The Shropshire tourist attraction and working farm was closed down after an E coli outbreak and campaigners fear it may never reopenOf the handful of historic working farms in the UK, Acton Scott Farm is perhaps the best known. The Shropshire farm was …
Betting billionaire’s charity cuts donations from £9m to £6m
Denise Coates, boss of online gambling company Bet365, saw reserves in her foundation rise by almost 50%A charity founded by Denise Coates, the billionaire boss of online gambling firm Bet365, has reduced its donations to good causes from £9m to £6m, d…
Can you capture the complex reality of the pandemic with numbers? Well, we tried… | David Spiegelhalter and Anthony Masters
Throughout 2021, two leading lights of the Royal Statistical Society Covid-19 Task Force drew on data for a weekly Observer column, and found themselves in the middle of Covid culture warsIndividual experiences and suffering are, of course, at the hear…
Covid clinics: hope and high prices on the long road to recovery
Yoga, mud baths and liver compresses… Welcome to the world of luxury wellness and long Covid. Amelia Tait reports on the extreme wealth divide in the search for a cureUnderneath the shadow of the snow-topped Austrian Alps, in front of a forest of thick…
Britain got it wrong on Covid: long lockdown did more harm than good, says scientist
A new book outlines the mistakes and missteps that made UK pandemic worseThere was a distinctive moment, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, that neatly encapsulated the mistakes and confusion of Britain’s early efforts to tackle the disease, says M…
Classical comeback: the pandemic proves the need to support musicians and orchestras
Covid may have put an abrupt halt to cultural life but the response shows the sector is part of national recoveryIn March 2020, live classical music and much of cultural life worldwide came to an abrupt halt overnight. Since then, we have seen the grad…
If old acquaintances are brought to mind, give them a call…
It’s reassuring to think of old schoolfriends, colleagues, dates – and know we are still social creaturesI have an Auld Lang Syne earworm, a hangover from a New Year I didn’t even celebrate. I usually eschew the Hootenanny and head to bed at 10.30, sho…
Lost your get up and go? Here’s how to get it back
After a lifetime of loving exercise, Martin Love lost his motivation. But where had it gone? And could he get it back? Plus, five experts on how to maintain your mojoOn my parents’ mantelpiece, among the pictures of smiling grandchildren, lopsided grad…
‘I would have bought stock in Zoom!’: experts on wisdom (and regrets) for a new year of Covid
As we greet a third calendar year of pandemic life, experts who helped us make sense of the past two years discuss lessons learned, and wisdom to carry forwardIf 2020 was a year of fear and isolation, 2021 marked one of return – a road toward something…
New studies reinforce belief that Omicron is less likely to damage lungs
Six research groups’ findings all suggest variant multiplies more in throats and causes less serious diseaseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageA growing body of evidence indicates that the Omicron Covid variant is more likely t…