The Guardian news (unofficial)

2022-01-04 19:40:45 Easy wins: cutting down on alcohol – ‘your heart, liver, stomach and brain will thank you’

Drinking in Australia is often an all-or-nothing affair. Here’s how I manage my booze intake without going to extremesEasy wins: see others in the seriesSometimes on a Monday or a Tuesday after work, I could really do with a G&T. Or a solitary chilled beer. Sometimes it’s just that kind of night.But if it’s a Monday or a Tuesday, the rule is this: no. Not after a hard day. Not out with friends. Not if there’s a half-full bottle of impeccably chilled pinot in the fridge. No. Continue reading...

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#Health #Life_and_style #Alcohol #Society Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:40 How to move: with asthma

Embarking on exercise can be daunting for people with asthma, but it can have significant benefits. Here are a few things to consider before startingAround one in 10 Australians – 2.7 million people – suffer from asthma, a chronic condition involving inflammation and narrowing of the airways. This can cause breathing difficulties, wheezing, chest tightness and coughing.Understandably, fear of triggering symptoms often leads to exercise avoidance. Some people avoid it due to a high symptom burden; others have exercise-induced asthma. Even people not in these categories live in fear of exacerbating symptoms, says Dr Sarah Valkenborghs from the University of Newcastle. Continue reading...

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#Life_and_style #Health_&_wellbeing #Fitness #Asthma Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:36 Victorian Catholic diocese found vicariously liable for child sexual abuse in landmark ruling

Church’s argument that it was not responsible for the abuse was rejected and described as ‘affront to common sense’Follow our live blog for the latest updatesGet our free news app; get our morning email briefingThe Catholic church’s failed attempt to argue it was not responsible for a priest’s abuse of a five-year-old, because it took place during after-hours “social” visits, has been slammed as “ruthless” by the survivor and an “affront to common sense” by a judge.In December 2021, the Victorian supreme court handed down a judgment finding the current diocese of Ballarat was vicariously liable for the abuse of the boy, who cannot be named, by Father Bryan Coffey in Port Fairy in the early 1970s. Continue reading...

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#Australia_news #Victoria #Religion #Catholicism #Royal_commission_into_institutional_responses_to_child_sexual_abuse Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:32 ‘Extreme marine heatwave’: waters off Sydney set to break January temperature records

Satellite data shows ocean surface 3C above normal as swimmers say water feels more like February and MarchDownload the free Guardian app; get our morning email briefingWaters off Sydney are undergoing an extreme marine heatwave with temperatures likely at their highest levels on record for January.Satellite data is showing the ocean surface off the coast of Sydney at 3C above normal, with swimmers and surfers reporting conditions that feel more like February and March than early January. Continue reading...

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#Sydney #New_South_Wales #Environment #Climate_crisis #Marine_life Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:28 The Bored Ape NFT craze is all about ego and money, not art

Eminem has just joined the exclusive club of celebrity investors willing to pay heaps of cryptocurrency for NFTs that are nothing more than derivative monkey cartoonsBored Ape #79 looks almost as bored as I feel when I think about NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and their supposedly seismic impact on art. My jaw slides, my eyelids hang down and I want to pick lice from my fur.Even though I can identify with Bored Ape #79, I won’t be buying it, unlike Eminem who has bought another in this highly fashionable NFT “art” brand that looks slightly like him. It’s called EminApe and sports a military-urban peaked cap above its enervated face. He reportedly paid around $450,000 (£334,000) for it. Continue reading...

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#Art_and_design #Non-fungible_tokens_(NFTs) #Digital_art #Cryptocurrencies #Eminem Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:24 The foundations of our healthcare system have been washed away | NSW emergency nurse

Working conditions have deteriorated, staff have quit, and our leaders ignore us. I worry for the profession I have grown to love“Our healthcare system remains strong,” says our premier. It’s hard to explain that to the 91-year-old woman who slept in a chair last night in the emergency department I work at. Or the patient with cancer, receiving chemo, stuck at the cancer treatment centre for more than 24 hours, her journey delayed because she had became a close contact while waiting for a bed.Or the patient with suicidal ideation, who has been scheduled under the Mental Health Act, was told they have Covid-19, and is being forced to wait indefinitely for days as there are no beds at the specialised mental health facility. Continue reading...

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#Health #New_South_Wales #Sydney #Coronavirus #Omicron_variant Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:19 Growth rate of Covid hospitalisations in north more than double that of London

Exclusive: hospitals in northern England feel pressure, with highest rate in north-east and YorkshireCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHospitals in the north of England are experiencing more than double the growth rate in Covid patients compared with London as mounting Omicron pressure on the NHS spreads away from the capital.Health chiefs are cautiously optimistic that after weeks of rapidly increasing hospitalisations in London – the centre of the outbreak – the huge rises may be slowing and beginning to level off. Continue reading...

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#Coronavirus #Health #North_of_England #Hospitals #NHS Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:14 UK Covid live: more than 200,000 daily cases reported for first time

Latest updates: Boris Johnson to hold press conference as UK reports 218,724 new cases; more NHS hospital trusts declaring critical incidentsUK reports almost 220,000 new Covid casesTwo more NHS trusts declare critical incidents over staff Covid absencesMillions of UK critical workers could get priority Covid testsOmicron infections may have plateaued in London, Neil Ferguson saysCoronavirus global updates – liveMatthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, told Times Radio this morning that he feared ministers were engaged in a “politicised attempt” to play down the seriousness of the Omicron crisis. He said:We should feel some hope and confidence about the medium term, that we hope we will gradually become more able to live with Covid as the prime minister has said, that when Omicron has gone through us that we make it to that stage and the NHS will recover.On the other hand, we’ve got to recognise where we are now, that, in the next few weeks at least, things are very, very difficult and I think that one thing that people in our service find difficult is that it does seem as though there’s a kind of almost politicised attempt to suggest that things aren’t as difficult as they are ...The government has to make this balance between public health on the one hand and pressures on the NHS on the other hand and people’s desire to socialise. That’s a very difficult judgement.What I’m saying is that judgment needs to be driven by the data and what’s in the best interests of the country. It doesn’t, shouldn’t be driven by a kind of political virility symbolism, where the sooner we can be free, the better it is, regardless of the effect. Continue reading...

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#Coronavirus #Politics #UK_news #Keir_Starmer #Boris_Johnson Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:11 Belgium and Spain top Europe’s pre-pandemic robbery league

Eurostat report puts UK third for robbery but 2021 data show most crimes plummeting across regionSpain and Belgium have almost treble Europe’s average number of robberies, topping its robbery league, according to a Eurostat report.The figures, compiled from 2016-2019, before the pandemic, show robberies fell in Europe by 11% over the period, with an average of approximately 55 for every 100,000 people. Continue reading...

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#Europe #European_Union #Spain #Belgium #UK_news Open / Comment

2022-01-04 19:40:07 South Africa parliament fire contained as suspect appears in court

Accused man, 49, pleads not guilty of causing blaze that burned down parts of the Cape Town complexA fire that devastated South Africa’s parliament has been contained after a two-day battle, firefighters said, as a man appeared in court to face charges of starting the blaze.Flames broke out in the Cape Town complex before dawn on Sunday, spreading to the National Assembly, the roof of which collapsed, and threatening treasures housed in an older section. Continue reading...

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#South_Africa #Africa #World_news Open / Comment