Chris Rock is in final talks to helm a movie about the civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. with Steven Spielberg also on board as an executive producer.

Regular daytime naps could be good for brain health, new research suggests. Daytime napping could slow the rate at which brains shrink as we age, the study led by researchers at UCL and the University of the Republic in Uruguay found. The researchers hope their findings into the health benefits of sleeping during the day will reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping. The study suggests the average difference in brain volume between people programmed to be habitual nappers and those who were not was equivalent to 2.6 to 6.5 years of ageing. Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older Dr Victoria Garfield, UCL Senior author Dr Victoria Garfield, MRC Unit for Lifelong Health & Ageing at UCL, said: “Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older.” The study, published in the journal Sleep Health, analysed data from people aged 40 to 69. Past research has suggested people who have had a short nap perform better in cognitive tests in the hours afterwards than those who did not nap. The new study looked at whether there was a causal relationship between daytime napping and brain health. Researchers looked at 97 snippets of DNA thought to determine people’s likelihood of habitual napping. They compared measures of brain health and cognition of people who are more genetically programmed to nap with people who did not have these changes in DNA, using data from 378,932 people from the UK Biobank study. They found that, overall, people predetermined to nap had a larger total brain volume. The genetic variants – DNA changes – influencing the likelihood of someone to nap were identified in an earlier study looking at data from 452,633 UK Biobank participants. But the researchers did not find a difference in how well those programmed to be habitual nappers performed on three other measures of brain health and cognitive function. Lead author and PhD candidate Valentina Paz, University of the Republic (Uruguay) and MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at UCL, said: “This is the first study to attempt to untangle the causal relationship between habitual daytime napping and cognitive and structural brain outcomes. “By looking at genes set at birth, Mendelian randomisation avoids confounding factors occurring throughout life that may influence associations between napping and health outcomes. “Our study points to a causal link between habitual napping and larger total brain volume.” Dr Garfield added: “I hope studies such as this one showing the health benefits of short naps can help to reduce any stigma that still exists around daytime napping.” Read More Dramatic rise in the number of women freezing their eggs Paramedics who found ‘poisoned’ couple dead in Mexico hotel room also fell ill Bruce Willis’ family honours him with first Father’s Day tributes since announcing his dementia diagnosis Richard Ford on Frank Bascombe, getting older and literary feuds: ‘At my age I can’t get into fistfights’ Families’ ‘disappointment’ as Croydon tram disaster driver cleared

The US and UN paused humanitarian aid in the East African country after allegations of theft.

New arrivals Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo struck their first goals for Barcelona in an impressive 5-0 rout of Real Betis...

George Theberge will also spend additional six months in prison in connection to violating probation from his arrest in January and also a drug charge

The damaged portion of Interstate 95 that collapsed in Philadelphia on June 11 will reopen this weekend, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced, highlighting the reopening comes ahead of schedule thanks to the "24/7" work of crews at the site.

For a hair-care brand, Olaplex has a lot to offer. It’s a label best known for its hero mask (the reparative No 3 Hair Perfector), but there are conditioners, serums, oils, and an aerosol dry shampoo as well. However, what’s new to the Olaplex label falls into a product category that we almost can’t believe that the brand — known for damage repair — waited until 2023 to release: a heat protectant.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Jake Fraley hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds extended their majors-best winning streak to 11 games, rallying past the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.

If you’re a sports bettor who isn’t betting on MLB right now, what are you even betting on?!Sports fans know that baseball reigns supreme in the dog days of summer and so do DraftKings and Bet365 sportsbooks!MLB fans who sign up with DraftKings and Bet365 and wager their first $6...

82nd Airborne Division All-American Chorus attempted to nail a high note during 'AGT' Season 18 finale but missed it

Connor McDavid has won the Ted Lindsay Award as the NHL’s most outstanding player as voted by his peers, a clear-cut choice after the highest-scoring season by a player in more than a quarter-century

Notts County FC has been forced to release a statement to clarify that Taylor Swift is not, in fact, planning to buy the football club. In a bizarre turn of events, the club released an official statement on Friday clarifying the situation following a report in satirical newspaper the Weekend Sport. The newspaper, which is known for publishing sensationalised, fictitious and satirical contact, reported that Swift was lining up a bid for England’s oldest football club. It reported that she was planning to follow in the footsteps of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney who have sparked a revival at Welsh club Wrexham since taking over. However, Notts County owners Chris and Alex Reedtz put out a joint statement rebuffing the story. It said: “As sorry as we are to disappoint the Swifties in our fanbase, we’re going to have to shake this story off. “There’s certainly no bad blood between ourselves and Taylor but, at such an exciting time for us and the club, she surely couldn’t have believed in her wildest dreams that we would relinquish our control. “We’ll leave a blank space in tomorrow’s pre-match playlist for a track from her newly re-released 1989 album as a gesture of gratitude for her interest.” How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.