Health

Cass Thorburn said she is in her second week of chemotherapy after being diagnosed with triple‑negative occult breast cancer and thanked health staff and supporters for their care and messages.

Hundreds of special needs assistants, parents and children protested outside Leinster House seeking clarity after the Government paused a review of SNA allocations; the Government said it will not reduce SNA numbers at any school from September and will allocate additional staff where the NCSE recommends.

Adam Essid, a three-month-old from Finchley, died at Great Ormond Street Hospital after emergency responders attended his home; his parents have been charged and remanded. A plea hearing is set for 13 May and a provisional trial date is scheduled from 15 February next year.

Harry and Meghan visited a hospital in Amman to meet teenagers evacuated from Gaza under Jordan’s medical evacuation initiative, and hospital staff said evacuations and transfers to Jordan are continuing.

Thomas Morgan was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 19 years after being found guilty of murdering five-month-old Jensen-Lee Dougal, who suffered a catastrophic brain injury while in his care in March 2024.

The Vatican announced Pope Leo XIV will travel to Monaco, Spain and four African countries (Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea) in the first half of 2026, and will also begin a multi-stop tour of Italy in May.

A man, Thomas Morgan, has been convicted of murdering his girlfriend's five-month-old baby after an incident in March 2024; he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Reports say he must serve a minimum period — reported as 18 years and 136 days, reflecting time on remand — before he can apply for parole.

The government has added £25 million to Health and Growth Accelerator pilots in northern England to help people with health conditions stay in or return to work. The pilots combine NHS care and employment support in areas with high economic inactivity.

Last year, 254,500 babies were born in South Korea, a 6.8% increase and the largest annual rise since 2007, and the total fertility rate rose from 0.75 to 0.80. Demographers link the rebound to the 'echo boom' cohort and to changing childbearing behaviour among women in their 30s.

The Care Quality Commission rated Mill Lodge in York and Red Kite View in Leeds as 'good' following inspections in October; inspectors said young people felt safe and staff showed kindness, but flagged shortcomings in medicines management.

The Schools White Paper proposes school-drawn Individual Support Plans and sets EHCP reassessments from September 2029, with EHCPs to be reserved for the most complex needs by 2035; the government has pledged £4bn for SEND over three years.

A working paper by King's College London and Stanford finds that when both partners work from home at least once a week lifetime fertility rises by about 0.32 children per woman; the UK's fertility rate was 1.41 children per woman in 2024.

A mouse study published in Science reports a nasal 'universal' vaccine that primed lung immune cells and protected mice against multiple respiratory viruses for up to three months; human safety and effectiveness remain unproven.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met WHO officials and humanitarian leaders in Amman to discuss the health and humanitarian needs of refugees as they start a two-day visit to Jordan.

A long-term campaigner for her daughter Lucy welcomes the government's Every Child Achieving and Thriving white paper and its pledge of more teachers, but warns urgent, deeper and coherent reforms plus genuine consultation are needed to turn promises into better support for SEND children.

A new NHS contract requires GPs in England to offer same-day appointments for urgent health needs from April, supported by new and ring-fenced funding; doctors' groups have warned this may stretch capacity while a survey found many people delayed contacting their GP last year.

NHS England data for 2025 shows many trusts missed the 62-day cancer treatment target and a small number of patients waited more than 104 days from urgent referral to first treatment; nationally 69.1% began treatment within 62 days.

A University College London‑led study estimates obstructive sleep apnoea causes large productivity losses, costing the US about £133bn and the UK about £4.2bn annually; roughly one in five surveyed adults reported core symptoms consistent with the condition.

BBC reporting provides indicative figures for proposed Scottish walk-in GP clinics: Edinburgh's centre hopes to see about 21,360 appointments a year and NHS Grampian's bid plans about 90,720 slots across three sites, while officials say exact capacities will be confirmed when locations are finalised.

Scotland has opened the first of 16 walk-in GP clinics in a £34m one-year pilot, and the Scottish government says the programme aims to deliver one million extra GP and nurse appointments over a year when fully operational.

A new £485m contract asks GPs to use risk‑stratification tools and hospital attendance data to identify patients who attend A&E frequently.

A UK study of 1,390 female twins reported that people living in more deprived areas had reduced gut microbiome diversity, and identified 12 bacterial species linked to deprivation.

London Metropolitan University's Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit received a Queen Elizabeth prize after 40 years of research and work to end violence against women and girls, presented at a ceremony at St James's Palace attended by the King and Queen.

The Promise School in Okehampton will start short-term online learning on Wednesday after a Sunday fire that severely damaged much of the building, and trust leaders are working with local and national education bodies on contingency plans for a return to face-to-face classes.

Novo Nordisk said it will cut U.S. list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic by up to 50%, with the reductions scheduled to start in 2027, the company announced.

Martin Frizell told ITV that the Government's level of funding for Alzheimer's treatments amounted to 'ageism', and the Department of Health said it is providing record funding and working to slow dementia's progress.

The government has agreed a new GP contract backed by a £485 million uplift that requires same-day appointments for patients with urgent needs and will ringfence about £292 million to recruit or increase GP sessions, taking effect 1 April 2026.

A UCLA-led study found an accelerated transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) schedule—five sessions per day over five days—reduced depression scores similarly to a conventional six-week course; a subgroup of patients showed larger improvement at two to four weeks.

Four energy companies are jointly bidding for about £500m in government funding to develop a regional hydrogen transport and storage network linking sites across the Humber region.

An inquiry heard that the Nottingham killings reflected long-standing structural, systemic and individual failures; the suspect has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is subject to an indefinite hospital order.