Underpaid and overstretched: Essex yoga instructors ballot to strike over pay

Teachers at Colchester council say they’re paid less than those at other councils despite ‘bending over backwards’ to provide classes

To those who turn up in Lycra to practise their sun salutations and downward dogs, a yoga class can represent a moment of calm reflection. For a group of instructors in Colchester, however, teaching yoga has become a much more stressful business.

Yoga, pilates and aerobics instructors employed by Colchester city council are balloting on possible strike action, after what their union says is nearly a decade without a pay rise.

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Ancient ‘chewing gum’ sheds light on stone age teenagers’ diet

Traces of DNA found on lumps of tree resin suggest trout and hazelnuts were popular 10,000 years ago

DNA from a type of “chewing gum” used by teenagers in Sweden 10,000 years ago is shedding new light on the stone age diet and oral health, according to research.

The wads of gum are made from pieces of birch bark pitch, a tar-like black resin, and carry clearly visible teethmarks.

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Children living near green spaces ‘have stronger bones’

Bone strength is set in childhood so better park access could prevent fractures in older people, study finds

Children with more green space near their homes have significantly stronger bones, a study has found, potentially leading to lifelong health benefits.

Scientists found that the children living in places with 20-25% more natural areas had increased bone strength that was equivalent to half a year’s natural growth.

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South Korea passes bill banning production and sale of dog meat

Animal welfare campaigners hail decision as ‘historic victory’ after years of pressure at home and abroad

South Korea’s parliament has voted to ban the production and sale of dog meat, in a decision campaigners hailed as a “historic victory” for animal welfare.

The country’s national assembly voted overwhelmingly to ban the breeding, butchery, distribution and sale of dogs for their meat on Tuesday, after years of pressure at home and abroad.

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Red-carpet fashion makes a bold comeback at Golden Globes

Outfits that shone at Sunday’s event were more traditionally beautiful than the meme-bait of yore

Hollywood, the place that announces itself with enormous letters on a hillside, is about nothing if not spectacle.

So after a months’ long actors’ strike, if the stars had not pulled up to the Golden Globes red carpet in some noteworthy looks, it would have been time for some sartorial soul-searching. But, thankfully, at the Beverly Hilton on Sunday night, red-carpet fashion re-entered the atmosphere with a bang, making a bold comeback after its period of hibernation.

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Judicial review hearing granted over XL bully ban

From Sunday it is illegal to rehome, sell or transfer ownership of the dogs in England and Wales

A judicial review hearing has been granted for campaigners seeking to overturn the UK government’s ban on XL bully dogs, with owners of the animals now subject to tight restrictions as the legislation comes into force.

From Sunday, it is illegal to rehome, sell or transfer ownership of XL bully dogs in England and Wales, and they must be muzzled and kept on a leash when in public, with animal rescue centres fearing they could be forced to euthanise hundreds of dogs.

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Boxing Day footfall rises but number of shoppers is well down on pre-Covid levels

Weaker Christmas spending amid cost of living crisis and fewer shops opening cut visitor numbers by 30% on 2019

Retailers have recorded a small pickup in Boxing Day footfall, but visits to stores remained well below pre-pandemic levels as several high street chains stayed shut.

Retailers have been braced for weak spending over the Christmas period as the UK economy stagnates amid the cost of living crisis.

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Wham!’s Last Christmas finally reaches Christmas No 1, 39 years after release

‘Mission accomplished!’ says Andrew Ridgeley, while Cher becomes oldest woman to score a UK Top 40 hit

Wham! have finally earned a Christmas No 1 for Last Christmas, 39 years after the song was denied the festive top spot by Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?.

With the song’s pain and poignancy still undimmed thanks to the tangibly heartbroken performance of the late George Michael, it was streamed 13.3m times this week, and was helped along by special vinyl and CD editions.

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Psychologists pinpoint average age children become Santa sceptics

Research found little ones typically begin to distinguish fantasy from reality during preschool years

‘I cried for hours’: the moments people realised truth about Father Christmas

From empty glasses of sherry on the mantelpiece to sooty footprints leading to the bedroom door, evidence of Santa’s existence is clearly irrefutable. Yet most children will begin to question it at some point – and many parents anticipate this moment with dread. Now psychologists have identified the average age when Santa scepticism creeps in, and which children are at greatest risk of harbouring negative feelings when it does.

While most adults have fallen for the myth that Santa doesn’t exist, many children still believe – even if the idea of a single individual visiting the homes of billions of children in a single night is at odds with their wider reasoning skills.

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Tweaks to law on spiking ‘won’t help’ unless police attitude changes, say experts

Home Office plans wording ‘update’ but campaigners call for new offence to help address low conviction rate

The Home Office has announced plans to “modernise” spiking laws in a move it claims will help bring perpetrators to justice. But experts said the changes will not make any difference without simultaneous investment in police training and other measures to improve the handling of cases on the ground.

Under plans unveiled this weekend, the government will amend the criminal justice bill to make clear that spiking is illegal. It is also drawing up new guidance to provide an “unequivocal” definition of the crime.

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Darlene Love says U2’s cover of her Christmas classic is best around

US singer of Christmas (Baby Please Come Home), recorded in 1963, says she rates U2’s 1987 version as finest of many covers

Darlene Love’s classic tune Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) has spurred numerous covers over the years, but to the singer herself, only one stands above the rest, she recently revealed.

Speaking on the podcast Behind the Table, Love, 82, said U2’s rendition of her hit Christmas song is the best cover.

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UK Christmas shoppers will pay more for less this year, say economists

Cost of festive season is up almost a quarter in three years, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research

Consumers will pay more for less this Christmas, economists have warned, getting less of a bang for their buck than the faint phutting of a puny, overpriced cracker being pulled.

Although Britons will spend more than in the belt-tightening 2022 festive season, the resultant fare won’t yet match the pre-pandemic Christmases past.

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Move over millefeuilles: queues in Paris as city gets first taste of Krispy Kremes

Home of the patisserie falls for US doughnuts with hundreds of people lining up for opening of first branch

France, the country that gave the world the word “patisserie”, a nation famous for its macarons, meringues and millefeuilles, whose restaurants strive for gastronomic perfection and whose baguette is on the UN heritage list, has fallen for another foreign interloper: the American doughnut, or more precisely the Krispy Kreme.

On a freezing morning last week, 400 people, some having camped out all night, formed an uncharacteristically orderly queue for the opening of the US chain’s first outlet in a central Paris shopping centre.

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Taylor Swift lambasts music industry and says Kim Kardashian feud ‘took me down psychologically’

In a lengthy interview as she is named Time’s person of the year, Swift speaks about toll of high-profile spat, and criticises music industry over treatment of young stars

Taylor Swift has spoken of the psychological damage of her feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, and lambasted the music industry over its treatments of young pop stars, in a new interview with Time, which has named her their person of the year.

After a year in which she has been at the centre of cultural conversations for her massively lucrative Eras tour, Swift spoke damningly of what she sees as a short-termist approach by record labels to replace, rather than nurture its stars. “By the time an artist is mature enough to psychologically deal with the job, they throw you out at 29, typically,” she says. “In the 90s and 00s, it seems like the music industry just said: ‘OK, let’s take a bunch of teenagers, throw them into a fire, and watch what happens. By the time they’ve accumulated enough wisdom to do their job effectively, we’ll find new teenagers.’” She said her solution was to change style with each new album project: “I realised every record label was actively working to try to replace me. I thought instead, I’d replace myself first with a new me. It’s harder to hit a moving target.”

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London borough of Richmond is ‘happiest place to live in Great Britain’

Access to huge parks, restaurants and transport links plus a Ted Lasso-factor lead area to top Rightmove’s ‘happy at home’ index

It is home to London’s largest royal park as well as big-hitting tourist attractions such as Kew Gardens and Hampton Court Palace, and has more recently become a place of pilgrimage for fans of the hit TV comedy Ted Lasso. Now, the borough of Richmond upon Thames in south-west London has been named “the happiest place to live” in Great Britain.

It received the accolade from property website Rightmove, which runs a “happy at home” index – now in its 12th year – where it asks residents how they feel about their area based on 13 “happiness factors”.

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UK ad watchdog to crack down on ‘biodegradable’ and ‘recyclable’ claims

Consumers left angry and dismayed when they found out the truth about these terms, says Advertising Standards Authority study

Plastic bottles, takeaway cups and food packaging that could take an unlimited amount of time to break down are being advertised as “biodegradable”, with the advertising regulator calling for more clarity on such claims from businesses.

British consumers believe they are making green choices while disposing of waste when they are often not, according to a new report. The study, from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), based on extensive interviews with consumers, found widespread misunderstandings around common terms such as “biodegradable”, “compostable” and “recyclable”, leaving participants angry when they discovered what they meant.

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One in four adults in UK to buy now, pay later for Christmas, study shows

Citizens Advice warns such credit schemes risk delivering ‘knockout blow’ to household finances

More than a quarter of adults in the UK will use buy now, pay later to help with festive spending, research suggests, with the proportion rising to more than half of parents with young children.

The survey for Citizens Advice also found 11% of respondents used such credit schemes to pay for groceries, a proportion that rose to 35% for regular BNPL users.

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The heat is on as Britain’s boom in seaside saunas stirs up some local sweat

Hot boxes are popping up on the coast, as well as beside lakes and rivers, but not everyone is happy about the trend

Seaside saunas were just a wisp of a dream until 2018. Now anyone walking along a beach at one of the UK’s main resorts is likely to come across a converted horse box offering heat and steam as a respite from bleak skies and icy winds.

There are now 70 such saunas operating in the UK according to the British Sauna Society, mostly at beaches or lakes, fuelled by the growth in wild swimming and healthy living.

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Nigella Lawson tells Britain to give Christmas cake the heave-ho-ho-ho

TV cook says she will be making chocolate cake this year, a new tradition for her household

It may be one of the longest-standing festive traditions, but Nigella Lawson has urged people to ditch Christmas cake this year and opt for a family-friendly chocolate one instead.

The celebrity chef said there was no point in having a dried fruit cake “gathering dust” on the kitchen counter, and families should choose a festive dessert that would go down better with visiting guests over the winter break.

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