I’ve begun to refer to a junction near my home as “sneeze corner”.

While the pavement outside my flat is shady, the path perpendicular to it is almost always sunny – inevitably, passing from one to the other makes my eyes water and my nose twitch. I usually sneeze about three times afterwards.

It turns out I am not alone, and that I likely have a condition with a (surprisingly cute) name: ACHOO syndrome.

The name, which stands for Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst, refers to “uncontrollable sneezing in response to the sudden exposure to bright light, typically intense sunlight”, the clinician resource book Medical Genetics Summaries (MGS) explained. It’s also known as photic sneezing.

The Cleveland Clinic said it could happen due to all kinds of sudden bright light, though it’s more common in sunlight.

Those with the condition find that when they go from dark (or shade) into bright light quickly, they can’t help but sneeze.

The main symptom is sneezing, or wanting to sneeze, when met with sudden light. It’s not the light itself, but the change in intensity from dimmer light to a brighter kind, that appears to trigger the response.

It might also manifest as a “prickling feeling” in your nose.

In fact, MGS said, about 25% of people who already feel that prickling go on to sneeze in sunlight. But ”‘pure’ photic sneezing is far less common,” they added.

Dr Tan Zhibin, an associate consultant at the Department of Neurology at the National Neuroscience Institute, said in some cases, it can lead to over 40 back-to-back sneezes at a time.

Researchers aren’t really sure.

Genes seem to have something to do with it: if one of your parents has ACHOO syndrome, you have a 50-50 chance of getting it too.

Still, not only has the genetic basis of ACHOO syndrome remained “unknown” to scientists, but the mechanisms behind photic sneezing is a bit of a mystery, too.

Some think it has to do with “over-excitability of the visual cortex in response to light, leading to a stronger activation of the secondary somatosensory areas”.

That means bright light might make the part of the brain that processes sight react a little too strongly, affecting other parts of our mind that deal with physical touch and sensory processing.

Another theory is that there might be a crossed wire between the part of your brain that senses irritants and tells you to sneeze, and the section that tells your eyes’ pupils to constrict in bright light.

Again, we’re not sure – but The Cleveland Clinic puts it at anywhere from 18-35% of the population.

Research shows that it may be more common in people who are:

• white, especially women,
• affected by a deviated septum.

Not in and of itself. But, like anything that temporarily distracts you, it might have knock-on effects.

One case study documented a 26-year-old whose sudden sneezing was linked to three motor vehicle accidents while he was driving a scooter.

It might also put you at risk if you’re having dental surgery and a dentist shines a bright lamp onto your face. And eye tests can prove tricky, too.

Experts think ACHOO syndrome might also pose risks for high-wire acrobats, some athletes (like baseball players), pilots, and drivers exiting tunnels into bright daylight.

Speaking to the Cleveland Clinic, allergist Dr Dylan Timberlake said: “You certainly wouldn’t want [photic sneezing] to happen when you’re behind the wheel or operating heavy machinery.”

He added it’s probably worth bringing it up with your healthcare providers before they do any procedures, just in case.

This may be especially true if you’re about to undergo eye surgery. Eye injections used to administer anaesthesia to the area might elicit sneezes in people with the syndrome, too, Healthline said.

Shielding your eyes from the sun before leaving a dark area and wearing sunglasses or a hat that provides shade might help.

Healthline explained that taking antihistamines might also reduce your risk of photic sneezing if you have seasonal allergies.

But right now, there are no medications or surgeries to target ACHOO syndrome specifically.

John C Reilly has admitted he once tried to give Leonardo DiCaprio some advice that would have changed the course of the young actor’s career.

The pair met on the set of the 1993 coming-of-age drama What’s Eating Gilbert Grape?, with John going on to collaborate with Paul Thomas Anderson on his movie Boogie Nights.

Before filming got underway, the future Oscar-winning director had hoped to snag Leo for the lead role of Dirk Diggler, after watching him in The Basketball Diaries.

However, the Romeo & Juliet actor had to turn the offer down as he’d already agreed to appear in a little-known indie film you may or may not have heard of… known as Titanic.

During an appearance on Ted Danson’s podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, John recalled: “I knew Leo. I met him when he was 17. And I was like, ‘Give me the assignment, Paul. I’ll get this guy to do your movie. I’ve known him since he’s a kid’.”

He continued: “I was like, ‘Listen, Leo, let me tell you something. That movie Titanic is about a boat that sinks. Everyone knows the boat sinks. No one’s going to give a shit about who’s on the boat’.

“I was like, ’This guy, this director, is going to be one of the most talented film directors going forward, and you should not miss this opportunity.”

Apparently, Leo wasn’t sure on this as his agents had assured him Titanic was about to become “a really big movie”, to which the Step Brothers star replied: “I’m telling you, man. I’m telling you, I wouldn’t give you a bum steer here. It’s about a boat that sinks.”

Of course, as we all know now, Leo eventually turned down Boogie Nights, recommending his former co-star Mark Wahlberg for the role instead, although he once claimed that not doing the film was his “biggest regret”.

All’s well that ends well, though – and he did finally get to work with Paul Thomas Anderson on 2025’s One Battle After Another, which was awarded Best Picture at this year’s Oscars.

Listen to John C Reilly’s full interview on Where Everybody Knows Your Name here.

Retailer Sainsbury’s has pledged to stop selling brown eggs under their own brand as part of their sustainability program, moving to white-shelled versions instead.

The second-largest UK supermarket chain cited animal welfare and carbon emissions when announcing the decision.

But why don’t white and brown eggs have the same environmental impact, and why are eggshells different colours to begin with?

An assessment by SAC Consulting for Sainsbury’s found that brown eggs have a 12.7% higher carbon footprint than white eggs, as the hens that produce brown eggs are larger and eat more food.

Sainsbury’s said the change would therefore “indirectly reduce demand on land and water used to grow feed crops, as well as the amount of manure produced” by the chickens.

Chicken manure emits greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide as well as ammonia, which can have “detrimental impacts on the environment and… animal and human health”, per Aberystwyth University’s Farming Connect.

“White‑feathered hens typically live longer, eat less feed and lay eggs for longer, cutting carbon emissions by over 12 per cent compared with hens that lay brown eggs,” the supermarket continued.

Sainsbury’s also says that the breeds which produce brown eggs are more likely to experience feather pecking (a stressful and sometimes dangerous process in which birds peck the feathers of other birds) than those which make white eggs.

The company hopes this will help them to meet their goals to meet net zero within their own operations by 2035, and across their suppliers by 2050.

“White eggs have the same delicious taste and nutritional benefits as their brown counterparts, but result in lower emissions and better welfare outcomes for the hens that lay them,” a Sainsbury’s spokesperson said.

Speaking to HuffPost previously, Jacquie Jacob from the University of Kentucky’s department of animal and food sciences said that all eggs start off white.

For a brown egg, “At the very end of the shell-making process, the pigment gets added, almost like you’re painting a house,” she explained.

But some hens are “just not genetically programmed to do that”.

It takes more energy to produce the pigmented layer of the brown-shelled egg, she added.

In short, no. Healthline writes that all eggs are nutritionally pretty similar, no matter their size or colour.

In fact, the Retail Gazette said, white eggs were the norm in the UK until about the ’70s, “before brown eggs became dominant as shoppers increasingly associated them with being healthier or more natural”.

They add that the UK supermarket might have a bit of an issue: the British Egg Industry Council said white-egg-laying hens make up about 15% of our flocks, compared to the US, whereas white eggs account for 75% of all eggs consumed in the US.

Beekeeper and University of Galway Zoology Professor, Grace McCormack, has warned people to “keep an eye” on areas like their sheds and roofs this summer during a recent appearance on Irish broadcaster RTÉ’s News At One, because bees may be likelier to “swarm” near them.

The British Beekeepers’ Association (BBA) also agreed that in the UK, the pollinators usually display the behaviour on warm, sunny days from May to July.

They added that swarming is especially likely on sunny, “high teens”-temperature days, after a period of colder, wetter weather.

These conditions are expected to reach much of the UK starting at about mid-June, following our current wet spell.

It happens when a queen bee – the sole reproducing female of the hive – leaves her old home to allow another, developing queen to take over.

She doesn’t leave on her own, though.

Speaking to the BBC, Gavin Ramsay, the Chair of the Scottish Native Honey Bee Society, said that “about half of the bees will head off in a very organised manner and find a new home” with the original queen.

Those splinter bees form a cluster as they try to relocate, Inverclyde council added.

Before that cluster is formed, the BBA said, the bees – sometimes “thousands” of them – can buzz up in an “extremely dramatic” and noisy cloud.

This process usually only takes about 15 minutes, though.

Once clustered, bees begin to look for places to build new combs. Ramsay explained they’re especially keen on “cavities that are about the right sort of size with a smallish entrance”.

This can include your chimney, roof, wall space, or unused shed, experts like the Shropshire Beekeepers’ Association said.

If they succeed, you’ll be stuck with a sometimes very hard-to-budge established bee colony.

“Swarms are usually very mild-mannered, but if you see one out and about, especially one that’s settled somewhere, then really the best thing to do is to get in touch with a local beekeeping association,” Ramsay explained.

They will try their best to manage the situation.

While the swarm isn’t likely to sting you, the BBA has previously advised keeping kids and pets indoors if you spot one, just in case.

Sometimes, though, an early check can help you to notice upcoming swarms sooner.

If you see groups of five to 20 bees near your roof, Prof McCormack said to call a beekeeper, as odds are these are scouting out a new home.

At this point, “you still have time before the swarm arrives, and that is really the best time to act,” she said.

Shropshire Beekeeper’s Association, meanwhile, said that these scouts have usually broken off from an existing, unsettled cluster. This is the”best time for a beekeeper to collect the swarm”, they added.

Keep especially alert on warm and sunny days, particularly those following a chill.

If you’re anything like me, you’re always on the lookout for new parenting tricks and tips to help make your life calmer – and your kids happier.

I recently stumbled across something called the 7-7-7 parenting rule, where parents aim to spend seven minutes in the morning, seven minutes after school or work, and seven minutes before bed connecting with their child.

Over the course of the day that’s 21 minutes of undivided attention – and experts say it can work wonders for their behaviour.

Dr Sasha Hall, a senior educational and child psychologist, tells HuffPost UK the idea draws on attachment theory. “When children experience regular, undivided attention, it can strengthen emotional security and support regulation,” she explains.

“Over time, this can reduce behaviours linked to seeking attention, as the need for connection is being met more consistently.”

If you’re juggling work, household responsibilities and family life, carving out this time and embedding it into your routine can give you something concrete to aim for, rather than a “vague sense” that you should be forming deep connections with your child all day, says Dr Hall.

“Instead of repeatedly saying ‘just one minute’, and feeling they have fallen short, it creates defined moments where attention is fully focused,” she adds.

The timing of these moments can also support key transitions across the day. “A focused period of connection before school can help a child feel more settled when separating,” says the psychologist.

“Time after school can support decompression. Connection before bed can help with emotional settling and winding down.”

For children who have siblings, and feel like they receive less individual attention, carving out this one-on-one time can also be beneficial and reduce fights.

“Having protected moments where a parent is fully present and focused on one child can strengthen the parent-child relationship and support that child to feel seen as an individual,” says Dr Hall.

“It shifts them away from being experienced as the sibling who joins in, towards being recognised in their own right.

“When a child knows there are moments where they will have a parent to themselves, it can lessen the drive to seek attention in other ways.”

Obviously, if you’ve got multiple kids, carving out 21 minutes per kid over the course of the day can quickly become unachievable.

“Parents may find themselves trying to repeat this several times in the morning and evening, which is often when time is most limited and stress levels are higher,” notes Dr Hall.

There is also a risk that it becomes too rigid. “If parents feel they must stick to it in a very fixed way, it can add pressure rather than relieve it, particularly for single parents or those working long hours,” she adds.

The psychologist suggests a more realistic approach is to build connection into routines that already exist, rather than adding extra pressure.

“For example, the school run or pick up can be used as a point of focused attention, without trying to manage other tasks at the same time,” she says.

Short bursts of focused attention, or ‘micro-moments’, can also be very effective for parents, notes Dr Hall, adding: “These might include eye contact, physical closeness or following the child’s lead in play, even for a brief period.”

Instead of choosing three points in the day, parents could narrow it down to just one or two, such as the start and end of the day.

Child psychologist Dr Becky Kennedy, founder of Good Inside, calls it “special time” and previously said it’s the “best bang-for-your-buck” parenting strategy, helping kids who struggle to listen, are being angry or rude, or having constant tussles with siblings.

She suggested even just 10-15 minutes of special time can be beneficial. The key is to give them your undivided attention – no phones, no distractions, no siblings.

“For families with more than one child, it may be more achievable to rotate one-to-one time, so each child has predictable opportunities for individual attention across the week,” Dr Hall adds.

Ultimately, every parent is doing their best with the resources they have.

Dr Hall suggests our focus can be less on meeting a fixed time target and more on ensuring children regularly experience moments where they feel “noticed, valued and responded to”.

A government minister has accused Pete Hegseth of “lacking in class” after he used a D-Day commemoration speech to attack European countries’ record on immigration.

The US defence secretary said “European beaches are [being] stormed by different, dangerous ideologies” in a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery in north-west France.

He was speaking on the 82nd anniversary of the D-Day landings, when nearly 4,500 Allied troops were killed attempting to liberate Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944.

He said: “Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different, dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria, boats and men arrive.

“When will European capitals do something about that invasion or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not.”

Skills minister Jacqui Smith added her voice to the wave of criticism which has followed Hegseth’s speech.

Asked on LBC if he had been right, she said: “No, he’s not right, and no, I think it’s a bit lacking in class to raise it at a ceremony like that.”

Downing Street also hit out at the Trump ally. The prime minister spokesman said: “The D-Day commemorations this weekend were about thanking veterans of the Second World War and remembering all those who died during the Normandy landings.

“Their cause was liberation, freedom from tyranny and restoring peace to western Europe, and that should be the focus of commemorations.”

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Cacio e pepe is one of those dishes that seems like it should be a doddle to make – it’s made up of just a handful of ingredients, after all.

But for plenty of people, it can be hard not to end up with a watery mess or cheese clumps.

A new study by Italian Street Kitchen has revealed the Roman staple is one of the most searched for pasta recipes in the UK (alongside fellow fromage-filled dish, macaroni cheese).

If you’re hoping to make it for dinner this week, here’s how culinary pros make restaurant-worthy cacio e pepe from the comfort of their own homes.

First things first, chef and author Chris Baber said to focus on using the best quality ingredients possible – as well as the right equipment.

“While you’ll find many variations of this iconic pasta dish, this is my foolproof method for creating restaurant-quality cacio e pepe at home,” he added.

For a two-person serving, you’ll need: 250g spaghetti, 100g pecorino, 1 tbsp freshly cracked black pepper, and (optional) a knob of butter.

Executive chefs at Italian Street Kitchen, Guilio and Enrico Marchese, said they love to use bucatini – a thicker spaghetti-like pasta – “for more bite”.

First, finely grate the Pecorino cheese into a large bowl and set aside. Then Baber advises to bring a large pot of salted water to the boil.

“While the pasta cooks, toast the freshly ground black pepper in a large sauté pan over medium heat for one minute,” said the chef.

Baber, who is a HexClad ambassador, said your pan choice here is “incredibly important”. He’s a big fan of the 30cm HexClad hybrid pan, which “ensures even heat distribution, allowing the pepper to become fragrant without burning”.

If you want to add butter, now’s the time to do so. “However, I’d recommend keeping it authentic and leaving out the butter… it tastes amazing without!” said Baber.

Giulio Marchese likes to melt butter with cracked black pepper until aromatic, then adds a splash of hot pasta water and truffle salt to create an “emulsion”.

Regardless of how you prep your pepper, once the pasta’s cooked (Marchese likes to get it al dente), drain it and set some of the cooking water to the side to cool a bit.

Setting pasta water to the side is important. Italian food blogger Pina Bresciani noted one of the secrets to a quality cacio e pepe is starch.

“Getting a good amount of starch from the pasta water and pasta itself, via a process called risottare, is key to a creamy final sauce,” she said. “It helps the sauce to not clump, and achieve that beautiful silky texture.”

Add your drained pasta to the pan with the pepper, butter (if using) and some of the reserved pasta water, suggested Baber. Turn off the heat and let the pasta cool for 30 seconds.

Culinary scientist Jessica Gavin notes you can’t use the pasta water when it’s too hot or too cold – it has to be just right.

“Avoid mixing the cheese with boiling water. The intense heat causes the proteins to firm up and expel moisture, leading to agglomeration – aka clumpy cheese,” she said in a TikTok video.

Now for the key ingredient. “Add the cheese little by little, stirring constantly until the cheese is melted and the pasta is nicely coated in a smooth, silky sauce,” added Baber.

“Add more reserved pasta water if needed to achieve the right consistency.”

And that’s that. “Transfer to serving bowls and top with a little more cheese and some coarse black pepper (if you prefer the crunch),” he noted.

Marchese said of the classic Italian dish: “When you get it right, it’s pure magic on a plate.” We couldn’t agree more.