‘Gamechanger’ brought in after success of trial offering larger doses of drugs within first two weeks of treatment

People in Britain with heart failure are being given larger doses of drugs at the start of their treatment after a global study found that this led to a huge fall in deaths.

Experts say the new approach could mean those with the potentially fatal condition start receiving their ideal amount of medication within two weeks of diagnosis rather than after many months.

Continue reading...

Consumption and production falls in almost every market as industry fears a ‘generational’ change in drinking habits

Worldwide consumption of wine fell in 2024 to its lowest level in more than 60 years, the main trade body has said, raising concerns about new risks from US tariffs.

The International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV) said on Tuesday that 2024 sales fell 3.3% from the previous year to 214.2m hectolitres.

Continue reading...

Study of 420,000 Britons suggests going at speeds of at least 4mph can lower risks by up to 43%

Walking at a brisker pace could lower the risk of a wide range of heart rhythm problems, according to a study.

The peer-reviewed research, published in BMJ Heart , analysed data from 420,925 participants of the UK Biobank who had provided data on their walking speed. Of these, 81,956 gave more detailed data on the amount of time they spent walking at different paces.

Continue reading...

• ‘She smells really bad,’ says British player of Lois Boisson
• Dart spoke to umpire during defeat at Rouen Open

Harriet Dart has apologised after requesting her opponent at the Rouen Open put on deodorant because she “smells really bad”.

The British No 4 was beaten 6-0, 6-3 by the French player Lois Boisson in the first round.

Continue reading...

In Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s brutal and immersive new film, memory informs the events that take place in real time to a unit of soldiers in Iraq

Warfare , Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza’s assiduous new film on a single episode of the American war in Iraq, opens with a title card typical to a war picture: date, location, barebones summary – 11 November 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq. Navy SEAL team alpha one is supporting Marines in insurgents’ territory. And then one final, unusual detail in place of the standard “based on a true story” – “This film uses only their memories.” The “only” is an ominous indicator: this is a film working against the Hollywood tide to gloss, simplify or narrativize. Warfare, based primarily on Mendoza’s memories of that day as a former SEAL, as well as those of fellow soldiers and civilians present, is as much an experiment of translation as a cinematic achievement, a movie defined by both what it shows and what it does not.

Much of the press surrounding Warfare has focused on this exacting verisimilitude, its mission to create the “ most accurate war film possible ”. If something could not be double-checked by another account, it was not included. The intricate, fully immersive soundscape, designed by Glenn Fremantle, encompasses the vast volume spectrum of conflict – civilian chatter, a hand grazing a windowsill, burps of radio, destabilizing patters of gunfire and the sonic boom of a “show of force” military flyover that had nearly the same fetal-position effect on the theater audience as it did the characters. With the exception of a first scene observing the soldiers raucously dancing to the erotic music video for Eric Prydz’s Call On Me – underscoring just how young they are, how much pressure must be released – the movie proceeds in more or less real time. Ninety-ish minutes at a house the soldiers picked because one said “I like it”, at first tracking and then fighting nameless insurgents, with dialogue primarily in undiluted military jargon.

Continue reading...

Unai Emery will always shudder at mention of La Remontada. It came to define his time as the manager of Paris Saint-Germain, the inexplicable Champions League defeat to Luis Enrique’s Barcelona in 2017 after his team had held a 4-0 first-leg lead. Barcelona would end up needing three goals with 88 minutes of the second leg gone at the Camp Nou. They got them for a 6-5 aggregate victory.

On an epic night at Villa Park, the roles were reversed – and so nearly to cathartic effect for Emery. His Villa team were magnificent. They refused to believe that this showpiece Champions League quarter-final was over after Luis Enrique’s PSG surged into a 2-0 lead on the night for a 5-1 aggregate advantage, the goals coming from their flying full-backs, Achraf Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.

Continue reading...

In the end, it was comfortable enough for Barcelona, despite Serhou Guirassy’s hat-trick. They weren’t able to hold the ball in trademark fashion and command through possession but they always had clear water. There were times, though, when they were distinctly uneasy and, but for an own goal that came at just the right time for them, this might have been a very awkward evening.

It may ultimately have been a second leg negotiated without too much jeopardy, but it was a tie that raised doubts about them as potential champions. There is much to admire about Hansi Flick’s Spanish league leaders but theirs is a high-risk game and more precise opponents than Dortmund might have exposed them.

Continue reading...

Dan Caldwell reportedly removed from building over ‘unauthorized disclosure’ amid scandal over recent leaks

One of US defense secretary Pete Hegseth’s leading advisers, Dan Caldwell, was reportedly put on leave and removed from the Pentagon on Tuesday following a Department of Defense investigation into leaks.

Caldwell was escorted out of the Pentagon after being identified during the investigation and subsequently placed on administrative leave for “an unauthorized disclosure”, a source told Reuters .

Continue reading...

Records offer details of Cody Balmer, 38, who is accused of setting fire to Pennsylvania governor’s mansion

The man accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial mansion early Sunday morning while Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were asleep inside was due in court three days later on allegations that he assaulted his wife and stepson after trying to take his own life.

Those records help provide a more complete picture of Cody Balmer, 38, of the Pennsylvania capital of Harrisburg, who was denied bail on Monday on charges of attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated assault and aggravated arson in connection with the governor’s mansion blaze.

Continue reading...