How a father-son team turned a backyard idea into a buzzing business with impact
Third-generation beekeeper Cedar Anderson was frustrated by the labour-intensive process of extracting honey from his hives. So, in 2015, he and his father set about developing a device that could make apiculture easier and accessible to more people. Ten years on, the Andersons are reinventing the industry with Flow Hive, a mechanism that allows honey to be withdrawn with ease.
Honey flowing into waiting jarsApiary in Byron Bay
At the heart of the product is a series of rectangular plastic frames, which bees fill with wax and store honey inside, just as they would a honeycomb. To collect its contents, the beekeeper inserts a “flow key” into the top of the hive and turns it, causing the honeycomb cells inside to break. Golden honey then flows through sealed channels inside the frame and out through tubes into collection jars. Unlike conventional apiaries, which require complex equipment to extract honey from hives, the Andersons’ solution requires minimal fuss.
Co-founders Cedar and Stuart Anderson
While the contraption was originally aimed at the commercial honey-making industry (it is capable of holding as much as 20kg), the Andersons soon realised that the streamlined process that Flow Hive offers would appeal to urban beekeepers too.
The entrance keeps wasps and other invaders outBusy at work
From humble beginnings in a tin shed, Flow Hive has built a global business with thoughtful design and environmental awareness. More than 100,000 Flow Hives have been installed in 130 countries, turning rooftops, balconies and suburban gardens into havens for pollinators. What began as a father-son side project now employs more than 50 staff, with its headquarters still nestled among the gum trees of their farm. Its manufacturing process has scaled efficiently, combining traditional joinery with streamlined digital production of honeycomb frames, allowing the business to meet surging demand.
Honey from the hives in Byron BayFlow Hive frame, filled with bees
The firm has also expanded its range to include pollinator-friendly gardening products, embedding itself within the climate-conscious home-and-garden movement. In redefining how we harvest honey, it has also reframed what it means to be a modern manufacturer: local, thoughtful and purpose-driven. Business is busier than ever.
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1. Roberto Rocha and Germán Losada Co-founders,Vemo, Mexico City
“The first time that we met one of our investors, he said, ‘You either have the best electric-mobility model that I have ever seen or you’re totally crazy,” says Roberto Rocha, Vemo’s co-founder and CEO, sitting in a ninth-floor office in Mexico City’s Polanco neighbourhood. If the past few years are anything to go by – Vemo recently raised $63m (€56m) for further expansion – it’s safe to say that the company falls into the former category. “We have proven that we have the winning formula for a market such as Mexico,” says Rocha.
Vemo founders Roberto Rocha and Germán Losada
Opposite him sits Germán Losada, his Argentine co-founder and chairman. The former investment bankers founded their mobility start-up in 2021. Noticing that the take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) in Mexico was low, they hit upon their clean-mobility idea. A core part of their business is an EV lease-to-buy programme called Vemo Impulso for ride-hailing drivers who can’t afford to buy cars right away. “We provide leasing to people who are typically not taken care of by the traditional banks because they don’t have good credit histories,” says Rocha.
Vemo, which partners with ride-hailing platforms Didi and Uber, has had to create both the supply and the demand, since little infrastructure existed before its arrival. It has been developing an extensive EV-charging network across the country and paying 1,600 ride-hailing drivers fixed salaries to work two shifts per day in its cars through its Vemo Conduce arm. “In the absence of [state] subsidies, for the economics to work, we required significant utilisation,” says Losada. A third string in Vemo’s bow is operating EV fleets for businesses.
Vemo’s lease-to-own venture is now operating in five Mexican cities, while the rest of the business also expands. “Today we have the country’s largest public charging network,” says Losada. “And in terms of charging sessions, we’re the largest in Latin America.” Mexican sales of fully electric vehicles in the first four months of 2025 almost tripled year on year and Vemo sees opportunities in other Latin American nations. “We have a unique business model that’s proven to work,” says Losada. vemovilidad.com
Steps to success
1. Build an ecosystem: Vemo realised that it needed to grow both supply and demand – and set about doing so.
2. Corner the market: It moved in an aggressive way at the beginning, acquiring four companies in the first three months.
3. Be cost efficient: The company has explored working with US EV brands but the economics don’t work for now – hence the use of Chinese models.
2. Adrián Marfil and Juan Manuel García Co-founders, Los Patrones, Monterrey
Furniture brand Los Patrones has been tapping the domestic market for what it does best: metal. Founded in 2015 by Adrián Marfil and Juan Manuel García, it is continually evolving. In 2021, for example, the company took control of its production process. Los Patrones has become a benchmark for metal-furniture excellence in Mexico and is eyeing expansion both at home and abroad.
Los Patrones founders Adrián Marfil and Juan Manuel García
Monterrey is an industrial city. How did you harness its manufacturing side? Adrián Marfil: Most of the materials that we use are metal, which is produced here. We have taken advantage of our geographical situation.
How did you end up taking over your factory? Juan Manuel García: At the beginning, our provider was my father’s company. In that post-pandemic period of sluggishness, he suggested that we absorb it, along with all of the employees.
How are you evolving? AM: We’re developing stainless steel for gardens and swimming pools, which would allow us to work better with hotels and other big projects. Then we want to look at e-commerce and retail sales.
Do you see yourselves as entrepreneurs? JMG: We saw an opportunity and we took it – the perfect definition of entrepreneurship. The factory is part of the muscle but the heart and soul of the brand is the design. lospatrones.mx
3. Maye Ruiz Founder, Maye, San Miguel de Allende
When interior designer Maye Ruiz moved from Mexico City to the town of San Miguel de Allende in her home state of Guanajuato, she was initially concerned that being away from the epicentre of art and design would hinder her career. But the move – which was prompted by her desire to be with her husband, Daniel Valero, the founder of artisan-focused studio Mestiz – gave her the chance to get out of the CDMX bubble. “It is really refreshing,” she says.
Maye Ruiz in San Miguel de Allende
In 2021, Ruiz established design studio Maye, which unabashedly embraces bold colours. “What matters most is working with people who bring a unique sensitivity and a strong creative drive,” she says. Her workplace, on a cobbled street near the centre of town, exemplifies her distinctive style. Visitors enter through a primary-blue steel door into a tranquil courtyard, where windows are framed in the same vivid hue. The bathroom and kitchen, meanwhile, are lined with ruby-red tiles.
Studio details
“My style works really well in San Miguel de Allende,” says Ruiz. Many of her clients own multiple residences worldwide, which makes them more adventurous in their design choices. “They’re bold about colour here,” says Ruiz. Because the city is famously vibrant, with streets fringed with houses in shades of peach and pink, it’s easy to break away from beige.
Beyond residential projects, Ruiz has ventured into commercial design. Notably, she collaborated with her husband on the restaurant at Casa Arca hotel in San Miguel de Allende. Located in the historic Casa Cohen, it features Ruiz’s playful décor, including large woven lampshades.
Having firmly established herself in the city, Ruiz now aims to grow and diversify her business beyond Mexico and expand into product development. “We are always looking to partner with people and brands that share our vision and push us creatively,” she says. But she has no intention of straying from her new base. “Mexico City is such a vibrant city with so many things to do but it can also be really distracting,” she says. Being in San Miguel de Allende presents a unique opportunity to grow her practice. “It’s a place where you can focus on your business.” maye.mx
4. Luis González and Ana Holschneider Founders, Cervecería Hercules and Caralarga, Querétaro
“I’m restless and have my own ideas,” says Luis González, the co-founder of Hércules brewery, a glass of sour beer in hand. His wife, Ana Holschneider, who is sitting beside him at a beer-garden table in Santiago de Querétaro, agrees. “He’s always talking about the next project,” she says. González and Holschneider, who met in Mexico City and have four children, are entrepreneurs in every sense – even though Holschneider says that they established their careers “without knowing it” and González confesses that he has never put together a business plan. It all started 14 years ago when, after a stint in Hong Kong, the couple moved to Santiago de Querétaro to take over part of a half-abandoned textile factory that belonged to González’s family.
Ana Holschneider and Luis González
Eyeing the beautiful factory buildings dating back to 1846 – as well as the grand hacienda attached to it – González saw potential and undertook an impressive renovation project with his twin brother, Carlos. The first step was to establish Cervecería Hércules, an independent craft brewery in a country dominated by big groups. “We saw the chance to make a quality beer in Mexico with profound brewing values,” he says.
Grandiose details
Making of a Caralarga piece
In step with González, Holschneider started a design studio called Caralarga, influenced by pre-Hispanic Mexico. Having previously experimented with silk and pearls, she hit upon the idea of using the threads from the Querétaro textile factory. “I walked around the factory and saw the leftovers, which looked like queso Oaxaca [a stringy cheese],” she says. “I said, ‘If we can make jewellery from this thread, it will be spectacular.’”
The couple have come a long way. Caralarga, which employs 50 people, has moved into making large wall-hangings for collectors and interior designers across the globe. Cervecería Hércules, meanwhile, has invested in expanding its capacity. Alongside the two brewery bars – and organising concerts, film screenings and dance classes at the Hércules site – it has opened a beer hall in Santiago de Querétaro, as well as a restaurant and a shop in Mexico City. “We don’t want to open something just to open it,” say González.
The latest piece of the puzzle has been Hotel Hércules, which launched in July 2023 in the former hacienda. It has 40 rooms with a mid-century aesthetic and wall hangings from Caralarga. Holschneider and González aren’t finished yet. “I never thought that all of this would happen to me,” says Holschneider. almacenhercules.mx; caralarga.com.mx
Steps to success
1. Give back: Former textile workers and residents get discounts on beer.
2. Deliver something fresh: Querétaro previously lacked a gathering space that offered so much. Identify local needs.
3. Have the right people: Holschneider’s business partner, Ariadna García, and artisan María del Socorro Gasca are key, as are Udo Muchow (García’s partner), friend Santiago Migoya and brother Carlos for González.
Five more entrepreneurs to watch
1. Juan José Gutiérrez CEO, Jelp Delivery, Tijuana: Logistics solutions software for last-mile delivery.
2. Montserrat Messeguer CEO, Montserrat Messeguer, Mexico City: Making boots inspired by the north of Mexico since 2017.
3. Mario Ballesteros Founder, Ballista, San Miguel de Allende: Curator and former magazine editor Ballesteros runs a platform for art and homeware.
4. José García Torres Investor, Mérida: The gallerist is an investor in Mérida ventures Salón Gallos and Pizza Neo.
5. Laura Noriega Founder, Tributo, Guadalajara: Design company from Jalisco’s capital that uses artisans from across the country.
At the edge of Zürich’s historic Altstetten neighbourhood, in an area adjacent to one of Europe’s busiest rail hubs, industry is in full bloom. Monocle is inside a cavernous brick building for a “Factory Friday” open-house event on the Schweizer Bundesbahn (SBB) Werkstadt Zürich campus. The reinvention of this former SBB maintenance hall, known as Halle Q, is the first step in a wider transformation of the former railway-operations area into a thriving urban factory that offers space for businesses of various kinds to operate right in the city centre, rather than being banished to the outskirts.
Bierwerk Züri team at Werkstadt Zürich
“Assembly and manufacturing can work in an urban setting,” says Christian Kaegi, whose company, Qwstion, uses banana-plant fibres to create its bags. When Werkstadt Zürich opened in 2024, Qwstion was one of its first tenants. On the last Friday of every month, members of the public are invited for a behind-the-scenes look at the design, manufacturing and repair facilities of 10 businesses. About a third of Werkstadt Zürich’s tenants now participate in Factory Friday, helping to show how things are made.
“Today there is a disconnect between the products that people consume, how they are made and what they are made from,” says Kaegi, who now runs the open-house initiative to make production more transparent to those outside the industries.
As well as Qwstion’s facilities, Werkstadt Zürich is home to natural cosmetics label Soeder, gin distillery Deux Frères and young chocolatier Laflor. Each of these companies was born and bred in Switzerland’s largest city. The development is a result of a federal mandate for SBB to generate returns from its substantial property portfolio and a policy strategy by local politicians to preserve zones for urban production in the centre of Zürich, rather than allowing it to be dominated solely by white-collar offices and housing, says Ben Pohl, an urban designer from Denkstatt Sàrl.
Christian Kaegi of QwstionNeumühle clothing
In 2016, Denkstatt Sàrl – now also a tenant at Werkstadt Zürich – and fellow Zürich-based urban designers kcap were commissioned to define and then design the project,” says Pohl. “One of the main reasons for their failure is a lack of a proper place to scale.” That’s why Werkstadt Zürich’s spaces range from modest 100 sq m rooms to 3,000 sq m units with eight-metre-high ceilings, giving tenants plenty of room to grow.
They held a series of workshops with nascent and would-be urban manufacturers who helped to inform the design. The idea was to build a learning ecosystem that would support planners, the owner and tenants as part of a thriving whole.
“It is a community for creation,” says Andreas Fehr, co-founder of apparel company Neumühle, another business that has joined the hub. Though factories disappeared from most European city centres decades ago, Werkstadt Zürich is encouraging entrepreneurs to base themselves in the heart of Zürich once again.
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Mexico City is buzzing with energy, fuelled by a population that, over the past five years, has grown by about 700,000 to reach 22.5 million. Tourism is booming too, surpassing pre-pandemic peaks. This surge in residents and visitors has sent demand for housing, office space, restaurants and retail into overdrive, keeping developers and architects on their toes. Here we highlight three entrepreneurs who are doing things a little differently.
1. Best for: The high life Meir Lobatón Corona Glance at Mexico City’s skyline and you’ll see clusters of reflective buildings. “They don’t make sense in this temperature,” says architect and developer Meir Lobatón Corona. Mirrored buildings might work in cities such as New York but not here, where the temperature is relatively mild.
Monocle is visiting Torre Gutenberg, a recently completed 13-floor office tower in Anzures, two blocks away from Chapultepec Park, designed as a flexible structure. When tenants take occupancy of a floor, they move into a cement-and-glass shell that’s designed to be transformed over time and can be repurposed as an apartment or hotel room. “We thought, ‘Since we’re going to build it, let’s make it last’,” says Lobatón Corona. “The only way to do this was by building it as a structure, not as an office tower.”
Torre Gutenberg
From inside Torre Gutenberg, where the look is softened by travertine floors and oak panels, you can see the entire city unfolding before you. “It’s completely transparent,” says Lobatón Corona. Unlike many contemporary office towers, these spaces aren’t temperature-controlled grey boxes. Every floor has a large balcony with big glass doors and windows that allow air and light to flood in.
Meir Lobatón Corona (middle right)
Model craftsmanship
Torre Gutenberg is a well-ventilated, bright space that will hopefully be as relevant in 50 years’ time as it is today. “We’re starting to understand that we don’t have to innovate just for the sake of doing something new,” says its designer.
Barrio to watch: Escandón Wedged between Condesa and San Pedro de los Pinos, Escandón offers easy access to the city centre.
Prices A two-bed flat costs between MX$6.5m and MX$6.7m (€296,000 to €305,000) on average.
Local finds: Sorbo The area’s smallest wine bar, with the laid-back atmosphere of a Sicilian enoteca. Ingenieros 41, Miguel Hidalgo, 11800
2. Best for: Rethinking the office Andrés Martínez, Iterativa When Andrés Martínez, a co-founder of Iterativa, discovered an office building on Reforma Avenue that had stood empty during the pandemic, he decided to bring it back to life. Iterativa partnered with an investment fund, which took over the lease, and then set about redeveloping it. Today it houses offices and a restaurant and nightclub, as well as co-working space Público.
Iterativa co-founders Andrés Martínez, Alfonso López-Velarde and Emilio Illanes
Iterativa doesn’t completely own the buildings that it works on. “We find the opportunity, execute the project and operate it,” says Martínez. Alongside co-working spaces, the company is rolling out hotels and serviced apartments to meet the demand for housing and accommodation in Mexico City. When Monocle meets him in the Reforma 333 building, he shows us around the businesses that now occupy the former office block.
Público, which has big grey couches and glass windows that look out at the city’s Angel of Independence, was designed to be a hub where creatives could collaborate. “Instead of following the WeWork recipe of creating a huge common area and little spaces, we spread out the communal areas in different parts of the building,” says Martínez. Despite it being a towering office block, he was adamant about giving it personality. “We wanted to design the building [like a] house, to create something much more natural where people can meet.”
3. Best for: Adaptive reuse Rodrigo Rivero Borrell, Reurbano Developer Reurbano has a well-earned reputation for breathing new life into Mexico City’s historic buildings through adaptive reuse and urban regeneration. And in a city that’s peppered with architectural gems awaiting restoration, there has been no shortage of structures for the firm to work with.
Rodrigo Rivero Borrell
When Monocle meets Rodrigo Rivero Borrell, founder and CEO of Reurbano, on the edge of the leafy Condesa neighbourhood, he whizzes us around the ground level of Zamora 15, a mixed-use space that, when completed, will also have 20 apartments. When he purchased the 80-year-old buildings in 2014, they had been abandoned for more than 25 years. Today Zamora 15 houses not only his brick-clad office but also an array of tenants who are all young entrepreneurs.
For Rivero Borrell, the choice of renters is integral. If there isn’t enough variety, “you lose a lot of the value,” he says. At a building that he developed in Roma, Reurbano welcomed tenants such as Eno, a restaurant chain popular with local residents, but also kept a grocer who had been in the building for years.
Reurbano HQ
“The grocer is very important to the community,” says Rivero Borrell. “When you see what these people who belong to a community contribute to their area, you realise just how much good you can do by keeping them there.”
And while fostering a sense of locality and belonging is good for residents, the grocer’s presence also makes sense financially. “You cannot imagine how much a well-selected commercial space on the ground floor increases the value of the properties,” says Rivero Borrell.
Pakistan continues to rank among the weakest passports in the world, placing fourth from the bottom in the latest global passport index released by Henley & Partners.
Pakistani passport holders can only travel visa-free to 32 countries — a position it shared with Somalia and Yemen, collectively ranked 96th out of 199.
Meanwhile, Singapore has once again claimed the title of the world’s most powerful passport.
According to the July-December 2025 edition of the Henley Passport Index, Singaporean passport holders now enjoy visa-free access to 193 countries, maintaining their lead in the global mobility score.
Two other Asian countries — Japan and South Korea — secured the joint second spot. Citizens of these countries can travel to 190 destinations without requiring a visa, highlighting Asia’s growing diplomatic reach in terms of travel freedom.
The third rank was shared by six countries: Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Nationals of these countries enjoy visa-free access to 189 countries.
Meanwhile, Belgium, Austria, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and Sweden collectively ranked fourth, offering visa-free access to 188 destinations.
Greece, New Zealand and Switzerland tied for the fifth position, with passport holders able to enter 187 countries without prior visa arrangements.
The Henley Passport Index ranks countries by the ease of international travel their citizens enjoy, based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Once considered the global gold standard for mobility, the US passport has now slipped to the 10th position — its lowest in recent memory — raising concerns that it may soon fall out of the top 10 altogether, for the first time in the index’s 20-year history.
In contrast, the United Arab Emirates has emerged as a rising star. Over the past decade, its passport has climbed 34 spots, now ranking 8th.
China’s travel document has also seen a remarkable 34-rank improvement over the same period, though it currently sits at the 60th spot.
At the other end of the spectrum, Pakistan continues to languish near the bottom. It was placed at 96th, tied with Somalia and Yemen, granting visa-free access to just 32 countries.
Only Iraq (97th), Syria (98th) and Afghanistan (99th) ranked lower.
Slightly above Pakistan were Nepal and Libya at 95th, followed by Palestine, Eritrea and Bangladesh in joint 94th position. North Korea (93rd), Sudan (92nd), and Sri Lanka and Iran (91st) also fared only marginally better in the global mobility landscape.
The 27-year-old completed his loan move to Barca with an option for the switch to be made permanent next summer.
England forward Marcus Rashford said Barcelona was a club where “dreams come true” as he joined the La Liga champions on a season-long loan from Manchester United, with an option to buy at the end of the 2025-26 season.
Media reports said that Barcelona would cover Rashford’s wages this season after the player accepted a pay cut, with the option to buy set at about 30 million euros ($35.25m) for the 27-year-old.
“Very excited. I think it’s a club where people’s dreams come true. They win big prizes. And what the club stands for really means a lot to me as well. So it feels like I am at home,” Rashford told reporters following his unveiling on Wednesday.
“Another factor is because the conversations I had with the manager [Hansi Flick] were positive. What he did last season was terrific.
“To lead such a young team to a very successful season and come back to preseason and still want to do more, it shows me everything I thought I knew about the club, and it’s everything I wished.”
Once seen as a club icon and homegrown star, Rashford had a dramatic fall from grace at United, marked by a falling out with manager Ruben Amorim that paved the way for him to move to Aston Villa on loan in February.
“[Manchester United] is in a period of change, and they have been for a while. I don’t have anything bad to say as it has been an important part not just of my career but my life, so I was grateful for the opportunity,” he added.
“But like life, not everything goes as simple as you thought, and this is my next chapter, and I’m fully focused on improving myself and helping the team win trophies.”
Barcelona said Rashford had signed his contract earlier on Wednesday afternoon. “Rashford can play anywhere in attack. Right footed, he can take players on and is an excellent finisher, talents he can now show in a Barca shirt,” the club said in a statement.
Marcus Rashford moved from Manchester United to Aston Villa during the mid-season transfer window in February [File: Chris Radburn/Reuters]
Second time lucky with Barca loan deal
The move to Barcelona came after Manchester-born Rashford, who made 426 senior appearances and scored 138 goals for United in all competitions, fell out of favour with Amorim, who called his work rate into question.
Rashford, who won two FA Cups, two League Cups and a Europa League title with United, joined Aston Villa on loan after Amorim said he would rather put a goalkeeper coach on the bench than a player not giving their all.
United issued a statement wishing Rashford well as they announced the deal with Barcelona.
“Everyone at Manchester United wishes Marcus good luck for the season,” the club said.
The forward, who has scored 17 goals for England in 62 appearances, said he was feeling fitter and better after joining Villa, where he netted two goals in 10 league games, while United had their worst-ever Premier League campaign, finishing 15th in the standings.
Rashford said he had wanted to move to Barca during the mid-season transfer window when he joined Villa.
“I was clear on my preference [to join Barcelona] from the beginning. Actually, from maybe in January. It didn’t work out in January, so I went to Villa and enjoyed a good period there,” he said.
“It was time to make another decision. My choice was easy. [Barcelona] is a family club, something I’m used to from my past. It feels like home.”
Barcelona are set to play three preseason friendlies in Japan and South Korea, starting on July 27.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalizations led to poorer outcomes and a higher risk of cardiovascular events than influenza, urinary tract infection (UTI) or fracture hospitalizations in older adults.1
“Unlike other respiratory viruses, immunity against RSV tends to decline relatively quickly. This means that a previous infection will not afford the same long-term protection as it might for influenza or COVID-19,” corresponding author Chris Verschoor, PhD, HSN, Foundation Research Chair in Healthy Aging at Health Sciences North Research Institute, said in a statement.2 “Our findings reinforce the importance of RSV vaccination in older adults and suggest that monitoring for signs of heart disease following an RSV illness may be pragmatic.”
Verschoor and colleagues conducted a retrospective cohort study of adults aged at least 65 years hospitalized with a diagnosis of RSV, influenza, UTI, or fracture between 2011 and 2020 in Ontario, Canada. They measured outcomes including subsequent heart failure, myocardial infarction, stroke, or atrial fibrillation (AF) events up to 1-year post-discharge, as well as in-hospital and acute outcomes.
The investigators identified cardiovascular events in 18.5% (n = 474/2558) of patients who had an RSV-related hospitalization, compared to 17.7% (n = 2961/16,688), 12.1% (n = 8908/73,587), and 8.4% (n = 941/11,262) of patients initially hospitalized with influenza, UTI, or fracture, respectively.1
They conducted matched analyses which revealed that RSV hospitalization was associated with a greater rate of subsequent heart failure events relative to influenza (HR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.14–2.38), UTI (HR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.28–2.88) and fracture (HR, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.41–2.31) hospitalizations.1
This was similar for those without a pre-existing cardiovascular condition and those with at least 1, although differences between RSV and influenza were not significant (HR, 1.42; 95% CI, 0.93–2.16 and HR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.83–1.25, respectively) in those with at least 1. In these patients, Hazards were significant when compared to UTI (HR, 2.51; 95% CI, 1.52–4.15 and HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.19–1.85, respectively) and fracture (HR, 3.74; 95% CI, 1.97–7.08 and HR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.14–2.14).1
Patients hospitalized for RSV also had a higher rate of AF compared to those hospitalized for fracture (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.08–2.08). In those without a pre-existing cardiovascular condition, the rate in patients with RSV was 2.61 (95% CI, 1.29–4.91) times higher than those with UTI and 2.29 (95% CI, 1.14–4.58) times higher than those with fracture. Patients with RSV also had higher rates of stroke, although the limited incidence resulted in wide confidence intervals.1
For secondary outcomes, patients with RSV had increased 30-day mortality, higher rates of ICU admission, and longer hospital stays compared to other groups. The odds of ICU transfer were especially elevated for patients with RSV, regardless of cardiovascular history. Compared with patients who had a UTI or a fracture and no pre-existing cardiovascular conditions, the likelihood of ICU admission was significantly higher (OR, 4.63; 95% CI, 3.26–6.58 and OR, 3.75; 95% CI, 2.60–5.42, respectively). Thirty-day mortality rates were also generally elevated among patients with RSV, ranging from 1.49 to 3.98. Lengths of stay were approximately 11% to 32% longer for patients with RSV, except in the case of fracture, where stays were shorter regardless of cardiovascular status. The 30-day readmission risk was higher for patients with RSV than for those with fractures (OR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.08–1.71), but lower than for those with UTIs (OR, 0.73; 95% CI, 0.59–0.90).1
“In summary, our findings further substantiate the importance of RSV as a significant cause of short- and long-term health outcomes in older adults, and in particular, the rate of heart failure. Given the variable nature of RSV testing over the past two decades, we cannot conclude that our findings are generalizable to all older patients hospitalized for an RSV illness. Nonetheless, increased monitoring in-hospital and routine follow-up with older RSV patients for cardiovascular symptoms indicative of decompensation (e.g., dyspnea, arrythmia, weight gain, etc.) may be beneficial to mitigate long-term outcomes. Although RSV infections are less common than influenza in older adults, they remain a substantial source of economic burden to healthcare systems. Our findings underline the importance of robust and effective public health strategies regarding RSV vaccines,” Verschoor and colleagues concluded.1
REFERENCES
Verschoor CP, Cerasuolo JO, Caswell JM, et al. Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)‐Related Hospitalization and Increased Rate of Cardiovascular Events in Older Adults. J Am Ger Soc. Published online July 23, 2025. doi: 10.1111/jgs.19591
How does infection with respiratory syncytial virus affect the health of older adults? News release. Wiley. July 23, 2025. https://newsroom.wiley.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2025/How-does-infection-with-respiratory-syncytial-virus-affect-the-health-of-older-adults/default.aspx
Mohammed’s skeletal arms stick out of a romper with a grinning emoji-face and the slogan “smiley boy”, which in a Gaza hospital reads as a cruel joke. He spends much of the day crying from hunger, or gnawing at his own emaciated fingers.
At seven months old, he weighs barely 4kg (9lbs) and this is the second time he has been admitted for treatment. His face is gaunt, his limbs little more than bones covered in baggy skin and his ribs protrude painfully from his chest.
“My biggest fear now is losing my grandson to malnutrition,” said his grandmother Faiza Abdul Rahman, who herself is constantly dizzy from lack of food. The previous day the only thing she ate was a single piece of pitta bread, which cost 15 shekels (£3).
“His siblings also suffer from severe hunger. On some days, they go to bed without a single bite to eat.”
Mohammed Aliwa is in hospital with severe malnutrition. Photograph: Seham Tantesh/The Guardian
Mohammed was born healthy but his mother was too malnourished to produce breast milk, and the family has only been able to get two cans of baby formula since.
The ward at the Patient’s Friends Benevolent Society hospital is crowded with other skeletal children, some doubled up on the 12 beds. There are only two functioning paediatric teams left in Gaza City, and up to 200 children turn up daily seeking treatment.
Dr Musab Farwana spends his days trying, but often failing, to save them. Then he goes home to share meals that are too small with his own hungry sons and daughters.
The whole family are losing weight fast, because his salary buys almost nothing, and he doesn’t want to risk the deadly race for supplies handed out by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation after another medic, Dr Ramzi Hajaj, was killed trying to get food at one site.
More than 40 of the 111 recorded starvation deaths in Gaza occurred over a three-day period this week
Gaza has never been hungrier, despite several warnings about impending famine over the course of nearly two years of war. Over just three days this week public health officials recorded 43 deaths from hunger; there had been 68 in total before that.
Faiza Abdul Rahman, who has stayed in Gaza City throughout the war, said even the time of the most intense controls on food entering northern Gaza last year were not as bad. “We faced hunger before, but never like this,” she said. “This is the hardest phase we’ve ever endured.”
Testimony from local people and doctors, and data from the Israeli government, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and the UN and humanitarian organisations, shows food is running out.
Empty shelves are reflected in soaring prices, with flour selling for more than 30 times the market rate at the start of the year.
Graphic showing rising price of flour
Even money or influential employers can no longer protect Palestinians. “Humanitarian organisations are witnessing their own colleagues and partners waste away before their eyes,” more than 100 aid groups working in Gaza, including MSF, Save the Children and Oxfam, warned in a joint statement this week.
The journalists’ union at AFP said on Monday that for the first time in the news agency’s history it risks losing a colleague to starvation. On Wednesday the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said a “large proportion” of Gaza’s population was starving. “I don’t know what you would call it other than mass-starvation – and it’s man-made,” he said.
For months Israel has choked off food shipments. The total amounts allowed in since the start of March are well below starvation rations for the 2.1 million population, and Palestinians are already weakened by the impact of prolonged food shortages and repeated displacement.
“For nearly two years, children here have suffered from famine. Even if some days they felt full, it’s not just about being full, it’s about receiving the nutrients the body needs. And those are completely absent,” said Farwana, the paediatrician.
Those years of malnourishment make them more vulnerable to other diseases, and their low immunity is compounded by the severe shortages of basic medical supplies, which Israel has also blocked from entry.
“Often, I feel devastated because there’s something so simple the child needs to survive, and we just can’t provide it,” he said. Three severely malnourished patients died in intensive care this week, one of them a girl who would have probably survived if doctors had been able to give her intravenous potassium, normally a basic medication, and now impossible to get hold of in Gaza.
“We tried to give her oral alternatives, but due to her malnutrition and resulting complications, she had poor absorption.”
“These cases haunt me, they never leave my mind. This child could have gone back to her family and lived a normal life. But because one simple thing wasn’t available she didn’t survive.”
Israel imposed a total siege on Gaza from 2 March. When the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, lifted it on 19 May he claimed the government was acting to prevent a “starvation crisis”, because some of the country’s staunchest allies told him they would not tolerate images of famine.
In fact the Israeli government simply shifted course to draw out the starvation crisis, letting in only minimal quantities of aid so that Gaza’s descent towards famine progressed a bit more slowly.
The Israeli government announced plans to channel all aid through a secretive US-backed organisation that runs four militarised distribution points.
Hundreds of people have been killed trying to get food handed out at sites Palestinians describe as “death traps”, which have handed out supplies that meet only a fraction of Gaza’s needs.
By 22 July, GHF had been operating for 58 days but the food it had brought in would only have sustained the population of Gaza for less than a fortnight, even if it was distributed equally.
The Khalidi family children: Sabah, 12, Saba, 11, Zeina, 10, Ammera, two, Mohammed, seven, and Yousef, 13. Photograph: Seham Tantesh/The Guardian
On Tuesday Umm Youssef al-Khalidi was preparing to try her luck at a GHF distribution centre for the first time. She had avoided them for months because her youngest child is two and her oldest 13 and her husband is paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.
“We have been silencing our hunger with water,” she said. “My fear for my family is greater than my fear for myself. I fear something bad will happen to me, and I’ll leave them without anyone to care for them.”
But her family went without food for four days last week, and when they broke the fast, eight of them had to share a bag of rice and two potatoes given to them by a passing stranger.
The children were excellent students before the war, who always won scholarships. Now they spend their days sitting on the edge of the street under a bombed mosque in al-Wehda neighbourhood in Gaza City, where the girls try to sell bracelets rather than just begging.
There is little demand for cheap jewellery in Gaza today, and although sometimes a passerby takes pity on the gang of skinny kids with dirty faces and tattered clothes, soaring prices means it buys little food.
The Khalidi family sit in front of the rubble of a bombed mosque while in front of them is a table where children sell bracelets made of beads. Photograph: Seham Tantesh/The Guardian
“My children have become skeletal, skin and bone,” Khalidi said. “Even the slightest effort makes them dizzy. They sit down again, asking for food, and I have nothing to give. I can’t lie and say I’ll bring them something when I know I won’t be able to.”
So she had decided that in the grim calculus of risks for her family, the hope of getting a little food finally outweighed the risk of losing the adult who held their lives together.
Her husband’s phone had been stolen earlier in the war, so they would have no way to communicate over the long hours that she would spend trekking to the GHF site, then racing to try to get food, and walking back. The family would just have to wait and hope.
“I have no one else to send,” she said. “It’s painful to watch them suffer, and their health gets worse every day they go without food.”
Up to 85,000 new mothers in England may have been impacted by postnatal depression last year, according to new analysis.
The illness can be “truly devastating” when left untreated, potentially leading to the “unnecessary” deaths of women and sometimes their babies, the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) warned.
Postnatal depression is a condition that can develop after childbirth.
While many women may feel tearful or anxious after giving birth, this does not usually last for more than two weeks.
Persistent feelings of sadness, low mood, a lack of interest in things and a lack of energy could indicate postnatal depression.
Other symptoms can include trouble sleeping, withdrawing from other people, problems concentrating and scary thoughts, such as thinking about hurting your baby.
Using Office for National Statistics data which shows there were 567,708 live births in 2024, RCPsych estimates between 56,000 to 85,000 mothers – or between 10% to 15% – may have experienced postnatal depression.
The college highlights that maternal suicide is the leading cause of death in women from six weeks to a year after birth and also said prenatal mental illness – conditions that develop during pregnancy – can put unborn babies at risk of premature birth or low birth weight.
RCPsych is urging women and their partners to seek support for these treatable conditions.
Dr Trudi Seneviratne, consultant perinatal psychiatrist and immediate past RCPsych registrar, said: “Women can experience an enormous amount of change, including increased stress factors when they become pregnant, and this may negatively affect their mental health.
“Postnatal depression is far more common than many people realise and can have a devastating impact on mothers, babies and families if left untreated.”
Treatment for postnatal depression can include talking therapies or antidepressants.
Dr Seneviratne stressed that medics are trained to ensure medication is safe to take when pregnant or breastfeeding, and warned that the risks of untreated depression outweigh the risk of antidepressants.
“Mothers who receive talking therapy and other forms of care from mental health services will often be able to recover, but some might be so unwell that they need medication, including antidepressants,” she said.
“Medication helps save lives. The dangers of untreated depression far outweigh the risks of antidepressants.
“The unnecessary deaths of mothers and sometimes their babies that result from failure to treat these conditions are truly devastating.
“Doctors are trained to ensure that the medication they prescribe is as safe as possible to take while pregnant or breastfeeding. Medication should be reviewed regularly, and any side effects closely monitored.
“For children to thrive, they need as good a start in life as possible, and this is important not only for the child and their mother but also communities and society as well. We all have a role to play in ensuring mothers and their partners feel confident seeking support when they need it.”
Humans beat AI gold-level score at top maths contest – Daily Times
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