15 h. ago Cuts to UK’s global vaccination funding would risk avoidable child deaths, experts warn

Exclusive: Scientists also say any reduction in Foreign Office funding for vaccine alliance Gavi would harm UK’s soft powerAny cut in UK funding to a global vaccination group would damage soft power and could make British less resilient to infectious diseases, as well as causing avoidable deaths among children, leading vaccine and aid experts have warned.Scientists including Sir Andrew Pollard, who led the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine, said a major cut in money for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) could also make the UK less able to respond to a future pandemic. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago The US is heading for a sharp economic downturn, influential global organization warns

Donald Trump's aggressive trade policies has sent the global economy into a downturn, the OECD warned in a major report on Tuesday. 

Events

1 week ago Voices: Nobody understands what ‘global majority’ means – so let’s not use it

As a survey of ethnic minority Britons finds that the term, popular in progressive and academic circles, is used by just 7 per cent of the people it is meant to include, Sunder Katwala says it erases unique cultural heritage – and that foisting it upon people is a backwards step

Politics

2 w. ago Climate change fuelling spread of deadly fungal infections, study warns

Fungal infections, long neglected by global health policy, could spark major public health crisis in coming decades

Events

2 w. ago Children are speaking to strangers online – and grooming is on the rise. This is how to protect them | Devi Sridhar

Parents are used to worrying about walking home alone and sleepovers, but games and messaging apps pose new risksWhen we look at what causes poor mental health, we often think of stress, genetics, poverty or loneliness. These are all contributing factors, but there’s another, more hidden cause that isn’t talked about enough: abuse, especially during childhood. I recall Chad Varah, the founder of Samaritans, reflecting that there were many things that drove people to call the charity’s suicide helpline. But abuse was a prominent reason.Abuse isn’t an easy subject to raise or talk about. It brings up issues of gender dynamics – a colleague studying global sexual abuse told me: “The vast majority of perpetrators are men; the victims are equally boys and girls.” These are hard issues to think about, harder still to discuss and difficult to address. They challenge notions of safety, trust, family and community. But if we want to make progress in addressing poor mental health, we have to ...

Politics

3 w. ago ‘I will never stop’: Tom Cruise wants to make movies into his 100s. Why not his 1000s? | Stuart Heritage

Cinema’s sprightliest senior citizen is not one to give in to obstacles easily and looks set to outpace time’s wingèd chariot for a good while yetMuch of the discourse around Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning revolves around that penultimate word. This, we’re told, is it. This is the last time that Tom Cruise will leap out of various modes of high-speed transport in pursuit of some nebulously defined MacGuffin. The last time he’ll grit his teeth and run across a major global landmark. The last time he’ll give Simon Pegg work. This is it.Except, not to spoil anything, but it probably isn’t. After years of avoiding the press and letting his work do the talking, Tom Cruise is actively promoting Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. He’s doing junkets. He’s giving red-carpet interviews. He’s giving talks at the BFI. For those of us who enjoy Tom Cruise, this is a rare gift. But over the course of these appearances, a message has started to form. That message is: Tom Cruise ...

Politics