Ultra-processed food increases risk of early death, international study finds

About 14% of premature deaths in England attributable to unhealthy food, the most among surveyed countries

Consuming large amounts of ultra-processed food (UPF) increases the risk of an early death, according to a international study that has reignited calls for a crackdown on UPF.

Each 10% extra intake of UPF, such as bread, cakes and ready meals, increases someone’s risk of dying before they reach 75 by 3%, according to research in countries including the US and England.

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With China and the US at intense economic odds, nations are being forced to choose sides – AP News

  1. With China and the US at intense economic odds, nations are being forced to choose sides  AP News
  2. Xi Is Ratcheting Up China’s Pain Threshold for a Long Fight With Trump  WSJ
  3. Why Trump is losing his trade war with China  vox.com
  4. Trump’s fixation on a tariff battle win against China could cost him the trade war  Politico
  5. What If China Wins the Trade War?  The Atlantic
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Being shouted at by parents can alter child’s brain, experts tell UK MPs

Meeting will hear how exposure to verbal abuse leads to biological changes and can make mental ill-health likelier

Being shouted at by their parents reshapes children’s brains and makes them more likely to have mental ill-health and struggle to maintain friendships, MPs will hear on Monday.

Verbal abuse by adults can leave children unable to enjoy pleasure and seeing the world as threatening, experts in child development and mental health will tell a meeting at Westminster.

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Reform UK challenged to give details on donations after £2m mailshot campaign

Exclusive: Liberal Democrats say voters need to know sources of funding for Nigel Farage’s party before local elections

The Liberal Democrats have publicly challenged Nigel Farage to give details of his party’s donations after calculating that Reform UK spent more than £2m on personalised letters to postal voters before the local elections.

In a letter to Farage, Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said people needed to know the source of the money before Thursday’s elections, given that Reform received only £281,000 in donations in the last set of publicly available figures, for the final quarter of 2024.

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Pope’s final journey: 11 symbolic moments from Francis’ funeral procession – Catholic News Agency

  1. Pope’s final journey: 11 symbolic moments from Francis’ funeral procession  Catholic News Agency
  2. Trump Gets Called Out in Front of Millions at Pope’s Funeral  Yahoo
  3. Photos: Pope Francis’ Last Journey  The New York Times
  4. Cardinal Parolin at Novemdiales Mass: ‘Mercy takes us to heart of faith’  Vatican News
  5. Vatican releases pictures of Pope Francis' tomb, as it opens for public viewing  ABC News
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How coincidence and diplomacy drove a consequential meeting between Trump and Zelensky inside St. Peter’s – CNN

  1. How coincidence and diplomacy drove a consequential meeting between Trump and Zelensky inside St. Peter’s  CNN
  2. Why Trump's Blue Suit At Pope's Funeral Became Unexpected Talking Point  NDTV
  3. Trump Administration Highlights: President Meets With Zelensky, Says Putin Might Not Be Serious About Peace  The New York Times
  4. Trump, Zelensky Meet for First Time Since Oval Office Shouting Match  WSJ
  5. Bolton calls Trump, Zelensky meeting a ‘significant’ step toward ‘sensible conversation’  The Hill
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Two suspects arrested for theft of Kristi Noem’s purse, Secret Service says

Noem’s purse was nabbed on Easter Sunday and reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash, her keys and identification

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the theft last week of the US homeland security secretary Kristi Noem’s purse as she ate at a Washington DC restaurant, officials said Sunday.

Noem’s purse was nabbed on Easter Sunday and reportedly contained about $3,000 in cash and her keys, driver’s license, passport and homeland security badge. The homeland security department said Noem had cash in her purse to pay for gifts, dinner and other activities for her family on Easter.

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North Korea confirms for first time it has sent troops to fight for Russia in Ukraine war

Battle in Kursk showed ‘highest strategic level of the firm militant friendship’ between North Korea and Russia, state news says, hailing ‘heroes’

North Korea has confirmed for the first time that it has sent troops to fight for Russia in the war with Ukraine under the orders of the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, who described the soldiers as “heroes”.

The acknowledgment comes amid claims by the Kremlin – contested by Ukraine – that North Korean forces helped recapture Russia’s Kursk region.

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Nasal spray similar to ketamine to be added to PBS for treatment-resistant depression

Spravato, derived from a popular club drug and also known as esketamine, offers hope to tens of thousands of Australians living with chronic mental illness

A medication chemically similar to ketamine will be made cheaper to improve the lives of Australians suffering from treatment-resistant depression.

The drug, which comes in the form of a nasal spray, is a chemical cousin of ketamine, used for decades as a powerful anaesthetic before it was adopted as a party drug in underground rave culture.

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Death toll from blast at Iran’s Bandar Abbas port rises to 40 – Reuters

  1. Death toll from blast at Iran's Bandar Abbas port rises to 40  Reuters
  2. A massive explosion at an Iranian port possibly linked to missile fuel kills 25, injures some 800  AP News
  3. Putin offers Iran Russian help after blast at Iranian port of Bandar Abbas, Kremlin says  Yahoo
  4. Iran’s President Pezeshkian visits injured, site of deadly port explosion  Al Jazeera
  5. Iran: Huge blast at Shahid Rajaee port kills at least 28 and injures 800 others  BBC
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