The Know Daily - Monday 26 February 2024

_{Read in 5m 22s ∙ Listening to HNNY ∙}

Meet Mateo - an “extremely rare” giant otter who was recently born at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. While the endangered species is native to the Amazon rainforest, Mateo joins his two parents and four siblings in a specially-adapted enclosure - and he’s already “having fun” playing with other pups. Adorable.

📝 Mental health and work

Young people are more likely to be out of work due to ill health than those in their early 40s, according to a new report calling for action on poor mental health. 

Go on…
The Resolution Foundation report paints a “radically different” picture to that of the past, whereby the older you were the more likely you were to not work due to sickness: 

The report also found that between 2013 and 2023, the number of 18 to 24-year-olds who were out of work due to ill health more than doubled, rising from 93,000 to 190,000 - with 5% of young people economically inactive due to ill health last year. 

What’s the reason?
Poor mental wellbeing is a key factor. According to the report, young people now have the poorest mental health of any age group, in a reversal from two decades ago when they had the lowest incidence of “common mental disorders” (which include depression and anxiety). 

How does this impact unemployment, exactly?
According to the Resolution Foundation, poor mental health can “hamper [young people’s] education” and “lead to them being in lower-paid jobs or unemployed”, reported the BBC.

The research found that 79% of 18 to 24-year-olds who are “workless” due to ill health only have qualifications at GCSE level or below, compared with 34% of all people in that age group.

So what is the report calling for?
It concludes that efforts to tackle Britain’s “epidemic” of poor mental health should focus on lower-qualified young people, said The Guardian. The Resolution Foundation has called on the government to provide better mental health support in colleges, to ensure that less people leave education with low qualification levels.

🇺🇸 Alabama’s IVF ruling

Alabama’s largest hospital has paused IVF procedures, after the state’s Supreme Court last week ruled that frozen embryos have the same status as unborn children.

Tell me more. 
Following a recent court ruling that gave frozen embryos the legal status of children, the University of Alabama at Birmingham health system announced that it would be pausing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment over fears of criminal prosecution. 

In a statement, the hospital said it must “evaluate the potential that our patients and our physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care for IVF treatments”.

Where did the court’s ruling come from?
As The Independent explains, the ruling stems from a 2020 case in which several embryos were accidentally destroyed at an IVF clinic. The owners of those embryos then sought to sue the clinic - and in ruling that frozen embryos have the same legal rights as children, Alabama’s Supreme Court cleared the way for a wrongful death lawsuit. 

But the ruling has also thrown into question the legality of IVF procedures in the state. As one expert pointed out to the BBC, “not all [IVF] embryos are used, nor can they be”. 

How has the ruling been received?
Reproductive rights activists have - unsurprisingly - condemned the court’s decision, with the American Society of Reproductive Medicine labelling the ruling “medically and scientifically unfounded”. 

The issue has also “left Republicans divided”, said AP. Former president Donald Trump has said he would “strongly support” the availability of IVF, and called on Alabama lawmakers to preserve access to the treatment. 

So what happens next?
IVF has become a “new flashpoint” in the 2024 presidential election, noted AP, with anti-abortion groups already campaigning for the introduction of similar laws in other states.

A number of IVF providers have now suspended their services in Alabama, despite the state’s Republican Attorney General saying on Friday that he has “no intention” of prosecuting IVF providers or their families.

🇯🇵 Japan’s Naked Festival: Women are making history by joining Hadaka Matsuri -  Japan’s “Naked Festival” - for first time.

🗣️ Tory suspension: Conservative MP Lee Anderson was suspended from the party for claiming that “Islamists” have got control of the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan. PM Rishi Sunak described Anderson’s comments as “wrong”, but denied Islamophobia within the party. 

🇺🇦 Ukraine latest : Saturday marked two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, with President Zelenksy vowing that "none of us will allow our Ukraine to end".

 ✈️ Pricier flights: Jet-setters will likely see pricier tickets this summer, the boss of Ryanair has said, because of new Boeing planes arriving late.

📽️ Saltburn snoopers: Drayton House, the iconic stately home used in the film Saltburn, has been “plagued by influencers” - and the owner is finding it “quite weird”.

Help your friends feel better about the news - and support The Know at the same time. Get them to sign up using your personalised code 👉 https://theknowmedia.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER 👈 and we’ll reward you with goodies from HURR, Grubby and CRU Kafe!

The Know is an independent media company on a mission to help everyone start their day feeling informed and hopeful. We only recommend things we genuinely love but sometimes we make money out of the links we share. This directly supports keeping our journalism free for all.

Here are four ways you can support our work:

⭐ Get clicking - this tells our partners that readers are interested in our content. Let’s get started with this one (or maybe this one!).

⭐ Become a friend of The Know - back independent, female-founded journalism for just £1.25 a week. You’ll also get exclusive editions, supporter-only giveaways and more.

⭐ Add us to your contacts or safe sender list - this makes sure we reach your inbox (and everyone else’s) each morning.

⭐ Shop our merch - support The Know and look great while doing it!

Trivia answer: B) The Delta Airlines flight was forced to turn around after maggots began to “rain” down onto passengers. Yikes.

Need fewer emails? Click here to hear from us once a week. Support The Know here.