THERE must be an upside to this, yes? Time to read War And Peace, learn a new language, or discover previously unknown aptitudes such as the ability to paint? Face it, you'll never have an opportunity like this again. But this, alas, is what a real day of self-betterment looks like. Leap out of bed at the crack of noon.

SO enough with the panic buying, already. Now that we're all settling down into quarantine and accepting that the new normal is going to be never seeing anyone, ever again, now is the time to reflect on the last few weeks. And what the last few weeks have revealed to me is that the contents of my cupboards have changed beyond all comprehension.

WEEK five, or is it six, if anyone's still counting, and yet another fiercely competitive trend in social isolating has emerged.

WEEK 190 and as life continues to change before our very eyes, a new way of showing off has emerged. We have moved on from the Zoom drinks party to the Zoom dinner party, which gives you the opportunity to prove to your tragic suburban friends that not only do you have the most exotic ingredients in your kitchen cabinets, but that you are also the best cook.

THE entire world is in the middle of a terrible pandemic. Everyone is worried sick both about catching it and the long-term effects of putting the global economy in the deep freeze. People are concerned about jobs, health, the wellbeing of elderly relatives.

The Virtual Grand National takes place today - but what TV channel is the race on?

The Virtual Grand National takes place today and Express Sport is on hand with the full list of runners and riders.

The Virtual Grand National takes place today and Express Sport is on hand with all the live stream information, including how to watch the race for free.

The Virtual Grand National takes place this weekend instead of the actual race - but who is favourite to win?

The Virtual Grand National replaces the real-life National this afternoon with ITV providing life coverage of a lifelike simulation to substitute for the cancelled regular race. Express Sport brings you live updates with an animated Tiger Roll the favourite for victory.

The Virtual Grand National takes placed this evening in the absence of the real race at Aintree.

Potters Corner triumphed at the Virtual Grand National with an explosive finish in a boost to the NHS.

Profits of £2.6million have been donated to NHS Charities Together after Saturday's Virtual Grand National.

UNIVERSAL CREDIT claims have surged in recent weeks, as Britons have begun to feel the impact of the coronavirus crisis. How do earnings affect payments?

GEORGE SOROS made a chilling warning about the state of global markets in 2012 that has fresh relevance today as world leaders grapple with the unprecedented challenge of rebuilding the post-coronavirus economy.

The FA Cup has taken place this weekend but when is draw for the fourth round? Express Sport is on hand with the date, time and TV information for the draw.

Emiliano Sala was tragically killed in January 2019 in a plane crash over the British channel.

Peter Whittingham is fighting for his life in hospital, the South Wales Police have confirmed.

Peter Whittingham has died following a head injury from an accidental fall.

THE QUEEN has one of the most extensive jewellery collections in the world, and is particularly noted for her tiaras. The Belgian Sapphire is a particular favourite of Her Majesty's - and it has a scandalous former royal owner.

LASH extensions may be a distant memory for some as the UK lockdown continues and salons remain closed. But there are ways to give yourself longer lashes at home if you're missing the fuller flutter.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II has ruled Britain for nearly 70 years, and many of us cannot remember a time when she was not on the throne. And during her long reign, one item in particular has become synonymous with the monarch.

THE iconic gown Princess Diana wore to a state banquet at the White House in 1985 is currently being held in quarantine.

KATE MIDDLETON, 38, wowed fans by appearing in a video with a new mother and midwives. The Duchess of Cambridge did so ahead of UK's Maternal Mental Health Awareness Week.

PRINCESS ANNE, 69, appeared in a video on the Royal Family Instagram to celebrate the International Day of the Midwife. A video of the Princess Royal, the Queen's only daughter, was posted to the IGTV of the account.

THE QUEEN addressed the nation as part of VE Day celebrations today, and Her Majesty wore her Aquamarine Clip Brooches, making a sweet nod to her father, who gave her the jewellery.

West Ham signed Jarrod Bowen from Hull City for £22million on transfer deadline day.

Storm Ciara is threatening to cause chaos with this week's sporting events including Premier League football, Six Nations rugby and eight horse racing meets.

Leeds United take on Hull City on Saturday and Whites boss Marcelo Bielsa faces an important decision after Kiko Casilla was issued an eight-match ban.

Hull City host Leeds United in the Championship today and Express Sport is on hand with all the live stream and TV information.

The relationship between health and poverty is reasonably well known; one can exacerbate and contribute to the other in a vicious cycle.

This update, as well as including a few health stats updates, provides further information on noncommunicable diseases (which cause some two-thirds of all deaths each year) and more details on the relationship with poverty.

Read full article: Global Health Overview

In the US the protest movement is symbolically against the top 1%. Income data from the US Congressional Budget Office, however, shows that it isn’t just the top 1% benefiting far more than the rest of American society, but the top 0.1% in particular.

High levels of inequality is generally believed to affect social cohesion. Some findings suggest that once nations are industrialized, more equal societies almost always do better in terms of health, well-being and social cohesion and that large income inequalities within societies destroys the social fabric and quality of life for everyone.

This update to the poverty page adds a section on inequality in the US, as well as adding some additional information about research showing globally some 147 multinational companies having core global influence and power.

Read full article: Poverty Around the World

It has long been known that advertisers will “photoshop” (slang for editing photos to touch up or airbrush out imperfections) photos to make the subject more attractive. But many have pointed out that this subtle manipulation often goes too far. Young people, girls in particular, are bombarded with images of how they are supposed to look, contributing to many social and health problems as a result.

The American National Advertising Division (the US advertising industry’s self-regulating watchdog) for example, recently moved to ban the misleading use of photoshopping and enhanced post-production in cosmetics adverts as it could be too misleading. In the UK some adverts have been banned because the effects of airbrushing has resulted in very misleading cosmetic adverts. France has even considered legislation to explicitly identify retouched images.

Some will claim it is up to parents to teach their children how to recognize these things, but parents cannot often win against an army of professional psychologists, marketers and others all focused on pushing their own images onto children, when studies also say that children are not old enough tell the difference between commercial and other content.

This page has been updated to add a section about this issue with further links, videos and examples.

Read full article: Media and Advertising

NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) monitors global surface temperatures on an ongoing basis. Their analysis shows temperatures around the globe in 2011 compared to the average global temperature from the mid-20th century. The comparison shows how Earth continues to experience warmer temperatures than several decades ago.

Global temperatures have warmed significantly since 1880, the beginning of what scientists call the “modern record.” At this time, the coverage provided by weather stations allowed for essentially global temperature data. As greenhouse gas emissions from energy production, industry and vehicles have increased, temperatures have climbed, most notably since the late 1970s. In this animation of temperature data from 1880-2011, reds indicate temperatures higher than the average during a baseline period of 1951-1980, while blues indicate lower temperatures than the baseline average.

Click on the image to see the video:

Read full article: Global Temperature Anomaly, 1880 - 2011

Twenty years ago at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, countries adopted Agenda 21 — a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection. Marking that anniversary, this year sees Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development, with aims to get bold agreements to address things like poverty, sustainable development, decent jobs, etc.

This page provides coverage of recent events via Inter Press Service’s news feed.

Read full article: Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development

A recent study found that coral reefs will face severe challenges even if average global warming temperature rise is restricted to 2 degrees Celsius. This is a rise that most countries are struggling to negotiate and meet. But reefs are very sensitive to temperature changes, experts fear the window of opportunity to prevent massive reef loss is very small.

Read full article: Nature and Animal Conservation

In recent years, global military expenditure has increased again and is now comparable to Cold War levels. Recent data shows global spending at over $1.7 trillion, despite the global economic conditions. It is still approximately 1% increase since 2008 when the financial crisis began, for example.

Not all nations have felt the impacts of the global financial crisis in the same way. Some have grown economically, including many Asian countries, which has allowed some of them to increase their military spending. There are geopolitical interests at stake for various powers, so economic troubles or not, military spending is seen as important to maintain, or at least to minimize possible reductions.

The highest military spender is the US accounting for 39% of the world’s spending, more than the next top 10 countries combined, and more than all its potential enemies, combined. But this represents a slight decline over previous years as other nations, especially China and Russia, increase their spending. At the same time, the US has reduced military spending for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Western Europe’s austerity programs affect their military spending budgets.

This update includes new and updated figures, graphs and charts exploring this further.

Read full article: World Military Spending

At the start of June 2013, a large number of documents detailing surveillance by intelligence agencies such as the US’s NSA and UK’s GCHQ started to be revealed, based on information supplied by NSA whistle blower, Edward Snowden.

These leaks revealed a massive surveillance program that included interception of email and other Internet communications and phone call tapping. Some of it appears illegal, while other revelations show the US spying on friendly nations during various international summits.

Unsurprisingly, there has been a lot of furor. While some countries are no doubt using this to win some diplomatic points, there has been an increase in tension with the US and other regions around the world.

Much of the US surveillance programs came from the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the US in 2001. Concerns about a crackdown on civil rights in the wake of the so-called war on terror have been expressed for a long time, and these revelations seem to be confirming some of those fears.

Given the widespread collection of information, apparently from central servers of major Internet companies and from other core servers that form part of the Internet backbone, activities of millions (if not billions) of citizens have been caught up in a dragnet style surveillance problem called PRISM, even when the communication has nothing to do with terrorism.

What impacts would such secretive mass surveillance have on democracy?

Read full article: Surveillance State: NSA Spying and more

It is well known that tobacco smoking kills. But it also exacerbates poverty, contributes to world hunger by diverting prime land away from food production, damages the environment and reduces economic productivity. Second hand smoking also affects other people’s lives. Despite many attempts to prevent it, a global tobacco control treaty became international law in 2005.

However, challenges still remain as tobacco companies try to hit back, for example, by targeting developing nations, increasing advertising at children and women, attempting to undermine global treaties and influence trade talks, etc.

This update includes updated stats, as well as more information on the above issues.

Read full article: Tobacco

A recent study has found that three quarters of the world’s big carnivores are in decline, due to declining habitats and persecution by humans. This is also having a negative impact on the environment because top predators have a crucial role in any given ecosystem which is hard to replace.

At the same time, the number of rhinos being poached in South Africa (where most rhinos now remain) has soared exponentially in recent years.

This update includes more information on the above issues.

Read full article: Nature and Animal Conservation

Over 40 years ago, rich country governments agreed to give 0.7% of their GNI (Gross National Income) as official aid to poor countries for development assistance.

The average aid delivered each year has actually been between 0.2 to 0.4%. The shortfall has therefore accumulated to almost $5 trillion dollars at 2012 prices, while total aid delivered in that same time frame has reached $3.6 trillion.

This update includes updated charts and graphs that look into this further.

Read full article: Official global foreign aid shortfall: $4 trillion

The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) recently published new preliminary figures for aid in 2013.

It showed official development assistance (ODA) aid from wealthy governments had increased to just under $135 billion in 2013 (at constant 2012 prices). This is roughly 0.3% of GNI (Gross National Income) of the donor nations.

Yet, over 40 years ago nations promised to reach 0.7% of their GNI by the mid-1970s. While each year the amount of aid falls quite short of that 0.7% target (less than half of that target), the quality and effectiveness of that aid is often questionable, sometimes benefiting the donor more than the recipient due to the types of conditions attached to this aid.

This update includes a number of new and updated charts and graphs.

Read full article: Foreign Aid for Development Assistance

Rangers could be without Alfredo Morelos and Scott Arfield for their trip to play Hearts on Sunday.

Celtic legend Chris Sutton has bitten back Robbie Savage on Twitter, as the Hoops finished the week top of the Scottish Premiership table, after Rangers’ 1-1 draw against Hearts.

Steven Gerrard is very frustrated with Rangers’ poor performance against Hearts.

Steven Gerrard spoke about Alfredo Morelos after the Colombian scored two in Rangers' Scottish League Cup semi-final against Hearts.

David Moyes came close to joining Celtic on two occasions and has opens up on his quest to return to management.

Celtic host Hearts as top takes on bottom in the Scottish Premiership, with Neil Lennon hoping to maintain his seven-point lead over title rivals Rangers. Express Sport is on hand to provide all of the Hoops' team news, as well the predicted line-up, as two stars return from injury.

Celtic host Hearts in the Scottish Premiership today and Express Sport is on hand with all the live stream and TV information.

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard has suggested he could leave Ibrox after their defeat to Hearts as the manager said he will consider his future over the next couple of days.