List of All Articles with Tag 'li'

Heat searing enough to knock out mobile phones. Wildfire smoke that turns the skies an apocalyptic orange. Flash

Footage shared by Turkish authorities shows planes flying over miles of land glowing orange as wildfires rage. Blazes are burning in the coastal areas of Kas, Kemer, Manisa and Tasagil. Extreme temperatures of over 40C have been recorded in recent days. “We are fighting with all our might to control the fires,” Turkey’s forest management department wrote, sharing the video on social media. Elsewhere in Europe, holidaymakers have been forced to flee Rhodes and Corfu as wildfires have engulfed parts of both Greek islands following days of extreme heat. Read More Helicopters battle wildfires fuelled by strong winds in Turkey Heatwave: Scorching temperatures cook egg instantly under sun in Turkey Wildfires grip Turkey as extreme heat sweeps across Europe

Jill Biden met France’s first lady Brigitte Macron on Tuesday, 25 July, as she visited Paris to mark the United States’ official re-entry into United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). The US First Lady will attend a flag-raising ceremony to celebrate the re-entry into the agency after a five-year hiatus. She is expected to make a speech about the importance of American leadership in preserving cultural heritage. Under Donald Trump’s administration, the US pulled out of Unesco because of an alleged anti-Israel bias and a need for “fundamental reform” in the agency. It was the second time the US returned to Unesco after withdrawing, after previously leaving under Ronald Reagan’s administration in 1984 citing alleged advancement of Soviet interests, mismanagement, and corruption. The nation announced its intention to rejoin the agency in June 2023 before the agency’s 193 member states approved re-entry. Today’s ceremony will feature a speecy by Unesco’s director general Audrey Azoulay. Read More First Lady Jill Biden to mark US reentry into UNESCO with flag-raising ceremony in Paris Oui, oui: Jill Biden heads to Paris to help mark US return to UN educational and scientific agency Jill Biden welcomes proposal for Medicare to pay for navigation services for cancer patients

US-born basketball player Kyle Anderson will play for China at next month's FIBA World Cup after obtaining Chinese nationality, Anderson and the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) announced Monday.

Eight simple lifestyle changes could add more than 20 years to your life, research suggests. According to a study, presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Boston, making minor changes even if you are already middle aged could pay massive dividends when it comes to extending your life. “Our research findings suggest that adopting a healthy lifestyle is important for both public health and personal wellness,” said Xuan-Mai T Nguyen, a health science specialist involved in the work at the US Department of Veteran Affairs. “The earlier the better, but even if you only make a small change in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, it still is beneficial,” she added. So what are the lifestyle changes? Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter They are: Eat well. Avoid cigarettes. Get a good night’s sleep. Be physically active. Manage stress. Avoid binge drinking. Be free from opioid addiction. Have positive social relationships. Who knew stopping smoking was so good for you?... The research drew on data from questionnaires and medical records collected between 2011 and 2019. The records covered more than 700,000 US veterans aged from 40 to 99 who were enrolled in the Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program. “Men and women who adopted eight therapeutic lifestyle factors could gain 23.7 or 22.6 years of life expectancy, respectively, at age 40 years compared to those with no adopted lifestyle factors,” the authors write. However, as the study was done through observation, the work cannot prove a causal link between the factors identified and differences in lifespan. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

EasyJet and Jet2 flights carrying passengers from areas affected by wildfires will touch down tonight.

Satellite images capture wildfires burning across the island of Rhodes. Maxar Technologies shared the striking images on Twitter on Monday evening (24 July), which show how the blaze has charred parts of the Greek island, burning down homes, cars and livestock. Planet Labs also published photos of smoke rising from Evia. More evacuations have been ordered after the Rhodes wildfire tore past defences due to strong winds, leaving holidaymakers and local residents scrambling to safety. At least 19,000 people, mostly tourists, were moved in buses and boats as the fire reached resorts on the southeastern coast of the island. Read More Tourists evacuated by boat from Rhodes as wildfire rages on Greek island Smoke turns sky grey and hazy as wildfires continue to rage in Greece Greek wildfire victim returns to find home in ruins

About 42,000 people are on the verge of starving to death in northeast Burkina Faso as Islamist militants

In 2020, a man in Kerala found a "red thread" floating in his bucket. Now, DiCaprio is talking about it.

Amid flashing strobe lights at a SoulCycle class in Notting Hill, our instructor MJ stands on a platform, his baseball cap flipped backward and his facial hair trimmed into designer stubble, looking as if he’s straight out of a boy band. “I’ve had a f***ing s*** day and I didn’t want to come to work,” he says, softly, through his head mic. “But I’m so glad I did, as the energy is bringing me to life!” Everyone around me – women between the ages of 25 and 35, all of them dressed in one-shoulder leisurewear – roars in response. “Sit up tall, don’t let anyone make you feel down,” MJ continues. “You’re all legends, don’t let anybody judge you!” I pause for breath after yet another manic burst of energy cycling on the spot. Then we have to pick up dumbbells while atop stationary bikes and do a choreographed workout to a Taylor Swift song. This special Swift-themed class is taking place at 8.30 on a Monday night and in the same venue where First Lady Jill Biden and Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty attended a spinning class together after King Charles’s coronation in May – reportedly with 10 security guards in tow. I feel slightly out of my depth. I spent two hours looking for my lycra leggings and I’m totally unfit. Apart from walking my dog, I haven’t done any real exercise since 2017, when I had a go at clean eating and did a few weeks of high-intensity training at the gym. But now I’m ready for SoulCycle’s “unique mind-body-soul experience”. This leap back into exercise is partly inspired by Apple TV+’s dark comedy Physical, which is returning for its final season next month. It’s about a housewife played by Rose Byrne who battles her demons and a vicious and self-critical inner voice while finding solace in aerobics. Could it work for me, too? Is exercise the answer to my endlessly spinning mind? Would it serve as an instant catapult into a world of empowerment and success? Everyone in this class knows the words to every Taylor Swift song that booms from the speakers. “Drop everything now/Meet me in the pouring rain”, she sings on “Sparks Fly”. “Kiss me on the sidewalk/Take away the pain.” But all I can think about is the pain I’m currently in. We’re wearing special shoes that click into the pedals of the bike, so it’s not easy to detach oneself. But soon I become grateful for it: if I’m superglued into this class, I can’t give up so easily. As MJ says: “No struggle... no progress”. It doesn’t matter if you can’t move the wheel at the front of the SoulCycle bike, or if you’re peddling down on it like a gazelle; if you’re sweating and panting, you’re part of this love-in. And wow, it feels great. I’m not alone in adoring it, and some of my fellow riders were here even earlier, for “part one” of a class modelled after Swift’s setlist on her current US tour. (Each class costs £26, while a renewable package of four is £86, or eight at £160). It’s a little pocket of joy I knew nothing about while I was sitting at home snacking in front of my laptop and gaining weight. As I leave the SoulCycle studio and wander into the night, I take a deep breath. It feels good to be back in the saddle – even though my legs are like jelly. I have to ask my friend to drive me home because I’m not sure I’ll make it on foot. There are a few reasons I haven’t been hitting the gym, or even doing the occasional relaxed yoga class. Having children on my own has been an intense journey. For years my idea of exercise has been holding a baby or running after two kids in a park with an unruly dog. But when I read a few different headlines lately (“Fit and fabulous at 54: Jennifer Aniston emerges from her new workout class”; “Nicole Kidman, 56, flashes her incredible abs in revealing black dress”), I felt a pang of guilt. These women are older than me but super fit. My daughters, aged five and seven, are both at school now, so there’s no excuse for being so inactive. I had some blood tests done and my cholesterol is creeping up. I’ve been told I need to give up sugar and take up exercise. How can I be a good role model to my kids if all they do is see me eating the chocolate rolls meant for their pack lunches? And where do I even begin with fitness? After the excitement of my Taylor Swift class, the idea of strolling along to my local Virgin Active feels mundane. I ponder whether it’d be easier to stay fit if I was super-rich. I can see myself signing up for four workout sessions rigged up to an electrical current. Because why not? I can’t possibly afford the bespoke, members-only gym Bodyism in London’s Westbourne Grove, whose clients include heiress Tamara Ecclestone. It caters for high-intensity, low-impact training, with top-tier packages costing £23,000 a year. More affordable, though, is their class membership – which costs £1,500 a year for 72 classes and promises to help elongate and tone the body. But it’s also full of the clean-eating squad – I might not fit in. Then there’s London’s BXR, a private, boutique boxing-themed gym that’s spread over two floors. From the street below I can glimpse a massive boxing ring behind enormous glass panels – a manifestation of the idea that celebrities feel they live in a goldfish bowl. It’s also packed with A-listers who get free guest passes while staying at the luxury hotel Chiltern Firehouse that’s located opposite. Membership costs from £2,500 a year and up (by a lot), and the Vogue editor Edward Enniful and fashion designer Julian Macdonald are apparently fans of BXR’s Versaclimbing – a high-intensity, low-impact workout on a Versaclimber. This cardio fitness machine has a 75-degree vertical rail with pedals and handles that mimic the natural motion of climbing. When I hear that the machine burns up to 800 calories in a 45-minute session – well, I’m on the phone to the bookings team in a flash. Unlike treadmill or spin classes, it’s exercise that is full body but low impact – meaning it “minimises unnecessary stress or trauma to your body”. At the state of the art Repose, a wellness clinic in London’s High Street Kensington with members including Made in Chelsea’s Millie Mackintosh, the speciality is “anti-gravity fitness”. It might sound unusual to exercise from a silk hammock suspended from the ceiling for £40 a class – but sessions include pilates, suspension fitness, air bar and both restorative and aerial yoga. Models and celebrities, including Poppy Delevingne, are also queuing up for personal training at London’s E-Pulsive, which costs £85 a session. The electrical muscle stimulation class (EMS) sees you strap yourself into a full-body vest that zaps you with low-frequency electric impulses to manually contract your muscle fibres while you exercise, increasing the intensity of your workout. It seems ideal for people like me who are too busy to exercise but who want superfast results – apparently, a 20-minute EMS workout burns 500 calories and can offer the same results as a 90-minute high-intensity gym class. It sounds like heaven. Then there’s roller-skating at model Liberty Ross’ glamorous Flipper’s Roller Boogie Palace in West London or New York – the original LA Flipper’s in the 1970s was run by Ross’s dad Ian Flipper-Ross, and was so associated with glam fitness that it was dubbed “Studio 54 on wheels”. A one-to-one beginner’s class at the new skate school costs £50, or £35 in a group lesson of up to 12 skaters. Or you can just book in for a general skate with your kids – which kills two birds with one stone as they have fun while you burn calories. A two-hour skate session for adults starts from £15.50 and from £11.50 for children. All of this sounds great – but if I went for a workout schedule of my choice, I can’t see it totalling less than £30,000 a year. Bearing in mind that exercise is addictive and makes you feel good, it might be far more in the long run, too. It’s also a tad out of my price range – I don’t plan on dropping into Equinox on Kensington Roof Gardens or the Bulgari Hotel gym any time soon. Instead, I can see myself signing up for four workout sessions rigged up to an electrical current. Because why not? If money wasn’t an obstacle, I would install a gym and a pilates studio in my own house, with a cryotherapy chamber and a personal trainer on tap. But until then, I plan to start running with the dog, my two kids behind me on their scooters. It’s far cheaper and – unlike the late-night Taylor Swift class – won’t require a babysitter. Read More I keep forgetting my dog’s birthday – could a luxury pet party make it up to him? ‘I’m here anyway, why not?’: My non-surgical facelift has got me thinking about more procedures I’ve never had a platonic relationship with a man – sex can’t help but get in the way Husband fired from family business after wife roleplayed with reborn dolls Montana Brown explains why she chose a home birth as a ‘non-white person’ 8 healthy habits to help you live longer – according to a new study

Human-induced climate change is responsible for the historic heatwaves sweeping the planet from China to the United States, scientists have found. The research conducted by World Weather Attribution (WWA), which was released on Tuesday, says the record-shattering heat in Europe and the US would have been almost “impossible” in a world without global heating. The researchers, who analysed records in all three continents, said the likelihood of extreme heat in China, which recently recorded its highest-ever temperature at 52.2C, is now 50 times more likely due to the climate crisis. The researchers evaluated the role of climate crisis in these extreme heat events using peer-reviewed methods, weather station data of the hottest days in July, and computer models. It is already known that planet-heating greenhouse gas emissions have increased the global average temperature by 1.2C, which, in turn, is making heatwaves more frequent and extreme. The WWA study found that the heatwaves like the ones currently persisting now have a probability of occurring approximately once every 15 years in the US and Mexico region, once every 10 years in Southern Europe, and once every five years in China due to increased global average temperatures. However, without the human-induced climate crisis, these heat events would have been extremely rare. In China, such a heatwave would have been about a 1-in-250-year event, while the maximum heat experienced in the US and Mexico region and Southern Europe would have been “virtually impossible”. The climate crisis did not just play a role in the occurrence of the heatwave, but also made the temperatures hotter than they would have been with natural phenomenon like the El Nino. The European heatwave was 2.5C hotter, the North American heatwave was 2C hotter, and the heatwave in China was 1C hotter due to the human-induced climate crisis, the study notes. Researchers who were part of the study said the stronger impact of the climate crisis on the US and Europe is a result of a complex relationship between global and regional factors. Europe is heating faster than the global average, earlier studies have shown. Scientists said it’s because the impact of the climate crisis isn’t even worldwide. “Once again, our study shows the significant impact of the rapid rate of warming on local temperatures in Europe. It underscores the urgent necessity for Europe to continuously take adaptation and mitigation measures,” Sjoukje Philip, researcher at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, and one of the researchers of the study, said. “The planet isn’t warming evenly,” Ms Philip adds. “Climate scientists are working to understand the complex relationships between increasing global and regional average temperatures.” Other scientists have also largely attributed the recent heat events, including the ones in July in the northern hemisphere and the marine heatwaves, to the climate crisis. Earlier, WWA researchers also analysed the April heatwave in a dozen Asian countries, including India, China and Thailand as well as the 2022 heat events in the UK which were found to be made “ten times more likely” due to the climate crisis”. Recently the Met Office also said the reason behind the UK’s hottest-ever June was also the climate crisis. The heatwaves have caused severe impacts, with deadly wildfires burning in Greece and Canada, and heat-related illnesses and fatalities reported in several countries. In the US alone, over 200 people died due to the extreme heat, and Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Algeria, and China also reported heat-related deaths and a surge in hospitalisations. Last year’s heat in Europe contributed to the deaths of over 61,000 people, a recent study found. The study warned that unless there is a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a shift away from fossil fuels, heatwaves will become even more common and severe in the future. If the global average temperature rise goes up by 2C, a limit that is expected to be breached in the next 30 years if greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase the way they are, there would be a probability of experiencing heatwaves like the one currently ongoing every two to five years. “The result of this attribution study is not surprising. The world hasn’t stopped burning fossil fuels, the climate continues to warm and heatwaves continue to become more extreme. It is that simple,” Friederike Otto, senior lecturer in climate science at Imperial College London and co-founder of WWA said. However, she added that these heatwaves are “not evidence of ‘runaway warming’ or ‘climate collapse”. “We still have time to secure a safe and healthy future, but we urgently need to stop burning fossil fuels and invest in decreasing vulnerability.” “If we do not, tens of thousands of people will keep dying from heat-related causes each year. It is absolutely critical that governments legislate fossil fuel phase out at this year’s Cop climate conference.” Read More What is driving the record-breaking global heatwaves across three continents? Why is there no UK heatwave as Europe swelters during Charon? 61,000 dead: The shocking toll from extreme heatwaves that hit Europe last summer revealed UK rescue flights for tourists fleeing ‘out of control’ wildfires on Rhodes and Corfu Weather forecast for Greece as wildfires rage and second heatwave hits ‘Weak tea’: G20 fails to agree on cutting down fossil fuels

Christian Aid, a British nonprofit, announced that it will no longer bank with Barclays Plc due to the