capitals from London to Tokyo need urgent action to protect people from deadly high temperatures, analysts sayThe world’s biggest capital cities are now sweltering under 25% more extremely hot days each year than in the 1990s, an analysis has found. Without urgent action to protect millions of people from high temperatures, more and more will suffer in the dangerous conditions, analysts said.From Washington DC and Madrid to Tokyo and Beijing, the analysis shows a marked rise in hot days as the climate crisis intensifies. Overall, the assessment by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), found the number of days above 35C in 43 of the world’s most populous capital cities rose from an average of 1,062 a year from 1994-2003 to 1,335 from 2015-2024. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Dear Jobs Guru: ‘I deserve a pay rise – I just need some help persuading my boss’

Reader Jimmy says he’s working harder than ever, but he’s still struggling to pay the bills. Sound familiar? Luckily, Jobs Guru James Innes is here to help him ask for a raise

Economics

3 d. ago Interactive map shows how much pollution is blanketing your city

‘Facilities that burn fossil fuels are the overwhelmingly dominant source of heat-trapping pollution that is driving the climate crisis – by using the sky as if it were an open sewer,’ says Al Gore, whose climate group backed the tool

Politics

4 d. ago German identity doesn’t rely on cars – Brussels should face down the mighty automakers

Mercedes-Benz and other big manufacturers want to overturn the EU’s 2035 ban on petrol cars. This would be as disastrous for jobs as for the climateThere is something rather old-fashioned about the way Germany views its car industry. When the prime minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, calls the car the destiny of Germany and the heart of its economy, and says that “without the car, collapse is imminent”, the vehicle he seems to be describing is one with a combustion engine, running on fossil fuels or their derivatives. This nostalgic attachment to the heavy-duty, polluting industries of the 20th century is now colliding with the urgent realities of the climate crisis.Earlier this month, heads of European automotive companies gathered in the Berlaymont building, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, for a meeting with its president, Ursula von der Leyen. German car manufacturers came with two demands: to reverse the EU ban on the manufacture of new cars with CO2-emit...

Politics

4 d. ago German identity doesn’t rely on cars – Brussels should face down the mighty automakers | Tania Roettger

Mercedes-Benz and other big manufacturers want to overturn the EU’s 2035 ban on petrol cars. This would be as disastrous for jobs as for the climateThere is something rather old-fashioned about the way Germany views its car industry. When the prime minister of Bavaria, Markus Söder, calls the car the destiny of Germany and the heart of its economy, and says that “without the car, collapse is imminent”, the vehicle he seems to be describing is one with a combustion engine, running on fossil fuels or their derivatives. This nostalgic attachment to the heavy-duty, polluting industries of the 20th century is now colliding with the urgent realities of the climate crisis.Earlier this month, heads of European automotive companies gathered in the Berlaymont building, the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, for a meeting with its president, Ursula von der Leyen. German car manufacturers came with two demands: to reverse the EU ban on the manufacture of new cars with CO2-emit...

Politics

6 d. ago Meat is a leading emissions source – but few outlets report on it, analysis finds

Sentient Media reveals less than 4% of climate news stories mention animal agriculture as source of carbon emissionsFood and agriculture contribute one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions – second only to the burning of fossil fuels. And yet the vast majority of media coverage of the climate crisis overlooks this critical sector, according to a new data analysis from Sentient Media.The findings suggest that only about a quarter of climate articles in 11 major US outlets, including the Guardian, mention food and agriculture as a cause. And of the 940 articles analyzed, only 36 – or 3.8% – mentioned animal agriculture or meat production, by far the largest source of food-related emissions. Continue reading...

Events

6 d. ago Amazon rainforest trees are getting bigger due to climate crisis, study finds

Scientists say the findings should not obscure the devastation wrought by deforestation

Events

7 d. ago Wisconsin Planned Parenthood pauses abortions amid federal Medicaid funding cut

Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin says it will stop scheduling patients for abortions starting next week as it works to provide the service in the face of Medicaid funding cuts in President Donald Trump’s tax and spending bill

Politics

8 d. ago Former president Peter Mutharika defeats incumbent in Malawi presidential election

Lazarus Chakwera, who presided over a multi-year economic crisis, concedes election after 85-year-old Mutharika wins 56.8% of voteMalawians have voted in an 85-year-old former leader over an incumbent who presided over a multi-year economic crisis, high inflation, essential goods shortages, climate disasters and international aid cuts.Peter Mutharika got 56.8% of the vote compared with 33% for Lazarus Chakwera, according to official results of the 16 September presidential election announced on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Politics