Few stories ever told at Winchester's "imposing" crown court can have been "quite as strange as the twisty tale of Hongchi Xiao, a Chinese-born banker turned 'master' of alternative medicine". 

The self-proclaimed practitioner of paida lajin (so-called slapping therapy) was found guilty on Friday of manslaughter after a diabetic woman stopped taking her insulin during one of his workshops in 2016, The Guardian reported. 

The 61-year-old was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter – a rare crime – because he knew Danielle Carr-Gomm's decision to stop taking insulin could be fatal, said Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service special crime division. He had "seen it before".

What was the previous conviction?
A core element of the prosecutors' case against Xiao was the death of a six-year-old diabetic boy in Australia, a year before Carr-Gomm, 71, died. 

The child's parents had stopped giving him insulin after attending one of Xiao's workshops in Sydney in April 2015. The boy became ill and started "vomiting black liquid". Xiao told the parents that this was "just part of self-healing body adjustment", jurors heard, but the boy was dying.

What is slapping therapy?
Paida lajin ("slapping and stretching") is a method of "self-healing" in which people repeatedly slap themselves and others, which it is claimed can expel toxins from the blood and organs. 

Paida lajin "has roots in traditional Chinese medicine", said The Independent, but "critics say it has no scientific basis". Doctors say it causes bruises and broken blood vessels. A video of one of Xiao's workshops in Malaysia shows people "forcefully slapping different parts of their body" until the skin "turns red or begins to look bruised". 

Slapping therapy has "amassed a cult like following around the world", said the Daily Mail. "We were all born with self-healing power but we simply ignore it and spend millions of dollars paying for medications," Xiao told one seminar. 

Who is Hongchi Xiao?
"His disciples see him as a guru, a revolutionary; his critics believe he is a dangerous fraud," said The Guardian. 

Xiao claims to have travelled widely in China, learning natural healing "from fishermen to kung fu masters", said Sky News. Xiao has since led workshops around the world and written a book on the technique. Despite having no medical training, he has "repeatedly" promoted slapping therapy in interviews and online, said The Independent.

The workplace has moved on from a "post-lockdown era of frenzied change" dubbed the "Great Resignation" and entered a "decidedly more cautious and staid" period – the "Big Stay".

Employees are now "prioritising employment stability over new horizons", said Helen Coffey in The Independent. But what is behind this new trend and what does it mean for employees and employers?

'Openly embittered'
In the UK, the proportion of people leaving their jobs voluntarily fell from 3.6% in the first quarter of 2021 to 2.3% in the same period of 2024. Across the pond, the quit rate reached 3% per month at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022, but it's fallen to 2.2% in the first quarter of 2024.

But now employees are "hunkering down and remaining in their current jobs for more extended periods of time", said Jack Kelly in Forbes, because in a "changing economic landscape" employers have "greater leverage".

In the face of an "uncertain economic outlook", British workers are "fearful of rocking the boat", said Tom Howard in The Times. People are becoming "increasingly reluctant" to move jobs "for fear of being the last in and first out if things go wrong".

The "Great Stay" is leading to a new trend of "resenteeism", said The Guardian, which is "when you hate your job, but stay in it even though you should probably leave". This has created an "openly embittered and miserable" workforce, it added.

'Canny companies'
But it's not all bad news for workers, said Metro, because the "Great Stay" is also "all about sticking around in a secure role with good pay, benefits and conditions". Now, what "ticks the boxes" for employee satisfaction are "things like commuting contributions, a stipend towards skills development, or bonuses that are linked to performance".

What workers want in 2024 is "job stability with a side of genuinely useful benefits". "Canny" companies know this is and are "happy to step up" and offer good pay, benefits and flexibility to workers. So "if this is what matters most to you", then it's "no wonder that staying put is the defining workplace trend right now".

"Should you stay or should you go?" wonders Coffey. "That's up to you," but "either way, you don’t have to settle for stagnation".

The mere mention of California conjures up visions of golden sandy beaches and crashing waves. Stretching 840 miles, the picturesque coastline is a mecca for surfers, sunbathers and just about everyone in between. But for those willing to venture inland, California is also home to an incredible array of wild swimming spots.

Smith River
The water at Smith River is so clear, said The Guardian, you can "watch shoals of native salmon and trout swirl deep below the surface". As the only river in California with no dams, the emerald-green water flows freely all the way from the Klamath Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in Del Norte County.

Some of the best swimming spots are around the Nels Christensen Memorial Bridge (the locals call it "Second Bridge"), where the "warm waters of the south fork gently lap along the shallow, pebble beach as the river bends downstream". Here, people "howl with a mixture of joy and fear" as they jump into the water from the cliffs.

Budd Lake, Yosemite National Park
Located in the Tuolumne Meadows region of Yosemite National Park, this "little blue jewel" is a "pocket-size playground of water and stone", said The New York Times. Consider combining your visit to Budd Lake with a hike; there are countless trails to explore in the surrounding area.

It's easy to spend an entire afternoon lounging by the lake. The idyllic swimming spot feels totally cut off from the outside world, save for the "indistinct voices of climbers" carried on the breeze from the trails above. "It's the perfect Yosemite experience, without the crowds."

Natural Bridges
Situated in the Sierra foothills near the Tuolumne-Calaveras county line, the Natural Bridges swimming hole is well worth visiting. Hikers are rewarded with a dip in the "ice-cold Coyote Creek through a moss-covered cave", said the Los Angeles Times. The round-trip hike is about two miles; make sure you "pack plenty of water" as the climb back to the car is uphill. 

Why the Bank of England will cut interest rates on Thursday
Chris Dorrell in City A.M.
For the "first time in months", there is "genuine uncertainty" about whether the Bank of England will "cut or hold interest rates" this week, writes Chris Dorrell, but "it seems more likely than not that the Bank will cut". Although services inflation remains "a little too high for comfort", forward-looking indicators suggest it will "fall in the months ahead". Inflationary dynamics are "slowly dissipating" in wages, too, so the Bank "should cut rates on Thursday".

I did a digital detox and it gave me a different perspective about social media
Darren Lewis in the Daily Mirror
"I recently went on holiday with my family," writes Darren Lewis, and "coming off the digital detox was a bit of a shock to the system". It was a "stark reminder of what a cesspit social media can be", with people "literally screaming at each other to defend the indefensible". But we can "recognise that not every piece of incendiary breaking news needs our contribution". Why not "resist the urge to be lured into vitriolic culture wars" and "remember the joy that our differences bring to our lives".

It's time to give the safe sex talk to your grandparents
Kate Lister on the i news site
When stories about rising STI rates among older generations arise, "there is usually an undercurrent of surprise that older people are sexually active at all", says Kate Lister. There shouldn't be. This "outdated and damaged assumption" about "the generation who spearheaded the sexual revolution of the 1960s" needs to change. But there is clearly "still a lot of work to do for older people" to realise safe sex conversations "apply to them every bit as much as they do to Gen Z".