The Know Daily - Monday 18 March 2024

_{Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Fleetwood Mac ∙}

A striking shot of a football covered in barnacles has scooped top prize at this year’s British Wildlife Photography Awards 👇 Other shortlisted images include affectionate foxes and a very photogenic hare - the perfect procrastination scroll this Monday morning!  

🇷🇺 Russia’s election

President Vladimir Putin has claimed a landslide victory in a three-day presidential election that had an “all but certain outcome”.

Go on…
According to state-run exit polls released on Sunday, Putin won 87% of the vote, securing another six-year term as President. He is now set to be in power until at least 2030, noted BBC News.

However, Putin faced no credible opposition, with the three candidates up against him “rubber stamped” by the Kremlin. Western leaders have criticised the vote: Germany called it a “pseudo-election”, while the US said it was “obviously not free nor fair”, noted The Guardian.

What about the Russian opposition?
While the first day of voting saw sporadic protests, arson attacks targeting polling stations and destroyed ballot boxes, there was “no repeat of these incidents” after Friday, said Euronews. At least 80 Russians were detained over the three-day vote, they added.

Supporters of Alexei Navalny - Putin’s main opponent who died in an Arctic prison last month under mysterious circumstances - staged symbolic protests on Sunday. The “Noon against Putin” protests saw citizens frustrated with Putin’s rule head to the polling stations at the same time - and Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya, who led the demonstration, praised those who turned up for giving her “hope that everything is not in vain".

What’s the bigger picture?
Putin’s victory speech focused on the war in Ukraine, noted Euronews, with the Russian president saying his main goals would be winning the war and “strengthening defence capacity and the military”.

🥤 Safety Shot science

A new drink claims to prevent the tell-tale signs of a hangover - but is Safety Shot just too good to be true?

Go on…
Safety Shot - an orange-flavoured drink packed with B vitamins - describes itself as “the world’s first alcohol detoxifier”. It contains a whopping 200mg of caffeine per can, equivalent to around four shots of espresso.

The drink is currently only available in the US, although the company has plans to launch in the UK later this year. A four-pack will set you back $19.99 (around £15.50), and it sold out within hours of its release on Amazon in December. 

How does it work, exactly?
A number of factors contribute to a hangover, including dehydration, difficulty sleeping and gut irritation, explains Healthline. Hangover symptoms are thought to peak when blood alcohol concentration returns to around zero - and Safety Shot claims to work by speeding up this breakdown of alcohol, replenishing essential nutrients at the same time to help the body recover.

This means that while you may still feel hungover if you finish your night with a Safety Shot, you should recover more quickly.

Got it. And does it actually work?
The jury’s still out. While Safety Shot says that their product is backed by science, other experts are sceptical. Dr Emmert Roberts, senior clinical lecturer at King’s College London, told The Guardian that while there is some “very minimal evidence” that the vitamin B6 contained in the drink could reduce hangover symptoms, none of the other ingredients are proven to have an impact.

It seems there’s still no miracle cure for a hangover, then - although we’ll leave you with some more old-school advice for dealing with symptoms.

📈 House prices rise: Amid growing buyer demand, the average UK asking price rose by 1.5% in March, in the biggest increase for 10 months. 

🤔 Dam tough: In a fresh move aimed at clamping down on “nuisance tourism”, Amsterdam launched an online quiz to screen out visitors who “aren’t interested in the historic city’s tulips”. 

🔬 Screening success: A new blood test showed 83% accuracy for detecting colorectal cancer, in a “promising step” towards expanding screening options for the disease. 

🚴‍♀️ Laura Kenny: Britain’s most successful female Olympic athlete announced her retirement from cycling, saying: “I have had an absolute blast”. 

🎨 Banksy speculation: A “mysterious artwork” appeared overnight on the side of a building in north London - and it’s believed to be a Banksy.

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Trivia answer:  A) Melbourne High Street took top spot in Time Out’s ranking - and it does look pretty cool.

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