Who will be banished? Will someone be>!murdered or recruited?!<Who are your picks?

I've been using Persil, but I'm ready to branch out. Which is the best combination of cost to effectiveness ratio? Let's add in nice smell and stain removal.

Hundreds of thousands of women have used a new, free morning-after pill service at high street pharmacies in England, figures reveal.

The scheme launched in October to improve access and save women from having to book a GP or sexual health clinic appointment.

New NHS figures show that almost 305,000 doses were given out at pharmacies between October 2025 and March 2026.

Meanwhile, the number of women asking pharmacists about going on the regular oral contraceptive pill more than doubled, from around 50,000 to more than 115,000 in the 12 months to February 2026.

Easier to access

The morning-after pill, known as emergency contraception, external, is medication designed to prevent unwanted pregnancies. It usually has to be taken within three to five days of having unprotected sex. The sooner it is taken, the more effective it is.

It works by delaying or preventing the release of an egg, but will only prevent pregnancy if ovulation has not already happened.

Alternatively, women can visit a doctor or nurse to have a coil or intrauterine device (IUD) fitted to prevent pregnancy at any time during their menstrual cycle. To be effective, it needs to be fitted within 120 hours or five days of unprotected sex.

The government said making the morning-after pill available free from pharmacies would end the "unfair" barriers and postcode lottery some women faced - with access varying dramatically depending on where they live.

Under the scheme, women can visit their local pharmacy and have a confidential consultation with a pharmacist or trained pharmacy technician, before receiving the medication on the same day.

Prior to this, women had to book an appointment with their GP, sexual health clinic or pharmacy to get the morning-after pill. Women could also access it privately, as they still can now.

In 2024/25, there were around 150,000 NHS prescriptions for the morning-after pill - far fewer than under the new service.

Dr Sue Mann, NHS National Clinical Director for Women's Health, said the pharmacy service was a "major step forward for women's health", with "no appointment, no waiting and no judgement".

"This service is already making a real impact, particularly for women living in more deprived communities, by making contraception easier to access closer to home," she added.

Women can check online, external to find their nearest participating pharmacy. All pharmacists and pharmacy technicians delivering the service have received specialist training to provide emergency contraception and wider contraceptive care.

A major 2026 clinical trial has shown that a single gene‑therapy injection can restore hearing in people who were born profoundly deaf, including adults, something previously thought impossible.

This therapy targets OTOF‑related deafness (DFNB9), a condition where the inner‑ear hair cells are intact but cannot send signals to the brain because they lack the protein otoferlin.

A multicentre trial of 42 people showed that 90% experienced hearing improvement after a single injection. Follow‑up data show hearing gains were stable for 2.5 years, making this the longest‑lasting human hearing‑restoration result ever recorded. Although children showed the strongest gains, two of the three adults in the trial also regained meaningful hearing, which was a major surprise, since adult auditory pathways were assumed to be too inflexible. Half of all treated participants reached normal hearing levels, including the ability to hear whispers. No serious adverse events were reported.

I love a pressure test. They sure live up to their names... they are full of pressure. They used to have them quite regularly, but this series there were maybe about 5 during the whole time.

They always give so much excitment and drama. Instead of a contestant cooking something they know they are good at, a pressure test pushes them outside their comfort zone and forces them to stretch and grow in ways they never expected.

Bring back more pressure tests!

Child mortality has fallen dramatically over the past three decades, dropping from about 12.6 million deaths in 1990 to 4.9 million in 2022, a decline of roughly sixty percent. This improvement comes from wider vaccine access, better maternal and newborn care, cleaner water, malaria prevention, and rising living standards across many regions. The most authoritative source for these figures is the UN Inter‑agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation’s Levels & Trends in Child Mortality: 2023 Report, published jointly by UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, and UN DESA.

https://childmortality.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/UN-IGME-Child-Mortality-Report-2023.pdf

I do. I have family members who live in Canada, England, the USA and Switzerland, whilst I live in Scotland

A retrospective application was made in August 2025, around a year after the three shops first moved into the B-listed building. However, the application, by Kitfox Limited, is still listed as ‘pending consideration’ on City of Edinburgh Council’s building standards register. Beginning work without a building warrant is a criminal offence and may result in a fine of up to £5,000

The first 100% effective HIV prevention drug is approved and going global

Just two shots a year give protection against the disease that has ravaged the world for 44 years and still infect 1.3 million new people per year. To ensure access, a royalty free version will be provided to 120 lower income countries

One of the major grocery shops is going to magically appear very near your current home, which would you like it to be? Aldi, Sainsburys, Tesco, Coop, Waitrose, M&S, Asda, Iceland, Morrisons, Lidl (and whichever one I've forget)

I'm am going to Glasgow today to watch sport at the Commonwealth Games. It seems that it gets lets press and excitment as the years go on.

Do any of you care about the Games? Do you watch them or follow the results?

This is a proposed new 10 storey building on the Shore. It looks like it will mostly be a hotel, so no new housing. What do you think?

Do you agree with this ranking?

I live in Scotland (Edinburgh to be specific) and there are sooooo many English people who have moved here. I know I'm getting a biased sample, but they all seem to love it much more than England.

Is this a common opinion? On the one hand we have several advantages (free university tuition, free perscriptions etc) but it's also colder and rainier.

What is your English opinion of Scotland? Would you want to move here?

Curious about that one dish you go crazy for. Not your favourite restaurant but your favorite item.

Cheers!

We first meet Bex as Jaime's kinda sorta date at the auction, but in practically no time she is together with Rupert and they are having a baby. We all know it doesn't work out well and he cheats on her.

What do you think are her motivations? We don't know much about her back-story, or am I missing something. I hope that she and Rebecca conspire together to take Rupert for every pound to his name.

I live in the UK but I am interested in meeting someone from the US. No, I absolutely don't want to move there, I would be interested in the other person moving here. Are there any websites tailored for this?