Tuesday, May 27, 2025

UK Children and young people are waiting longer than necessary for cancer diagnosis, according to new research

University of Nottingham

Dr Shanmugavadivel said: “For the first time, we understand the current landscape of childhood cancer diagnosis in the UK. We can celebrate that ethnicity, sex and socioeconomic status have no impact on time to diagnosis, but there is an urgent need to focus efforts on young people and tumour types such as bone tumours that are still experiencing lengthy intervals. Earliest possible diagnosis is key as time is crucial. Untreated, tumours grow bigger and can spread around the body, requiring more extensive surgery and more intensive therapies to offer cure.”

The study found that the total time to diagnosis from first symptom to confirmed diagnosis varied widely from the same day to several years. The median time to diagnosis was 4.6 weeks, but this varied by age and cancer type. Teenagers (15-18 years) experienced the longest median time to diagnosis (8.7 weeks), whereas infants under one year had the shortest (3.7 weeks).

Among cancer types, bone tumours had the longest median diagnostic interval (12.6 weeks), while kidney tumours had the shortest (2.3 weeks).

Importantly, the study found that factors such as sex, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status did not influence the time to diagnosis.

The researchers also studied the routes to diagnosis, including the number of healthcare visits before a confirmed diagnosis. Most children and young people (74%) had between one and three medical visits before being diagnosed, and two-thirds (67%) were diagnosed in an emergency setting.

The majority first consulted a GP or an emergency doctor. Some cancer types, including Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis (LCH), bone tumours, soft tissue tumours, and brain tumours, were associated with a higher number of medical visits before diagnosis.

This data highlights that, whilst access to diagnosis is equal across different demographic groups, some children and young people, particularly teenagers and those with certain types of cancer, experience longer times to diagnosis.

“The findings will help focus efforts towards closing the gap for these groups, ensuring more children and young people receive a diagnosis sooner,” says Dr Shanmugavadivel.

“The results will feed into the Child Cancer Smart campaign led by CCLG: The Children & Young People’s Cancer Association, which aims to promote earlier diagnosis, through awareness and education of the public and healthcare professionals.”

Ashley Ball-Gamble, CEO of CCLG and co-author on the study, said: “Childhood cancer knows no boundaries - it affects children and young people of all ages, backgrounds, and walks of life. However, our research has revealed important differences in how long diagnosis takes.

"It's crucial that we understand why certain groups, such as older teenagers, or those with certain cancers, such as bone and brain tumours, are likely to face a lengthier diagnosis. By recognising these differences, we hope to work towards faster diagnoses and improved survival rates."

Dr Sharna Shanmugavadivel has recently been appointed as the Vice-Chair of the Children and Young People Taskforce at the Department of Health and Social Care. The taskforce brings together the country's top experts to set out plans to improve treatment, detection and research for cancer in children and young people, which will feed into the National Cancer Plan.

Dr Shanmugavadivel adds: “We are grateful to have the opportunity to use this data as a community through the Children and Young People Cancer Taskforce to develop recommendations for the National Cancer Plan so that we can continue to monitor progress whilst developing policy, professional and public health strategies to accelerate diagnosis.”

Journal

The Lancet Regional Health - Europe

DOI

10.1016/j.Janepe.2025.101329

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Quantifying diagnostic intervals and routes to diagnosis for children and young people with cancer in the UK (Childhood Cancer Diagnosis study, CCD): A population-based observational study

Article Publication Date

27-May-2025

Study finds significant declines in maternal mental health across US

Smaller but notable decreases also reported in physical health

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

A new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine reveals a concerning decline in self-reported mental health among mothers in the United States between 2016 and 2023. Conducted by researchers at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the study also found modest but measurable declines in self-reported physical health during the same period.

This large-scale analysis examined data from 198,417 mothers who participated in the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH), a nationally representative annual survey of households with children aged 0–17. Most participating mothers were over age 30, and over half had a privately insured or a non-Hispanic white child.

“Although high rates of maternal morbidity and mortality have been well documented, national data on the health status of mothers beyond pregnancy and the first year postpartum is lacking.” said Jamie Daw, PhD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia Mailman School.

The findings show that the percentage of mothers reporting excellent mental health dropped sharply from 38 percent in 2016 to 26 percent in 2023. Similarly, the proportion reporting excellent physical health declined from 28 percent to 24 percent.

Most notably, the percentage of mothers rating their mental health as fair or poor rose by 3.5 percentage points over the 8 year-period, representing a 63.6 percent increase from the baseline prevalence of 5.5 percent in 2016. Declines in maternal mental health originated prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and were observed in nearly every socioeconomic subgroup examined.

Among fathers, the percentage reporting excellent physical health declined as well—from 30 percent to 26.4 percent; the changes in mental health were less pronounced. However, fathers reported substantially better mental and physical health than mothers in all years of the study.

The authors also examined disparities in maternal mental and physical health and found that the prevalence of fair and poor mental and physical health was considerably higher among mothers of lower educational attainment, single mothers, and those whose children have Medicaid or are uninsured.

Daw and colleagues emphasize the intergenerational consequences of poor parental mental health, including increased risks for adverse birth outcomes, developmental delays, and mental health issues in children. “Maternal mood disorders, in particular, can have long-term effects on children, directly by affecting development, and indirectly, by increasing the chance of exposure to co-occurring risks such as parental substance use and lower household resources.” Daw explained.

“Our results highlight the rising tide of worsening mental health among parenting women as a key target for efforts to improve maternal and child health in the U.S.,”Daw said. “We found consistently worse health outcomes for mothers compared to fathers, suggesting that mothers may need additional consideration and attention in policies aimed at supporting parental health and especially mental health.

In all cases, our study underscores the need for more comprehensive research on the health and well-being of U.S. parents more broadly, and we urge support for more interventions that support prevention, diagnosis and treatment of mental health outcomes.”

Co-authors are Colleen L. MacCallum-Bridges, PhD, and Lindsay K. Admon, MD, MSc, University of Michigan.

The study was supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (R01HS029159).

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.

Journal

JAMA Internal Medicine

Article Title

Trends and Disparities in Maternal Self-Reported Mental and Physical Health in the United States, 2016-2023

Study quantifies the sleep loss and

disruption experienced by new mothers

Research analyzed Fitbit sleep data from first-time mothers in the months after giving birth

American Academy of Sleep Medicine

DARIEN, IL – A new study to be presented at the SLEEP 2025 annual meeting quantifies the amount of sleep loss experienced by first-time mothers in the weeks after giving birth and is the first to identify the unique type of sleep disruption that persists throughout the first months of motherhood.

Results show that the average daily sleep duration of new mothers was 4.4 hours during the first week after giving birth compared with a pre-pregnancy sleep duration of 7.8 hours. Their longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep also fell from 5.6 hours at pre-pregnancy to 2.2 hours in the first week after delivery. Nearly one-third of participants (31.7%) went more than 24 hours without sleep in the first week with a newborn.

The daily sleep duration of new moms increased to 6.7 hours across postpartum weeks 2 through 7 and 7.3 hours across weeks 8 through 13. However, their longest stretch of uninterrupted sleep remained significantly lower than pre-pregnancy levels at 3.2 hours in weeks 2 through 7 and 4.1 hours in weeks 8 through 13. This novel finding reveals that sleep discontinuity remains a problem for new mothers even as their total nightly sleep duration gradually returns to pre-pregnancy levels.

“The significant loss of uninterrupted sleep in the postpartum period was the most dramatic finding,” said lead author Teresa Lillis, who has a doctorate in clinical psychology and is an adjunct professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “While mothers generally returned to their pre-pregnancy total nightly sleep duration after the first postpartum week, the structure of their sleep remained profoundly altered. These results fundamentally transform our understanding of postpartum sleep; it’s not the lack of sleep, but rather, the lack of uninterrupted sleep that is the largest challenge for new mothers.”

The study involved 41 first-time mothers between the ages of 26 and 43 years. They provided their wearable sleep data from their personal Fitbit devices for a full year before childbirth through the end of the first year after giving birth.

Lillis noted that these findings explain why new mothers continue to feel exhausted even when they get the recommended 7 or more hours of sleep per night. The study results also identify sleep discontinuity as a potential risk factor and intervention target for postpartum depression and other postpartum-related health issues.

“Our results validate the lived experience of new mothers’ exhaustion and provide a new target for sleep-related interventions,” she said. “Rather than simply encouraging mothers to ‘nap when the baby naps’, our findings show that mothers would most benefit from strategies that protect opportunities for uninterrupted sleep.”

This study was supported by trackthatsleep LLC, for which Lillis serves as CEO. The study was conducted at Washington State University’s Sleep and Performance Research Center with co-investigators Devon Hansen and Hans Van Dongen.

The research abstract was published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep and will be presented Monday, June 9, during SLEEP 2025 in Seattle. SLEEP is the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.

###

Abstract Title: Profound Postpartum Sleep Discontinuity in First-Time Mothers
Abstract ID: 0915
Poster Presentation Date: Monday, June 9, 11-11:45 a.m. PDT, Board #294
Presenter: Teresa Lillis, PhD, adjunct professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center

About the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC

The APSS is a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The APSS organizes the SLEEP annual meeting each June (sleepmeeting.org).

About the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
Established in 1975, the AASM is a medical association that advances sleep care and enhances sleep health to improve lives. The AASM membership includes more than 9,500 physicians, scientists, and other health care professionals who help people who have sleep disorders. The AASM also accredits 2,300 sleep centers that are providing the highest quality of sleep care across the country (aasm.org).

About the Sleep Research Society

The SRS is a professional membership society that advances sleep and circadian science. The SRS serves its members and the field of sleep and circadian research through training and education, and by providing forums for the collaboration and exchange of ideas. The SRS facilitates its goals through scientific meetings and trainee specific programming, and by advocating for federal sleep and circadian research funding. The SRS also publishes the peer-reviewed, scientific journals SLEEP and SLEEP Advances (sleepresearchsociety.org).

Journal

SLEEP

DOI

10.1093/sleep/zsaf090.0915

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Profound Postpartum Sleep Discontinuity in First-Time Mothers

Article Publication Date

27-May-2025

Can CCS meet Europe’s climate targets? Three projects beset with problems suggest not

By Sam Edwards
Published on 26/05/2025 -

High costs, local opposition and technical issues threaten the viability of the EU’s multi-billion euro gamble on CCS to decarbonise heavy industry.

The European Union is betting on carbon capture and storage (CCS) to decarbonise heavy industrial emitters.

The bloc has set ambitious capacity targets to that end: 50 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030, rising to 280 million tonnes in 2040. But this will require a huge scaling up.

CCS involves capturing CO2 from industrial emitters or power factories, liquefying it, and transporting the CO2 via pipeline, trucks or ships before storing it underground in depleted oil or gas reservoirs or saline aquifers.

Today, there are only five operational CCS projects in Europe, capturing a total of2.7 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2) each year. Of this,1.7 MtCO2 (63 per cent of the total) is for natural gas processing in Norway, which is outside of the EU.

Related Carbon capture: The inside story of how a ‘delay tactic’ became a darling of the EU

So the strategy requires building a complex infrastructure network from scratch at significant cost. The European Commission has said Europe might need 19,000 km of CO2 pipelines by 2050 to meet this target.

These plans could cost taxpayers up to €140 billion by 2050, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

But a joint investigation by several European newsrooms shows that recurring problems with high costs and technical issues are already threatening the success of three major CO2 transport and storage projects receiving EU support.

EU’s CCS-heavy climate strategy thrown into doubt

This questions the feasibility of the current EU climate strategy which heavily relies on carbon capture and storage, a technology favoured by oil and gas companies but which has largely historically failed to meet targets.

As of 2023, governments and corporations had spent over $83 billion (€73bn) on CCS projects globally, according to Bloomberg. But that same year, the technology only captured around 0.1 per cent of global emissions.

For Europe to reach its targets, capacity will need to expand dramatically. In its most recent round, 40 per cent of Emissions Trading System (ETS) revenues to the Innovation Fund were awarded to carbon capture storage and utilisation projects. The ETS is a major funding program for low-carbon technology financed by the bloc’s cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gas emissions.

Related World surpasses 40% clean electricity with Europe leading as a 'solar superpower'

This “one-track” focus could mean other decarbonisation tools - such as expanding clean energy and improving energy efficiency - are potentially being sidelined, according to a report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

One example is cement, where Innovation Fund grants in all but one case support CCS to reduce emissions, rather than investigating means to reduce CO2 in the industrial process directly.

As part of a joint investigation by IRPI, Follow the Money, L’Humanite and Mondiaal Nieuws, we looked at three projects supported by the EU.

The projects analysed - Northern Lights in Norway, Pycasso in France, and Callisto in France and Italy - were only three of 14 projects selected by the European Commission as Projects of Common Interests (PCIs), but they point to issues facing efforts to scale CCS across the continent.

CCS projects hampered by high costs and unrealistic targets

Northern Lights in Norway, which expects to start operating this year, is run by three fossil fuel companies: Total Energies from France, UK-headquartered Shell, and Equinor, which is majority owned by the Norwegian state.

It plans to store 1.5 million tonnes of emissions within a few years, starting with emissions from fertiliser producer Yara, Danish energy company Orsted and cement company Heidelberg Materials.

But an investigation published in Follow the Money shows the project will face prohibitive costs and shipping capacity issues.

Northern Lights will rely on two specially designed ships which will collect and transport liquefied CO2 captured by polluters in Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway. It will then be shipped to the port in Øygarden – located west of the city of Bergen – and pumped via a 100-kilometre pipeline into geological reservoirs under the seabed in the North Sea, where it is intended to be stored permanently.

Transporting and storing one tonne of CO2 under phase one of the Northern Lights project would have an average cost of $145 (€128), according to data analytics company Wood Mackenzie.

In addition to these expenses, there is the cost of capturing CO2 on-site, which differs by industry. Estimates from the International Energy Agency (IEA) suggest average costs per tonne of $30 (€27) for ammonia, a compound primarily used in fertiliser production.

Under these estimates, Yara might have to pay between $140 to $202 million (€123 to €178 million) every year to reach its targets to reduce only a proportion of emissions from one site. That’s a significant amount for a company that posted $229 million earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization in Europe last year.

Related Dutch NGO hits Shell with fresh legal challenge - and the impact could be ‘enormous’

Northern Lights faces other challenges. The project will rely on ships to transport CO2, but specialised boats are required to transport CO2, and with only two such ships built and available, the project will likely struggle to meet its own targets. Each ship can only carry 8,000 tonnes of CO2 per trip.

Under existing contracts, Northern Lights will receive 1.63 million tonnes each year to store.

Northern Lights has now commissioned two further liquefied CO2 ships which are due to be completed in 2026, though it is not clear when they will start transporting emissions. Even with all four ships in service, more will be needed soon as the project expands, the investigation found. Any delays from bad weather or technical difficulties with ships will further jeopardise the project’s ability to meet targets.

Transporting CO2 either by ship or pipeline raises further issues. Unlike natural gas, CO2 becomes corrosive when mixed with water. The ship’s storage tanks need to be cleaned with dry CO2 gases to avoid any contamination with humid air, every time after unloading.

Italian project also faces 'prohibitive costs'

Another project, Callisto, which aims to transport CO2 from industrial emitters in France to a storage site off Italy’s Adriatic coast, faces similar issues.

Callisto, a joint venture by Italian energy multinational Eni, infrastructure company Snam and Air Liquide, a French company providing oil and gas services, aims to create the largest multimodal carbon capture and storage network in the Mediterranean.

The project seeks to create a complete supply chain for the capture, transport and storage of carbon in southwestern Europe.

But while Callisto plans to transport CO2 from industrial clients in Italy via pipeline, emissions from French companies will be transported via ship from southeastern France circumventing the Italian peninsula to the Adriatic, Irpi media reported.

The construction and maintenance of dedicated infrastructures, such as pipelines and ships, along with transport and capture costs, represent a significant investment.

The current price paid by polluters under the Emissions Trading System (ETS) is around €80 per tonne, too low to justify a business case for companies to pay for CCS. "Even with equal unit capture costs, transport from very distant sources would have prohibitive costs, difficult to reconcile with the current values of ETS certificates," Roberto Bencini, an expert on CCS for the European Commission, told IRPI media.

ETS prices are not just low but also volatile, meaning transport costs could quickly make storage costs prohibitive, putting the profitability of projects at risk.

“The problem is more so that the price is volatile. So no one's going to make an investment for 15 years unless they have some form of a guarantee of what the price is going to be,” says Eadbhard Pernot, Secretary-General of Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP) initiative, which includes many oil and gas companies involved in European CCS projects.

Those projects which have gone ahead rely on carbon contracts for difference - agreements where a government contracts with a company to guarantee a specific carbon price over a set period for a low-carbon project - says Pernot.

Related
World’s largest air capture plant opens in Europe. Is it really a ‘misguided scientific experiment’?
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Local opposition to CCS projects

Finally, France’s Pycasso project shows a different, but equally pressing issue for CCS infrastructure.

By storing CO2 closer to industrial emitters, Pycasso pursued a strategy that could have lowered costs. But the project was abandoned last year because of local opposition: as one MP told L’Humanite, Pycasso would have threatened the 1,700 jobs at the existing gas field in Lacq, while creating only around 80 new jobs.

For CCS advocates, the economic challenges facing CCS are a sign it should receive more public money. “We are trying to get a new technology up and running on a commercial scale. And there are risks here which the private sector will probably not take, unless governments agree to provide some sort of de-risking support,” says Chris Davies, head of CCS Europe.

But critics argue Europe risks betting on CCS as a miracle solution at the expense of harder choices about resource use and changing patterns in industrialisation.

“It’s an example of how we are relying above all on technology to reduce emissions. That can’t be the only solution. It can be part of the packet, but it should not have the emphasis it is receiving right now,” Maury says.

With issues around economic viability and feasibility issues, some fear the focus on CCS could distract from meaningful climate action.

“The biggest risk with CCS is we waste a decade and however many billions of euros not doing climate action that we know would work,” Rachel Kennerley of the Center for International Environmental Law told Euronews Green.

Additional reporting from Carlotta Indiano, Beatrice Cambarau, Bart Grugeon Plana, David Haas, Jule Zentek, Simon Guichard.

This article was supported by Journalismfund Europe.

Is Europe doing enough to prepare for bird flu risks?

By Gabriela Galvin

Published on 26/05/2025 -

Public health risks remain low, but experts in Europe are calling for more surveillance given the virus is so widespread among birds.

As bird flu spreads across Europe and jumps to more animal species, health experts warn that gaps in surveillance and preparedness could leave the region vulnerable to future threats to human health.

Avian influenza has been spreading at elevated levels worldwide over the past five years, including in wild and farm birds in the European Union.

Hungary has reported the most outbreaks since last autumn, followed by Germany, the Netherlands, and poultry giant Poland.

But in recent years, bird flu has also spread to mink, cats, a captive bear, and other mammals, raising the risk that the virus will eventually reach people.

Tens of millions of birds and other animals have been culled to keep that from happening, but gaps in surveillance systems increase the likelihood that the virus could circulate undetected and become harder to control.

Since 2003, about half of the nearly 1,000 people infected with H5N1 bird flu globally have died.

Now, EU health officials say public health risks remain low, and there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission. But preparations are already underway: the European Commission recently clinched a deal to secure more than 27 million influenza vaccines in case of a pandemic.

Monitoring bird flu

Officials are also eyeing an outbreak among dairy cows in the United States – which has spread to people, infecting 70 and killing one – as a reminder to monitor animals beyond birds and mink, which are more prone to infection.

“It's not a time to really sit back and relax and say, ‘oh well, this is just business as usual,’” Marion Koopmans, who directs the centre of excellence at the Global Virus Network and leads the viroscience department at Erasmus Medical Centre in the Netherlands, told Euronews Health.

“It has really changed compared with just a few years ago,” she added. “It’s not a good situation to have”.

EU countries actively monitor wild birds and poultry for avian influenza. When they find infections, they must take steps to stamp out the virus, such as culling birds and imposing farm restrictions.

Now, with the US cattle outbreak in mind, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is working with member states to boost surveillance in cows and other mammals, according to Alessandro Broglia, one of the agency’s senior scientists.

“There is a kind of reactivity and enhanced preparedness in Europe, also to prevent the infection in cattle and other farm animals,” Broglia told Euronews Health.

Vaccination is also playing a bigger role. In 2023, France began immunising birds, a move it says has helped its poultry industry recover after outbreaks ravaged its farms and annihilated tens of millions of birds.

And last summer, Finland became the first EU country to offer bird flu vaccines to people, doling out jabs to 10,000 workers who were at higher risk of infection.

Even so, EU audits have identified gaps in these systems that could be just large enough for the virus to slip through undetected.

Weaknesses in prevention

Over the past two years, they have found delays in setting up restriction zones to prevent the virus from spreading in Poland; “limited effectiveness” in Portugal's early warning system for poultry infections; shortcomings in investigations of suspected cases in Spain; and poor risk assessment, a lack of surveillance, and inadequately trained staff in Hungary that constitute “crucial weaknesses” that have not been rectified since the country was last audited in 2020.

A Commission spokesperson told Euronews Health that Spain and Portugal have taken steps to fix these issues, but that it is “seeking additional commitments” from Hungary and Poland, which suspended poultry exports last month due to outbreaks.

Alexandre Fediaevsky, acting head of preparedness and resilience at the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), said that “in all countries, Europe included, there is still some room for improving biosecurity and early warning systems”.

But there has been some resistance from some farmers and poultry industry groups, who fear new rules and restrictions could threaten their businesses.

“We need to have some strategic dialogue with the industry,” Fediaevsky told Euronews Health, but “it will be a long process to really transform the production systems”.

The EU and the US are not the only places grappling with elevated bird flu risks. Last week, the Commission said poultry and meat imports from Brazil had been halted after the country confirmed its first bird flu outbreak on a farm.

For now, bird flu appears to pose a greater risk to the EU’s food supply than to public health. However, Koopmans warned that without stronger measures to curb the virus’ spread among birds, the bloc could be caught off guard if human infections begin to emerge.

et's also not become negligent,” she said, “because this is how these viruses eventually trigger pandemics”.

US investment firm Redbird plans to buy Britain’s Telegraph newspaper

By AP with Indrabati Lahiri

Published on 26/05/2025 -

The Telegraph Group's previous owner, the Barclay family, is expected to use this sale to pay off significant existing debts.

A consortium led by US investment firm RedBird Capital Partners has agreed to buy the publisher of Britain’s 170-year-old Daily Telegraph newspaper for about £500 million (€595.5m), the two sides said on Friday.

RedBird said it has reached an agreement in principle to become the controlling owner of the Telegraph Media Group, ending a lengthy takeover saga for the conservative-leaning newspaper.

Gerry Cardinale, founder and managing partner of RedBird, said the sale “marks the start of a new era for The Telegraph, as we look to grow the brand in the UK and internationally, invest in its technology and expand its subscriber base.”

The Telegraph group, previously owned by Britain’s Barclay family, was put up for sale two years ago to help pay off the family’s debts. It publishes the daily and Sunday Telegraph newspapers and weekly newsmagazine The Spectator, which are all closely allied to Britain’s Conservative Party.

In 2023, there was an offer to buy the publications from RedBird IMI, a consortium backed by RedBird Capital Partners and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of Abu Dhabi’s royal family and the vice president of the United Arab Emirates.

However, the consortium pulled out last year following strong opposition from the UK government, which launched legislation to block foreign state ownership of the British press.

Under the deal, Abu Dhabi’s IMI will take a minority stake of not more than 15% in the Telegraph as a member of the consortium. The sale must be approved by British regulators.

RedBird has investments in soccer team AC Milan, the parent company of Liverpool football club and film production company Skydance.

Telegraph Media Group chief executive Anna Jones said that “RedBird Capital Partners have exciting growth plans that build on our success — and will unlock our full potential across the breadth of our business.”

The Spectator was sold separately in September to British hedge fund investor Paul Marshall.

CRIMINAL CRYPTO CAPITALI$M

French police detain twenty suspects over cryptocurrency kidnappings

By Estelle Nilsson-Julien

Published on 27/05/2025 -

The arrests on Monday and Tuesday follow French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau's vow to ensure the safety of crypto industry leaders and their families.

French police have arrested around 20 people alleged to have been involved in a recent spate of kidnappings and kidnapping attempts against cryptocurrency bosses and their families.

The arrests took place on Monday and Tuesday, according to media outlet Franceinfo.

French media reported that half a dozen suspects were taken into custody on Tuesday in connection with the attempted kidnapping of the daughter of cryptocurrency boss Pierre Noizat earlier this month.

The attack, which took place in broad daylight on 13 May, shocked France. Assailants were filmed trying to kidnap Noizat's pregnant daughter, who was out for a walk with her partner and their child.

Tuesday's arrests came after a dozen other people were detained in the commune of Couëron, near the western French city of Nantes, on Monday.

In response to the increasing number of violent attacks against cryptocurrency professionals and their families, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau convened an emergency meeting with industry leaders in mid-May.

During the meeting, Retailleau outlined ways of ensuring their security, including a plan to give them access to special emergency contact numbers.

"These serial kidnappings will be combated with specific tools, both immediate and short-term, to prevent, deter and hinder in order to protect the industry," Retailleau said after the meeting.

"The entire state apparatus is fully mobilised to track down the perpetrators and instigators of this violence and put them out of action", he added.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment

Tuesday, May 27, 2025

UK Children and young people are waiting longer than necessary for cancer diagnosis, according to new research

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

Article Publication Date

Study finds significant declines in maternal mental health across US

Journal

Article Title

Journal

DOI

Method of Research

Subject of Research

Article Title

Article Publication Date

Is Europe doing enough to prepare for bird flu risks?

Public health risks remain low, but experts in Europe are calling for more surveillance given the virus is so widespread among birds.

Monitoring bird flu

Weaknesses in prevention

US investment firm Redbird plans to buy Britain’s Telegraph newspaper

The Telegraph Group's previous owner, the Barclay family, is expected to use this sale to pay off significant existing debts.

French police detain twenty suspects over cryptocurrency kidnappings

The arrests on Monday and Tuesday follow French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau's vow to ensure the safety of crypto industry leaders and their families.

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