The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is poised to regulate a "potential first-in-class antipsychotic", known as KarXT, said Medscape.

About one in 300 people worldwide are affected by schizophrenia, but for decades treatment options have been both static and limited. If the FDA approves the twice-daily pill in a decision due on Thursday, it will be "the first truly novel treatment" for schizophrenia in more than 70 years, said the Financial Times, and could "pave the way for its rollout in global markets".

What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a "long-term mental health condition" often described as "a type of psychosis" that may leave the patient unable to "distinguish their own thoughts and ideas from reality", according to the NHS.

The disorder is thought to result from "genetic predisposition", and can be exacerbated by environmental factors such as stress or drug use, said the FT. The worst flare-ups can cause "psychotic breakdowns that last for weeks". Sufferers are highly stigmatised and "frequently pushed to the fringes of society". They are also "vastly overrepresented" in the unemployed, homeless and prison populations in the US.

How is it treated?
The development of antipsychotics in the 1950s was a "milestone" in schizophrenia management, said The Lancet. But these treatments come with "extensive side-effects", from listlessness to movement disorders and heart disease. That contributes to "underprescribing" by doctors. Non-adherence rates among patients are also incredibly high: about 75% are thought to discontinue treatment. About a third of people with schizophrenia are resistant to conventional antipsychotic treatment.

How is KarTX different?
KarXT essentially combines an experimental drug for Alzheimer's (xanomeline) with another drug (trospium). It works by targeting receptors in the brain that modulate dopamine release, rather than blocking it directly like existing antipsychotics.

Results of the latest KarXT trial, published in January, showed that it significantly reduced acute psychotic symptoms. "You get the high levels of efficacy that you anticipated with the [antipsychotics]," Carlos Dortrait, a senior vice president at Bristol Myers Squibb, which is developing the drug, told BioSpace. "However, you don't get the consequence that comes with it."

Saudi Arabia has turned to social media to boost the image of its ambitious desert megacity Neom. The kingdom's crown prince envisioned the development on the Red Sea coast as a "showpiece that will transform his country's economy and serve as a testbed for technologies that could revolutionise daily life", said Bloomberg. But the $500 billion official estimated cost of the development is believed to be closer to $1.5 trillion – and the reception to the PR blitz suggests many aren't buying into the hype about the big-money project.

Glossy posts hide 'dreary' reality
Influencers have been called upon to help bolster Neom's image, by painting a "glossy" picture of life in the desert city, said the Daily Mail. Platforms such as TikTok have been flooded with videos from Western influencers, many of whom are wives of Neom employees, sharing their experiences of life in the still unfinished development. A typical entry from vlogger Aida McPherson shows her "going to Starbucks in the morning for an iced coffee, before sitting with 'the girls' for a catch up".

Many social media users are sceptical of the seemingly utopian lifestyle. The backgrounds in the video look "dreary, despite the vloggers' smile-filled promotions", said Business Insider.

Human rights violations and ballooning costs
There are more serious objections to the PR blitz, too. From the videos, the average TikTok viewer would have "no clue" about the many controversies surrounding the project, said the Mail.

Neom's development has been accompanied by reports of significant human rights violations, including the forced eviction of local villagers to clear the land. The project has also been plagued by stories of "the deaths of construction workers, repeated allegations of racism and misogyny, and people in leadership roles who were hired after they had to leave previous jobs due to crimes or misconduct", said Quartz.

Neom also faces major financial setbacks. One of the most ambitious and heavily publicised parts of the Neom project is "The Line" – a linear, "cognitive city" originally planned to stretch 105 miles along the Red Sea coast. The government had hoped that by 2030, 1.5 million people would live in The Line. But according to sources speaking to Bloomberg, plans have now been drastically scaled back. Officials expect the city "will house fewer than 300,000 residents by that time" and extend only 1.5 miles, adding to growing concerns about the project's viability and ballooning costs.

Brits increasingly report being stressed, so it's hardly surprising that many are "embracing" Ayurvedic treatments as part of their trips abroad, said Lydia Swinscoe in the London Evening Standard.

The roots of this ancient system of medicine can be traced back to India, around 3,000 years ago. Derived from the Sanskrit words "ayur", meaning life, and "veda" which roughly translates as knowledge or science, Ayurveda takes a "holistic and individualised approach to wellness", said Lauren Silva in Forbes.

Ayurvedic practitioners believe the universe is made up of five elements: ether (space), air, fire, water and earth. These elements combine in pairs to form the three primary doshas or energy patterns – vata, pitta and kapha – that are "present in everything and everyone".

The "goal" of Ayurveda is to bring the three doshas into balance, which in turn will promote good health. When visiting an Ayurvedic retreat around the world, guests will first meet with a practitioner to determine their dosha, before embarking on a personally tailored treatment plan to restore the balance.

Data from travel search engine Kayak shows that bookings from the UK to India grew by 29% last year, climbing even further than pre-pandemic rates. It "makes a lot of sense", said Condé Nast Traveller, that people are "searching for connected experiences in one of the most spiritual places in the world".

As we struggle to cope with our hectic lives, the "allure" of a simpler time has spurred the "reclamation" of "ancient beauty and wellness rituals" in the West.

Human rights culture has eroded our freedoms
Melanie Phillips in The Times
Attorney General Richard Hermer has "thrown down a gauntlet" by calling for the government to be "militant" about promoting human rights legislation, writes Melanie Phillips. But "human rights culture has undermined the fundamental values of Britain and the West", because "its core doctrine is the belief that human rights are universal" and "must trump laws passed by national parliaments that merely reflect the culture of the nation". It is a "recipe for paralysing government".

Zoe Ball doesn't owe us an explanation for her time off
Julia Raeside on the i news site
Zoe Ball has "bounced back on to the airwaves" of Radio 2 with paparazzi "lurking by the exit" and internet "trolls" insisting "it was their right to know" the reason for her weeks-long absence, says Julia Raeside. "The fact that Ball earns so much money" suggests "to some detractors" that "there's a magic number above which you become publicly accountable". But "she's a middle-aged woman with stuff going on who needed some time to recalibrate".

Left-wing prigs want to ban the pint. We can't let them win
Michael Deacon in The Telegraph
During the first half of this year, 50 pubs a month "shut for good", writes Michael Deacon, and it's about to get worse. Business rates are "due to soar", and the government wants to ban smoking in beer gardens and is "considering a rise in alcohol duties". And now health experts want pubs "to serve beer in much smaller glasses so that we drink less". But "we won't, of course. We'll just stop going to the pub."