Ukraine and Moldova start first phase of EU membership negotiations

Medications that target depression, anxiety and poor sleep could help treat pain without opioids’ addictive propertiesA range of other medications could serve as alternatives to powerful opioids for pain relief in emergency departments, according to a new study.The review paper examined non-opioid medications available in the emergency department at San Francisco general hospital and examined existing medical literature to figure out which ones might provide pain relief. Continue reading...

Rochford LGBTQ+ community say Reform council’s ban on flying pride flags or holding events states they’re not welcomeBefore Reform gained control of Essex county council in the May elections, Chris Taylor and members of the Rochford LGBTQ+ community already felt they were witnessing a growing tide of political rhetoric around identity.But they were still shocked when the county’s new leadership moved to ban Pride events in 74 libraries, scaling back events of “any particular groups or themes”, a decision they said was “straight out of Trumpland”. Continue reading...

Study of mothers in Seattle underscores ‘widespread, systemic problem’ of chemical contamination, experts sayBreast milk samples from mothers in Seattle contain alarming levels of dangerous hormone-disrupting chemicals, including BPA, BPS, melamine, cyanuric acid, and triclosan, new peer-reviewed research has found.The chemicals present a serious risk to infants because they likely interfere with hormones that are critical to newborns’ proper development, and have been found to be harmful at very low levels of exposure. About 92% of 50 samples were contaminated with at least one of the anti-microbials or plasticizers for which researchers checked. Continue reading...

Leadership hopeful to also say tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gasfields should be used to cut energy billsWes Streeting’s pitch to be the next Labour leader will include a plan to increase high-skilled immigration to the UK, arguing that Donald Trump is telling scientists and AI experts they are not welcome in the US.In a speech this coming week, the former health secretary will also say that tax revenues from new North Sea oil and gasfields should be used to cut energy bills. Continue reading...

‘Coastal uplift’ exposes coral and kills marine life, as residents say shorelines extended by up to 200 metresA powerful earthquake that killed at least 61 people in the Philippines this week raised the seabed by as much as 2 metres (6.6 feet), exposing coral and harming marine life, the environment department said on Sunday.At least 40 people are still missing after the 7.8-magnitude tremor in southern Mindanao island on Monday, according to updated tolls from the disaster agency. Continue reading...

Reform leader claims ‘anti-whiteness is institutionalised’ in UK as polls suggest Labour have lead in MakerfieldUK politics live – latest updatesNigel Farage said he would ban foreign nationals from social housing and then deport them if they could not find private sector homes, in a hardening of anti-immigration rhetoric before the Makerfield byelection.It comes as two new polls in Makerfield suggests Farage’s Reform UK continues to leak potentially crucial support to its far-right rival Restore Britain, which is led by the former Reform MP Rupert Lowe. Continue reading...

Activists are challenging colonial-era law and demanding ‘free, legal, unfettered, forever rights’ to use beachesJamaica’s beach access crisis: ‘We shouldn’t be forced to fight for what is already ours’Campaigners in Jamaica are heading to court next week to try to prevent the government from cutting off access to more of their beaches.They argue that ceding their shorelines to big hotel chains enriches private investors and benefits tourists and outsiders while depriving Jamaicans who depend on the sea for their livelihoods, leisure and health. Continue reading...

Activists argue business model is ‘plantation tourism’ designed to benefit elite and disadvantage most JamaicansCampaigners go to court to fight privatisation of Jamaican coastDevon Taylor remembers when the Mammee Bay shoreline in St Ann, Jamaica, was filled with children frolicking in the ocean after school, fishers haggling with locals over the price of their daily catch and craft vendors carving souvenirs under almond trees.“I grew up on Mammee Bay,” Taylor says. He recalls fetching seawater in bottles for his grandmother when she was no longer able to go to the beach, learning to swim in the shallows, and watching generations of fishers cast their nets. “That beach raised us. It fed us.” Continue reading...

Poolbeg Pharma to test the treatment in NHS hospitals and says it is also developing a GLP-1 weight loss pillA London-based startup is about to trial a drug at six NHS hospitals that could stop people on cancer immunotherapy getting a life-threatening side-effect.Poolbeg Pharma said its oral drug POLB 001 could make treatment for blood cancer safer by preventing cytokine release syndrome (CRS), when the immune system goes into overdrive and attacks the body, leading to organ damage. Continue reading...

Lisa Nandy says discussions are taking place about how to ‘keep this country safe’ after John Healey’s resignationUK politics live – latest updatesCabinet ministers have been asked to look for more money in their departments to fund an increase in defence spending after the resignation of the former defence secretary John Healey.The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, told the BBC that her department was among those still in conversations with the Treasury about finding further sums for defence. Healey resigned last week over a far smaller than expected settlement for the defence investment plan (Dip). Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says operation involving UK armed forces has delivered ‘yet another blow’ to Russia and PutinBritish armed forces intercepted and boarded a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the Channel in the early hours of Sunday, Keir Starmer has confirmed.In a six-hour operation, the first of its kind to be led by the UK, Royal Marine commandos and officers from the National Crime Agency boarded and took control of the vessel, Smyrtos, which was sailing under a Cameroonian flag. Continue reading...