Gene therapy has changed what is possible for people living with sickle cell disease. New treatments have shown that the condition can be successfully treated. But the therapy is costly and available to only a small number of patients.
Millions of people around the world still rely on early diagnosis and preventative medicines, with access to basic care remaining a challenge in many places, including sub-Saharan Africa, which has almost 80% of global sickle cell cases. Are we closer to gene therapy for sickle cell disease being accessible?
We speak to Dr Natasha Archer, director of the Sickle Cell Program at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, US; Dr Alexis Thompson, paediatric haematologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of paediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, US; Dr Leon Tshilolo, professor of paediatrics and haematology at the University of Mbuji-Mayi, DR Congo and Prof Baba Inusa, consultant paediatrician in the School of Life Course & Population Sciences at King’s College London, UK
(Photo: Cell lines are prepared in a laboratory in Maryland, US. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
Presenter: Daniel Rosney
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Sound engineer: Cameron Ward
Production co-ordinator: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey
Editor: Tom Bigwood
Gene therapy has changed what is possible for people living with sickle cell disease. New treatments have shown that the condition can be successfully treated. But the therapy is costly and available to only a small number of patients.
Millions of people around the world still rely on early diagnosis and preventative medicines, with access to basic care remaining a challenge in many places, including sub-Saharan Africa, which has almost 80% of global sickle cell cases. Are we closer to gene therapy for sickle cell disease being accessible?
We speak to Dr Natasha Archer, director of the Sickle Cell Program at the Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, US; Dr Alexis Thompson, paediatric haematologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of paediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania, US; Dr Leon Tshilolo, professor of paediatrics and haematology at the University of Mbuji-Mayi, DR Congo and Prof Baba Inusa, consultant paediatrician in the School of Life Course & Population Sciences at King’s College London, UK
(Photo: Cell lines are prepared in a laboratory in Maryland, US. Credit: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
Presenter: Daniel Rosney
Producer: Matt Toulson
Researcher: Evie Yabsley
Sound engineer: Cameron Ward
Production co-ordinator: Phoebe Lomas and Liam Morrey
Editor: Tom Bigwood
MONTREAL — Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard pleaded guilty Monday to sexual assault and forcible confinement in Quebec, the latest conviction in the downfall of the founder of the once-global Nygard International clothing company. Nygard also faces U.S. racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
The 84-year-old appeared by video from an Ontario prison, where he is serving an 11-year sentence after a Toronto jury convicted him in 2023 of sexually assaulting four women. He also faces extradition to the United States on federal racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
Quebec Crown prosecutor Jérôme Laflamme said Nygard’s plea came unexpectedly ahead of what had been scheduled as a 10-day judge-alone trial.
“Mr. Nygard’s change of heart was quite sudden,” Laflamme told reporters, adding the complainant had been prepared to testify.
Evidence presented by the prosecution, which the defense did not contest, showed Nygard took advantage of his position as a renowned fashion designer to lure young women.
It says the victim, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, met Nygard in a bar when she was 18. She wanted to be a fashion model.
They met for lunch at her workplace to discuss her career, and he invited her to his Montreal penthouse, saying he had forgotten his keys. Once in the penthouse, he locked her in the bedroom and sexually assaulted her.
According to the court documents, Nygard told the victim she could move to the Bahamas and promised her a life of luxury under the condition that she would have sex with him and other women.
The events took place between November 1997 and November 1998.
Quebec prosecutors charged Nygard in 2022 with one count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement.
Nygard, who immigrated to Canada from Finland as a child, built a global fashion empire and hosted lavish parties at his Bahamas estate, Nygard Cay, before his business collapsed amid sexual assault allegations that led to investigations in Canada and the United States.
Judge Nathalie Fafard accepted evidence of Nygard’s Toronto conviction after finding similarities between the two cases.
Defense lawyer Gerri Wiebe said Nygard chose not to contest the Quebec charges before his pending extradition to the United States. She said he is in frail health and argued that transferring him now could endanger his life.
U.S. prosecutors allege Nygard spent about 25 years using his fashion company, employees and financial resources to recruit women and underage girls in the United States, Canada and the Bahamas for sexual exploitation. He has pleaded not guilty to the U.S. charges.
Sentencing was postponed pending a medical assessment. The case returns to court Oct. 2, when lawyers are expected to present a joint sentencing recommendation.
Wiebe said the United States can only extradite Nygard once his legal matters in Canada are settled. She added that postponing the sentence ensures that Nygard can remain in the country.
A dozen US states have joined together to block the $110bn (£85bn) merger between Warner Bros. and Paramount, claiming the largest media consolidation in Hollywood history would stifle competition and raise consumer prices.
A lawsuit has been filed by 12 states, led by California, where Paramount and Warner Bros keep their headquarters and production studios.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta claimed the merger would end up harming “audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US”.
If it goes ahead, the new company would account for over a quarter of major film releases. Together with Disney, Universal, and Sony, just four conglomerates would control 86% percent of that market.
US news website Semafor reported, external that David Ellison, the controlling owner and chief executive of Paramount Skydance and son of tech billionaire Larry Ellison, has been urged by advisers to move the company’s operations out of California. Paramount has been based in the state for more than 100 years.
Bonta told BBC World Service that he was aware of the report, adding: “I heard that as an explicit statement”.
“I’ll even say it felt like a threat last night, and it felt like a last-ditch effort to blackmail the regulators into allowing an illegal deal to go through,” Bonta said.
“It didn’t work. It won’t work. It doesn’t work.”
The BBC has contacted Paramount for comment on whether it is considering shifting the company out of the state.
Combining Paramount and Warner Bros would end a century of fierce rivalry between two of Hollywood’s biggest hitmakers.
Between them, they own legendary franchises like Harry Potter, Batman, Mission: Impossible, and Top Gun, alongside TV giants like CNN, MTV, and Nickelodeon.
The regulatory challenge marks a significant hurdle for the entertainment giants as they attempt to merge operations.
In June, the US Department of Justice had approved the merger.
But the coalition of attorney generals has requested that the companies halt the transaction pending judicial review, threatening a temporary restraining order if they do not comply.
If approved, the combined titan would control nearly a third of the US theatrical motion picture market and basic cable programming.
Bonta claimed it “would lead to higher prices, lower quality, and less content for film and television, harming movie theaters, basic cable distributors, and ultimately, audiences on every sofa and movie theater seat in the US”.
The legal challenge focuses on three main areas: major cinema releases, massive blockbusters, and cable TV channels.
The states argue that losing this competition strips movie theaters and television networks of vital bargaining power. At present, if one studio demands unfair prices, a distributor can walk away and deal with the rival.
Without that option, the lawsuit argues that theaters and TV networks will face higher fees – costs that will eventually hit consumers through pricier tickets, high cable bills, and fewer choices.
“Nothing justifies these substantial harms to competition,” the lawsuit states.
However, supporters of the deal point out that the traditional media world is in crisis.
Cable TV audiences are shrinking rapidly, and cinema attendance faces intense, ongoing pressure from tech giants and streaming platforms, making scale an economic necessity.
In a statement, Paramount described the lawsuit as “fundamentally flawed” and “wrong,” adding that it would “vigorously defend the transaction”.
It added: “Delaying this transaction will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood and cost California tens of thousands of entertainment jobs.”
With a packet of biscuits in one hand and her smartphone in the other in the biscuits sucrées aisle of her local Hyper U supermarket west of Paris, Nathalie sees red. Literally.
“Look at that!” she says showing me her phone. 0/100 is marked in red lettering.
“This is one of Malo’s [her 12-year-old son’s] favourites but it’s not only full of sugar and saturated fats, there are four additives as well including one health risk,” she says.
Nathalie clicks on the additive in question: E450. “A mineral which, taken in excess, can lead to bone marrow and kidney problems,” she reads.
“Honestly, that they can put this sort of thing in food aimed at children drives me nuts!” she says.
We scan an Italian alternative whose packaging gives you the impression those biscuits have been hand-made by peasant women wearing black shawls.
The score is not much better: “Malo hates shopping with me now,” says Nathalie. “You spend ages scanning and he can never have what he wants.”
The app, having activated the red alert, suggests a healthier alternative. It’s organic, containing wholewheat, fruit and fibre.
“You end up buying a lot more organic stuff so it’s more expensive,” she says.
Nathalie is one of a growing number of people using Yuka, an app developed in France, to shop more healthily. Not just for food but cosmetics and toiletries too.
Download it and you can use your phone to scan the barcodes of any one of the six million products on the Yuka database (about 1,200 new ones a day) and it’ll tell you immediately – green for good, red for bad, yellow for could be better. If you want to know more, you can delve further. Pages and pages if you want.
Started in 2015, Yuka now has 85 million users in 12 countries: numerous European ones plus the US, Canada and Australia.
The third-biggest user is the UK with around five million, second is France with six million, but the biggest by a very long way is the US with 28 million.
Yuka has some high-profile fans in the US. For example, Donald Trump’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F Kennedy Jr, says it’s his favourite app.
The Government does not have a complete plan to tackle financial exclusion in the UK, according to a committee of MPs.
Financial inclusion allows people to manage their money and access the essential services that households need to navigate their financial lives, such as having access to banking, having affordable credit options, or being able to build financial resilience through a savings pot.
In November 2025, the Government published its Financial Inclusion Strategy, aiming to help people participate in the economy, manage their money well and plan for the future.
A review into the progress of the strategy will take place in 2027.
But the Treasury Committee said that, while the Financial Inclusion Strategy is a welcome first step, it fails to show who is excluded, where exclusion is concentrated, which services and products people are excluded from, and why they are excluded.
Without this information, it is not possible for the Treasury to know if it is making the right interventions or whether they are reaching those who need the most help, the committee said.
The Treasury must clearly set out its assessment of the current levels of financial exclusion and publish the milestones it is attempting to reach, it added.
Its report said: “In order for the strategy to be effective, HM Treasury should publish a fuller quantitative analysis of the scale, causes and distribution of financial exclusion.
“That analysis should be matched by clearer targets, data and accountability for the implementation of the strategy.
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“HM Treasury should also work with the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) to develop firm-level metrics focused on the largest providers and markets where exclusion causes the greatest harm.”
The report said that witnesses argued that there was too much focus on products, and not enough on the people who were financially excluded.
The report said: “Other witnesses and written evidence pointed to the barriers affecting a range of groups, including people with disabilities, people with mental health problems, victim-survivors of economic abuse, people without standard ID, people with low or irregular incomes, people in rural areas, older people and some ethnic minority groups.”
In 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reported that 900,000 adults were “unbanked” with no current account, while 13.1 million, or 24% of all UK adults, had low financial resilience.
This was particularly concentrated among lone parents, the unemployed, those with household incomes below £15,000 a year and renters.
Tracking when working groups have met, pilots have started and consultations have taken place does not demonstrate whether the strategy is working, the committee said.
The committee also expressed concern that industry voices may have carried greater influence in the production of the strategy and warned the Government that it must be able to clearly demonstrate that it is listening to consumer and lived-experience voices.
Plans include implementing voluntary, industry-led pilots and working groups – but the committee expressed reservations about whether voluntary initiatives would meaningfully tackle financial exclusion without clear routes to scale or effective evaluation.
It called for clarity from the Treasury on whether it would intervene if sufficient progress was not being made, and what the consequences would be.
Chairwoman of the Treasury Committee, Dame Meg Hillier, said: “Governments often talk about wanting to raise living standards for those struggling.
“Tackling financial exclusion across all postcodes in the United Kingdom is a brilliant way to do that.
“The publication of the Government’s Financial Inclusion Strategy is a welcome first step, but that is all it is.
“Our report sets out why the strategy is far from the finished product.
“The Treasury must not think that publishing this document and holding the occasional meeting with stakeholders will suffice.
“There is more that must be done and I look forward to seeing how this progresses.”
Helen Undy, chief executive of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said: “We’re pleased that the committee took seriously our concerns that at times consumer voices were drowned out by the lobbying power of the financial services industry.
“It is perhaps no surprise then that the resulting strategy relies too much on the goodwill of the industry to deliver, and lacks a robust process for measuring impact and ensuring the sector delivers real change.
“We urge the Treasury to act on these concerns by using every lever at its disposal to ensure that the strategy delivers its commitment to ‘transform’ financial wellbeing for those who are currently shut out from these services.”
A Treasury spokesperson said: “We welcome the Treasury Committee recognising this is a genuine first step in tackling financial exclusion.
“With the first financial inclusion strategy in two decades, we are determined to break down the barriers that prevent people from accessing the products they need to participate in the economy.
“Already we are piloting help for people with no fixed abode to open bank accounts, have increased debt advice funding by 10%, and are making financial education compulsory in primary schools in England.”
Phone alarms are what get teaching assistant Layla through her day. She has four alarms to wake up, one to get dressed, another to pack her work bag, and so on.
“There’s a million different ones. Different times of the day,” says the 30-year-old as she scrolls through the alerts on her phone.
“It feels like overkill to a lot of people, but I have these markers that I need to hit,” says Layla, adding that the process helps keep her ADHD brain focused and establish a routine.
But that sense of control evaporates as soon as Layla’s period nears – the peak of her menstrual cycle.
“It’s like you’re clinging on, for dear life, onto the ball that is continuing to roll, and sort of cursing yourself and the world the entire time.”
ADHD is a condition where the brain works differently to a lot of people including difficulties with things like concentrating, regulating emotions and sitting still, according to the NHS.
Conversations are rife on social media and chat forums about women’s menstrual cycles exacerbating their ADHD symptoms.
A first of its kind study by Kings College and Queen Mary University in London is putting that link to the test, by asking 50 women who have ADHD and are taking medication for it, to track their menstrual cycle and the impact it has on their ADHD symptoms, and daily life more broadly.
Greg Hawthorne, a Super Bowl champion running back with the Pittsburgh Steelers has died, his family announced on social media. He was 69.
The Steelers selected Hawthorne with the No. 28 overall pick out of Fort Worth Polytechnic in the 1979 NFL Draft. He was a rookie when the Steelers defeated the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV.
Greg Hawthorne No. 27 of the Pittsburgh Steelers returns a kickoff during an NFL game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. Hawthorne played for the Steelers from 1979-83.(Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
“On behalf of the Hawthorne family, it is with deep sadness that our brother Gregory Dale Hawthorne passed away last night,” a Facebook post read. “Please keep his mother and his children, his brother and sisters as well as the whole family in your prayers.”
Running back Greg Hawthorne No. 27 of the Pittsburgh Steelers runs with the football as he is tackled by linebacker Gary Campbell No. 59 of the Chicago Bears at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. The Steelers defeated the Bears 38-3.(George Gojkovich/Reuters)
Hawthorne played five years with the Steelers, splitting time between running back and a wide receiver. He appeared in 59 games, had 522 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns. He also had 55 catches for 710 yards and three touchdown catches.
He played three seasons with the New England Patriots and one more with the Indianapolis Colts. He made a game-changing play in the 1985 AFC Championship for the Patriots, recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff of the second half. New England won the game and advanced to Super Bowl XX.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll talks to Terry Bradshaw, Cliff Stoudt and Greg Hawthorne on the sidelines against the San Diego Chargers during the 1982 AFC Divisional Playoff game at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa.(Malcolm Emmons/USA Today Sports)
England captain Harry Kane says the squad are “completely together” before their World Cup semi-final against Argentina after Jude Bellingham questioned Thomas Tuchel’s assessment of their performance against Norway.
They secured a place in the final four with a draining 2-1 win against Norway in the Miami heat on Saturday, and now face a match in Atlanta on Wednesday (20:00 BST) against the defending world champions, who saw off Switzerland 3-1.
Speaking on the pitch straight after the Norway match, Tuchel said England “got lucky”, and that he was “not happy” with his side’s performance in “every sense”.
When asked about his manager’s comments, Bellingham replied: “Yeah, well, whatever. It’s difficult out there – it’s a tough shift.”
Speaking to BBC Sport on Monday, Kane said the England camp is far from divided.
“When you are playing a game like that and to be asked a question five minutes after the final whistle, and he didn’t really know what had been said, what do you want Jude [Bellingham] to say?” Kane said.
“We had just been through a battle. It is easy to try and create this division – it seems like an English thing to do at these major tournaments.
“But it is the complete opposite. The group is where we are because of our complete togetherness – not just the players, the coach and the staff. Things sometimes get made out to be more than they are.”
Tuchel’s managerial style is different to that of his predecessor Sir Gareth Southgate, but Kane said that is not a bad thing.
“He [Tuchel] wears his heart on his sleeve and people appreciate that. When he talks, it is never scripted. That is what makes him who he is.
“When it just comes natural you believe in that, you believe in what he is saying, you believe in his approach. He is one of the best managers in the world for a reason. We understand it. Over the past two years we have got to know him and know what makes him happy.”
A crowd of more than 100,000, an open-top bus parade and a royal reception welcomed back the Norwegian World Cup squad.
Published On 13 Jul 202613 Jul 2026
More than 100,000 fans flooded the streets of the Norwegian capital, Oslo, to give their football team a heroes’ welcome, turning the heartbreak of their FIFA World Cup exit into a huge national celebration.
A 2-1 extra-time defeat by England on Saturday brought Norway’s historic run to an end in the quarterfinals, shattering the Nordics’ dreams of a semifinal berth. However, it did not stop the country from celebrating its heroes.
Massive crowds under the Norwegian summer sun filled the grounds of the Royal Palace early on Monday afternoon, with an unofficial turnout estimated at more than 100,000 people.
The Norway squad touched down to a traditional water cannon salute before commencing their homecoming parade in the capital.
The line of supporters quickly packed the palace square before stretching far down the main street, Karl Johans gate, as the squad first attended an audience with King Harald.
The team then stepped out to greet the fans, with the Royal Guard standing at attention behind them.
Striker Erling Haaland was noticeably absent from the final stage of the celebrations, having left early.
His departure meant he missed joining his teammates on the palace steps for one last “Viking row” with the tens of thousands of fans gathered below, which was led by Crown Prince Haakon on the drums.
“Erling and Sander [Berge] had to catch their plane as our trip from the US was delayed four hours,” coach Stale Solbakken said, as the squad prepared to continue the celebrations in an open bus parade around Oslo.
