Two new studies have found conclusive links between the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) with increased cardiac disease risk, including heart attacks and strokes. The research, presented at the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Amsterdam, found highly processed food sold in stores across the world, such as fizzy drinks, cereals and ready-to-eat meals, may lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and hypertension. Henry Dimbleby, the UK government’s former food tsar, said the findings should be a “wake-up call” for the country. “Britain is particularly bad for ultra-processed food. It is storing up problems for the future,” he told The Guardian. “If we do nothing, a tidal wave of harm is going to hit the NHS.” One of the studies, conducted by scientists from the Fourth Military Medical University in China, conducted a review of 10 studies that included 325,403 participants and 38,720 cases of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, including heart attack and stroke. It found a conclusive association between UPF and heart disease risk. Scientists found that a 10 per cent increase in UPF consumption in daily calorie intake is linked to a 6 per cent rise in heart disease risk. Researchers also observed that the lowest risk was at a less than 15 per cent per day of UPF consumption out of total calorie intake. However, heavy UPF consumption “was significantly and positively associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events,” scientists noted. The other research, also presented at the world’s largest heart health conference, assessed the link between UPF intake with CVD and hypertension in a population of middle-aged women in Australia. Scientists, including those from the University of Sydney, assessed health data of about 10,000 women aged 46-55 years who were recruited into the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and followed for 15 years. They assessed the contribution of UPF in the daily dietary intake of these women as well as their self-reported heart disease and stroke, and/or hypertension incidences. The women included in the study had an average UPF intake of 26.6 per cent of total food dietary intake. Over their 15 years of follow-up, scientists found 1,038 incident CVD and 4,204 hypertension cases. Among the middle-aged women, scientists observed that a higher UPF intake was associated with higher risk of CVD and hypertension. “These findings lend support to minimising UPF intake as a component of a heart-healthy diet,” scientists wrote in the study. Taken together, the findings hinted that the harm caused by UPF may be more than just due to their high salt and fat content. “If there is something inherent in the processing of foods that is harmful, then that is a disaster,” said Mr Dimbleby. Read More First-of-its-kind study finds laughter is indeed good medicine, especially for the heart How many steps a day can cut risk of early death (and it’s not 10,000) Weight loss jabs improve heart failure symptoms in obese patients – study First-of-its-kind study finds laughter is indeed good medicine How many steps a day can cut risk of early death (and it’s not 10,000) ‘Boy moms’ called out for dubious logic behind teaching their sons to cook

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Our taste in fine art can develop from a very early age, researchers have said, after they found babies as young as four months can demonstrate artistic preferences. When shown landscapes by the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh, psychologists at the University of Sussex found both babies and adults mostly favoured the same paintings, with Green Corn Stalks (1888) proving to be the most popular. The team at the university’s Sussex Baby Lab also uncovered that infants liked paintings that had more edges – such as those featuring leaves or branches – and curved lines. In their findings, published in the Journal of Vision, the researchers said aspects of artistic preferences may be hardwired from an early age. Our study also appears to have identified features of adult aesthetics that can be traced back to sensory biases in infancy Philip McAdams Philip McAdams, a doctoral researcher at the University of Sussex and lead author on the paper, said: “It was fascinating to find that babies respond to the basic building blocks of the paintings, such as edges and colours, and that these properties could explain large amounts of why babies look at, and adults like, particular artworks. “Our study also appears to have identified features of adult aesthetics that can be traced back to sensory biases in infancy. “Our findings show that babies’ visual systems and visual preferences are more sophisticated than commonly thought.” For the study, which was in collaboration with children’s sensory brand, Etta Loves, the researchers recruited 25 babies, aged four to eight months, and 25 adults. The babies sat on their parent’s lap while 40 pairs of images, featuring landscape paintings by Van Gogh, were shown on a tablet. Adults were also shown the same paintings and asked which image in the pair they found to be more pleasant. Recordings showed babies looked longer at the Van Gogh landscapes that adults also rated as most pleasant. These paintings featured high colour and lightness contrasts as well as lots of the colour green. The most preferred Van Gogh painting was Green Corn Stalks whilst the least preferred was Olive Grove (1889). But researchers also found small differences in the artistic tastes between adults and babies. For example, they found that infants preferred paintings that contained the most edges and curved lines, which the adults did not seem to favour. Professor Anna Franklin, head of the Sussex Colour Group and founder of the Sussex Baby Lab, and lead author on the paper, said: “We’ve been amazed by how much the young babies responded to the art. “Although newborn babies’ vision is very blurry, our findings demonstrate that by four months old, babies can see well enough to look longer at some paintings than others, and can pay attention to many of the artistic details.”

Most of the U.S. may be looking forward to July Fourth for dazzling displays of fireworks or setting off firecrackers and poppers with their neighbors

The first sweet things I ever made were cheesecakes – they provide endless opportunities to explore flavour and are easy peasy!” says chef and Great British Menu host Andi Oliver. “This particular iteration brings together the creaminess of white chocolate with toasty coconut and vibrant lime to sublime effect. Not too sweet, just right.” Coconut and lime cheesecake Serves: 12 For the base: 100g gingernut biscuits 100g oat biscuits, such as Hobnobs 50g desiccated coconut 120g melted unsalted butter Pinch of salt For the filling: 280g full-fat cream cheese 4 tbsp coconut condensed milk 200ml coconut milk 150ml cream Grated zest and juice of 2 limes 100g white chocolate, melted For the topping: 1 fresh coconut 1 tbsp maple syrup Grated zest of 1 lime 1 fresh mango, peeled, cored, and diced 22-24cm fluted tart tin, base lined with baking parchment Method: 1. Put all the biscuits in a sealable food bag and bash them up to fine crumbs using a rolling pin or similar. Tip the crumbs into a bowl and mix with the toasted coconut, melted butter, and salt. Press into the bottom and sides of the tart tin and chill in the fridge for one hour or until set. 2. Combine all the filling ingredients, apart from the chocolate, in a large mixing bowl. Beat together using an electric hand whisk until smooth and slightly thickened. Mix through the melted white chocolate. Spoon the filling on top of the set base and chill for a couple of hours in the fridge until set (do note that this cheesecake has quite a soft-set finish). 3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C fan. 4. Crack open the fresh coconut and peel off flakes of the flesh using a vegetable peeler. You want about two handfuls in total. Toss the flakes in the maple syrup and half of the lime zest on a baking tray, then toast in the preheated oven for around 10 minutes until crisp. Leave to cool, then top the cheesecake with the toasted coconut. 5. Mix together the diced mango and remaining lime zest and serve a little spoon of this alongside slices of cheesecake, or pile it on top of the cheesecake as well. Recipe from ‘The Pepperpot Diaries: Stories From My Caribbean Table’ by Andi Oliver (published by DK, £27; photography by Robert Billington). Read More What is coronation chicken? The story of the royal recipe and how to make it Easy coronation chicken pie recipe chosen by Mary Berry Andi Oliver on turning 60 and channeling her anger into power Andi Oliver: Earl Grey tea bags are a gamechanger for barbecue chicken Three one-pot recipes for washing up hater A coronation sherry cherry trifle recipe fit for a king

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Australian driver Oscar Piastri has signed a new deal with McLaren to keep him at the Formula One team until 2026. Piastri joined McLaren as reserve driver last year and made his F1 debut this season at Bahrain before he finished fourth at the British Grand Prix. The 22-year-old further showed his potential with a second-place showing in the sprint race at the Belgian Grand Prix and will now continue alongside British racer Lando Norris at McLaren for the foreseeable future. “I am thrilled to be extending my partnership with McLaren for many years. I want to be fighting it out at the front of the grid with this team and I am excited by the vision and foundations that are already being laid to get us there,” Piastri said. “We’ve enjoyed some good moments together in my rookie season, but I’m excited to work together with everyone at MTC over the coming years to create some great moments.” McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said: “I’m delighted to be continuing our partnership with Oscar through to the end of 2026. “He’s an incredible talent and an asset to the team so it’s fantastic to be committing to each other in the long term. “Oscar is already proving what he can do out on track and has been instrumental in the turnaround we’ve had so far this season.” PA Read More Toto Wolff slams ‘moaning’ across F1 grid after Lewis Hamilton apology Carlos Sainz would be a ‘good fit’ for Audi seat in 2026, says Johnny Herbert ‘Level up’: Lewis Hamilton sends strong message to Mercedes engineers

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Max Verstappen delighted his home crowd by taking pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix. In an incident-packed wet-dry session, the unstoppable double world champion delivered a crushing lap to finish half-a-second clear of Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren. George Russell will start from third place for Mercedes with the impressive Alex Albon fourth. Lewis Hamilton was eliminated in Q2 and will line up from only 13th spot in Zandvoort. “It was a very tricky qualifying session,” said Verstappen. “It was all about putting your laps in and staying out of trouble and we managed that quite well. “The pressure is always there to perform but when you pull it off it’s incredible.” Q3 was red-flagged twice. First when Logan Sargeant crashed out in his Williams. The American rookie lost control of his machine on the entry to Turn 2, sending him into the gravel and then the tyre wall. Sargeant, 22, emerged unscathed from the accident but the force of the impact contributed to significant damage on the front of his machine. The running was suspended for 20 minutes as Sargeant’s stricken Williams was removed and the barriers were repaired. A dry line had emerged and it was Norris who put his McLaren at the top of the order before Charles Leclerc put his Ferrari into the wall. Leclerc carried too much speed into the ninth bend and ran onto the grass and then into the Armco. A six-minute stoppage followed with just four minutes and five seconds left on the clock, with Norris hoping to hold on to claim only his second career pole. Norris said: “Every now and then you hope Max makes a mistake, but he doesn’t, so frustrating in a little way. But I’m very happy. The team did a good job and I will take P2.” Russell, seven tenths behind Verstappen, said: “We are in a great place tomorrow to battle for a podium. “I’m sure Max will have his Sunday drive and be waving to the crowd but I hope to have a good fight with Lando, Alex and the rest of the boys.” But Verstappen delivered an emphatic answer by racing to top spot with his final lap to huge roars from the Orange Army. On Sunday, he will bid to match Sebastian Vettel’s record of nine consecutive wins. Hamilton revealed in the build-up to Sunday’s race that his goal for the second half of the season was to take runner-up spot in the championship. But on Formula One’s return from its summer slumber, the seven-time world champion – who is currently fourth in the standings – will start way down the order following a disappointing qualifying session. The British driver, 38, appeared to be impeded by AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda on his final run in Q2 and failed to deliver a time speedy enough to progress. The stewards have noted the incident, but Hamilton, 41 points adrift of Sergio Perez, who is currently best of the rest behind team-mate Verstappen, now faces an uphill task to salvage a respectable result. Fernando Alonso qualified fifth for Aston Martin, one place ahead of Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz, with Perez only seventh, 1.3 seconds behind team-mate Verstappen. Liam Lawson has been handed his F1 debut here as a substitute for Daniel Ricciardo. The 34-year-old Australian suffered a broken left wrist in a practice crash on Friday and has been ruled out of this weekend’s race with the prospect of missing further rounds, too. In Ricciardo’s absence, New Zealander Lawson, 21, will start his maiden F1 race from 20th and last. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen is one of the best drivers in F1 history – Lando Norris Daniel Ricciardo ruled out of Dutch Grand Prix after breaking wrist in practice Daniel Ricciardo to miss Dutch Grand Prix after suffering broken wrist in crash

The US Defense Department wants US businesses to help it develop space-based weaponry. The US