Netflix has scored a new hit with a series about five seemingly unconnected Black and ethnic minority Londoners who discover they have superpowers. The link between them? They all suffer from sickle cell anaemia, a condition that disproportionately affects people of colour.

"Supacell" debuted on the streaming service in June, a month after the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) approved a new drug that may alleviate the symptoms of the thousands of people living with sickle cell. 

What is sickle cell anaemia? 
Sickle cell anaemia is the most common and most serious of the group of genetic conditions known collectively as sickle cell disease. It affects approximately 17,500 people in the UK. The illness occurs predominantly in people of African or Caribbean heritage, and to a lesser extent in those of South Asian, Latin American or Middle Eastern ancestry.

What are the symptoms?
Sufferers experience painful episodes called "sickle cell crises" that can be "very severe" and last for days or weeks, said the NHS. These episodes can be triggered by exposure to cold, sudden temperature changes or dehydration. People living with sickle cell disease are prone to anaemia and may require frequent blood transfusions. They also have a higher risk of strokes, coma and certain types of infection, as well as a reduced life expectancy.

How is it treated?
Hydroxyurea, a relatively cheap drug that helps form red blood cells and alleviates symptoms, has been used to treat the condition. However, it also reduces the white blood cell count, which can weaken the immune system.

But a new drug called Voxelotor that alleviates the symptoms of sickle cell disease has been described as "life-changing". Voxelotor works by helping haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells, hold on to more oxygen, and prevents the blood cells from becoming misshapen. Although it was initially rejected for widespread NHS use, Nice approved the drug in May for treating sickle cell anaemia in people aged 12 and older, with around 4,000 patients set to benefit.

She's best known for a song about a firework but to say that Katy Perry's latest release neither bangs nor lights up the sky would be putting it politely, according to critics.  

Reaction to would-be feminist anthem "Woman's World" has been almost universally brutal, with Perry subjected to a "digital flogging", said Adam White in The Independent. Her "ethics, creativity, styling" and choice of collaborators have all been "put on trial at the Pop Culture Hague".

'Dragged back in time'
The lyrics of the "toothless, juvenile song" have been "roasted" for "sounding like the kind of thing you sing to your dog when no one is home", said Kenneth Shepard on Kotaku. The track is "meant to be empowering" but "just ends up being Perry saying a bunch of adjectives and platitudes".

Much of the hostility is fuelled by the sense that the "girl power" vibe is out of place in 2024. "Woman's World" is a "dated attempt at writing a feminist anthem" that made me "feel stupider every sorry time I listened to it", said Laura Snapes in The Guardian. I had a "strange sensation" of being "dragged back in time" to a pop culture era when the "notion that girls just wanted to have fundamental rights" was treated as something that had the world clutching its "collective smelling salts". 

'Packs some punch'
Positive write-ups are few and far between, though the song's production is "sound, sturdy even", said Justin Curto in Vulture, and "sonically, the chorus even packs some punch".

But Perry has been dubbed a "hypocrite" for collaborating with "embattled" producer Dr. Luke, who was sued by singer Kesha for sexual assault, said Forbes. The case was dropped and he has repeatedly denied the allegation.

Controversies aside, Perry has "always been at her weakest when she comments on capital-S society", said Cat Zhang in The Cut. Instead, "what people want" from her is "fantasy, escapism".

Bodø has more to offer than majestic scenery. Situated on a peninsula in the Norwegian Sea, the remote town has been designated a European Capital of Culture for 2024, becoming the first destination above the Arctic Circle to receive the accolade.

A decade ago, said BBC Travel, the "sleepy" town was known among Norwegians as "Boring Bodø", and its biggest "claim to fame" was its military base. Now, Bodø (pronounced "buddha") has transformed itself into "one of the fastest growing places in Norway", dotted with high-end restaurants and galleries.

This is no accident. After its Nato airbase moved elsewhere, the town had to "create a new identity" through tourism, said the i news site. Without a historic downtown (much of Bodø was "obliterated" by the Luftwaffe during the Second World War) this wasn't easy. But the town has gradually developed into a vibrant cultural hub, a journey that was kickstarted by the construction of the gleaming white Stormen Concert Hall and library on the waterfront in 2014.

Consider taking a tour boat out to Saltstraumen – one of the world's strongest tidal currents. Or stay on land for a visit to Beddingen Culture House, a former boat showroom transformed into an outstanding live music and theatre venue. And be sure to try one of Bodø's saunas (ideally at sunset).

The town and surrounding region will host more than 1,000 exhibitions, concerts and events, including Nordland's first-ever light festival in November, throughout the year. If you're lucky, you might even catch the northern lights.

Putin is leading Russia into a demographic catastrophe
Francis Dearnley in The Telegraph
If any government knows "how to falsify figures to bolster weak causes", writes Francis Dearnley, it's the Kremlin. "'Moscow can always find more men', one hears people say, justifying Western inaction" on Ukraine, "but this is simply not true". Russia's "fighting age population", at 14 million, is "not gargantuan" and the conflict has "deepened Russia's demographic crisis". And one "cannot put a figure" on Ukraine's "will to survive as a free nation".

Wes Streeting's puberty blocker ban makes sense
Lara Brown in The Spectator
The health secretary "has put clinical evidence and child welfare above ideology and intimidation" in standing by the ban on puberty blockers for children, says Lara Brown. Wes Streeting's move was "met with extreme indignation in some quarters" but he is "right". The government's stance on gender identity will no doubt be tested again, but Streeting's "first actions in his new brief" represent a "promising start".

Goodbye to the meaningless corporate jargon of the Tories
Emily Bootle for the i news site
In her "short yet apocalyptic stint" as prime minister, Liz Truss "not only spoke like a malfunctioning robot, but did so in obtuse management-speak", writes Emily Bootle. For me, "levelling up" was the "tipper-over-the-edge" of odd Tory language. But hopefully, we will now see a "welcome" departure from the "stultifyingly corporate mentality that has defined our politics since the late 2010s", reliant on jargon to obfuscate its failures, "like thick icing on an unrisen cake".