Troubled maternity wards still jeopardising patients, watchdog warns

CQC inspection of nine struggling units suggests mothers and babies remain at risk from poor care and closed systems

Right as rain! 10 ways to boost your mood on grey, wet or cold days

After a disappointing British summer, many of us won’t be looking forward to autumn and winter. But there are many ways to keep your spirits high in the bleaker seasons

Teenage girls, body image and Instagram’s ‘perfect storm’

The suffering of the photo-sharing app’s users came into focus this week with the leak of Facebook’s internal research

One in three Britons drink plant-based milk as demand soars

Shoppers spent £100m more in 2020 on alt-milks, with sales driven by environmental and health concerns

The Taliban are not the only threat to Afghanistan. Aid cuts could undo 20 years of progress

The most vulnerable people will bear the cost of sanctions, as services and the economy collapse

Study links too much free time to lower sense of wellbeing

Research shows there is a ‘sweet spot’ and subjective wellbeing drops off after about five hours

‘I found myself’: how the pandemic brought out the best in people

From a GP urging patients to get vaccinated to a Covid-bereaved support group founder, Covid, for some people, has meant helping others

‘I was sliding towards the drop and couldn’t stop’ – the writer who fell from a mountain

It is every climber’s worst nightmare. In this extract from his thrilling book about the glorious – and treacherous – Cuillin Ridge on Skye, Simon Ingram recalls the day its wild peaks almost took his life

How a racist taunt prompted me to reclaim Britain’s countryside

A man on a train told me to go back to where I’m from – and so I did. Walking alone in nature, I felt liberated from prejudice, says nature writer Anita Sethi

Bupa is being a real pain over my dental claim

My wisdom tooth needs to come out but it says the policy only covers ‘active symptoms’