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The Victorians are often credited with the invention of Christmas as we know it. That’s because the culture of Christmas was transformed during this period and expanded into a major holiday. It’s when several familiar Christmas staples emerged, such as decorated trees, cards and crackers.

In December 2023, 34-year-old Dave Onawelo told staff in the hospital emergency department at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London that he was experiencing a sickle cell crisis. While waiting to be seen, his mother raised concerns that Onawelo’s condition was worsening, but was told by hospital staff that she…

At the bottom of the oceans and seas lie more than 8,500 shipwrecks from two world wars. These wrecks have been estimated to contain as much as 6 billion gallons of oil, as well as munitions, toxic heavy metals and even chemical weapons.

Many of us assume that everything a musician sings emerges from some autobiographical impulse. Pop music lyrics in particular are often read literally by fans as transparent disclosures about the singer’s life.

Donald Trump’s victory in November’s US presidential election saw the US dollar strengthen. It surged to a one-year high within two weeks, and has since retained its strength against its major peers. His election has also again brought the prospect of US tariffs on imports, and attention has focused on…

The friendship between Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Elon Musk is the talk of Italy, and increasingly so since the latter secured a key role in the incoming administration of US president-elect Donald Trump.

Kash Patel, Donald Trump’s nominee to direct the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), once declared that his first act in power would be to “shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one and reopen it the next day as a museum of the deep state”.

If you’ve ever had a doctor order a blood test for you, chances are that they ran a complete blood count, or CBC. One of the most common blood tests in the world, CBC tests are run billions of times each year to diagnose conditions and monitor patients’ health.

The world’s oceans represent a vast and largely untapped source of biodiversity, offering a high probability for the discovery of unique chemical compounds with therapeutic properties. Among these, bioactive molecules found in marine organisms have shown notable anticancer effects.

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) do not have a behavioural disorder, nor are they lazy, or lacking in manners and boundaries. Their brains mature in a different way, with different patterns of neurological activity and a number of neurochemical differences. For this reason, ADHD is considered to be…

For over six decades, Chad was a crucial ally to French and US forces in their counter-insurgency operations in the Sahel. But both lost influence because of repeated mistakes.