Author: Press Room

Christmas is a bright spot in the calendar – but off-limits for international travel as far as many Europeans are concerned.Traditionally, it’s a time when the world contracts to home and hearth. It’s an escape from ‘normal’ life, revolving around family and good food in whatever forms they take.But for others, the quiet days between 25 December and New Year are the best time to let their wanderlust run free.As I’m spending Christmas abroad for the first time this year – a Brit in Australia – I asked online communities of digital nomads, expats and travel lovers for advice.Here are…

Lapland is the real life winter wonderland, blessed with snow six months a year. It might be best known as the home of Santa Claus, but this subarctic region has much more to offer than Christmas cheer.Here’s our alternative guide to Lapland, which doesn’t revolve around the white-bearded man.Is Lapland a country?No, Lapland is a region that spans three countries: Finland, Sweden and Norway. It boasts beautiful wilderness, ski resorts and natural phenomena like the midnight sun and the northern lights.When is the best time to visit Lapland?In short, there’s no bad time to visit Lapland. It really depends on…

NASA’s Mars rover, Perseverance, deposited its first sample of rocks on the Red Planet’s surface Wednesday for an eventual return to Earth.The rover placed a titanium tube containing the rock sample as part of NASA’s Mars Sample Return campaign.   The deposit is one of more than a dozen tubes that will be placed at the location – dubbed “Three Forks” – over the next two months. Perseverance has been taking duplicate samples from rock targets the mission selects, NASA said. NASA’S INSIGHT MARS LANDER OFFICIALLY RETIRED AFTER FOUR YEARS ON THE RED PLANETThe rover will later deliver samples to a robotic…

NASA officially ended its InSight Mars lander mission on Wednesday after the spacecraft missed two consecutive communication attempts. Power on the lander had been dwindling in recent months as a pair of 7-foot wide solar panels collected dust and an unusually thick atmosphere blocked out the sun. InSight, short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport, landed on Mars in November 2018 with the goal of studying the planet’s interior layers and seismic activity.  “With InSight, seismology was the focus of a mission beyond Earth for the first time since the Apollo missions, when astronauts brought seismometers to the…

The lawyer of MEP Eva Kaili on Wednesday claimed her innocence in the so-called Qatargate corruption case that has shaken the European Parliament.Michalis Dimitrakopoulos spoke to Euronews after meeting the former parliament vice-president for more than four hours in the Belgian prison where she’s been detained since her arrest, to prepare for a pre-trial hearing on Thursday.”The criminal procedure is secret. For this I can’t say much, but the only thing I can say is that Eva Kaili is innocent,” Dimitrakopoulos said.Kaili, he added, feels betrayed by her partner, Francesco Giorgi, who has also been arrested in relation to the scandal.”She feels…

In a recent study, researchers assessed the effect of social disconnectedness on heart failure prognosis. They found that people who are socially disconnected are more likely to experience a cardiovascular event or die within 2 years of heart failure. The researchers say their findings emphasize the importance of social connectedness in managing heart failure among older adults with the condition. Around 26 million people globally are affected by heart failure (HF), and over 80% of HF patients are over 65 years old. Despite advances in medicine and prevention strategies, readmission rates remain high.Physical frailty — physical weakness, slowness, and low…

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment used to treat certain neurological conditions like Parkinson’s. Researchers from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin have discovered DBS helps lessen symptoms in people with Alzheimer’s disease. Although not all participants showed symptom improvement, some “benefited considerably” from the treatment.Each year, more than 160,000 people receive deep brain stimulation (DBS) treatment. DBS is a surgical treatment for certain neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, essential tremor, and dystonia. Previous research has also examined DBS as a treatment for certain psychiatric disorders, including treatment-resistant depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and addiction. In a recent study, researchers…

‘Tis the season to be jolly – and get to the airport early.From last minute present-buying to awkward in-laws, Christmas can be stressful at the best of times.Travelling for the holidays can compound these yuletide anxieties. With strikes and wild weather predicted, the spectre of cancellations and delays looms large.Luckily, help is at hand. Euronews Travel spoke to an expert to help you prep for easy travel this holiday season.“Travelling is quite stressful at the best of times,” says Evan Day, head of EMEA country management at KAYAK.“Christmas is a particularly busy period.”Here’s everything you need to know to beat…

Family gatherings are a holiday tradition at Betsy Groves’ home. The Massachusetts resident, 73, planned, cooked and oversaw Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for her husband, Tim, their adult children and spouses and their grandchildren. It was a role she cherished and reluctantly gave up last year when diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.This Christmas, Groves’ husband and their children are in charge. “It was hard letting go and letting others supervise,” she tells TODAY.com. “It takes a lot of planning, and I wasn’t up for the task.”Groves first noticed cognitive changes in her late 60s. Back then, she taught courses on early…

Country music star Shania Twain is reclaiming her confidence in her body through her music and the artwork for her upcoming album, “Queen of Me.”Twain, 57, told TODAY’s Hoda Kotb on Jan. 5 she did a photo shoot for part of the album artwork completely nude.”It was really scary. I don’t really love my body,” she said on TODAY. “I don’t love looking at myself in the mirror with the lights on or looking in the mirror at all at my body. So I said I’m going to face that fear. I’m going to go into that photo shoot.”Twain said…