If you have seen a dog or cat eating grass in a garden or parrots eating clay, then you have witnessed wildlife self-medication and the healing power of Nature. A few months ago, photographs of a wounded orangutan in Indonesia chomping on the leaves of some Southeast Asian plant and then applying the plant juice … Read more
The French writer Victor Hugo once compared the thought of dying in Paris to vertigo. “Nothing is more fantastic,” he wrote. “Nothing is more sublime.” And nothing seems more likely if you attempt to get to as many Paris 2024 Olympic venues as possible in relentless rain on the opening day. Day one of the … Read more
The recent terror attacks in Jammu have once again focussed attention on the fraught nature of the Indo-Pakistan relationship that is weighed down by the corrosive legacy of Partition and four wars, namely 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999, respectively. Cross-border terrorism sponsored by Pakistan since the late 1970s, first in Punjab, then Jammu and Kashmir … Read more
Getty Images Experts say behaviour problems are often “masking an underlying unmet need” Figures released last week showed the highest yearly numbers of suspensions and exclusions of school pupils in England. Is worsening behaviour really the only explanation? Sara, not her real name, says she first noticed her son’s irritability and difficulty socialising while at … Read more
Benjamin Myers first came across the Booker prize-winning author Pat Barker when he was seven or eight and, though he didn’t read her till much later, she made an impression, even then. “I was on holiday with my parents and found a copy of Union Street, Pat’s first novel,” he recalls. “I asked my mum … Read more
The Grand is a dog-eared Cluedo board of a hotel. The art deco ballroom, its sprung dancefloor covered by carpet, opens into a library used for community events, which in turn leads to an enormous dining room, while the other wing has a billiards room. Everything in this Folkestone landmark is a bit higgledy-piggledy: spare … Read more
The tragic case of Maeve Boothby-O’Neill, being widely reported from the inquest in Exeter, generates more questions than answers about the management of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Having been involved in the diagnosis and management of this condition since the mid 1980s, I know of no other disease that provokes … Read more
Greasy, hairy, large and smelly are not words that instantly summon up the image of Jude Law. Until now. Because the actor’s latest role, Henry VIII in the film Firebrand, will show him in an almost entirely unflattering light. And the effect will be topped off in later scenes by the pustulant ulcers shown on … Read more
The seat beside me at Vanity Fair’s 2013 Oscar dinner in the Sunset Tower Hotel, on Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, was empty and it remained so for about 20 minutes into the dinner. I looked at the placename and read “Kamala Harris”, which meant nothing to me, and started talking to the then CEO of … Read more
The golden days may still be to come, in more than one sense, but Great Britain’s quest to rule the waves once again has discernible momentum. Rowing was a sore point at Tokyo three years ago but this year’s brood made a more than satisfactory start at a sodden Vaires-sur-Marne facility where the crowd, huddled … Read more