Scientists fighting the ever-growing threat posed by antibiotic-resistant "superbugs" are floating a potential solution – pills of poo. And if preliminary trials are successful, these poo pills could even play a role in recovery from cancer and depression, too.

How do poo pills work?
Poo pills contain carefully screened, freeze-dried faeces samples, taken from healthy donors, that are packed with "good bacteria". Once swallowed by a patient whose guts have been colonised with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, the pills dissolve and the "good bacteria" flush out the "bad bacteria", stopping them from lurking in the patient's bowel and potentially escaping elsewhere in the body to cause hard-to-treat infections.

A recent small-scale trial, published in the Journal of Infection, showed "really promising signals" that the poo pills could entirely eliminate the superbugs or "reduce them down to a level that doesn't cause problems", said study lead Dr Blair Merrick, of Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital, London.

The idea "isn't as far-fetched as it might seem", said the BBC. Faecal transplants (sometimes called "trans-poo-tion") are already approved in the UK for treatment of adults who have had repeated episodes of infection by Clostridium difficile – a bacteria that can cause severe diarrhoea and is notoriously resistant to most antibiotics. These transplants are often delivered via an enema, colonoscopy or nasogastric tube, but pills are sometimes used instead.

How big a problem are superbugs?
Superbug is a term used for different strains of bacteria that have developed resistance to most known antibiotics – mainly through misuse and overuse of these antibiotics over the years.

Resistance to antibiotics has led to at least a million deaths globally since 1990, according to a study by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance Project published in The Lancet last year. Increasing rates of drug-resistant infections are expected to claim more than 39 million lives by 2050.

Could poo pills fight other diseases?
Several studies are being carried out on other uses for faecal transplants, including for treating cancer and mental health issues. But some new research suggests faecal transplants can alter the intestinal environment in less helpful ways, said The Independent. Studies on mice, outlined in the journal Cell, showed shifts in liver metabolism and the genes involved in immune function.

"It begins, as all good fairytales do, with a $10 million budget", a star-studded guest list and a "megayacht the size of a football pitch", said Zoë Beaty in The Independent. 

Jeff Bezos is set to wed Lauren Sánchez during an opulent three-day celebration in Venice later this month. "But the Adriatic city isn't swooning – far from it. In fact, the locals are absolutely seething."

'Playground for the wealthy'
From 24 to 26 June, the "so-called wedding of the year" will see a slew of celebrities descend on Venice in their private jets and yachts, adding to the historic city's hefty carbon emissions and sparking "logistical chaos" in a destination already struggling with "unchecked tourism", said Beaty.

Locals have been campaigning for years against the mammoth cruise ships damaging the city's fragile lagoon ecosystem. "And, of course, famously, Venice is literally sinking", with rising sea levels combined with subsidence resulting in extensive flooding. Bezos' "tone-deaf" wedding is the last thing the city needs, according to protesters.

But the Venetian mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, said he was "grateful" that Bezos picked the city to host his wedding. Stressing the economic benefits of the celebrations, Brugnaro told The Telegraph that "anyone who loves Venice is always welcome".

'Relatively humble'
Everyone is expecting a "staggering display of wealth" from the world's third richest man, said Alison Boshoff in the Daily Mail. But it appears the nuptials will be lower key than expected ("modest, even") with fewer than 200 guests and the final bill rumoured to be under $10 million.

"So why the – relatively – humble plans?" The answer, Boshoff suggested, could lie, in part, in the "PR disaster" of the all-female Blue Origin space flight earlier this year. With Sánchez's journey to the edge of Earth's atmosphere largely dismissed as an out-of-touch and "meaningless stunt", her response is to be "less 'Marie Antoinette'".

All the same, to the mega-rich guests, the nuptials will be a "symbol of success and exclusivity", said Beaty in The Independent. But as the world's elite "raise glasses of champagne behind velvet ropes, the locals will be raising something else entirely: placards, voices and a warning from the heart of their ancient, beloved home – that cities like Venice don't belong to the richest man in the world, no matter how sparkly the ring."

"Pig styes" and "drizzly weather" don't scream luxury holiday, said Madeleine Silver in Condé Nast Traveller. But since the pandemic-fuelled "staycation boom", Brits have been discovering the joys of donning muddy boots and swapping caviar "for eggs they've collected themselves".

Here's our top pick of the best farm stays in the UK.

Heckfield Place, Hampshire
For people with kids who have "outgrown the petting zoo vibe", this "extraordinarily chic" country house hotel is a great option, said Alicia Miller in The Times. Children can join a workshop on "weaving a bird feeder from willow" while parents enjoy a relaxing lunch at the hotel's green-Michelin-starred restaurant, Marle.
heckfieldplace.com

River Cottage, Devon
Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall opened this "West Country sanctuary" in the 1990s, and the beloved property remains the "godfather of farm stays", said Silver in Condé Nast Traveller. The idea is to "tune into the rhythm of farming life"; you won't find any televisions inside these whitewashed rooms. Of course, dinner is the real highlight: finish your day with a delicious three-course meal crafted from foraged ingredients.
rivercottage.net

Cowbridge Cabins, Vale of Glamorgan
Guests can enjoy "true farm-to-fork dining" at this 2,000-acre working farm in the Welsh countryside, with tasty dishes made using ingredients "sourced just metres from the table", said Sarah Marshall in The Independent. 
cowbridgecabins.co.uk

Guardswell Farm, Perthshire
"Wind back the clock for a taste of enviably bucolic life" at Guardswell Farm, which sits on a secluded hillside in Perthshire, said Silver in Condé Nast Traveller. Kids can build dens and climb trees at the outdoor children's camp before lunch around the campfire, while grown-ups can take a no-dig organic-vegetable-growing workshop or a flower-pressing masterclass. 
guardswell.co.uk

Tories and Labour need each other to be strong
William Hague in The Times
I look at some Labour policies and "see only outdated left-wing prejudices" that will make Britain poorer, writes former Conservative leader William Hague. But the country "can't afford another failed government". In this week's spending review, "we all need Labour to do a reasonably good job". And with voters "fed up" with mainstream parties, "Labour will govern better" if faced by a "Tory revival" rather than a "wave of populism and nationalism".

Gen Zers are preparing for war – should I join the Army Reserve?
Rose O'Sullivan in The i Paper
Warfare in the UK "no longer feels like a remote risk", writes Rose O'Sullivan, but rather "something inching closer". I've been asking myself whether I am "even remotely prepared" for "something like that". At 27, I can't "ever imagine what it might be like to live through war", but I've been "quietly researching how the Army Reserve works". If my generation believes in democracy, "we can't just be passive beneficiaries of it".

The Freedom Flotilla achieved its mission
Yara Hawari on Al Jazeera
Greta Thunberg and her fellow activists on the Gaza-bound Madleen ship have "carried out an important mission", writes Yara Hawari, co-director of think tank Al-Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network. They "knew they would not reach their destination" but took part in this "life-threatening act of solidarity" to bring global attention "back to Gaza" and the "criminal inaction" of Western governments. Their "act of defiance reaffirms that Gaza is not forgotten".