Over 60 MPs have written to Andy Burnham calling on him to introduce an 18-week NHS dementia diagnosis target.

The health service is required to diagnose patients with cancer or heart disease within strict time frames but there is no such measure for dementia despite it claiming 76,000 lives a year as Britain’s biggest killer.

One in three people living with dementia in England do not have a formal diagnosis and the remainder waited an average of three and a half years before getting one.

Meanwhile, the time dementia patients must wait between being referred to a memory clinic by their GP and getting a diagnosis has increased by almost 70 per cent since 2019, soaring from 13 weeks to 22 weeks, according to the latest figures.

The cross-party group of MPs, which includes former secretaries of state, warn the prime minister risks sending ‘entirely the wrong signal’ if he fails to act.

The lack of a firm target means services could be cut back, with more patients left waiting months or years while their condition worsens, charities warn.

In some instances this could mean they become too far progressed to benefit from breakthrough drugs, which must be taken in the early stages of disease.

The MPs’ letter, seen by the Daily Mail, says: ‘With the possible advent of transformative drugs, a timely and accurate diagnosis is essential.

Everyone experiences dementia differently. Use this checklist to help you make a note of your symptoms before you talk to your GP.

‘The forthcoming Modern Service Framework for Dementia and Frailty (MSF) is the ideal place to enshrine a universal diagnosis target to bring dementia in line with other killers like cancer and heart disease.

‘While progress has been made in reducing elective care waiting times through the Government’s commitment that 92 per cent of referral-to-treatment pathways are completed within 18 weeks, dementia remains without a comparable standard.

‘Alzheimer’s Society Chief Executive Michelle Dyson has warned that the MSF is ‘not going to be worth the paper it is written on’ if an 18-week diagnosis target is not included.

‘We are concerned that silence on the 18-week diagnosis target would send entirely the wrong signal and leave dementia services fragmented across the country.’

Mr Burnham has tragically told how his dad is unaware he has become prime minister because he is living with Alzheimer’s disease.

Ms Dyson, formerly a senior official at the Department of Health and Social Care, warned the dementia plan will not be ‘worth the paper it is written on’ after the target was removed from a recent draft despite appearing in an earlier versions.

She said the framework was supposed to be a ten-year plan to transform care for the 1million people in the UK living with the disease but she now has ‘very little confidence’ in the document because the ambition appears to be ‘extremely low’.

Ms Dyson, who made her remarks in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail last month, also accused the NHS of treating dementia patients like ‘second-class citizens’ who are simply ‘cast aside’ and typically sent home with little more than a leaflet.

Ms Dyson, formerly a senior official at the Department of Health and Social Care, warned the dementia plan will not be ‘worth the paper it is written on’ after the target was removed from a recent draft despite appearing in an earlier versions.

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The letter to Mr Burnham was co-ordinated by Tory MP Joe Robertson, who sits on the Commons health and social care committee and is co-chair of the parliamentary all party group for dementia.

Signatories include Commons select committee chairs Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Dame Caroline Dinenage, Bob Blackman and Layla Moran plus former Secretaries of State Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Sir Andrew Mitchell, Dame Karen Bradley, and Kit Malthouse.

The Daily Mail and Alzheimer’s Society have partnered in a drive to defeat dementia.

The Defeating Dementia campaign aims to raise awareness of the disease, in an effort to increase early diagnosis, boost research and improve care.

The Department of Health and Social Care has acknowledged dementia has a ‘devastating impact’ on people living with the condition and on the families who care for them.

It added: ‘We want everyone affected to be able to access high-quality, personalised support.’

Vogue Williams has called out Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis for dating a 19-year-old.

The rocker, 63, has a long-documented history of dating significantly younger women, with a 33-year age gap with his current girlfriend, Eileen Kelly.

Back in 2013, he began dating Australian model Helena Vestergaard, when she was 19 years old, and he was in his early fifties.

On the latest episode of her podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, Vogue shared her disappointment towards Anthony’s dating history.

She told co-host Joanne McNally: ‘Do you know who else I find really disappointing and hasn’t broken the law – but really disappointing because I really like the Red Hot Chili Peppers – Anthony Kiedis, and he is like 54 or something and he is going out with a nineteen-year-old. 

‘And it is like “dude what are you talking about?”‘

The rocker, 63, has a long-documented history of dating significantly younger women (pictured with nineteen-year-old ex Helena Vestergaard in 2014) 

Joanne replied: ‘I’ve seen this. I just accept now that most men, all men, are drawn to, I’m going to be very careful how I say this, significantly younger women. 

‘That’s all I’m going to say. It is what it is and I don’t think there’s any getting away from it. We judge it but it’s not going to change.’

Vogue continued: ‘I would have to say that it is not all men. Because I do think that for that it is a very specific thing. 

‘Especially with things like that I just don’t understand what am I going to talk to, let’s say, a sixteen-year-old about? How was school? Did you have fun at school with your friends?

‘Did you get your new pencil case because September is coming up? Like what are you talking about?’

Joanne replied: ‘It’s not all men you are right. However, it seems to be a lot of them. 

‘And of course, people like him [Anthony Kiedis] and rockstars like him can get away with it because no nineteen-year-old girl wants to be going out with some old lad who is driving a Toyota Crayola around town. 

‘They want to be going out with a millionaire rockstar who is going to treat them like a princess and they’re going to have a gorgeous life. 

On the latest episode of her podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me, Vogue shared her disappointment towards Anthony’s dating history with co-host Joanne McNally

She said: ‘Do you know who else I find really disappointing and hasn’t broken the law? … Anthony Kiedis and he is like 54 or something and he is going out with a nineteen-year-old’

‘And he’s cool because he’s in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, do you know what I mean?’

Vogue joked: ‘I do think people look at him now and think ewww.’

She continued: ‘Even Spenny [Spencer Matthews] loves the Red Hot Chili Peppers and I told him and he was like ewww.

‘It is like just because you can doesn’t mean you should. 

‘But even your mates! Imagine you are taking your significant other out to hang out with your mates and they’re like “oh, great he’s bringing his nineteen-year-old bird”. 

‘Like what the f*** are we going to talk about?’

The Daily Mail has contacted Anthony’s representatives for comment. 

When Anthony is not touring with his world-famous band, he is a devoted dad to his son, Everly Bear Kiedis, 18. 

He has said he cherishes the experiences fatherhood has given him. He shares his only child with ex-girlfriend model Heather Christie, 40.

‘I love the [daddy] club,’ Anthony said during a 2012 interview with Fuse. ‘Good God, it’s a beautiful club. Who knew? You can’t know until you go. It’s wild.’

He has been rocking out with his bandmates since 1982, and the Californication singer hasn’t slowed down since welcoming his only child.

He said: ‘I think people that have fear that, “Oh if I have a kid I won’t be able to do this and I won’t be able to do that,” he explained. ‘It’s kind of the opposite. It really gives you energy. It makes people better.’

The dress was £35.99 but is now £21 in the retailer’s sale

New Look has slashed the price of a midi dress praised by fashion fans as ‘ideal for summer evenings’ and ‘cool to wear’.

The Blue Striped V-Neck Midi Dress was £35.99 at the retailer but has been discounted to £21 – a saving of 42%. The dress is made from 45% viscose, 40% cotton, and 15% linen.

The product description on the retailers website reads: “For elevated casual style, opt for this blue striped midi dress. With a V-neck and side slip pockets, it fastens with a row of pearlescent buttons down the front.”

Features of the dress:

• Material: woven
• Fit: slim
• Length: midi
• Colour: blue/cream
• Neckline: V-neck
• Sleeves: short sleeves
• Pockets: side slip
• Fastening: pearlescent button front
• Design: stripes, elasticated back

For an alternative option, you might want to check out the Sleeveless Textured Jersey Midi Summer Dress from Next. It’s available in ecru white for £30, or pink stripe for £32. The retailer states it’s ‘designed with bra-friendly straps’.

Meanwhile, M&S’s Linen Rich Lace Insert Strappy Midi Shift Dress is £50 and is marked as ‘popular’ online. This option is cut in a regular fit, with a scoop neck and a button-through front.

The Blue Striped V-Neck Midi Dress from New Look has received an overall rating of 4.1 out of five based on 10 customer reviews.

One happy shopper said: “Lovely quality cotton summer dress that fits well and is super flattering. Size is spot on and it washes well. A lovely classic piece that won’t date and looks great with neutral coloured sandals and bags.”

Another buyer added: “Gorgeous feel to the fabric which is very cool to wear. Excellent quality and finish. Fit perfectly and the length is just right.”

“Washed and ironed well even though some linen content. Quite roomy. I normally wear size 14 but with this dress the size 12 was a much nicer fit”, a third stated.

However, someone else noted: “The body of the dress is far too big and long compared to the skirt of the dress. Shame as I really liked it.”

Another added: “Too long. I need to have it shortened by 10cm.”

But on a more positive note, a different shopper said: “Beautiful dress. Very smart. Ideal for the summer evenings.”

A further happy buyer stated: “Great fit and length. Dress up with heels and accessories, looks good.”

You can check out the Blue Striped V-Neck Midi Dress on the New Look website here.

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Where can you score 12 points for killing a Russian soldier in a drone attack, 20 for damaging a tank and up to 50 for destroying a mobile rocket system? Not on the latest video game, but rather through Ukraine’s Army of Drones Bonus (ADB) programme.

Launched shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022, before being revamped in 2025, the ADB programme is where points win prizes. Military units can use the points and virtual tokens they have accrued to buy drones and other frontline equipment to use in the conflict from the Ukrainian government’s Brave1 website.

By August 2025, military equipment worth over US$5 million (£3.7 million) had been delivered via this marketplace as digital rewards for “playing” ADB. The scheme has since extended to reconnaissance and logistics operations, while capturing a Russian soldier now grants ten times more points than killing one.

The ADB programme is an example of what researchers call the “gamification” of war – where video game-like features are integrated into military training and combat operations. Ukraine’s former defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, who was removed from his post in July, has said “motivation” is a key rationale for the ADB programme.

“When we change the point values, we can see how motivation changes,” he stated in 2025. Ukraine’s government has described the ADB programme as “delivering results”, with submitted video evidence confirming nearly 820,000 Russian targets were hit in 2025. Increased numbers of Ukrainian military units are also now participating in the competition.

Other schemes in this conflict have also used elements of video game design. These include Play for Ukraine. Developed by Ukrainian IT specialists in 2022, this scheme is designed in the form of a numerical puzzle game where every move a player makes helps stage a cyberattack against Russian government and media websites.

As players make moves in the game, Play for Ukraine sends requests to targeted Russian servers. They eventually become overwhelmed, causing websites to slow down or crash. Play for Ukraine’s developers say 2,048 players had helped attack more than 200 Russian websites in the first month of the scheme alone.

Gamification is neither exclusive to Ukraine or war. Our own research on the gamification of citizenship shows how mobile apps use digital rewards, points and leaderboards to incentivise good civic behaviour, such as picking up litter, recycling and community volunteering.

For example, since launching in the UK in 2021, over 10 million items of litter have been logged as binned through the LitterLotto app. Every time a person takes a photo of themselves binning litter, they earn entries into cash prize draws. The Equiwatt app also encourages UK citizens to reduce their energy usage at peak times in exchange for gift vouchers and points while competing on leaderboards.

Gamification is a popular feature of many other mobile apps too, such as Duolingo and other digital learning platforms. These apps commonly use streaks to maintain user consistency, as well as points to help users climb weekly leaderboards and progress to higher levels. The point scoring used in modern digitised warfare is a darker side to this trend.

Whose lives count?

As well as helping entrench video game features on the battlefield, the ADB programme highlights the role of foreign fighters in the Ukraine conflict and the complexities of whose lives “count”. It is well known that both Russia and Ukraine have been recruiting foreign nationals to fight in the war.

This has sometimes been state sponsored. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, recently warned that the North Korean government was sending as many as 50,000 soldiers to fight with Russian forces in Ukraine. Foreign fighters have also been recruited by more unofficial means.

Russia has set up a global network for recruiting foreign nationals, targeting economically, socially, legally vulnerable people from countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, Cuba and Kenya. The means used to recruit these people have ranged from enticement through high salaries to deceit and coercion.

So the “Russian” personnel worth 12 points for Ukrainian troops are not always Russian. Foreign fighters are also often the ones who are used as human shields, as one Bangladeshi recruit described it in a 2026 interview with DW, a German broadcaster, or pushed to the front while the Russian troops stay behind. Even in a warzone where lives are not valued, some remain less valued than others and are therefore more likely to be killed.

The theme of gamification has continued despite these extreme conditions. Some Bangladeshi soldiers fighting in Ukraine have created huge online followings, ranging from several hundred thousand people to around 1 million, by vlogging from the frontlines. They share live videos of combat from a first-person point of view, narrating everyday life in battle and providing often dramatic footage of drone attacks and near misses.

Warfare itself is clearly changing. But whether gamified or not, the lives that are lost are very much real.

Millions of people across Europe and the UK witnessed the most significant solar eclipse since 1999 on Wednesday.

For the UK, more than 90% of the Sun was covered by the Moon, whereas in some parts of Europe, a rare total eclipse could be seen.

BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh was in Burgos, Spain, and said he got goosebumps from the spectacle.

People were out across Bolton to capture the rare celestial event, with ‘watch’ parties taking place across the borough.

Partial solar eclipse (Image: Amy Nolan-Podmore)

Those without specialist glasses found creative ways to observe the phenomenon, using colanders and homemade pinhole cameras. Others simply noticed the sudden dimming of the evening light as the Moon covered part of the Sun at its peak shortly after 7pm.

Partial solar eclipse (Image: Amy Nolan-Podmore)

Members of Bolton News Camera Club captured the once-in-a-generation event.

In an added bonus for stargazers, the annual Perseid meteor shower is set to reach its peak on the night of August 12-13, hours after the eclipse.

Partial eclipse (Image: Tracey McGrath.jpg)

The shower is produced as Earth ploughs through a stream of dust left behind by Comet Swift–Tuttle.

Each tiny grain strikes Earth’s atmosphere at about 60 kilometres per second, burning up in a brief flash that takes the appearance of a shooting star.

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Donald Trump‘s press secretary Karoline Leavitt has announced that she is quitting the White House at the end of the month so that she can devote her time to her young family.

Leavitt, 28, who gave birth to a second child in May and had only returned from maternity leave on July 16, admitted it was a ‘bittersweet decision.’

‘Being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least,’ Leavitt wrote on X on Wednesday.

‘The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary – and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life.’

Trump posted on Truth Social that it was ‘a decision I totally understand and respect,’ calling Leavitt ‘one of the best White House press secretaries in the history of the office.’

The President said that Leavitt would remain a ‘top outside adviser’ and an ‘influential voice’ at the top of the Republican Party as the White House gears up for crunch midterm elections in November.

Leavitt has been one of Trump’s closest confidantes, attending classified briefings in the Situation Room and counselling over major crises including the Jeffrey Epstein scandal – an unusual distinction for a press secretary.

Her exit leaves a glaring hole in the White House as Trump braces for a bloodbath at the ballot box amid the Iran war and sky-high gas prices. Leavitt’s replacement remains unclear and there was no official stand-in while she was on maternity leave.

Leavitt has a two-year-old son Niko and three-month-old daughter Vivi with her real estate developer husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, who she married in January 2025

Leavitt speaks to Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington, DC, July 24

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Leavitt with her spouse Nicholas Riccio and son Niko attend the White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 6

Leavitt is known for her tenacity at the podium in the White House briefing room, frequently mirroring the behavior of her boss in attacking ‘fake news’ journalists and dishing out tongue lashings to any reporter who dares to cross the administration. 

She entered Trump’s orbit in 2018 during the first administration, first as a presidential writer and then as an assistant White House press secretary.

Leavitt worked as communications director for Elise Stefanik, a close Trump ally, from 2021 to 2022.

She joined Trump’s reelection campaign as a national press secretary in 2024 and was announced as White House Press Secretary on his return to the Oval Office. 

When Leavitt does decide to return to work, she is likely to have her pick of high-profile roles in Republican politics, conservative media and political communications. 

Leavitt has a two-year-old son Niko and three-month-old daughter Vivi with her real estate developer husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, who she married in January 2025. 

Leavitt’s resignation comes just two weeks after one of her top deputies, Abigail Jackson, left the White House for the private sector.

It remains unclear what role Leavitt will take on, or which company she may join, as she continues advising the president from outside the White House.

Leavitt looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after stepping off Air Force One on August 11 in Joint Base Andrews, Maryland

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, White House communications advisor Margo Martin and executive assistant to US President Donald Trump Natalie Harp walk to board Air Force One on August 11

Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio arrive at The Mar-a-Lago Club, February 1

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Karoline Leavitt walks toward Air Force One, en route to Geneva, Ohio, at Joint Base Andrews

Leavitt and her husband Nicholas Riccio, 60

Leavitt launched her own political career in 2022, winning a crowded Republican primary for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.

She ultimately lost the general election to Democratic incumbent Chris Pappas.

Leavitt’s replacement remains a mystery, and it is unclear who will lead the briefings in the coming days as Trump weighs a permanent successor.

The disease, which affects ruminant livestock like sheep and cows, was first detected in a farm in Scotland on August 8.

Bluetongue has been detected on a second farm in south-west Scotland, the chief veterinary officer has confirmed.

The disease, which affects ruminant livestock like sheep and cows, was first detected in a farm in Scotland on August 8. A single sheep was affected.

A second case of bluetongue serotype 3 (BTV-3) was confirmed in two sheep on a different farm on Wednesday.

The Scottish Government confirmed both farms have been put under restrictions, and all affected animals have been euthanised.

Chief veterinary officer Sheila Voas said: “Bluetongue has been detected on a second farm in south-west Scotland involving two sheep.

That could change by Friday, however, with City still interested in the player despite landing Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for a (then) British transfer record of £116million, and Enzo Maresca’s side remain in talks with Lille over a deal to sign Ayyoub Bouaddi, the 18-year-old Moroccan, who starred at the recent World Cup, while Fernandez himself was sent off in Argentina’s 1-0 defeat by Spain in the final.

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