There’s nothing more soul-sapping than a lengthy chat with a barefoot-running fundamentalist – as a new scientific study proves Baffled and barefoot … Is running shoeless more natural? Photograph: Eamonn McCabe for the Guardian I’m not averse to running: I run most days, for fitness and fresh air, and because it’s healthier than drugs for enhancing one’s mood. It’s sociable, Read More

A worker shelters from the rain under a Union Flag umbrella as he passes the London Stock Exchange in the City of London, Britain in this October 1, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/TOBY MELVILLE/FILES Britain’s top share index closed in marginally positive territory on Monday, as a rally in mining stocks following new stimulus measures from China – the world’s top Read More

The family of a woman in the US who died from ovarian cancer after using Johnson & Johnson baby powder has been awarded damages. So how much of a risk does talc pose? Is talc a health hazard? Photograph: Alamy What could be more wholesome than Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder? It is the fragrant way to dry the bits towels Read More

Medical student Rachel Fox talks to pupils at Gonville and Caius College Micha Theiner One of Cambridge University’s oldest colleges has launched a scheme to encourage sixth-formers from state schools to apply to study medicine by letting them experience undergraduate life. The project was the brainchild of two medical students at Gonville and Caius College who were concerned at the Read More

  Macedonian police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of migrants who stormed the border from Greece on Monday as a deeply divided Europe traded barbs over the biggest humanitarian crisis in decades. As frustrations boiled over at restrictions imposed on people moving through the Balkans, migrants trapped on the Greece-Macedonia border tore down a metal gate in the barbed Read More

Keep Britain Tidy’s ambition is a worthwhile one, but I won’t be told what to do by the likes of Michael Gove and Boris Johnson The mayor of London, Boris Johnson. ‘He looks a frightful twerp.’ Monday 29 February 2016 15.05 GMTLast modified on Monday 29 February 201615.09 GMT What a bizarre campaign Clean for the Queen is. This week, we’re to Read More

Academics argue that one-to-one tutoring could provide the most-effective approach to teaching but it’s being held back by a lack of funding iStock Artificial intelligence should be used to provide children with one-to-one tutoring to improve their learning and monitor their well-being, academics have argued. One-to-one tutoring has long been thought the most-effective approach to teaching but would be too Read More

The £7 Wetherspoons roast dinner will be served for the last time on Sunday, and sales of roasting joints are declining. But in gastropubs and restaurants, Sunday lunch is the new Saturday night Roast pork at the Pony & Trap in Chew Magna. Photograph: Tim Martin/PR company handout When historians come to pinpoint the decline of British life and its Read More

Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron holds a question and answer session with students at University Campus Suffolk in Ipswich Prime Minister David Cameron hit back on Monday at critics who accuse him of using scare tactics to keep Britain in the European Union, saying he was behind “Project Fact” not “Project Fear”. Talking to students in the eastern English town Read More

Being one of only four million ‘leaplings’ in the world born on 29 February means feeling both a different and unique – and also prompts lots of questions Katie Thompson on her fourth, 14th and 10th birthdays. Photograph: “I’ve never met one of you before.” That’s the first thing most people say upon hearing that I was born on 29 Read More