Regularly taking some of the most popular painkillers on the market is linked to a much greater risk of stroke and heart attack from higher blood pressure, according to research published yesterday. The study looked at the effects of paracetamol, aspirin and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

Plans to outlaw the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos for potentially life-saving stem cell research are to be dropped after a revolt by scientists. The proposed government ban on fusing human DNA with animal eggs, which promises insights into incurable conditions such as Alzheimer’s and motor neuron disease, will be abandoned because of concerns among senior ministers that it will damage British science.

Immigrants should carry out community work before being granted UK citizenship, Gordon Brown will say. The chancellor is expected to tell a seminar on Britishness that the move would help new arrivals settle.

A young woman manager who was sacked because her plan to adopt a child would make her “no bloody use” to her employers won a landmark employment tribunal case yesterday.

The House of Lords has made more important changes to the Mental Health Bill, the Mental Health Alliance have said. Responding to a key vote about community treatment orders (CTOs), the 78-member Alliance said:

Asylum applications fell by 9% last year to their lowest level since 1993, Home Office figures show. At the same time the number of failed asylum seekers removed from the UK increased by 16%.

The organisations that regulate two million nurses, teachers and social workers have joined forces to help promote a shared approach to improving services for children and young people.

The woman honoured for leading the health service’s emergency response to the 7/7 terrorist attacks has been chosen to become the new chair of the London Probation Board.

Twelve teams from NHS and social care organisations across England – plus one outstanding achiever’ individual – have scooped national awards at the prestigious final of the 2006 Health and Social Care Awards in London.

A hearing into the conduct of a Registered Social Worker from Wolverhampton will be held from 6 to 7 March 2007 by the social care workforce regulator for England the General Social Care Council (GSCC).