Category Archives: Health

Family of former Vodafone manager found drowned call for ‘Adrian’s law’ to protect franchisees

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Adrian Howe’s family believe that fears his deal would be financially ruinous led him to kill himself

The family of a former mobile phone store manager who was found drowned days before his new Vodafone franchise was to open its doors is pressing the government to introduce a new franchising law in his name.

The call comes a week after Vodafone settled a long-running legal claim filed by 62 of its former franchisees who alleged that the company “unjustly enriched” itself at their expense by up to £85m.

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Former top US food safety official says US mismanagement of cyclospora is approaching ‘a catastrophic level’

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Frank Yiannas, formerly of the FDA, calls for an independent review of federal response to illness causing explosive diarrhea

Donald Trump’s former top food safety official has accused the administration of a near “catastrophic” mismanagement of the cyclospora outbreak that has sickened thousands of people in the US.

There should be an independent review of the federal government’s response to the rash of illnesses caused by the spread of a parasite found on raw produce, according to Frank Yiannas, who was deputy commissioner for food policy at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) across the presidencies of both Trump and Joe Biden from 2018 to 2023.

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Herbicide banned in 70 countries to be pulled from sale in Australia by chemical maker

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Syngenta says it will stop selling paraquat in Australia after new regulations on chemical linked to Parkinson’s disease

Syngenta, the producer of a herbicide banned in more than 70 countries and which has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, will stop selling paraquat in Australia, saying new regulations has made it “commercially unviable”.

The decision to pull the product follows new restrictions on the highly poisonous chemical announced by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority in June.

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Existing care workers could be exempt from UK’s tough new immigration rules

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Exclusive: Andy Burnham thought to be considering waiving stricter right to remain rules for people already working in the sector

Hundreds of thousands of care workers could be exempted from the home secretary’s plans to toughen up the immigration system under proposals being considered by Andy Burnham as he looks for ways to relieve pressure on the social care sector.

The prime minister will give a speech next week spelling out his determination to start creating a National Care Service before the next general election as he looks to accelerate the process set up by his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

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Australia news live: Jim Chalmers says he has ‘other priorities’ than a gas tax; Anthony Albanese calls to congratulate Andy Burnham

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Treasurer points to other reforms after Labor members call for ‘fairer return’ from natural resources. Follow today’s news live

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before your regular blogger takes the reins.

Jim Chalmers has claimed rightwing political parties will “prey on” voter insecurities about a worsening economy while championing “anti-worker” policies. It comes as markets are now expecting another rate hike by the end of the year. He also continues to push back at rank and file Labor members’ calls for a new tax on gas exports, saying the government had “other priorities” for reform. More coming up.

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Australia news live: Brisbane fog causes flight delays; Labor faces seven major challenges, Chalmers says

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Treasurer says ‘parties of the sensible centre and the centre-left parties’ face ‘serious economic challenges’. Follow live

Self-reported domestic violence incidents declining in NSW but deaths and hospitalisations fail to fall

New data shows self-reported domestic violence incidents in New South Wales have declined, but the number of women and children murdered or hospitalised in domestic and family violence incidents over the past eight years has not significantly budged.

The decline in self-reported violence is significant because it reflects underlying levels of violence in the community, not just what is reported to police. It suggests that, despite rising reports of domestic violence to police, domestic violence in the community is not increasing and may be trending down.

There’s a strong perception that violence against women is rising, which is understandable given increases in police-recorded incidents, heightened media attention and greater public awareness.

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Lack of defibrillators could put 16m at risk of death by cardiac arrest in England and Wales

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Exclusive: Research shows millions live more than a 1km round trip from 24/7 accessible device

More than 16 million people in England and Wales risk dying from a cardiac arrest because they live farther than a 1km round trip from the nearest 24/7 defibrillator, according to exclusive research.

Analysis of publicly available defibrillators by the Heart Restart campaign found that in England and Wales alone, 35 million people – more than half the population – do not live within the recommended three- to five-minute brisk walk of a defibrillator. Of these, about half live more than a 1km round trip from a 24/7 accessible defibrillator.

There are more than 40,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests each year in the UK, but fewer than one in 10 people survive. However, early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation can more than double the chance of survival.

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Health worker monitored for Ebola in London hospital after working in DRC

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UK resident was evacuated from Democratic Republic of the Congo where there is an outbreak of the disease

A humanitarian worker is being monitored at a specialist hospital in London after potential exposure to the Ebola virus.

The UK resident was medically evacuated from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) where the worker had been treating patients with the disease, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said.

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Fourth person dies in New York City legionnaires’ disease outbreak

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US health officials say source of Upper East Side cluster has probably been eliminated after 76 people fell ill

An outbreak of legionnaires’ disease in New York City has claimed a fourth life, officials have said, as they again expressed confidence the source of the exposure had been eliminated.

A statement from the city’s health department on Monday said the outbreak, which was traced to cooling towers in buildings in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, had sickened 76 people – with 53 discharged after hospital treatment, and 12 others managing their recovery at home.

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Healthy diet too expensive for one in three people globally, UN report finds

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Global hunger declined for the third year in a row in 2025 but experts call for action to bring down costs of fruit, vegetables and dairy as report shows 2.69bn people can’t afford to eat well

One in three people cannot afford to eat a healthy diet, a new report has found, prompting calls for urgent action on food affordability.

There are 2.69 billion people unable to afford a diverse diet that meets their energy and nutrient needs, and it will take “immense” amounts of work to achieve the global target of zero hunger by 2030, the annual report from five UN agencies warned.

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Australia news live: Barnaby Joyce dogged by Tommy Robinson questions – and by a dog – in spiky ABC interview

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One Nation MP grilled in 7.30 interview about Pauline Hanson’s podcast interview by far-right activist. Follow today’s news live

Anthony Albanese has congratulated the new UK Prime Minister Anthony Burnham after the latter took over the job yesterday. The Australian PM posted a note to X, emphasising the strategic allyship:

Congratulations Prime Minister Burnham on your appointment as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Australia and the United Kingdom are longstanding friends, allies and partners, united by shared values and deep ties between our peoples.

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Antibiotic-resistant bacteria increasingly leaving children vulnerable to common infections, global study finds

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Exclusive: Research spanning 82 countries finds antibiotic resistance increased in every region between 2004 and 2022

Harry Booth has had a rough run through Australia’s coldest months. The 13-year-old has been in and out of hospital with a range of common chest and urinary tract infections that his doctors find challenging to treat.

Harry was born with kidney failure and began dialysis at six months old, before receiving a kidney transplant from his father at age four. The surgery saved his life but comes with a trade-off: he now needs to take medications that suppress his immune system to prevent his body from rejecting the kidney.

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Restoring Britain’s health to 2014 levels could add 2% to GDP, thinktank says

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Health Foundation paper argues health is an economic asset and improving it could generate £72bn for public finances

Restoring the deteriorating health of the UK’s population to the level of 2014 would boost GDP by 2% and generate a £72bn dividend for the public finances, research suggests.

A paper by the Health Foundation thinktank, published on Sunday, argues the nation’s health should be valued by policymakers as an economic asset.

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One person dies amid legionnaires’ disease outbreak in New York City

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Officials haven’t released additional information about the person’s identity, age or details on when and how they fell ill

A legionnaires’ disease outbreak that has sickened dozens of people in New York City has claimed its first life, health officials said Friday.

Officials didn’t release additional information about the person’s identity, age or details on when and how they fell ill.

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More Canadian wildfire smoke shrouds US midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east

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109 million people face another day of poor air quality as smoke from blazes in Ontario drifts over the US

Tens of millions of Americans are enduring another day of smoky skies, irritated eyes and bad air quality, as Canadian wildfire smoke spread again over huge swathes of the US, affecting about 109 million people across the midwest, mid-Atlantic and north-east.

The pungent smoke blanketed cities such as Chicago and Detroit, where residents on Friday were warned to stay indoors and reduce activity levels after the air-quality index reached a “hazardous” 361, according to the government website AirNow.

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CDC and FDA link lettuce at Taco Bell in five states to cyclospora outbreak

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FDA investigation identified a single supplier of the lettuce, but federal warnings did not name the company

Federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served by Taco Bell locations across five US states as a source of the widespread outbreak of the diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the source late on Thursday and warned consumers not to eat shredded iceberg lettuce from Taco Bell restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and West Virginia.

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Smoking rates fall to historic low across Australia despite the rise of illicit tobacco

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Long-running AIHW survey shows daily rates of smoking dropped to 5.6% last year – down from 8.3% two years ago

Daily smoking rates have fallen to a historic low and are tracking well ahead of national targets, while vaping rates have stabilised, according to the largest nationally representative survey on tobacco use.

But those who do smoke are increasingly using illicit tobacco, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s (AIHW) National Drug Strategy Household Survey also found.

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Australia news live: Barnaby Joyce defends Pauline Hanson’s meeting with Tommy Robinson; police make arrest after man dies in Sydney house fire

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One Nation MP says the media should be prepared to interview far-right activist. Follow today’s news live

Michelle Rowland says mandatory minimum standards for datacentres don’t apply to existing developments

The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, told ABC News that mandatory minimum standards for datacentres would apply to new developments, not existing ones.

The scope and the timing of those is something that I think will be properly determined by national cabinet.

This is an issue that not only state governments but local councils have been dealing with as well.

It goes from being this hunched-over ball of fluff at the top of a tree looking down at you, to suddenly spreading out its limbs and flying over your head like a magical flying carpet, or this weird stingray-UFO thing in the sky.

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Black doctors in England four times less likely to get training places than white counterparts

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For one placement, black applicants had a less than 1 in 100 chance of being offered a place, NHS data shows

Black doctors in England are four times less likely to be offered a training place than their white counterparts, according to analysis.

As part of their medical training, doctors across the NHS are able to apply to placements within specific branches of practice such as psychiatry, obstetrics and gynaecology, and emergency medicine.

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Almost 145,000 Australians will lose support for autism under NDIS reforms, documents reveal

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Internal estimates show 144,600 people will be taken off the scheme by 2030, many of them under 18

Almost 145,000 Australians receiving support for autism on the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) are expected to be removed by the end of the decade, internal estimates show, as the federal government moves ahead with plans to narrow the focus of the “diluted” $52bn scheme toward those with significant and complex needs.

From 2028, almost two-thirds of the 241,000 participants set to lose access to the NDIS will be aged 18 or under, health department documents released to Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws show.

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