People with chronic fatigue syndrome or long Covid are usually told there is no cure.
A new study, however, has suggested mental techniques can be used to cure or reduce the physical conditions of the illnesses.
The analysis of 75 people who recovered from one of the conditions, whose accounts have now been collected on a website run by Goldsmiths University of London, found most of who got better did so through “mind-body” techniques such as relaxation exercises and “brain retraining”, designed to dampen the body’s stress response.
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Friend of Manchester synagogue attacker jailed for life over MoD terror plan
A man who planned a terror attack with his friend who went on a fatal knife rampage at a Manchester synagogue less than two months later has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years.
Caption: Undated handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of Mohammad Bashir, 31, of Shaftesbury Road, Cheetham. Last month, Bashir, pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts. The “long-standing, committed jihadist” planned a terror attack on a defence base with the man who went on to commit a fatal knife rampage at a Manchester synagogue, Manchester Crown Court court has heard. Bashir, 31, drove Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, on a 10-hour round trip to conduct hostile reconnaissance at the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Swindon, on August 14 last year before they deliberately disposed of their mobile phones. Less than two months later, Al-Shamie was shot dead by police on October 2 while he carried out his terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in which two worshippers were killed. Issue date: Wednesday July 22, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: Greater Manchester Police
Provider: Greater Manchester Police/PA Wire
Source: PA
What you need to know
Mohammad Bashir, 31, drove Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, on a 10-hour round trip to conduct hostile reconnaissance at the UK’s Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Swindon, last year, Manchester Crown Court heard.
Caption: Undated family handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of Melvin Cravitz, 66, who died along with Adrian Daulby, 53, during the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue attack in Crumpsall, Manchester. Issue date: Friday October 3, 2025. PA Photo. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of planning the terror attack carried out by Jihad Al-Shamie, who was shot dead by police seven minutes after officers were alerted to the attack on Thursday morning. Photo credit should read: Family Handout/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: Family Handout
Provider: Family Handout/PA Wire
Source: PA
Copyright: PA
Caption: Undated family handout photo issued by Greater Manchester Police of Adrian Daulby, 53, who along with Melvin Cravitz, 66, died during the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue attack in Crumpsall, Manchester. Issue date: Friday October 3, 2025. PA Photo. Three people have been arrested on suspicion of planning the terror attack carried out by Jihad Al-Shamie, who was shot dead by police seven minutes after officers were alerted to the attack on Thursday morning. Photo credit should read: Family Handout/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: Family Handout
Provider: Family Handout/PA Wire
Source: PA
Copyright: PA
On 2 October, Adrian Daulby (left) and Melvin Cravitz (right), were killed in a separate incident at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue. Syrian-born UK citizen Al-Shamie was shot dead by police outside the building.
‘Firmly committed jihadist’
Last month, Bashir pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence to suggest the defendant was involved in the Heaton Park incident, but the planned attack on the defence facility was similar.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Bashir that by August last year he had become a “firmly committed jihadist” and together with Al-Shamie was “equally engaged” in planning an attack on a British military target.
NEWS
2 min read
‘A missed opportunity’
Following the synagogue attack, WhatsApps between the pair were uncovered when police analysed two phones seized from Al-Shamie.
Sir Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, issued an apology over the “missed opportunity” to gather intelligence on Al-Shamie.
Caption: Handout grab dated 09/08/25 taken from CCTV issued by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) of Mohammad Bashir and Jihad Al-Shamie at the Al Sunnah Mosque in Manchester, where they mistakenly believed they had hidden from the cameras and that their conversations would not be overheard. Mohammad Bashir, 31, who planned a terror attack with his friend – who went on a fatal knife rampage at a Manchester synagogue less than two months later – has been sentenced to life with a minimum term of 17 years at Manchester Crown Court. Issue date: Thursday July 23, 2026. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: GMP/PA Wire
NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
Photographer: GMP
Provider: GMP/PA Wire
Source: PA
HEALTH
How 75 people cured themselves of chronic fatigue and long Covid
People with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/ myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or long Covid are usually told there is no cure but a new study has suggested there may be mental techniques which reduce or cure the the physical conditions of the illnesses.
What the study found
The analysis of 75 people who recovered from one of the conditions -by Goldsmiths, University of London – found most of who got better did so through “mind-body”.
Nearly 80 per cent of participants had completely recovered, while the rest had significantly improved.
And 95 per cent had followed brain retraining or mind-body approaches, based on seeing the cause of the illness as stress and anxiety.
But as these techniques aren’t recommended, most discovered them online.
The expert view
New mind-body treatments manipulate our symptom experience, especially symptoms that are not caused by tissue damage, so we don’t feel those symptoms anymore.
Dr Maria Pedersen, researcher and senior physician at Oslo University HospitaL
Tired man just woke up. Concept of low energy and sleeplessness. – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
The most common symptoms of ME/CFS
Extreme fatigue
Sleep issues including insomnia
Brain fog
Symptoms getting worse after physical or mental activity
LIFESTYLE
5 min read
Symptoms of long Covid
Feeling extremely tired (fatigue)
Shortness of breath
Joint pain and aching muscles
Brain fog
MONEY
3 min read
Gatwick is another airport which charges people to be dropped off outside
(Photo: Geography Photos/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
TRANSPORT
Airport drop-off fees rise by a third
Fees for drop-offs at the UK’s major airports have risen by a third on average since last summer.
Out of the 20 busiest airports, 16 have increased their prices for pulling up to the closest point to terminals, according to the RAC motoring group.
The most and least expensive airports
£10
London City airport, which only started making people pay this year, is the most expensive on a per-minute basis – at £8 for five minutes. But Gatwick and Stansted had the highest minimum fees of £10.
Belfast City has the cheapest minimum at £4, while East Midlands charges the least per hour at 33p with a minimum fee of £5. Birmingham, Luton and Heathrow have minimums of £7.
Edinburgh and Bristol charge minimums of £8.50, while Leeds, Bradford and Bournemouth have £8 fees.
The expert view
The growing number of airports that operate barrierless ‘park now, pay later’ drop-off zones is also something drivers need to be extremely careful of. Those that drop off but miss the signage, or forget to go online or phone the airport to pay soon afterwards, can face a parking charge notice as high as £100.
Rod Dennis, RAC senior policy officer
Caption: Skavsta Airport, Nykoping, Sweden – September 12, 2019: Father and daughter looking out through the window of the airport concourse at the Ryanair airplane waiting for the boarding
Photographer: Iryna Chubarova
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStock Editorial
Caption: Emergency services on scene after an incident was declared on Mersea Island seafront. // A teenage girl and a woman in her 40s have died after three people got into difficulty in the sea. Emergency services raced to the scene at West Mersea, Essex, at around 5.35pm on Wednesday (July 22) after the alarm was raised by the ambulance service. Despite the efforts by rescuers, the teenage girl and the woman died at the scene. A third person remains in hospital in a serious condition.
Photo released 23/07/2026
Photographer: / SWNS
Provider: Daniel Rees / Newsquest / SWNS
Source: Daniel Rees / Newsquest / SWNS
uk news
Teenage girl and woman in her 40s dead after getting into difficulty off coast
A teenage girl and a woman in her forties have died after getting into difficulty in the water off the coast of Essex, police said.
Emergency services were called to the scene in West Mersea, Colchester at 5.35pm on Wednesday following reports of several people being in difficulty in the water.
Public told to avoid the area
Essex Police confirmed that despite the best efforts of paramedics, a teenage girl and a woman in her forties have died. A third person remains in hospital in a serious condition.
In a statement on Wednesday, the force asked people to avoid the area.
Caption: Emergency services on scene after an incident was declared on Mersea Island seafront. // A teenage girl and a woman in her 40s have died after three people got into difficulty in the sea. Emergency services raced to the scene at West Mersea, Essex, at around 5.35pm on Wednesday (July 22) after the alarm was raised by the ambulance service. Despite the efforts by rescuers, the teenage girl and the woman died at the scene. A third person remains in hospital in a serious condition.
Photo released 23/07/2026
Photographer: / SWNS
Provider: Daniel Rees / Newsquest / SWNS
Source: Daniel Rees / Newsquest / SWNS
NEWS
2 min read
What did the police say?
While we remain on scene, we would ask the public to avoid the Seaview Avenue and beach area. We appreciate that this will cause some local issues, but would ask for your patience and understanding as we may be there for some time yet.
Five police officers have been suspended after a member of public found the bag of guns (Photo: Lawrey Anstis/Getty Images/iStock Editorial)
Caption: Female therapist examines african senior woman patient for osteoarthritis inside studio room – Wellness, healthcare and chriopractice treatment concept
Photographer: Sabrina Bracher
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStockphoto
health
NHS rollout for ‘life-changing’ pill which helps MS patients walk more easily
A twice-daily pill which helps people with multiple sclerosis (MS) to walk more easily is to be rolled out on the NHS.
Thousands of patients in England will be eligible for fampridine, which has been hailed as “life-changing”.
Everything you need to know
It is the first drug designed to improve walking ability in people with MS, an incurable autoimmune disease which affects the brain and spinal cord.
Caption: MRI Brain Scan. Doctor shows MRI Brain Scan of head and skull.
Photographer: Makhbubakhon Ismatova
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStockphoto
Caption: Illustration of the human brain with highlighted cerebellum. This responsible for coordination, balance, and fine motor control. It is damaged in ataxia and neurodegenerative disorders
Photographer: KATERYNA KON/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRA
Provider: Getty Images/Science Photo Libra
Source: Science Photo Library RF
Copyright: Science Photo Library
Symptoms can include tiredness, dizziness, tingling in different parts of the body, muscle cramps, vision problems and memory problems.
Why is this drug so important?
Until now, MS patients with walking difficulties have been offered physiotherapy, walking aids or devices to support their feet.
Fampridine, also known as Fampyra, works by acting as a signal booster, helping to restore electrical signals running along damaged nerves and allowing muscles to function better.
LIFESTYLE
2 min read
The expert view
Walking difficulties can have a huge impact on the freedom and independence of people with MS, so this signal-boosting pill could be life-changing for thousands of patients.
Professor Frankie Swords, NHS national medical director
Caption: Mature man with multiple sclerosis and cane in his hand sits on a plastic chair in nature
Photographer: Constantinis
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStockphoto
A closer look at the detail
Officials estimate that around 5,000 people with MS will be eligible for the drug in the first year.
It is recommended for MS patients with certain Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores.
(Photo: Peter Carruthers/Getty).
The EDSS is a tool used by medics to monitor disability caused by MS. Those with a score of between four – able to walk without an aid or rest for around 500 metres – and seven, which include patients who use wheelchairs, will be offered fampridine.
Weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro and Wegovy ‘linked to hair loss’
Weight-loss drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy are linked to an increased risk of hair loss, researchers say.
Two blue insulin pens wrapped with a yellow measuring tape on a pink background, symbolizing diabetes management, weight loss, medical treatment, and healthcare concepts. drugs injection ozempic – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
What you need to know
People on GLP-1 agonist drugs have been reporting hair loss to regulators, but a new study on around 50,000 people appears to firm up the link.
Experts used electronic patient data from the University of Pennsylvania Health System to compare rates of alopecia hair loss in adults using GLP-1s to manage diabetes with those on other drugs.
Caption: Hair loss it cause from family history, hormonal changes, unhealthy of aging.
Photographer: Boy_Anupong
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
Copyright: BOY_ANUPONG
Analysis
3 min read
A closer look at the detail
The team noted that regulators in the US have been informed of the link between the drugs and hair loss, particularly for semaglutide (Wegovy and Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro).
So far in 2026, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received 399 reports of hair loss relating to tirzepatide.
It has also received 148 reports of hair loss linked to semaglutide.
LIFESTYLE
3 min read
How was the study carried out?
For the new study, the team looked at people with type 2 diabetes on GLP-1 receptor agonists or other types of diabetes drugs known as SGLT-2 inhibitors, or DPP-4 inhibitors.
Caption: Eli Lilly & Co. Mounjaro brand tirzepatide medication arranged in Austin, Texas, US, on Sunday, March 3, 2024. Weight-loss shot users are looking to influencers for guidance absent proper follow-up care. Photographer: Montinique Monroe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Photographer: Bloomberg
Provider: Bloomberg via Getty Images
Source: Bloomberg
Copyright: ? 2024 Bloomberg Finance LP
It can be normal to shed up to 100-150 hairs a day (Photo: Predrag Popovski via Getty Images)
In total, 12,004 patients using GLP-1s were compared with 15,221 using SGLT-2 inhibitors and a further 11,964 GLP-1 users were compared with 11,233 DPP-4 inhibitor users.
37% higher risk of alopecia
After adjusting for factors that could influence the results, such as age and weight, researchers found using GLP-1 drugs were associated with a 37 per cent higher risk of alopecia than use of SGLT-2 inhibitors.
GLP-1s were also linked to a 68% higher risk of hair loss than use of DPP-4 inhibitors.
LIFESTYLE
5 min read
LIFESTYLE
3 min read
money
Inflation drops more than expected
Inflation slowed by more than expected in the latest reading on Wednesday – but experts don’t think that interest rates will follow this year.
The consumer prices index (CPI) measure of inflation hit 2.6 per cent in the year to June, down from 2.8 per cent a month earlier. Most economists had expected a fall to around 2.7 per cent.
What will happen next?
But experts expect the figure to pick up from next month – once July’s energy price rises are factored in to the equation.
And as a result they say cuts to the Bank of England base rate in 2026 are likely off the table.
Caption: Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, during the Bank of England financial stability report press conference, at the Bank of England, London. Picture date: Tuesday July 7, 2026. Doug Peters/Pool via REUTERS
Photographer: Doug Peters
Provider: via REUTERS
Source: Pool
SAVING AND BANKING
3 min read
What happened to inflation?
In June’s figures, CPI dropped to 2.6 per cent – the lowest rate since March last year. A spike is expected in July though, because the price cap on energy prices rose by 13 per cent at the start of the month.
Energy prices have soared due to the US-Israel war with Iran (Photo: Getty)
They want to understand how big of a portion they can take from their pot
“The UK will see inflation push higher from here – potentially pushing closer to 3.3 per cent to 3.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of the year as base effects, food price rises and energy price rises catch up with households,” said Sanjay Raja, chief UK economist at Deutsche Bank Research.
What about interest rates?
The Bank of England base rate, colloquially called interest rates, sits at 3.75 per cent.
The rate tends to come down as inflation looks like it’s heading towards the Bank’s 2 per cent target.
Experts think the spike in inflation expected later this year will stop the Bank cutting rates this month, or indeed throughout 2026.
But they don’t expect any hikes either.
LIFESTYLE
4 min read
Mortgage rates are set to rise (Image: sorbetto/Getty Images/Digital Vision Vectors)
What does this mean for mortgages?
The Bank of England interest rate affects mortgage rates in numerous ways. No cuts or rises means those with variable or tracker mortgages will see their home loan price stay the same throughout this year – if predictions are correct.
Fixed rate mortgages, however, are heavily priced on swap rates, which follow predictions of where the Bank of England base rate will go next.
But as these therapies are not officially recommended for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) or long Covid, most people had to learn about them online, Dr Sarah Cefai, a cultural researcher at Goldsmiths, who wrote the analysis, said.
“This is the first systematic analysis of a large body of recovery accounts, showing that recovery does happen at scale, outside of the medical system,” said Dr Cefai.
ME/CFS involves persistent fatigue, often worsening after exercise, as well as puzzling symptoms such as brain fog, difficulty sleeping and sensitivity to lights or sounds.
While the underlying biology is unclear, the symptoms may emerge after a viral infection, such as flu or glandular fever.
Long Covid is when similar symptoms develop after infection with coronavirus.
NHS advice for ME/CFS used to be that people should try to gradually raise their activity levels as well as having talking therapy.
Talking therapy is still recommended but the NHS now says people should aim for “energy management” – where they make best use of their available energy to avoid worsening fatigue.
The impact of brain retraining and mind-body techniques
People who have recovered usually did so through different techniques designed to reduce their body’s overactive stress response, said Dr Cefai, who cured herself of an ME/CFS-like condition.
She contacted people who had been interviewed for a YouTube channel about ME/CFS to ask if she could analyse their experiences.
The 75 people whose interviews were studied had either ME/CFS or long Covid and were from the UK or North America. Nearly 80 per cent of them had completely recovered, while the rest had significantly improved.
And 95 per cent of them had followed brain retraining or mind-body approaches, based on seeing the cause of the illness as stress and anxiety that had led to dysregulation of their nervous system.
But Charles Shepherd, medical advisor to the charity, the ME Association, said the people in the report may not have had true ME/CFS or long Covid, but may just have had long-term fatigue from other causes.
“[ME/CFS] has become a label for all kinds of people who would not meet the clinical and research definitions for ME/CFS,” he said. “In some people, stress does play a role in maintaining these sort of conditions; these sorts of brain retraining treatments may well be helpful.”
Dr Shepherd also said the report was unreliable because it has not been published in a medical journal.
‘Mind-body techniques can manipulate symptom experience’
However, the report’s conclusions chime with other published research on these conditions, said Professor Paul Garner, a post-viral condition specialist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, who used brain retraining to reverse his own long Covid in 2021.
For instance, a study of 14 Swedish people who had recovered from CFS/ME or long Covid found all viewed their symptoms as having been caused by mind-body interactions or a problem with their nervous system.
And for long Covid, talking therapies and physical rehab programmes are the most likely treatments to lead to improvements, according to a systematic review of all published trials – the best kind of medical evidence – published in the British Medical Journal.
Doctors in Scandinavia are more likely to advise ME/CFS patients to manage stress and keep up activity levels, said Dr Maria Pedersen, a researcher and senior physician at Oslo University Hospital.
“New mind-body treatments manipulate our symptom experience, especially symptoms that are not caused by tissue damage, so we don’t feel those symptoms anymore,” she said.
Professor Silje Reme, head of the Mind-Body Lab at the University of Oslo, said similar techniques are helping people with long-term pain.
She said resistance to mind-body approaches often arise because people wrongly think that if it works, it implies they were imagining their symptoms. “All symptoms are real, regardless of their cause,” she said.
If you suffer from ME/CFS and need advice, please visit the NHS website. For Long Covid, visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/long-covid/.