One evening in late 2016, I found myself staring at Facebook in a state of shock. During my university years, I’d spent much of my time gigging my way around the pubs and clubs of Bristol as part of a jazz ensemble known as the Hornstars. One of my fellow bandmates was a highly talented trombonist called Oli, a keen triathlete and qualified diving instructor who was also one of the most athletic people I knew.
We’d lost touch since university, but on that night, I was curiously browsing social media to see what he was up to when I discovered that his page had become a “memorialised account”. Oli had died that summer from an aggressive neuroendocrine cancer [originating from hormone-producing cells] at the age of just 33. I was stunned, not only by the news of his death, but by the sheer speed of his demise – he died just five months after being diagnosed.
In recent years, I’ve been reminded of Oli’s story time and again when reading reports of the alarming rise of cancers in the under-50s. On 6 October, new research from the World Cancer Research Fund revealed that cases of seven types of cancer have risen sharply among younger people in England. It found that the number of people under 50 diagnosed with prostate cancer had quadrupled since 2011, while cancers of the bowel, kidney, and womb had doubled.
Asos hack fears after ‘compromised’ alert – what we know
Thousands of Asos customers have been sent a phone alert saying the retailer has been hacked.
Here’s everything we know so far…
What happened?
Phone alert
Thousands of customers received a mobile app notification on Tuesday.
The notification, titled “Asos hacked”, directed users to a Telegram account.
Shares drop
Asos shares plummeted by more than 10 per cent on Tuesday as a result.
What did the message say?
The message read: “Dear Asos DPO and IT, we have fully compromised the Snowflake instance. Engage with us, or we will leak it.”
DPO refers to the data protection officer, the role in a company responsible for customer information safeguarding.
Snowflake is an online data platform used by a wide array of companies, but it is not yet known whether Asos – which is yet to comment on the incident – is one of those.
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The notification
Latest hacking incident
Asos, which owns brands including Topshop and Miss Selfridge, has 17 million customers globally. The UK is its largest market, making up 49 per cent of revenues in the first half of the latest financial year.
Snowflake has been the reported subject of a number of data breaches in recent years, including an attack on Ticketmaster which saw customer details stolen. It comes after a raft of UK retailers were targeted by cyber attackers over the past two years, including Marks & Spencer and Harrods.
UK POLITICS
Tories pledge ‘Britannia Shield’ – how would it work?
The Conservatives have pledged to invest £10bn in a British missile defence system which has drawn comparisons to Israel’s elaborate “Iron Dome”.
Here’s how it could work, and how much the experts think it might really cost.
What is the ‘Britannia Shield’?
Air defence system
The Tories have promised to build a new UK air defence system if voted into power.
How will it work?
The “Britannia Shield” would provide systems to detect and stop incoming threats using interceptor missiles.
British ‘Iron Dome’?
But Kemi Badenoch has pushed back on comparisons to Israel’s Iron Dome system.
We are not building the Iron Dome. We are doing what other European countries are doing: Greece, Benelux countries, Belgium, and the Netherlands and Germany. We are designing something specific for the kind of threat that we face here
conservative party leader kemi badenoch
How much will it cost?
The Conservatives have estimated the system will cost £10bn to set up, but previous estimates place the cost at £80bn.
The programme, the Tories say, would be funded through the party’s plans to increase defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030 by slashing Britain’s welfare bill.
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Current levels of protection
- The UK has some existing protection in the form of RAF Typhoons which could shoot down hostile drones, but the jets cannot track or intercept ballistic missiles.
- The Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers, equipped with Sea Viper air defence systems, can intercept missiles, but must be in UK waters to be fully effective.
- Britain could rely on its Nato allies, to some extent, in the event of a strike by Russia, but military experts have long warned the country needs a full Iron Dome-style missile defence shield.
Expert opinion
“This is a well overdue commitment to fill the void in defending Britain as global security deteriorates”
Former Tory defence minister Tobias Ellwood said: “It’s only a matter of time before a military base or a corner of our critical national infrastructure is targeted and currently, we have no air defence.”
Who was ex-MP and ‘master storyteller’ Jeffrey Archer?
The bestselling author and former politician has died at the age of 86.
But who was Jeffrey Archer?
Archer passes away ‘suddenly’
Jeffrey Archer, renowned novelist and former Conservative MP, died “suddenly and peacefully at home between writing sessions” on Monday, his publisher HarperCollins said in a statement.
Alongside his political career, Archer was a wildly successful novelist, during his five-decade career and being made a in 1992.
Early life
Archer was born an only child in Weston-super-Mare on 15 April, 1940. After completing his education at Wellington School in Somerset, Archer attended the University of Oxford in October 1963.
He went for a one-year course, a diploma in education, but ended up staying for three years, just as though he were a typical undergraduate.
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Political career
- Archer was first elected MP for the Lincolnshire constituency of Louth in 1969.
- In 1985, Margaret Thatcher appointed him deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
- The same year, Archer also set up his own PR firm, Archer Enterprises, and in 1992 was created a life peer.
- At the turn of the century, he was the Tory candidate to be mayor of London; then scandal struck.
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Time in jail
- Archer’s political career was paused in 2001 when he was jailed for four years for perjury and perverting the course of justice.
- A jury found he lied in a libel action he had brought against newspaper, in which he was awarded £500,000 in damages.
- Archer was released early in 2003 and returned to the House of Lords until he retired in 2024.
Archer the novelist
- Archer wrote his first novel, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, in 1974, after almost going bankrupt.
- An instant bestseller, it sparked a prolific career as an author which ultimately made him a millionaire.
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It has been one of the great privileges of my publishing life to have been Jeffrey Archer’s editor. He was the master storyteller and an editor’s dream – phenomenally hard-working, utterly committed to completing draft after draft to get every word as perfect as possible, and a true champion of the ‘team’ nature of great publishing
kate elton, harpercollins uk chief executive
Final act
Everybody would like to run their last 100 metres at the Olympics and win the gold medal, but there’s always a time. I think the clever thing in life is when to get out
Archer declared in an interview just last week that he “shall not be retiring”. His final novel, a Second World War-era historical fiction was published Tuesday, hours after his death was announced.
Badenoch pays tribute
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she was “incredibly saddened” to hear of Archer’s passing. “He had sent me a lovely message just this morning and was always a great source of encouragement to me personally,” she added.
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Brits pick greatest ‘driving anthems’ of all time
British motorists have voted to decide on the best driving anthem of all time.
Here are the results…
New research
Drivers vote
A new poll of 2,000 UK drivers, commissioned by Isuzu UK, has unveiled British motorists’ favourite driving anthem.
The tunes
Bruce Springsteen, Miley Cyrus and Bon Jovi were among the artists attributed with providing the best highway tracks. But did they come out on top?
Top five driving anthems
- 1Hotel California – The Eagles. The 70s hit saw 27 per cent of those surveyed name the 1977 classic rock song as the ultimate driving anthem.
- 2Born in the USA – Bruce Springsteen. The 1984 hit just missed top spot, with 24 per cent.
- 3. The 2023 hit from the American pop star came in third with 22 per cent.
- 4Boys of Summer – Don Henley. Another from 1984, the song placed fourth with 21 per cent.
- 5Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi. The 1986 power ballad took 18 per cent of the votes.
What else are drivers saying?
Meanwhile, 40 per cent of drivers polled admitted to singing along to tunes in the car around seven times a week, despite a third (33 per cent) admitting they have startled passengers with their “enthusiastic” vocals.
Three in 10 (31 per cent) agreed that certain songs bring back fond childhood memories of family holidays and day trips.
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How to be more grateful for daily life in five easy steps
The world feels like a difficult place at the moment, and it can feel very hard sometimes to find things to be thankful for; when we are overwhelmed, we have less capacity to notice and reflect on the good things. Yet, ironically, proactively cultivating gratitude is one of the things that can actually help us feel less stressed.
NHS GP dR RADHA
The science
Research has shown that feeling or expressing thanks can actually alter our brain.
- The balance of neurotransmitters change; more serotonin and dopamine (feel good chemicals) are produced.
- This can be long lasting if we make gratitude a regular habit.
- We also get a decrease in our cortisol (stress hormone) levels which helps lower anxiety.
- Being grateful can strengthen the nerve pathways which triggers positive emotion.
How can we build gratitude?
Change your words
Instead of seeing something as a problem, try to see the opportunities within it.
Our brains are very receptive and what we read or write can alter our emotional system.
Express it
This will not only make you feel good, but you will also get a positive response from others.
How can we build gratitude?
Notice more
Throughout your day, try to notice all the things that are going well; has someone opened a door for you, or smiled?
The basics
By being thankful for the small things every day, we are far more likely to be and stay healthy so that we can enjoy them.
What to do
Gratitude can lead to feelings of optimism, lower our blood pressure, and improve sleep quality.
- Write down what potential good aspects there are to the things you don’t feel like doing, or even what could be worse about it.
- Spend a few minutes writing down three things that you are looking forward to that day, or the good things that have happened to you that day.
- Say thank you to yourself for the things you have achieved, or managed to get through and changed that day.
Sales of battery
electric vehicles hit a record high last year.
Starts at £22,995 for the smaller battery
Available with either a 40kWh battery or a larger 52kWh pack, that offers almost 255 miles, the latest, retro-inspired Renault 5 is both a joy to behold and a hoot to drive.
The interior has been lavished with a level of detail that’s typically reserved for more expensive cars.
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A champion of EV efficiency
It offers a remarkable 491 mile range on a single charge from the 85kWh battery.
It is a technological masterclass inside with the ability to option screens that span the entire width of the dashboard, including an optional display for the front passenger.
Priced from £37,400
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It’s a lot of money to part with, but this is arguably all the car you will ever need.
The £89,000 Macan is a premium SUV that somehow manages to blend Porsche’s reputation for dynamics and sporty driving with everyday practicality.
The 95kWh batteries can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 21 minutes from the fastest public charging outlets.
With the business class-style six seat configuration costing a staggering £76,995, it is by far the most expensive Kia ever made, but it backs up its financial demands with a suite of genuinely useful and impressive onboard technology.
It’s fast, goes a long way between stops and charges relatively quickly but the interior is bland, the onboard technology is infuriating and the experience is devoid of emotion.
All of its gadgetry can’t disguise the fact that performance is weak, even for a typically zippy EV, the ride is fussy at slower speeds and it’s not in the least bit enjoyable to drive on a country road.
- While good value (prices start at £17,935) for the 200-mile max range, there are more interesting options from Hyundai, Citroen and Renault for similar money.
- It attempts to wow with tech, much of which hinders, rather than helps.
- There’s no tangible benefit over mounting your phone to the dash.
- Simply an average driving experience, adequate range and slow charging speeds.
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The kitchen gadgets under £25
Victorinox paring knife
It’s comfortable to hold, with a point sharp enough for scoring pastry.
ProCook cast iron pan
For unbeatable searing and heat-retention, cast iron is the top choice.
Tesco chopping board
Priced at just £22, I’ve yet to find another board that matches it for sheer value and quality.
The kitchen gadgets under £25
Pyrex jug
It is the perfect vessel for blending smooth sauces, melting butter, or warming stock. It won’t stain like plastic and the red measurements never fade.
Salter scales
“I’ve had my slim little set of Salter Disc Scales for over a decade, and I’m delighted to see they are still made to exactly the same reliable design today.”
Microplane grater
It uses photo-etched stainless steel teeth that stay razor-sharp for a decade, something the lookalike copycats simply can’t match.
Braun hand-held blender
It’s an essential for everything from making velvety soup to getting the lumps out of white sauce.
Bodum cafetiere
As well as delivering great results, cafetieres are easy to clean and there’s no ongoing filter paper costs or pod recycling to deal with.
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The kitchen gadgets under £25
Oxo peeler
What truly sets it apart is the chunky, rubberised handle that absorbs pressure and stays completely non-slip, even if your hands are wet. It is inexpensive and incredibly durable.
Falcon pie dish
Made by fusing porcelain onto heavy-gauge steel for smooth durability, it is dishwasher, freezer, hob, air-fryer and oven-safe.
The golden rules for a happy, secure relationship
Psychiatrist and neuroscientist Dr Amir Levine, author of bestselling book , explains why we behave the way we do in love.
Golden rules for happy relationships
Start with your own behaviours
The foundation of a secure, connected life is being what I call CARRP: that means being consistent, available, responsive, reliable and predictable. All of these qualities can be enacted in small gestures every day.
Express your needs
People need consistency and connection to feel safe. This is not, ‘You hurt my feelings by never replying to me’, it’s more ‘this is the kind of contact that helps me feel secure’.
Golden rules for happy relationships
The appendix ‘inflammation’ rule
If a relationship repeatedly inflames your nervous system, you need to disengage and deprioritise it.
Lean on community
You don’t need hundreds of friends. You need people and places that regularly remind you that you belong.
Stop blaming childhood
Humans are much more complicated than: ‘this happened to you, therefore you are doomed to be anxious’.
Reach for a
secure script
When something unsettles you in a relationship, your first reaction is not always the most accurate one.
If you’re anxious, your brain may jump very quickly to: ‘this is the beginning of the end’. If you’re avoidant, your brain may say: ‘this person wants too much from me, I need to get away’. So one very practical thing you can always do is pause and ask: ‘What would a secure person do here?’
Loneliness elsewhere
When people talk about loneliness, they often assume it means you don’t have enough people in your life. But you can be surrounded by people and still feel lonely if those relationships leave you feeling excluded, ignored or disconnected.
What to do
- Build a community that works for your temperament and gives you regular, reliable moments of connection.
- You can still be kind to people while not treating them as someone who belongs in your inner circle.
- Explain what you need. Sometimes people simply don’t realise how you are experiencing them.
- Check in with people: does this person actually feel that I’m reliable? Do they experience me as predictable? That’s the only way that you can start to become more secure.
One major epidemiological study carried out by Chinese researchers using data from the Global Burden of Disease database, an international data collection summarising the leading causes of death and ill health across 204 countries, concluded that there has been a 79 per cent rise in so-called “young onset cancers” [defined as under 50] between 1990 and 2019. The cancers responsible for the most deaths and long-term disability were those of the breast, oesophagus, lung, bowel and stomach.
A paper by epidemiologists at the Institute of Cancer Research in London (ICR) found that this pattern is most evident when it comes to the rapidly rising cases of bowel cancer in young people. While bowel cancer has traditionally been a disease which occurs in people in their sixties and seventies, another study found that nearly 10 per cent of new cases of the disease are now occurring in people under 50.
This trend has been noted by NHS specialists up and down the country and is another that I have personal experience of – a journalist friend in his early forties was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2024. “We’re definitely seeing an effect on the front line,” says Sofoklis Panteleimonitis, a NHS consultant colorectal surgeon at University Hospitals Birmingham. “I’ve treated numerous patients under 50 with bowel cancer now. It’s become a hot topic. I’ve only been a consultant for three years, but as a registrar, I don’t remember seeing so many young people with colorectal cancer.”
Panteleimonitis looked into his records and since 2023, 10 per cent of the colorectal cancer patients he has operated on have been under 50. He is keen not to alarm the public, and stresses that these are not vast numbers, but they are notable as bowel cancer used to be vanishingly rare in younger age groups. He says that cases in the under-50s also tend to be much more aggressive and detected at a later stage, as screening is currently only carried out in the 50-74 age range.
Why is this happening? By and large, the rising trend of young-onset cancers is a mystery, one which oncologists around the world are scrambling to try and understand, but when it comes to bowel cancer at least, a handful of clues are starting to emerge. Here are the most common working theories.
Gut toxins and antibiotics
According to Professor Trevor Graham, director of the ICR’s Centre for Evolution and Cancer, the leading explanation for around half the cases of early-onset bowel cancer relates to something going wrong in the gut microbiome, the complex ecosystem of microorganisms that resides in our intestines.
In particular, certain strains of invasive gut bacteria, for example E.coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Citrobacter koseri, can produce a toxin called colibactin, which is capable of inflicting significant DNA damage on cells in the colon, making the development of cancer more likely.
Last year, researchers at the University of California, San Diego published a study where they showed that signs of colibactin-related DNA damage are 3.3 times more common in bowel tumours found in patients under the age of 40, compared with older patients. This seemingly tell-tale finding suggests that in recent decades, colibactin-producing bugs have become more adept at taking residence in the human gut, and much earlier in life.
How are they getting there? One theory relates to the increasing use of antibiotics in childhood, with data indicating that the doses of antibiotics consumed by children under the age of five increased from 9.8 per 1,000 people in 2,000 to 14.3 in 2018. While antibiotics are life-saving drugs, they can also drastically reshape the gut microbiome by destroying swathes of resident species in a single swoop, making it easier for opportunistic pathogens to take hold.
“There’s evidence with these so-called bad bugs that if people are infected with them, that infection may well occur during childhood,” says Graham. “There has been increased use of antibiotics early in life, and it’s plausible that antibiotic use could deplete the microbiome a little bit and allow these bugs to invade.”
Graham is hoping to shed more light on this mysterious trend through his own research, utilising a unique archive of decades-old bowel tumour samples stored in the basement of St Mark’s Hospital in west London, dating from the 50s onwards. “We’re treating it like a time machine,” he says.
“We’re going to look for evidence of DNA damage caused by bad bugs in the gut, and what we expect to find is that this is almost never present in tumours from the 1950s, compared with roughly half of bowel tumours collected from young people today. If that is true, it will give some causative evidence that the bugs really are part of the cause.”
Different types of birth
The antibiotic theory is just one of many. Another is the increasing number of births by C-section, something which is thought to reduce gut microbiome diversity due to babies not being exposed to the beneficial maternal vaginal and faecal bacteria in the vaginal canal.
One study in Sweden did identify an association between C-section birth and greater vulnerability to early-onset bowel cancer. However, far more research is still needed before firm conclusions can be drawn on this theory.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs)
Some scientists have suggested that pesticides in our food may be to blame, while ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which have become steadily more abundant in our diets since the 1980s, have also been implicated as having a detrimental effect on the gut microbiome.
UPFs make up over half (approximately 53–57 per cent) of the daily calorie intake for the average adult in the UK. In 2025, researchers funded by the non-profit Cancer Grand Challenges published a study describing how people who consume up to 10 portions of UPFs a day – for example, through snacks, packaged breakfast cereals, fizzy drinks and ready meals – are more likely to develop bowel polyps, abnormal growths in the intestinal lining, which can progress into cancer.
“It may be that ultra-processed food influences the gut microbiome and its ability to maintain a healthy intestinal lining,” says Andrew Chan, a gastroenterologist and professor at Harvard Medical School, who led the study.
Forever chemicals
Some scientists have linked young-onset breast cancers to so-called forever chemicals or PFAS, the thousands of synthetic compounds found in everything from cosmetics to food packaging, which help make products resistant to water, stains and heat.
But as well as being useful in creating everyday items, these chemicals can also disrupt critical hormonal systems in the body by mimicking the hormone oestrogen.
Charity Breast Cancer UK says: “A large study that has looked at all the available evidence on PFAS to date has found that exposure to some PFAS (PFOA and PFHxS) may increase breast cancer risk, whilst the chemical PFNA may reduce risk. Another forever chemical, PFOS, currently has no link with breast cancer. It is important to note that most PFAS have never been tested, and their effects on human health are unknown.”
Technology and artificial light
Other researchers speculate that some of these cancers may be linked in part to another technology which has increasingly transformed society in recent decades – our constant exposure to sources of artificial light in the evening through smartphone and tablet screens.
Shuji Ogino, professor of pathology and epidemiology at Harvard University, describes this as a potentially novel carcinogen because it disrupts the body’s biological clock and impairs our sleep quality, something which has been linked to breast, colon, ovarian and prostate cancer.
“We are exposed to light a lot at night, even from when we’re babies, and that can have an adverse effect,” says Ogino.
What you can do
Of course, some early-onset cancers have a genetic component. Research suggests that 20 per cent of cancers diagnosed under the age of 35 are in some way linked to genetic predisposition, but this still leaves 80 per cent remaining.
Researchers are keen to emphasise that all of the above theories remain speculative, and so far, there is little concrete evidence linking anything to this trend.
Fast facts
- Cancer rates in 25- to 49-year-olds in the UK increased by 24 per cent between 1995 and 2019, according to a 2024 analysis by Cancer Research UK.
- Around nine in 10 cancer cases still happen in people over 50, but the under-50s are growing relatively, with around 35,000 under-50s diagnosed every year in the UK.
- That means approximately 100 younger adults were diagnosed every day between 2017 and 2019, says Cancer Research UK.
- The percentage change is more than twice the 10 per cent rise in cancers in the over-75s, the group most at risk of the disease.
However, given the link Chan has identified between a high UPF diet and bowel polyps, it may be wise to cut down on UPFs and follow a diet rich in fermented foods and plant fibre, which can help restore microbiome diversity and nourish beneficial species.
Studies have repeatedly shown that rates of bowel cancer are lower in communities that consume more dietary fibre. Consuming more fibre is also beneficial for other reasons, for example, if you have antibiotics to treat a nasty infection, studies suggest that this kind of diet can help your gut to recover faster, repopulate lost species and be more resilient to pathogenic invaders.
As Graham points out, if his research does indeed confirm the “bad bug” theory, it would suggest that it’s all the more important to ensure that children are getting a healthy diet, especially if they’re exposed to antibiotics at a young age. “In terms of the bad bug idea, it could be about thinking about how to improve and maintain microbiome health, particularly early in life, so maybe kids should eat more yoghurt, that kind of thing.”
It’s now a decade on from Oli’s passing, and the terrifying rise of early-onset cancers has only become more starkly apparent to me. Not only through the stories of celebrities like van der Beek, but through other friends and acquaintances. Understanding exactly how and why this is happening to younger people, and how we can prevent it, will be one of the great public health challenges of the next decade.