Entertainment
In a UK first, Pakistani doctor treats thalassaemia patients through gene therapy
LONDON: British-Pakistani paediatric consultant Dr Sher Bahadur Anjum has successfully treated two young thalassaemia patients through gene therapy, transforming their lives to complete normality — for the first time in the UK.
Dr Anjum, who specialises in haematology (blood disorders) at Newham Hospital in East London, part of Barts Health NHS Trust, led a team of carers at the Newham Hospital to treat the two young boys, now aged 11 and 13, of Bangladeshi background.
Thalassemia is a genetic condition that is most common in those who are Pakistani, Indian, and Bangladeshi. It is a blood disorder, and people with thalassemia have low iron and oxygen levels in the body. This can make them severely anaemic — tired, short of breath, and pale.
To treat their thalassemia, the two patients needed to go to the hospital for blood transfusions every month, which had a major impact on their quality of life. The only cure is a stem cell or bone marrow transplant, but this is not done very often because of the risks involved, and it can be difficult to find donors.

Thanks to an innovative new gene therapy administered by Dr Anjum and his team, working with Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), the two young boys, now aged 11 and 13, are now living healthy, happy lives without further hospital visits or regular blood transfusions.
Before getting the 4-week treatment at GOSH, Dr Anjum and the healthcare team at Newham Hospital conducted extensive pre-gene therapy care over three months, which included blood testing, vaccinations and maintaining the correct haemoglobin levels. Their care at Newham also continued long after the treatment, with monitoring, blood counts and managing the side effects.
When Dr Anjum first approached the families, they were both hesitant to start this therapy as it was new, and requires an initial longer hospital stay. However, after almost 12 months of speaking to them, listening and answering their questions and concerns, they were reassured to start the treatment for their children.

Now their lives have changed forever thanks to the treatment, and they want to encourage other South Asian parents to take up the offer if doctors find them eligible.
Dr Anjum, who originally studied in Gilglit Baltistan’s Astoria village and then Abbottabad Medical College (AMC) told Geo News: “Gene therapy is a new treatment that aims to fix the problem at its root. Doctors take some of your child’s own blood stem cells, add a healthy copy of the gene needed to make haemoglobin, and then return these cells to the body after special preparation. The goal is that your child’s body starts making enough haemoglobin on its own, so they no longer need regular blood transfusions. In many children, this has already worked successfully.
“Both of my patients had grown up knowing nothing but hospital visits and transfusions. Their parents had shouldered years of emotional and practical struggles, doing everything possible to keep their children well. When Barts Health NHS Trust was asked to identify patients for the new gene therapy programme, we saw a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“But convincing the families was not simple. Gene therapy is new, complex, and frightening to parents who have already endured so much. Understandably, both families were hesitant and fearful of risks. It took almost a year of continuous conversations, reassurance, and building trust before they agreed. At the Great Ormond Street Hospital, I was given an honorary contract so I could support the children and their families before, during, and after the procedure. The therapy itself was intense, requiring months of preparation, but the courage of these families carried them through.
“Six months on, the transformation is extraordinary. These children, once tethered to hospital beds and transfusion schedules, are now living normal lives without the need for blood transfusions. Their energy has returned, their futures are brighter, and their families have finally been released from the unending cycle of hospital visits.”
Dr Anjum said that for the first time, families affected by thalassaemia can imagine a future where their children are free from the shadow of chronic illness. “It shows the power of gene therapy to turn despair into hope, and it highlights what collaboration within the NHS can achieve when we put patients and families at the heart of care.”
Entertainment
Victoria Beckham ‘won’t let family feud ruin Christmas’
Victoria Beckham has reportedly decided not to let the fallout with her son Brooklyn disturb her family’s Christmas.
Victoria, 51, and Sir David, 50 are involved in a feud with their eldest child and his wife Nicola Peltz.
During this time, the couple have missed all of the family’s important events over the past year-notably the footballer’s 50th birthday celebrations and his knighthood.
In this situation, Brooklyn, 26, is likely to celebrate the festive period with Nicola and her family in Miami, while the Beckhams celebrate without them in the United Kingdom.
In this difficult scenario, Victoria is believed to be working hard to put on a brave face and stay strong for her husband and teenage daughter Harper, 14.
The couple are also parents to Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 20.
A source said: ‘It’s been a year since they last all saw each other and it’s something she will never come to terms with. But she won’t let it get her down over the festive period as she needs to be strong, especially for Harper, as well as her parents and David’s parents’.
Friends of the Beckham family have said Victoria’s mum Jackie and David’s mum Sandra are ‘very sad’ at the rift that means they no longer see Brooklyn, especially because they were always so close.
The insider told The Sun: ‘Brooklyn spent so much time with her parents Jackie and Tony for the first few years of his life and they had such a special bond, while Sandra looked after him so much growing up’.
‘Harper really misses her big brother and Nicola. Victoria is hoping that Brooklyn at least calls his grandparents over Christmas. She’s given up on him calling her.’
It comes after his estranged brother Cruz offered another Olive branch to Brooklyn on Sunday, by sharing a home video clip of himself and Brooklyn as children.
Entertainment
Jelly Roll pardoned by Tennessee governor for robbery, drug convictions
Tennessee’s governor pardoned country star Jelly Roll on Thursday for his criminal past in the state, acknowledging the Nashville native’s long road back from drugs and prison through soul-searching, songwriting and advocacy for second chances.
The rapper-turned-singer, whose legal name is Jason Deford, has spoken for years about his redemption arc before diverse audiences, from people serving time in correctional centers to concert crowds and even in testimony before Congress.
Republican Gov. Bill Lee issued his pardon after friends and civic leaders of the Grammy-nominated musician joined in an outpouring of support.
He has said a pardon would make it easier for him to travel internationally for concert tours and to perform Christian missionary work without requiring burdensome paperwork.
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for iHeartRadio
He was one of 33 people to receive pardons Thursday from Lee, who for years has issued clemency decisions around the Christmas season. Lee said Jelly Roll’s application underwent the same monthslong thorough review as other applicants. The state parole board gave a nonbinding, unanimous recommendation for Jelly Roll’s pardon in April.
“His story is remarkable, and it’s a redemptive, powerful story, which is what you look for and what you hope for,” Lee told reporters, adding he hopes to meet Jelly Roll for the first time soon.
Beginning at the age of 14, Jelly Roll was in and out of jail for about a decade for convictions including aggravated robbery, shoplifting, drug possession and drug dealing.
In January 2024, “CBS Sunday Morning” interviewed Jelly Roll inside the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Nashville, where he had once been an inmate. At the time, Jelly Roll had just been nominated for two Grammys.
“There was a time in my life where I truly thought … this was it,” he told “CBS Sunday Morning.” “And then coming here, you know, just after getting nominated for two Grammys, it just hits different…I didn’t think I’d get emotional, to be honest.
He told “CBS Sunday Morning” he wrote hundreds of songs while in jail.
Unlike recent high-profile federal pardons, which let people off the hook for prison, a pardon in Tennessee serves as a statement of forgiveness for someone who has already completed a prison sentence and been released. Pardons offer a path to get certain civil rights restored, such as the right to vote, although there are some limitations under state law, and the governor can specify the terms.
Jelly Roll broke into country music with the 2023 album “Whitsitt Chapel” and crossover songs like “Need a Favor.” He has won multiple CMT Awards, a CMA Award and also picked up seven career Grammy nominations, three of them recently.
Much of his work has become associated with overcoming adversity, like the song “Winning Streak” that tells the story of someone’s first day sober. Or the direct-and-to-the-point, “I Am Not Okay.”
In making his case to the parole board, Jelly Roll said he first fell in love with songwriting while in custody, stating it began as a therapeutic passion project that “would end up changing my life in ways that I never dreamed imaginable.”
Beyond his sold-out shows, he’s brought his story to the Senate, where he testified in January 2024 about the dangers of fentanyl, describing his drug-dealing younger self as “the uneducated man in the kitchen playing chemist with drugs I knew absolutely nothing about.”
“I was a part of the problem,” he told lawmakers at the time. “I am here now standing as a man that wants to be a part of the solution.”
Jelly Roll’s most serious convictions include a robbery at age 17 and drug charges at 23. In the first case, a female acquaintance helped Jelly Roll and two armed accomplices steal $350 from people in a home in 2002. Because the victims knew the female acquaintance, she and Jelly Roll were arrested right away. Jelly Roll was unarmed, and was sentenced to one year in prison plus probation.
In another run-in 2008, police found marijuana and crack cocaine in his car, leading to eight years of court-ordered supervision.
Friends and civic leaders backed the pardon application, citing Jelly Roll’s transformation.
Davidson County Sheriff Daron Hall, who runs Nashville’s jail, wrote that Jelly Roll had an awakening in one of the jails he managed. Live Nation Entertainment CEO and President Michael Rapino cited Jelly Roll’s donations from his performances to charities for at-risk youth.
The parole board began considering Jelly Roll’s pardon application in October 2024, which marks the state’s five-year timeline for eligibility after his sentence expired. Prominent Nashville attorney David Raybin represents Jelly Roll in the pardon case.
Lee’s office said no one was pardoned Thursday who had a homicide or a sex-related conviction, or for any crime committed as an adult against a minor.
Entertainment
Famed Kennedy arts center to be renamed ‘Trump-Kennedy Center’
The White House announced on Thursday that Washington’s iconic John F Kennedy arts centre is to be renamed the “Trump-Kennedy Center” after President Donald Trump.
The extraordinary naming of a major cultural venue after a living president is just the latest effort by the 79-year-old Republican to stamp his identity on the US capital in his second term.
He has also demolished the White House East Wing in order to install a grand ballroom, and is seeking to construct a large triumphal arch.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the Kennedy Center’s board — which Trump purged of Democrats earlier this year before installing himself as chairman — had “voted unanimously” for the change.
She said it was “because of the unbelievable work President Trump has done over the last year in saving the building. Not only from the standpoint of its reconstruction, but also financially, and its reputation.”
“Congratulations to President Donald J. Trump, and likewise, congratulations to President Kennedy, because this will be a truly great team long into the future! The building will no doubt attain new levels of success and grandeur,” she added.
The towering white monument is named after president John F Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. The centre, which sits on the banks of the Potomac River, opened in 1971.
Trump has made a number of references to renaming the centre in recent months.
Earlier this month at the opening of a peace institute that had also been renamed after him, Trump referred to it as the “Trump-Kennedy Center,” before adding: “Whoops, excuse me.”
During his first term, billionaire Trump never attended the annual fundraising gala for recipients of the prestigious Kennedy Center Honors, as many of those artists vocally opposed his policies.
This time, Trump moved quickly to make the centre his own, ridding the board of trustees of its Democratic appointees and ousting its president, as part of a wider assault on federally funded cultural institutions he deemed too “woke.”
Trump then presented the honours this year himself, giving awards to “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone, disco legend Gloria Gaynor and rock band KISS.
A few days earlier, at the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup on December 5, Trump received a new peace prize from football’s governing body and made a speech on stage.
-
Business5 days agoHitting The ‘High Notes’ In Ties: Nepal Set To Lift Ban On Indian Bills Above ₹100
-
Politics1 week agoTrump launches gold card programme for expedited visas with a $1m price tag
-
Business1 week agoRivian turns to AI, autonomy to woo investors as EV sales stall
-
Fashion1 week agoTommy Hilfiger appoints Sergio Pérez as global menswear ambassador
-
Business1 week agoCoca-Cola taps COO Henrique Braun to replace James Quincey as CEO in 2026
-
Sports1 week agoPolice detain Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore after firing, salacious details emerge: report
-
Sports1 week agoU.S. House passes bill to combat stadium drones
-
Tech1 week agoGoogle DeepMind partners with UK government to deliver AI | Computer Weekly
