‌The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has issued the level two alert, advising people to make sure they’re up to date on their polio vaccines. People in the US who plan to travel to the listed countries, including the United Kingdom and Spain, are eligible for a single-dose booster of the vaccine. The CDC is so concerened it has listed several countries with the alert. In the UK, the polio vaccine is part of the NHS routine childhood vaccination schedule. Brits may need polio booster vaccinations before they travel abroad if they were last vaccinated against it more than 10 years ago.

I gave up smoking, not because of this tragic and traumatic family history, but because I wanted to. It’s the young, hot celebrities smoking away to their hearts’ content. After many years of clean eating this and kale that and Gwyneth Paltrow steaming her vagina, the next generation of A-listers are embracing cigarettes again and I’ve got mortifying middle-aged envy. They’re young and they’re hot and they think they’re invincible. Mortifying.

Photograph: GettyRecent coverage of the future of arts programmes in Irish universities has sparked renewed debate about whether these degrees have a value. Last week’s coverage of proposed changes to arts education at the University of Galway has been interpreted as a story about falling demand. Arts and humanities programmes have been chronically underfunded while the policy signals have favoured the sciences and technology for years. Arts and humanities graduates have shaped Irish public life in countless ways. An arts education also directly contributes to the cultural success Ireland so often celebrates internationally, from Booker Prizes and Pulitzers to BAFTAs, Tonys and Oscars.

Councils bear much of the responsibility for road maintenance in the Republic and most are genuinely strapped for cash, but that need not complicate the comparison. Central Government has a supplementary grant for road maintenance, totalling €1.5 billion to councils this year, up 13 per cent from last year. Photograph: PAThis contrast is best studied by public choice theory, a mainstream field of economics since the 1960s that sadly remains little known beyond academia. Public choice theory has been used many times by academics and think tanks to explain road maintenance failures. Public choice theory says this problem cannot be solved by replacing people or restructuring institutions.

Regulations to ban scramblers outright in public places were delayed due to “competing” interests in the Department of Transport across 2½ years, documents show. Minutes of a November 2023 meeting noted that the scrambler regulations “have been slightly delayed due to competing commitments”. The Bill was enacted in April 2024, having commenced development in late 2023.”But in correspondence between the department and Garda in February 2025, after the Road Traffic Act 2024 was enacted, “competing work commitments” were again blamed for the “slow” progress of the scrambler regulations. It was agreed to start planning the wording of the regulations at a meeting in May 2024. The regulations were again discussed by the department and Garda in June, September and November of last year.

Maryam Madani, who practises as a wheelchair dancer along with writing, said receiving the basic income for the last three years was 'truly life-changing'. Photograph: Alan BetsonA disabled artist has said she is “back to worrying” about how she will be able to afford her rent after receiving her last payment under the pilot Basic Income for the Arts (BIA) scheme. The successor to the pilot BIA scheme was announced last month and will see 2,000 eligible artists selected to receive the payment of €325 per week. Madani, who practises as a wheelchair dancer along with writing, said receiving the basic income for the last three years was “truly life-changing”. Therefore, while eligible pilot participants may apply, eligibility for the pilot does not automatically mean an artist is eligible for future rounds of the scheme.”

I tried the Google Pixel 10a and was pleasantly surprised at the array of high–tech features packed into such a well–priced smartphone. Google has unveiled a new budget smartphone called the Google Pixel 10a, that's a fraction of the cost of Google's more high–end handsetsOur verdictThe Google Pixel 10a is an excellent smartphone for people who don't want to splash the cash. Priced at just £499, the Pixel 10a is £300 cheaper than the Pixel 10, but has many of the same featuresGoogle Pixel 10a reviewPerformanceThe Pixel 10a has an impressive range of features, given it's a 'budget' smartphone. The Google Pixel 10a is one of the best–looking budget smartphones I've seen. DesignThe Google Pixel 10a is one of the best–looking budget smartphones I've seen.

We live in a time where our global interconnectivity would have been the stuff of science fiction when Jackson made Threads. Amazon Web Services’ data centres in UAE were struck on Monday by what were, at the time, referred to as objects. Ireland is a critical node in the global data centre network, particularly with regard to users in the European Union. Our weather fits in the Goldilocks zone of what is needed to optimally run data centres. Photograph: Fadel Senna/AFP via Getty ImagesThe bar to physically damaging a data centre to a point of inoperability is much lower.

Photo: Patrick BrowneGalway schools can become ambassadors for farm safetyIRISH Rural Link are calling on primary schools across Co Galway to sign up for its AgriKids Farm Safety Ambassador School Programme. Funded by the Department of Agriculture the programme will provide teachers and their pupils with farm safety resources that support the curriculum and champion a community led approach to farm safety education and practice. I am reminding parents that they play a key role in developing the learnings by adopting best practice when it comes to farm safety and encouraging children by showing good example.”ABOUT THE PROGRAMMESchools will be given the option to choose between two programme approaches, the succinct AgriKids Farm Safety Hour or the AgriKids Farm Safety Day. The Farm Safety Hour offers a concise, introductory framework for farm safety, covering specific topics supported by resources available on the AgriKids website. Alternatively, schools can run a Farm Safety Day, choosing one of three themes: Farm and Field Safety, Tractor and Machinery Safety, or Animal Safety and Wellbeing.

A mother has lost everything in a devastating house fire just two days after she finished renovating ahead of her partner and his children moving in. Tragically, Ms Beagley had also only just finished £4,000 of renovations on the house, ready for Mr White and his children to move in after their wedding in September. 'Two days before, I had just put the paint rollers away, put them in the loft,' Ms Beagley said. The blaze also came just hours after Mr White ran a half-marathon for charity in Wokingham, which he had prepared for months for. Ms Beagley concluded: 'You never think this is going to happen to you.

'If it's not the pain, it's that I'm exhausted from being in pain.' The research revealed that girls who experienced severe period pain at 15 had a 76 per cent higher risk of chronic pain at 26. According to charity Wellbeing of Women, 69 per cent of women aged 16-24 say they have been shamed, compared to 33 per cent of women aged 45-65. Ms Ikegwuonu hopes to raise awareness around period pain through her artwork (pictured)The health service assistant and artist has suffered indescribable pain since she was 15 – a pain so intense it can make her vomit. Their stories are a stark reminder that for millions of women, monthly pain is not 'just part of being a woman'.

Photo: ReutersEuropean stock markets staged a comeback on Wednesday even as war continued to rage across the Middle East. Indices across Europe ended the session in positive territory, clawing back some of the declines they’ve endured in the past number of days. In the United States, the Nasdaq was almost 1.5pc higher by lunchtime in New York. In Ireland, the Iseq-20 mirrored the performance of other European indices, adding almost 0.8pc compared to Tuesday’s close. In London, shares in Aer Lingus owner IAG closed up almost 2pc, leaving its shares 13.5pc lower over a five-day period.

Suppliers are being accused of taking advantage of the war in Iran as home-heating oil prices riseCoincidence, according to Albert Einstein, is God’s way of remaining anonymous. Leading players in the energy sector are factoring in exorbitant increases in the cost of home-heating oil which was up by €500 for 1,000 litres since last week. Suppliers are being accused of taking advantage of the war in the Gulf region, even though that’s not where these supplies come from. She told the Dáil about a 94-year-old woman who relies on home-heating oil. He said callers knew suppliers had not paid the new higher war prices.

Oil and petrol retailers accused of taking advantage of Iran crisis to ‘gouge their customers’Minister urges public to report breaches of competition or consumer law to watchdog‘Price gouging’ energy companies warned by TaoiseachCharlie Weston, Senan Molony and Tabitha Monahan Today at 06:30Oil distributors, retailers and wholesalers have been accused of taking advantage of the crisis in the Middle East to price gouge Irish consumers, farmers and businesses.

Staying the night in a hotel typically involves spending money, and sometimes it can cost a lot. But a new loyalty programme could mean Brits end up earning cash for their breaks away. Called Hotels.comRewards, it offers members a whopping £100 in Hotels.comCash for every 10 eligible nights they stay in a hotel. This can be collected over 10 consecutive nights, or separate stays across various hotels and holiday homes. Even better, customers who do manage to collect the £100 reward will also unlock exclusive discounts and perks.