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Does Dry January actually work?

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Does Dry January actually work?

Every January, most of us pledge to work on ourselves. Some try to abstain from alcohol for the month. But does Dry January make us healthier?

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Your social media is probably flooded with self-improvement posts right now. 

Maybe even a couple of announcements from loved ones saying they’re staying sober for the whole month of January. 

Around the world, the tradition is growing in popularity. 

In the UK, where the campaign started in 2013, more than 8.5 million people said they planned to stay off the booze for a month this year, according to a poll run by Alcohol Change UK. In 2013, only 4,000 signed up for the challenge. 

But how much difference can a teetotal month make to our health? 

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The dangers of alcohol consumption are well established, with alcohol abuse among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide, according to The Lancet.

Almost one in five Europeans reported having heavy drinking episodes – more than six units of alcohol in one sitting – at least once a month in 2019.

Long-term excessive alcohol consumption increases your risk of:

  • Cirrhosis of the liver
  • Cancer, particularly breast cancer and esophageal cancer
  • Heart failure
  • High blood pressure

There is no safe level of drinking, say the World Health Organisation. Avoiding alcohol is the only way to avoid its damaging effects.

Observing Dry January has been shown to impart significant health benefits, according to multiple studies.

Two of them were carried out by Dr Rajiv Jalan, professor of hepatology at University College London (UCL). Although not a randomised study, Jalan said the results were striking.

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“The most important one that we saw in patients was the feeling of energy, as well as increased concentration and sleep. Most of them lost weight, nearly 2 to 3 kilograms over one month,” he told Euronews referring to a study he conducted on a small group of staff from the New Scientist magazine in 2013.

In 2018, Dr Jalan completed new research on a larger group of hospital workers who decided to partake in the challenge compared to other individuals who did not. 

“We followed people up after three to six months to ask what impact Dry January had on them. And in general terms, they felt so good in this month that they were more scared to drink during the week. In the following six months, their alcohol consumption stayed low,” he explained. 

The only downside Jalan found was that people said: “They felt they were boring company at parties.”

A negative boomerang effect?

However, a2021 study found that Dry January could trigger a negative boomerang effect like a restrictive diet. 

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The British Liver Trust suggests staying off the booze two or three days every week, allowing the liver to recover regularly, rather than abstaining for one month and then going back to old habits. 

But Joe Marley, Director of Communications at Alcohol Change UK, says studies have shown otherwise.

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“It’s a little bit of a myth that people kind of boomerang when they take part in Dry January. Seven in ten people are drinking more mindfully, in a healthier way, even six months down the line. So there’s not really any evidence for that cliff edge at the end of January that people kind of fall back into old habits,” he told Euronews. 

Is there anyone who shouldn’t partake in Dry January?

According to all the experts we talked to, the campaign is meant for social drinkers, not for people seeking recovery from alcohol abuse. 

“If you are physically dependent on alcohol to the point where you would experience dangerous withdrawal symptoms, then Dry January isn’t right for you. It could be life-threatening. If you think that you’re in that scenario, it’s still possible to take control of your drinking, but you need to have a conversation with your GP,” warned Marley.

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Russia unleashes major drone, missile attack on Ukraine as US diplomatic talks continue

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Russia unleashes major drone, missile attack on Ukraine as US diplomatic talks continue

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Russia launched a major attack against Ukraine overnight as talks between Ukraine and the U.S. continued in Florida this week.

Moscow sent 653 drones and 51 missiles across Ukraine, leaving eight people injured, Ukrainian officials said.

French president Emmanuel Macron condemned the attacks, writing on X “We must continue to put pressure on Russia to force it towards peace.”

Macron said he plans to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and their British and German counterparts in London on Monday.

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EX-CIA STATION CHIEF WARNS PUTIN USING TALKS TO GAIN LEVERAGE AS UKRAINE DELEGATION MEETS TOP TRUMP OFFICIALS

Ukrainian Fire Point’s Flamingo missiles are inspected in the Ukraine on Thursday.  (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Zelenskyy said on Saturday that he had a “substantive phone call” with American officials involved in the talks with the Ukrainian delegation in Miami.

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday shared a readout of the talks, which also included President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The readout called the talks “constructive discussions on advancing a credible pathway toward a durable and just peace in Ukraine.”

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“American and Ukrainian parties underscored that an end to the war and credible steps toward ceasefire and de-escalation are necessary to prevent renewed aggression and to enable Ukraine’s comprehensive redevelopment plan, designed to make the nation stronger and more prosperous than before the war.”

People gather in Kyiv on Saturday during a blackout caused by Russia’s ongoing strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.  (Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

PUTIN REJECTS KEY PARTS OF US PEACE PLAN AS KREMLIN OFFICIAL WARNS EUROPE FACES NEW WAR RISK: REPORT

Following Russia’s Friday night barrage, Ukraine’s air force said 29 locations were hit, and the military was able to shoot down 585 drones and 30 missiles.

Three of the eight wounded were hurt in the Kyiv region, local officials reported.

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The “massive’ attack also targeted power stations in the country and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant temporarily lost power overnight, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant seen in 2022.  (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Zaporizhzhia is under Russian control and not in use, but it needs power to cool its shutdown reactors to prevent a catastrophic incident.

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Zelenskyy said that a drone strike had also “burned down” the train station in the city of Fastiv, near Kyiv.

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In retaliatory strikes, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces later said Ukrainian forces said its military hit Russia’s Ryazan Oil Refinery.

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Ukraine peace talks stall as Russia unleashes huge waves of attacks

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Ukraine peace talks stall as Russia unleashes huge waves of attacks

Negotiations fail to yield progress, while Moscow launches over 700 drones and missiles across Ukrainian territory

Three days of negotiations between Ukrainian and United States officials have ended without a breakthrough, as Russia launched one of its largest aerial assaults of the war on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

The talks in Florida concluded on Saturday, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy describing a phone call with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as “substantive”, though both sides acknowledged that meaningful progress hinged entirely on Moscow’s willingness to pursue genuine peace.

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The impasse underscores the gulf between diplomatic efforts and the grinding reality on the ground, where Russian forces continue advancing in eastern Ukraine.

Russia deployed 653 drones and 51 missiles in the overnight barrage that began on Friday, striking energy facilities and critical infrastructure across the country, Ukrainian officials said.

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At least eight people were wounded in the attacks, which Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko confirmed hit 29 separate locations.

The assault temporarily severed power to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, raising new concerns about reactor safety.

The facility, which has been under Russian occupation since early in Moscow’s invasion, requires continuous electricity to cool its six shutdown reactors and prevent catastrophic failure, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.

“Energy facilities were the main targets,” Zelenskyy said of the latest assault, noting that one drone strike destroyed a railway station in Fastiv, near Kyiv. Ukrainian air defences intercepted 585 drones and 30 missiles, the air force reported.

Moscow claimed its strikes targeted “military-industrial complex enterprises and the energy facilities that support them”, asserting that all designated targets were hit.

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The diplomatic push comes as battlefield dynamics increasingly favour Russia.

Moscow’s forces are closing in on Pokrovsk, a former logistics hub in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, and have nearly surrounded the neighbouring city of Myrnohrad.

Russian troops captured roughly 505 sq km (195 sq miles) in November alone, nearly double October’s territorial gains.

Russia now controls almost the entirety of the neighbouring Luhansk region and holds the majority of coastal territories stretching to Kherson. The front lines have largely stabilised along these positions, though Moscow continues to make incremental advances.

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Zelenskyy alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Monday to assess the US-mediated negotiations.

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Macron condemned Russia’s “escalatory path” and insisted that “we must continue to put pressure on Russia to force it to make peace”.

The talks in Miami followed a Tuesday meeting between Witkoff, Kushner and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, which failed to produce an agreement.

A joint statement released on Friday acknowledged that “real progress towards any agreement” depends on Russia demonstrating “serious commitment to long-term peace, including steps towards de-escalation”.

Adding another layer of complexity, the International Criminal Court’s deputy prosecutor said on Friday that the arrest warrant for Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine cannot be halted by peace negotiations.

The warrant could only be temporarily deferred by United Nations Security Council action, prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told reporters, emphasising that “there must be the possibility of accountability in order for peace to be enduring”.

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Putin has signalled he will not soften his territorial demands, ordering Russian forces to prepare for continued winter combat operations.

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White House Trolls Sabrina Carpenter With Second Pro-ICE Video, Alters ‘SNL’ Clip to Have Her ‘Arrest’ Marcello Hernández for ‘Being Too Illegal’

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White House Trolls Sabrina Carpenter With Second Pro-ICE Video, Alters ‘SNL’ Clip to Have Her ‘Arrest’ Marcello Hernández for ‘Being Too Illegal’

The White House’s social media team had to back down this week on including Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Juno” in a post touting ICE’s migrant arrests — but they’re hardly going away quietly. Shortly after deleting the initial X post, the administration snapped back by posting a new clip of Carpenter doing a commercial for her recent “Saturday Night Live” appearance, with the audio overdubbed so that she appears to be calling cast member Marcello Hernández “illegal” instead of “hot.”

In the original, unaltered “SNL” commercial, Carpenter stood alongside Hernández and said, “I think I might need to arrest someone for being too hot.” “Oh well, I turn myself in,” responded Hernández, extending his hands, as if to be cuffed. “You’re under arrest!” she cooed. But with the White House’s alteration of the clip, the overdubbed audio now has a voice like Carpenter’s saying “…too illegal,” as the highly popular Latino cast member puts his wrists out.

The caption for the TikTok and X video reads: “PSA: If you’re a criminal illegal, you WILL be arrested & deported.” Following the altered footage of Carpenter and Hernández’s repartee, the remainder of the White House’s post — as with the previous, now-deleted video that appropriated Carpenter’s music — consists of footage of immigrants being chased down and arrested.

Carpenter’s team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the case of the previous video with the “Juno” soundtrack, Carpenter made her feelings clear, writing, “This video is evil and disgusting. Do not ever involve me or my music to benefit your inhumane agenda.”

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The earlier video consisted of the repetition of the “Juno” lyric “Have you ever tried this one?” accompanying shots of migrants being tackled and detained. It’s not known whether the White House voluntarily deleted the tweet; a version of it on TikTok remained, with the contentious audio removed.

The White House’s initial response to the pop superstar’s objection to having her music used as a soundtrack for the video was to mockingly use Carpenter’s lyrics against her, in a statement. Spokesperson Abigail Jackson told CNN: “Here’s a Short n’ Sweet message for Sabrina Carpenter: we won’t apologize for deporting dangerous criminal illegal murderers, rapists, and pedophiles from our country. Anyone who would defend these sick monsters must be stupid, or is it slow?”

The White House has seemingly delighted in taunting pop stars and their fans with posts twisting their messages to support pro-ICE or pro-Trump videos. On Nov. 3, the administration’s social media posted a video using Taylor Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” as the soundtrack for a Trump-glorifying montage. That video remains online.

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