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Posted by Jess Craven

Thanks to all who attended yesterday’s Live with long-time organizer and activist Sam Daley-Harris. Here’s a link to his sign-up sheet and one for his book Reclaiming Our Democracy! Thanks!

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Robert Mackey (now); Shrai Popat, Lauren Gambino and Frances Mao (earlier)

President says ‘I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill’ after it agrees to unanimous consent request to pass act as soon as legislation arrives from House

The Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers said he would be stepping back from public life after documents released by the House oversight committee revealed email exchanges between Summers and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who called himself Summers’ “wing man”.

Politico reported on Monday that Summers, a former treasury secretary, expressed deep regret for past messages with Epstein.

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Denis Campbell Health policy editor

Public accounts committee finds Labour’s progress ‘appears to have stalled’ despite billions of pounds in investment

The NHS has failed to cut waiting times as promised in its recovery plan despite billions of pounds in investment, the public accounts committee (PAC) has warned.

The influential parliamentary committee’s verdict raises serious doubts over whether Labour can fulfil its key pledge to voters to “fix the NHS” by ensuring that patients can once again get hospital care within 18 weeks by 2029.

Key NHS targets to improve access to both planned care and diagnostic tests by last spring “were missed”.

NHS England had spent £3.24bn setting up community diagnostic centres and surgical hubs but had not achieved the aim of reducing delays.

In July, 192,000 people had been waiting at least a year for care, despite a pledge to eradicate that practice altogether by March 2025.

22% of patients were having to wait more than six weeks for a diagnostic test, even though that was due to be cut to 5% by March.

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Anna Bawden

Nearly two-thirds of ‘prevention of future deaths’ reports by coroners are not acted upon, say researchers at King’s College London

The advice given by coroners in England and Wales to help prevent maternal deaths is not being acted upon, research suggests.

Academics at King’s College London looked at prevention of future deaths (PFD) reports issued by coroners in cases of pregnant women and new mothers who died between 2013 and 2023. They found these reports were not being “systematically used nationally”.

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Kiran Stacey Policy editor

Keir Starmer accused of failing to adequately strategise while in opposition, leading to uncoordinated policymaking

Keir Starmer is failing to make major improvements to public services partly because he did not plan properly while in opposition, according to a report from the Institute for Government (IfG).

The prime minister went into government without a clear idea about how to achieve his targets, the IfG found, resulting in haphazard attempts to reform various sectors, from the health service to the courts.

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Posted by Nicola Davis Science correspondent

Study from University of Oxford looks into evolutionary origins of kissing and its role in relations between species

From Galápagos albatrosses to polar bears, chimpanzees to orangutans, certain species appear to kiss. Now researchers suggest Neanderthals did it too – and might even have locked lips with modern humans.

It is not the first time scientists have suggested Neanderthals and early modern humans were intimately acquainted. Among previous studies, researchers have found humans and their thick-browed cousins shared the same mouth microbe for hundreds of thousands of years after the two species split, suggesting they swapped saliva.

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Posted by Ewan Murray at Hampden Park

  • ‘In the last part of the game, the crowd was still with us’

  • Manager drew on 2022 disappointment against Ukraine

Steve Clarke believes the Scotland support could “smell magic” before World Cup qualification was sealed in dramatic style with a 4-2 win against Denmark.

At 2-2 in stoppage time, Scotland were bound for the playoffs in March. Stunning goals from Kieran Tierney and Kenny McLean triggered euphoric scenes as the Scots secured a spot in the men’s World Cup for the first time since 1998. McLean scored Scotland’s fourth from the halfway line.

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Andrew Gregory Health editor

World’s largest scientific review warns consumption of UPFs poses seismic threat to global health and wellbeing

Ultra-processed food (UPF) is linked to harm in every major organ system of the human body and poses a seismic threat to global health, according to the world’s largest review.

UPF is also rapidly displacing fresh food in the diets of children and adults on every continent, and is associated with an increased risk of a dozen health conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression.

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Robert Mackey (now); Shrai Popat, Lauren Gambino and Frances Mao (earlier)

President says ‘I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill’ after it agrees to unanimous consent request to pass act as soon as legislation arrives from House

The Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers said he would be stepping back from public life after documents released by the House oversight committee revealed email exchanges between Summers and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who called himself Summers’ “wing man”.

Politico reported on Monday that Summers, a former treasury secretary, expressed deep regret for past messages with Epstein.

Continue reading...
[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Reuters

  • Bosnia led for an hour but have to settle for playoffs

  • Spain and Switzerland held but qualify, as do Belgium

Austria qualified for the 2026 World Cup after snatching a 77th-minute equaliser through Michael Gregoritsch against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Vienna to earn a 1-1 draw and top Group H. It will be Austria’s first appearance at a World Cup finals tournament since 1998.

Bosnia finished second in the group, two points behind on 17, and go into a playoff in March for a spot at the finals tournament, which will be co-hosted next year by Mexico, the US and Canada.

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Posted by Andy Hunter

Wales saved their best until last, securing the best available berth in the World Cup playoffs with an emphatic demolition of North Macedonia that should worry any visitor to Cardiff next March. The performance and result understandably left Craig Bellamy reaching for superlatives.

“I said to the players at the end, I am not a perfect person, I haven’t come across anyone who is,” the Wales head coach said. “But maybe I take a little bit of that back because that was as close to a perfect performance as I’ve seen. That was incredible.” He was not exaggerating.

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Posted by Fiona Harvey and Jonathan Watts in Belém

Countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Pacific and Europe plead for transition to be central outcome of talks

More than 80 countries have joined a call for a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels, in a dramatic intervention into stuck negotiations at the UN Cop30 climate summit.

Countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific joined with EU member states and the UK to make an impassioned plea for the “transition away from fossil fuels” to be a central outcome of the talks, despite stiff opposition from petrostates and some other major economies.

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Posted by Samantha Floreani

My social media feed is now a hellish stream of puerile AI slop. Am I stubborn to want to hang on to reality?

Recently, a friend sent me a video of a man dressed as a pickle. Following a high-octane car chase, the pickle flung himself out of the car and flailed down the highway. It was stupid and we laughed. But it also wasn’t real. When I pointed out to my friend that the video was AI-generated, she was taken by surprise, noting she’s usually pretty good at spotting them. She was also frustrated: “I hate having to be on the constant lookout for AI trash,” she lamented in the chat.

And I feel that. Becoming an AI detective is a job I never wanted and wish I could quit.

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[syndicated profile] guardianworldnews_feed

Posted by Robert Mackey (now); Shrai Popat, Lauren Gambino and Frances Mao (earlier)

President says ‘I don’t care when the Senate passes the House Bill’ after it agrees to unanimous consent request to pass act as soon as legislation arrives from House

The Harvard professor and economist Larry Summers said he would be stepping back from public life after documents released by the House oversight committee revealed email exchanges between Summers and the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who called himself Summers’ “wing man”.

Politico reported on Monday that Summers, a former treasury secretary, expressed deep regret for past messages with Epstein.

Continue reading...