Girls in the UK are drinking, smoking and vaping more than boys, while the country is “top of the charts” globally for child alcohol use, a major report has found. In one of the largest studies of its kind, the World Health Organisation (WHO) examined data from 280,000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 44 countries who were asked about their use of cigarettes, vapes and alcohol. The research showed girls aged 13 and 15 in the UK tend to be drinking, smoking and vaping more than boys across a broad pattern of behaviour. Two-fifths of girls in England and Scotland have vaped by the age of 15 – hi ..read more

Long-range ballistic missiles secretly shipped to Ukraine and which are included in the $61bn US aid package will “cause Putin problems” in his war, having already been used to strike Russian targets in occupied territory. Jake Sullivan, the White House national security adviser, confirmed that the US had already provided Army Tactical Missile Systems — ATACMS — to Ukraine, following earlier reports that the US had sent them in secret last month. Ukraine fired the long-range ballistic missiles at a Russian military airfield in occupied Crimea last week and at Russian troops in another occupied ..read more

Baby Reindeer, Richard Gadd’s dark tale of a comedian and his obsessive stalker, is topping the UK Netflix chart, riding high in several other territories and receiving Emmys heat, all in its first 10 days of release. But while the thriller, written by and starring Gadd, captivates audiences with the real-life story of his own stalking ordeal, some have serious concerns over the way he’s gone about it. Viewers eager to know more have used information from the drama to track down the people they think are the real protagonists in Gadd’s story, outing them on social media and leaving several peo ..read more

Team GB’s marathon swimmers will receive a typhoid and hepatitis A vaccine before racing in the Seine at this summer’s Olympics in Paris. The Seine’s water quality has been under scrutiny since a test event was cancelled last year after samples revealed dangerously high levels of E. coli were present in the river. Now, Britain’s Hector Pardoe has told i: “We’re going to have a typhoid and hepatitis A vaccine beforehand, and be on antibiotics after the race – regardless of what the water samples show.” It’s not uncommon for open water swimmers to take Pepto-Bismol – typically used to treat acid ..read more

“Rule, Britannia!” will remain part of the Last Night of the Proms because millions of licence fee payers tune in to hear it, the boss of the BBC music festival has said. Sam Jackson rejected calls from star cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who said the song should be scrapped because its colonial associations made people “uncomfortable”. Mr Jackson, who is in charge of BBC Radio 3 and the Proms, had previously said he would “pause and reflect” on the musician’s plea, declaring “we have to do what is morally right”. Announcing this year’s Proms programme, which includes performances from pop singer ..read more

When my little brother was given his first smart device aged three I was mortified. He was just out of the toddler phase, barely knew where to hang his coat in the preschool closet, but he could navigate his way between four apps simultaneously, could tell YouTube what toy unpackaging video he wanted to watch next, and could Facetime me whenever he wanted. His generation – Generation Alpha – has grown up with technology as second nature. He knows how to make a TikTok video more than he understands division at school, and he’d rather edit a video of him talking to some fake “online fans” (on hi ..read more

Angus Hanton believes he and his contemporaries “hit the financial jackpot,” and that’s why the self-confessed baby boomer is fighting to level the playing field for the young. Back in 2011, the 64-year-old economist helped to set up the Intergenerational Foundation (IF), a charity and think-tank – or “think and do tank” in the words of his fellow co-founder Liz Emerson – to help protect and fight for the interests of future generations. “Let’s go chronologically,” he says, drawing up a timeline of the advantages those of his age cohort have had, compared to today’s young people. “Their univer ..read more

MADRID – Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made a shock announcement that he would suspend public duties to decide if wants to continue to lead the country as his wife was embroiled in a corruption investigation. Mr Sanchez, 52, who has been in power since 2018, made the stunning announcement after a Spanish court said on Wednesday that it was launching a preliminary investigation into whether the Prime Minister’s wife, Begoña Gomez, committed a crime of influence peddling and corruption in her private  dealings Mr Sanchez said in a message on the social media X ..read more

Married At First Sight (MAFS) Australia fans may be finding the suspense too great as they wait to find out who made it up the aisle and stayed the course. Although the series ended in Australia at the beginning of April, viewers in the UK are still watching the final stages on E4. Mother-of-one and executive assistant Jade Pywell and 27-year-old psychiatric nurse Ridge Barredo were one of three couples to make it to end of the experiment. We have the inside story on whether love bloomed or withered away Down Under when the cameras stopped rolling but it comes with a spoiler alert. Are Jade an ..read more

The Renters’ Reform Bill has passed in the House of Commons, but will include an indefinite delay to ministers’ promises to end “no-fault” evictions. MPs voted in favour of the legislation on Wednesday, including a new amendment from the Government which would postpone a ban on “no fault” Section 21 evictions until a review of the courts system has taken place. The amendment to delay the evictions was passed by 287 votes to 144 on Wednesday, with rent reform campaigners describing the move as an “incredibly frustrating cave-in”. The Government first promised to ban the notices five years ago ..read more