Author: SKYNEWS

Playing Tetris could help tackle memories of past trauma, research has found.The trial included close to 100 NHS staff who had been exposed to trauma at work – such as witnessing deaths during the pandemic. It found those who played the classic video game as part of their treatment experienced fewer flashbacks.The study was carried out by researchers in the UK and Sweden, with experts now hoping to test the method on a larger group of people.Known as imagery competing task intervention (ICTI), the treatment involved some 40 patients playing a slow version of Tetris while briefly recalling a traumatic…

For this week’s Savings Guide, we have a special edition with Mark Chicken, a chartered financial planner at The Private Office, looking at how you can save your child from university debt…For parents with young children, university can feel a very long way off. But with graduates in England facing up to 40 years of repayments, it’s never too early to get ahead on setting your kids up for university.Follow all the latest money newsThe average graduate now leaves university with a debt of £51,645, including tuition fees and maintenance loans, according to investment platform Lightyear. Students starting courses today…

Grieving parents awaited Mark Zuckerberg’s arrival at a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles for what is being called the social media industry’s “big tobacco moment”.”I’m comforted by the fact he’s here alone, with only his lawyers and a jury. He’s without his lobbyists or his PR machine,” says Lori Schott, whose 18-year-old daughter Annalee had a social media addiction and died by suicide in 2020. “If we would have been here in this court 10 years earlier she would have still been alive,” she adds. Image: Lori Schott from Colorado, one of the parents who say they lost their children…

DNA recovered from a glove found near the home of Nancy Guthrie does not match anything in a national database, authorities have said.It marks a significant setback for detectives investigating the case of the missing 84-year-old, who is the mother of NBC’s Today show presenter Savannah Guthrie. She was last seen on 31 January when her family dropped her off at her home near Tucson, Arizona, following dinner with them. The case has since gripped America and beyond.Authorities announced they had obtained a DNA sample from a glove found near the property on Sunday.The glove appeared to match the pair…

The rate at which prices are increasing has fallen significantly, official figures have shown, making an interest rate cut next month even more likely.Data from the Office for National Statistics says the consumer price index (CPI) measure of inflation dropped to 3% in the year to January. Not since March last year has inflation been this low.Money blog: Big drop in inflation announced – follow liveIt means things are still becoming more expensive, just at a slower pace than before. But it also increases the odds of an interest rate cut in March.Now, traders think there’s an 81% chance of…

Police are arresting 1,000 suspected paedophiles every month as the threat of child sex abuse worsens, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned.Rob Jones, the NCA’s director of general operations, said online groups had resulted in offenders’ behaviour being “rationalised”, as “like-minded” abusers are brought together by algorithms. While they are collaborating on the dark web, they are using mainstream social media as “discovery” platforms to “identify and abuse vulnerable children”.And with youngsters increasingly reliant on the internet themselves, they are at even greater risk.Mr Jones described the situation as “incredibly damaging”, and warned: “We want society to push back…

Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf has been arrested after allegedly assaulting two men in New Orleans amid Mardi Gras celebrations, police say.The Transformers star reportedly punched one victim several times, it is alleged. LaBeouf, 39, then reportedly assaulted another man, punching him on the nose, officers said.The actor, who found fame on the Disney Channel as a young teen in the early 2000s, was arrested and has been charged with “two counts of simple battery”.Sky’s US partner, NBC News, has contacted LaBeouf’s representatives for comment. The New Orleans Police Department said in a statement that they were called at 12.45am on…

The UK’s unemployment rate has increased again – to the highest level in nearly five years, according to new official figures. The jobless rate ticked up to 5.2% in December, the highest since the three months up to January 2021, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. The figure had stood at 4.1% when Labour took office in 2024, promising economic growth. More out-of-work people are now actively looking for a job, while the number of unemployed people per job vacancy is at a new post-pandemic high, the ONS said. Though there’s been little change in the number…

Parts of Britain could be at risk of further flooding for months to come because so much rain has fallen so far this year, according to new analysis.Latest official figures from the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) show rivers in the south and southwest of England reached exceptionally high levels in January, with some breaking records. And the soil is so saturated in areas that have borne the brunt of the deluge that water is rising up through the ground – an invisible threat that could suddenly flood homes. Image: Flooding in Salisbury, Wiltshire The Environment Agency (EA)…

A man has been charged with terrorism-related offences over a plot to carry out an attack at a Taylor Swift concert in 2024. The now 21-year-old has been charged by Austrian prosecutors following his arrest shortly before the singer’s first Eras tour date in Vienna was due to take place. Swift cancelled her three-night run in the city less than 24 hours before it was set to begin in August 2024. Image: Police on patrol in Vienna after the concerts were cancelled. Pic: Reuters The suspect is accused of planning to carry out an Islamist militant attack, and the Vienna…