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Putin Mocked After 15 Failed Attempts To Seize Particular Ukrainian Region

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Putin Mocked After 15 Failed Attempts To Seize Particular Ukrainian Region

Vladimir Putin has been mocked after trying and failing to fully seize Ukraine’s Donbas region “15 times”.

The Donbas, made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts to the east of Ukraine, has been mostly under Russian occupation since Putin launched his illegal invasion in 2022.

But the Kremlin has struggled to establish full control over the last 10% of the region – despite repeated attempts.

It comes as Putin’s grip on power is said to be weakening, especially as long-range drone strikes from Ukraine rock the everyday lives of the general Russian public.

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His Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was quick to call attention to Putin’s failures on Monday.

“Since the start of the full-scale war, the Russian army has been given as many as 15 deadlines for capturing our Donetsk region,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly online address.

“Russia’s political leadership remains obsessed with Donbas. They have entertained this delusion – that they would fully capture Donbas – 15 times already.”

He claimed Putin has set multiple deadlines for his troops to capture the region but instead has endured more than 1.5 million casualties.

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“In 2022, the deadlines were 31 March, then 9 May, 1 June, 15 September, and 31 December,” the Ukrainian president said.

“In 2023, Putin set two more deadlines for capturing Donbas: 1 March, and then, when that failed again, they moved it to 31 December. In 2024, there were again two such deadlines.”

Zelenskyy claimed Putin wanted to show US president Donald Trump – who has been trying, unsuccessfully, to end the conflict – that Ukraine would “supposedly fall”.

But he continued: “If Russia does not end its war, they will have to move this deadline again as well.

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“If Putin wants to sacrifice another million of his soldiers to keep smashing against this wall, then the million Russians who have not yet been mobilised into the Russian army and are arguing in gas lines should think about what awaits them next.”

Away from the Donbas, Russia has captured all of the Luhansk region and a large proportion of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.

Together with the Crimea peninsula, which has been occupied since 2014, Putin holds around a fifth of Ukraine’s sovereign territory.

But Ukraine seems to hold the cards on the warfront at the moment.

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Even Trump, typically sympathetic to Russia, has acknowledged: “Zelenskyy is doing pretty well. No matter how you look at it, he’s holding his own at least.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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The House | ‘Disclosure Day’: Are you ready to know everything? Well, Max Wilkinson isn’t going to tell you

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'Disclosure Day': Are you ready to know everything? Well, Max Wilkinson isn’t going to tell you
'Disclosure Day': Are you ready to know everything? Well, Max Wilkinson isn’t going to tell you

Margaret Fairchild Played by Emily Blunt | Image by: Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures / Album / Alamy


4 min read

A neatly woven tale of empathy, theology and politics unfolding to the backdrop of the outbreak of war, Spielberg’s latest film is worth a watch – if present events aren’t dystopian enough for you already

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Before the real world got a bit too edgy, I enjoyed dystopian fiction. These days I often find stories about a disturbing alternative present day less of a break from reality and instead more of a reminder.

When my wife asks me what we should watch, my stock response is: “Is there a new Jennifer Aniston rom-com?” Of course, I utter these words in hope more than expectation. The artist formerly known as ‘Rachel from Friends’ cannot keep pace with my ability to consume mindless but enjoyable yarns that require little effort and present almost no peril.

Colin Firth Scanlon
Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth)

Image by: Amblin Entertainment / Universal Pictures / Album / Alamy

My favourite is We’re the Millers. I’ve completed the rom-com genre on Netflix… and all the other entertainment services to which we subscribe. I tell myself that ‘achievement’ is testament to my excellent completer-finisher personality type.

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But deep down I know it’s primarily because I cannot switch off my brain anymore. It’s also because since I became an MP, I increasingly pass the rare diary time I can retain for myself indoors, in the dark, with a low-to-zero chance of human contact.

Consequently, it was with some trepidation that I agreed to review Disclosure Day at Battersea Power Station cinema. But I didn’t get to be the MP for England’s premier spa town without saying yes to nearly every offer of a new task – just like Jim Carrey in another of my favourite rom-coms, Yes Man (though in truth I preferred the book, which was more rom and more com).

I suppose from a distance, Battersea Power Station can look a little like an interstellar ship. And critics say the urban design of the consumer paradise and adjacent Nine Elms development creates an alienating feel. You can get an even more dystopian experience if you enter via the filthy lift down from Chelsea Bridge – a piece of infrastructure that doesn’t meet the expense of the area or the quality of the cinema.

Should I tell you much more than that? Absolutely not

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The Cinema At the Power Station offers a quality in stark contrast to that elevator. A soft reclining seat with a little round table was enough to accommodate my fizzy drink and Wild Strawberry Candy Kittens. These are ideal because there’s no loud crunch to annoy other viewers.

An attractive couple take their seats nearby. I assume they silently thank me in advance for not subjecting them to an auditory assault. Then we are reminded to turn off our phones before the film starts. There follows an image of an orb, which appears to be sending sound to all corners of the cinema, with an accompanying voiceover that states we are seeing “all the colours of the universe”. It’s a strong start by Spielberg’s aliens and I’m impressed.

Blunt & OConnor Disclosure Day
Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) and Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor)

Image by: Ent-movie / Alamy

Alas, it is simply another advert. When that’s over, there’s another naming the founder members of the cinema. Frankly, as good as the cinema is, it seems unnecessary.

When the film finally begins, a neatly woven tale of action, morality, theology, empathy and politics unfolds to a backdrop of the outbreak of a world war. Is whistleblower Daniel Kellner (Josh O’Connor) pursuing a just cause or is he a classic tinfoil hatter?

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The conspiracy theorists in the real world reckon Disclosure Day is a psyop – natch. How did weather presenter Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt) learn Russian without her partner noticing? Something’s up, f’sure.

Disclosure DayWhat is the moral lesson of Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth)? Perhaps he got lost while trying to save humanity. Perhaps not. All these thoughts whizzed through my brain alongside the content of a lecture I’d attended earlier in the day. A theologian had grappled with the big questions: the purpose of life; how to deal with getting old; and why we must all value each other regardless of age. The juxtaposition of appointments was accidental, but it created a neat segue. “Genesis says we are his supreme creation,” says Jane, Daniel’s girlfriend, to Sister Maura (Elizabeth Marvel). “On Earth,” replies the nun. “Why would God create such a vast universe, yet save it only for us?”

Should I tell you much more than that? Absolutely not. Instead, heed the warning of Margaret Fairchild: “You’re the man who knows everything. I’m not ready to know everything.” I enjoyed the film – that’s all.

Max Wilkinson is Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham

Disclosure Day

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Venue: General cinema release

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Cara Delevingne Breaks Silence On Amber Heard Dating Rumours

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Amber Heard in 2020

Cara Delevingne has spoken for the first time about rumours of a romance between herself and Amber Heard.

The British model’s name was previously mentioned during Amber’s now-infamous defamation trial back in 2022, where it was alleged that the two had an affair while the Aquaman star was still married to her ex-husband Johnny Depp.

As part of a wide-ranging interview on Louis Theroux’s podcast, the host asked Cara directly about “the Johnny Depp thing”, specifically bringing up the suggestion that the Pirates Of The Caribbean actor “was driven crazy by the idea that Amber might be sleeping with you”.

“Am I meant to comment?” the American Horror Story performer responded, before clarifying that she and Amber first crossed paths when they “did a movie together”, referring to 2018’s London Fields.

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“He was also doing the movie,” she pointed out, alluding to Johnny’s brief cameo in London Fields. “I think he was pretty driven crazy by jealousy.”

Amber Heard in 2020

Cara then insisted that “nothing was happening at that point”, although things between herself and Amber did take a romantic turn “after they divorced”.

“We were close for a long time, and then when they were going through the divorce, yeah, we were entangled, I suppose,” she continued. “But she was also entangled with other people.”

Louis then mentioned Tesla founder Elon Musk, who also previously dated Amber.

“There you go,” Cara responded.

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Amber Heard and Johnny Depp were married for two years before divorcing in 2017.

In the years that followed, they were embroiled in numerous court battles, and since their high-profile defamation trial came to an end in 2022, Amber has begun a new life in Madrid, Spain.

Last year, she announced that she had given birth to twins, having previously welcomed her first child, a daughter, via a surrogate in April 2021.

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Starmer Warns Andy Burnham On Defence Spending Plans

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Starmer Warns Andy Burnham On Defence Spending Plans

Keir Starmer has warned Andy Burnham not to rip up his defence spending plans when he becomes prime minister.

The outgoing prime minister was speaking as he unveiled the government’s long-awaited Defence Investment Plan (DIP) just three weeks before he leaves No.10 for good.

He announced that an extra £15 billion will be spent on defence by 2030.

That is £1.5bn more than the amount John Healey was promised, prompting him to resign as defence secretary earlier this month.

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But it is still well short of the £28bn that defence chiefs say is needed to meet the needs of Britain’s armed forces.

Burnham is expected to replace Starmer as Labour leader on July 17, and formally become prime minister three days later.

There has been speculation that he will want to look again at the DIP – but Starmer said that would be a bad idea.

He said: “I don’t think anybody would argue that the Strategic Defence Review was needed because any prime minister will want to know what are the capabilities I have at my disposal now and what are the capabilities I’m going to need in the future.

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“The Defence Investment Plan builds on that by setting out what those capabilities will be and how they’re going to be costed.

“That is something that any Labour prime minister would want to stand behind. It’s a platform that any Labour prime minister would want to stand on, because the first duty of any prime minister is the defence and security of the country.

“I think everybody knows that and accepts that.”

Earlier today, one of the co-authors of the Strategic Defence Review warned that the government had not come up with enough cash for the armed forces to keep the country safe.

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General Sir Richard Barrons said: “In order to defend the UK sufficiently well, sufficiently quickly, more has to be done sooner and that requires more money than is currently on the table.”

He added: “We’re not keeping up with our allies, we’re certainly not keeping up with our enemies, and we know that the US is not going to come and save European security in the face of a Russian threat.

“So until we come to terms with the fact that we have to find more money for defence, and yes it will be at the expense of other things we like more, we are simply not going to be ready to defend this country properly.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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Ryanair Has Made A Change To Kids’ Seating Fees

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Ryanair Has Made A Change To Kids' Seating Fees

Earlier this month, budget airline Ryanair made a change to how they charge parents travelling with their children.

Following the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)’s investigation into their former policy, which saw parents pay a fee to sit next to their children, the company has “reluctantly” tweaked their rules.

Prior to the adjustment, Ryanair required parents flying with children aged two to 11 to pay for one reserved “mandatory family seat”. Up to four children could then sit by them for free.

As of the 25 July, 2026, Ryanair said, adults will be offered seats next to their kids “free of charge”, though they suggested these will probably be at the rear of the plane “as front rows tend to be reserved and sell out first”.

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“This minor policy tweak will align Ryanair’s family seating policy with that of most other EU airlines, which responds to the desire of Europe’s regulators to stifle innovation and progress,” they added.

As you might be able to guess from that comment, the airline said they were “reluctant” to adopt the change.

The airline’s controversial CEO, Michael O’Leary, said consumer watchdog the CMA “is on a mission to force Ryanair to adopt the less transparent and less consumer-friendly family seating policy applied by most other airlines – just because it’s the industry standard.

“We will reluctantly adjust to this industry standard as we don’t want to waste time explaining to misguided regulators how badly they misunderstand what is in the best interest of UK and Europe’s consumers,” he added.

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O’Leary also said that after the rule change, “families may have to wait until after they have checked in to find out their seat allocation and are more likely to be seated at the rear of the cabin”.

A CMA spokesperson told the BBC, “Ryanair claims its seating policy now complies with the law, and we’ll test that thoroughly. If true, it’s a win for families – who will no longer have to pay to sit with their children…

“But it doesn’t change the fact families have been paying for ‘mandatory family seats’. Our investigation remains ongoing.”

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Morning Live’s Helen Skelton Addresses Gethin Jones Dating Rumours

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Gethin Jones and Helen Skelton leaving the Morning Live studio together in 2023

Helen Skelton is shutting down rumours that she and her Morning Live co-host Gethin Jones are more than just colleagues.

Last year, the BBC pair found themselves at the centre of rumours that they were secretly dating, after it was reported by The Sun they’d been spotted spending time together away from the TV studio.

During a new interview with The Times, the former Strictly Come Dancing star addressed the “wild” speculation head-on.

“We’re not,” she insisted, when asked if she and Gethin were an item. “We work together; he’s one of my best friends.”

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Helen also revealed that, despite there being nothing going on between herself and her co-presenter, even some key people in her life have been taken in by the tabloid rumours.

“I’ve had my best friend congratulate me on our engagement,” she noted, before reiterating there’s nothing romantic going on between herself and Gethin.

Gethin Jones and Helen Skelton leaving the Morning Live studio together in 2023
Gethin Jones and Helen Skelton leaving the Morning Live studio together in 2023

Earlier this year, Helen told The Mirror: “[Gethin and I] just work together, we are not together. No, no, no. We are just work friends.

“They printed pictures of us at work and [claimed] that we’re together [but we were] at work together.”

Gethin previously told The Sun: “We are very supportive of each other, we like to look out for each other. I think that’s fair to say on and off camera.

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“You sometimes could get… you might need a little pep talk every now and then. Because she’s very passionate.”

Helen was previously married to former rugby pro Richie Myler, with whom she shares three children, for nine years.

In April 2022, the Countryfile host announced that she and Richie had parted ways, telling her Instagram followers at the time: “Very sad to say that Richie and I are no longer a couple. He has left the family home. We will be doing our best to co-parent our small children.”

Helen later wrote in her memoir that the break-up had come as a huge “shock”, claiming: “I know that following break-ups, people often say they didn’t see it coming and it sounds like a cliché, but that was me.”

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Months after the split, Helen confirmed she was set to take part in Strictly Come Dancing, telling HuffPost UK at the time she’d signed up for the show to bring some “joy” and “fun” back into her life.

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The Ring And Lilo & Stitch Actor Daveigh Chase’s Cause Of Death Was AIDS

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Daveigh Chase as Samara in the 2002 film The Ring

Former child actor Daveigh Chase died as a result of AIDS, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has said.

Daveigh was best known for her voice work in projects like Disney’s Lilo & Stitch and the English dub of Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, as well as on-screen performances in the horror film The Ring and the psychological thriller Donnie Darko.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that she had died at the age of 35, with AIDS having been named as her cause of death this week.

The coroner also listed “chronic polysubstance use” – the use of multiple drugs – as an “other significant condition” that contributed to Daveigh’s death.

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Daveigh Chase as Samara in the 2002 film The Ring
Daveigh Chase as Samara in the 2002 film The Ring

Merrick Morton/Dreamworks Llc/Macdonald/Parkes Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

It had previously been reported that Daveigh had died as a result of complications from bacterial meningitis and sepsis.

Daveigh’s father told NBC News that Daveigh, who retired from acting just over a decade ago, had been homeless and living near the Los Angeles hospital where she was admitted and later died.

He claimed she had also been suffering from severe malnutrition when she was admitted to hospital.

In a statement to BBC News shortly after her death, the late actor’s manager remembered Daveigh as “the greatest”.

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“She was not very Hollywood,” he recalled. “She’d rather eat at Bob’s Big Boy and go home with the cats. She loved acting but wasn’t into the fame scene.”

Daveigh’s career began with a string of roles in shows like Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Charmed and ER in her younger years, before she was cast as Jake Gyllenhaal’s on-screen sister in Donnie Darko. Her character subsequently landed her own straight-to-video spin-off sequel, titled S Darko.

She also played Samara in The Ring, reprising the role in a 2005 sequel, The Ring and later portrayed Rhonda Volmer in the US drama Big Love, sharing the screen with the likes of Bill Paxton, Chloë Sevigny and Amanda Seyfried.

Her final on-screen work was in the indie horror Jack Goes Home and the thriller American Romance, after which she took a step back from her acting career.

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UK Defence Spending Insufficient Former Army Chief Warns

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UK Defence Spending Insufficient Former Army Chief Warns

The government’s long-delayed blueprint for how it will fund Britain’s armed forces is not enough to keep the country safe, according to a former army chief.

Keir Starmer will unveil the Defence Investment Plan (DIP) on Tuesday in one of his last major acts before he resigns as prime minister.

It is expected to contain an extra £15 billion for the armed forces over the next four years – £1.5bn more than former defence secretary John Healey was given before he dramatically resigned earlier this month.

But it is well short of the £28bn defence chiefs say is needed.

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Crucially, the DIP will also not say how the UK plans to spend 3% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on defence by 2030, or hit Nato’s target of 3.5% by 2035.

General Sir Richard Barrons, who last year co-authored the government’s Strategic Defence Review, told Radio 4′s Today programme that ministers urgently needed to find more cash.

The former Commander of Joint Forces Command said: “In oder to defend the UK sufficiently well, sufficiently quickly, more has to be done sooner and that requires more money than is currently on the table.

“If the demand was for £28bn over the first four years and the settlement might be around £15bn over four years, that means either some things are not going to be bought or will be delayed, and it will mean that some forms of activity like training and infrastructure maintenance and logistics, things that cost real cash, will be done less well or perhaps not even done at all.”

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He added: “The good news is that today’s British armed forces know perfectly well what they have to do, they understand this transformation, and all three services have really very good models for what they need to do.

“Their challenge is that in order to do it well enough and fast enough, they’ll need more money sooner.

“And what they’re going to see in the DIP today is a struggle, not just for the first four years, but until the government can articulate how the UK gets to spend 3.5% of GDP … by 2035.

“Until that trajectory is clear we don’t have a four-year slowdown, we have a 10-year slowdown.”

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Barrons said the UK was also lagging well behind other European countries.

“If you look at most of our European allies in Nato, they are spending more money much faster on revitalising and beginning to transform their armed forces, and they’re looking at the UK, who were once an exemplar of a European nation in Nato, and we’re now about halfway down the spending table in Nato.”

He added: “We’re not keeping up with our allies, we’re certainly not keeping up with our enemies, and we know that the US is not going to come and save European security in the face of a Russian threat.

“So until we come to terms with the fact that we have to find more money for defence, and yes it will be at the expense of other things we like more, we are simply not going to be ready to defend this country properly.”

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But speaking ahead of the DIP’s publication, Starmer said: “This game-changing investment will strengthen our armed forces on land, at sea and in the air, ensuring our servicemen and women have the cutting-edge capabilities they need to deter evolving threats and keep the British people safe.

“At the same time, we are backing British innovation, British industry and British jobs and delivering opportunity to every corner of the country.

“Today’s defence investment plan will help drive growth across the UK, giving our industrial base the confidence, certainty and support it needs to develop and scale the technologies that will keep our country safe and secure long into the future.”

Listen to Commons People, the podcast that makes politics easy. Every week, Kevin Schofield and Kate Nicholson unpack the week’s biggest stories to keep you informed. Join us for straightforward analysis of what’s going on at Westminster.

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A Clue To Dementia Could Show Up As Early As 45

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A Clue To Dementia Could Show Up As Early As 45

One in 11 people aged 65 and over have dementia in the UK, the NHS said. And according to Alzheimer’s Society, a person’s risk “roughly doubles” every five years after around 70.

But while it might take decades for symptoms to show, researchers increasingly think markers of coming dementia can begin years before diagnosis.

And a recent paper in Springer Nature has suggested that a biomarker in people’s blood – pTau181, which is linked to a higher dementia risk – might hint at a greater likelihood of developing the condition when seen in 45-year-olds.

“Although plasma pTau181 has been shown to accurately discriminate patients with Alzheimer’s disease from healthy older adults, there are few studies of plasma biomarkers among middle-aged populations,” the paper reads.

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People with higher levels of the blood marker were likelier to self-report cognitive concerns

45-year-olds with elevated pTau181 were more likely to say they had concerns about their cognition than adults of the same age with lower pTau181 levels in this study.

They tended to be more worried about their memory and thinking, though this didn’t show up on cognitive scores.

Researchers call this phenomenon – the “self-reported persistent decline in cognitive performance with normal performance on objective cognitive tests, in the absence of another explanation” – subjective cognitive decline (SCD).

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Scans and other investigations didn’t show any structural brain changes, usually linked to dementia, among those with more pTau181.

Speaking to the University of Otago, the study’s lead author, Dr Ashleigh Barrett-Young, said that this might mean signs of higher dementia risk begin years before the changes we associate with the condition start.

“This means there may be an important window for prevention, which remains one of the most promising approaches for Alzheimer’s disease,” she said.

Dr Barrett-Young added that their results might mean small changes in cognition –SCD – combined with elevated pTau181 aged 45 could hint at measurable issues later on.

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“This highlights the need for careful research to understand how early changes relate to later outcomes.”

That doesn’t mean elevated pTau181 levels definitely mean you’ll get dementia

Dr Barrett-Young stressed that this theory needs more research.

She said “Understanding the earliest stages of disease development is essential for designing effective prevention and treatment strategies, even if clinical tools are still some way off.

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“Importantly, biomarkers like pTau181 reflect risk, not certainty”.

We don’t know for sure whether those with a combination of higher pTau181 and SCD aged 45 will definitely face a higher dementia risk, either.

Writing for The Conversation, Dr Barrett-Young said: “Perhaps pTau181 increases during the earliest stages of Alzheimer’s disease, when people first start to notice their memory worsening, but no changes are shown yet in MRI scans.

“Or it could be that elevated pTau181 is not related to Alzheimer’s disease risk in midlife, and the protein is only useful for detecting Alzheimer’s in older adults. We don’t know enough yet, but will be following the same group of people as they get older to continue this research.”

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Under-55s Are Biologically Ageing More Quickly

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Under-55s Are Biologically Ageing More Quickly

You might think that lifespans are getting longer and longer, but some experts think they’ve peaked. (In fact, UK life expectancies have dipped since the pandemic.)

And according to a new paper published in Nature Ageing, people born between 1950 and 1954 are experiencing slower biological ageing than later generations.

Speaking to Oncology Central, assistant porfessor Yin Cao, who co-authored the study, said: “Biological ageing isn’t just about the number of birthdays you’ve had — it reflects wear and tear happening inside the body at a cellular and molecular level. This can include changes that affect how cells and tissues function, such as chronic inflammation, weakening of the immune system and damage building up in cells over time.

“Our findings suggest that some younger adults may be experiencing these biological changes earlier than expected, and that this could be linked to the rising rates of cancers seen in younger generations.”

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It comes after the BMJ Oncology found a “global surge in cancers among the under 50s over past three decades”.

This paper found that the bigger the gap between someone’s chronological age (years) and biological age, the higher the cancer risk.

What might that mean?

This research used data from the UK Biobank, a long-standing project in which almost half a million participants have agreed to make their health data available to researchers, and the US’ National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program.

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It involved information from over 154,000 UK young adults and more than 10,000 US participants.

Researchers worked out people’s biological age according to their systemic (whole-body) and organ-specific aging. They did this by looking at things like blood biochemistry markers and the levels of different kinds of proteins linked to certain organs.

Then, they compared participants’ biological ages to their chronological ones.

They found that people from the UK between 1965 and 1974 “had systemic aging that was 23% of one standard deviation higher compared with those born between 1950 and 1954”.

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And those born between 1990 and 1999 “had systemic aging that was 92% of one standard deviation higher compared with those born between 1965 and 1969”.

Basically, that means older people’s biological ages seem closer to their chronological age.

That may matter because in this study, the faster biological ageing seen among younger groups was linked to 8% increased risk of early-onset cancers, particularly lung, gastrointestinal and uterine cancers.

And those with the most advanced biological ageing had a 15% higher risk compared to those with the least cellular wear and tear.

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Researchers hope they can help spot cancers earlier

“If we can identify younger people with the highest cancer risk when they are still healthy, we can focus on prevention and early-detection strategies for the individuals who will benefit most from early interventions”, Cao told The University of Washington’s WashU Medicine.

Dr David Scott, director of Cancer Grand Challenges – which was involved with the research – added, “Right now, we don’t have a definitive answer to what’s driving the rise of early-onset cancers around the world, but studies like this are helping us piece together the bigger picture, showing that cancer may be influenced not just by changes inside individual cells, but by wider changes happening across the body as a whole.”

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The House | The social media ban for under-16s is a sticking plaster, not a solution to online harms

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The social media ban for under-16s is a sticking plaster, not a solution to online harms
The social media ban for under-16s is a sticking plaster, not a solution to online harms

(PA Images/Alamy)


3 min read

Our children are exposed to serious harms online, driven in large part by social media companies looking to maximise their profits.

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This status quo isn’t acceptable, and my committee has repeatedly called for stronger action to protect UK users, particularly children. I was glad to see Keir Starmer’s government finally taking long overdue steps to tackle the risks children face online, after successive governments have failed to act.

However, a ban on under 16-year-olds using social media won’t be enough to protect them from the spiralling spread of misinformation and other harmful content on our screens.

Part of this has to do with the fact a ban would be difficult to enforce and easily circumnavigated. Evidence from a similar ban in Australia shows that young people can and do use workarounds such as VPNs. New platforms and services will likely emerge to fill gaps left by restrictions, while generative AI tools and messaging apps like WhatsApp fall outside the scope of the ban.

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More fundamentally, this approach treats the symptoms rather than the cause. Restricting access for some users won’t fix a flawed and dangerous product – it’s not enough to simply block some people from using social media. Instead, wider steps are needed to make it safer for everyone. Unless the government tackles the drivers behind the viral online spread of harmful content, any ban will amount to little more than a sticking plaster.

At the heart of the problem is the algorithmic amplification of harmful content. Social media recommender algorithms promote highly engaging material, regardless of its accuracy or safety. The business models of social media companies incentivise and encourage as much engagement as possible, even when this is driven by misleading or dangerous content.

In 2025, my committee warned that the Online Safety Act wasn’t up to scratch because it didn’t protect users from this core issue around algorithmic amplification. We set out clear, practical recommendations to strengthen the online safety regime – most of which were rejected by the government. A year on, it’s clear that the situation isn’t improving. Recent violence and unrest, including events in Belfast, show the real-world consequences of unchecked false and harmful content online.

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If the government is serious about protecting children from online harms, it must take decisive action now and revisit my committee’s recommendations.

At present, the government is operating without comprehensive and accurate information about how social media recommender algorithms work

Social media companies should be held accountable for the viral spread of harmful content on their platforms. There must be clear duties in place to ensure they deprioritise content which fact-checkers have found to be false. There should also be tougher regulation to combat the underlying business models that incentivise the viral spread of legal but harmful content.

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At present, the government is operating without comprehensive and accurate information about how social media recommender algorithms work. A lack of transparency from companies has meant we don’t have the data we need to fully understand and address the problem. It’s essential that the government commissions independent research into this, without which it will be difficult to develop effective regulation.

Finally, regulating technology alone is not sufficient. Our online safety regime should be grounded in clear principles like freedom of expression and transparency, which will remain sound in the face of future technological developments.

Starmer’s government was right to act, but a ban alone won’t resolve the deeper issues at play. To truly make the online world safer for our children, and for society as a whole, we must confront the root causes of online harms – not just limit access to them. 

Chi Onwurah is Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne Central & West, and chair of the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee

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