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Academia Reckons With the Death of Jason Arday and the Media Storm That Preceded It

Constantvpn.com – On a Friday in south London, the body of Jason Arday, a 41-year-old sociologist of education who had held a professorship at Cambridge University, was discovered at a home in Battersea. His death came barely two weeks after he stepped down from his academic post amid a fierce plagiarism controversy, and it has ignited a wave of public grief, political anger, and demands for accountability over how the press covered his case.

The Prime Minister described the loss as a “tragedy on so many levels,” while colleagues, friends, and public figures have moved swiftly to frame Arday’s final days not merely as a personal tragedy but as a systemic failure of media conduct and institutional protection.

A Petition Demands a Public Inquiry

More than 30,000 people have signed a letter addressed to the prime minister, calling for an “immediate public inquiry into how to ensure a responsible press.” The document was issued by the Good Law Project, the organisation that had been representing Arday after his departure from Cambridge. Among its signatories are Labour MP Diane Abbott, actress Jameela Jamil, Green Party leader Zack Polanski, Labour MPs Bell Ribiero-Addy, Clive Lewis, and Nadia Whittome, former England international footballer Eni Aluko, National Education Union general secretary Daniel Kebede, and broadcaster Carol Vorderman.

The letter asserts that Arday’s death followed “two weeks of relentless harassment” and notes that many of its signatories had previously warned media outlets about the intensity and tone of their reporting. The call for inquiry is not limited to the press alone; it extends to the broader question of how institutions protect individuals who become targets of sustained public scrutiny.

“A Vicious Witch Hunt”

Lord Woolley, principal of Homerton College at Cambridge, used the phrase “vicious witch hunt” to describe the treatment Arday endured. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Broadcasting House programme on Sunday, Woolley recounted meeting Arday four days before his death, alongside a small circle of close friends who had gathered to offer solidarity.

“Diane said to him, she held his hand, and said we will help you get through this. But on that day, we saw a man half his body weight and desperate beyond belief.”

Woolley said Arday felt “hounded” and characterised the relentless coverage as “a bloodsport.” He noted that Diane Abbott and social activist Misan Harriman were present at that meeting, both having experienced what he described as “horrible media attention” in their own careers.

Woolley went further, pressing a question he said many in the room did not want to name openly:

“We have to ask this question, we have to talk about — which a lot of people don’t want to talk about, is racism. You have to look at negatively differential treatment.”

He pointed out that plagiarism allegations are a recurring feature of academic life, yet few of those accused have faced the scale of public attention directed at Arday. The implication, drawn explicitly by Woolley, is that race shaped both the intensity of the coverage and the willingness of institutions to shield the accused.

Origins of the Plagiarism Dispute

The controversy erupted after Nathan Cofnas, a self-described “race realist” who had been removed from his own Cambridge position in 2024, publicly identified what he called numerous instances of plagiarism in Arday’s published work. Cofnas’s own departure from the university had followed a backlash to his remark that, under a genuine meritocracy, black people would “disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment.”

Arday denied every allegation. Liverpool John Moores University, which had awarded him his doctorate in 2015, subsequently concluded that he had not plagiarised any work. He resigned his Cambridge professorship on 5 August, and on 6 August the university announced an independent investigation into the circumstances of his appointment.

It is understood that Cambridge has not decided whether to proceed with that investigation. Sir Simon Baron-Cohen, a friend of Arday’s, told Times Radio on Sunday that the inquiry should continue regardless, arguing that the purpose of any investigation is precisely to discover what the evidence reveals.

Institutional Support and the Question of Adequacy

A University of Cambridge spokesperson stated that during Arday’s time at the institution he had received a range of support relating to his physical and mental well-being, including counselling, advice, and ongoing assistance. The spokesperson added that this support continued through the period of intense public and media scrutiny and persisted after his resignation.

Whether that support was sufficient, timely, or proportionate to the pressure Arday faced is now a question the public inquiry, if it proceeds, would be expected to examine.

Representation, Visibility, and the Weight of a Single Appointment

Cambridge had publicly celebrated Arday’s appointment as a young black professor, recognising that such appointments remain rare and carry outsized symbolic weight. Across UK universities, only one per cent of professors are black. Each new appointment therefore becomes, almost inevitably, a public event — and, as Arday’s case illustrates, a potential target.

The visibility that makes these appointments historically significant also exposes the individuals involved to a level of public scrutiny that their white counterparts rarely encounter. That asymmetry sits at the heart of the argument now being made by those calling for structural reform in how media and institutions handle academic disputes.

Community Response and Ongoing Tributes

Windrush campaigner Sir Patrick Vernon, himself a signatory of the petition, launched a fundraiser for Arday’s family. More than £90,000 has been raised to date. A vigil organised by the group Stand Up To Racism is scheduled for Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, where colleagues, friends, and members of the public are expected to gather.

The convergence of political, academic, sporting, and cultural figures behind the petition underscores that Arday’s death has been received not as an isolated incident but as a symptom of broader failures — in press culture, in institutional duty of care, and in the treatment of black professionals in British public life.

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Constantvpn.com – Watch: Footage shows huge plumes of smoke rising into the sky in the Moscow region At least seven people have been killed in Russia after what officials called the "largest-scale" attack launched by Ukraine this year. Some 822 drones were used – 600 aiming for Moscow, according to its regional governor who said the Russian capital had suffered "one of the most massive drone attacks in recent memory". A warehouse belonging to Russian online retailer Wildberries was hit.

Russian attacks on Ukraine also killed at least seven people and injured more than 39. Russia has intensified missile attacks across Ukraine in recent weeks, with Kyiv also stepping up drone strikes deep inside Russia. Five people died in Russia's south-western region of Rostov following overnight strikes, its governor said.

Officials in Belgorod, which borders Ukraine, said a woman was killed after a civilian bus was struck, while an 83-year-old man died in a drone attack in the Moscow region, according to Governor Andrey Vorobyov. A Wildberries warehouse in Koledino, 25km (15.5 miles) from the centre of Moscow, was hit in an attack, injuring three, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Videos shows a fire and a large plume of smoke over the warehouse.

Wildberries, known as Russia's version of Amazon, has been repeatedly targeted since July. Kyiv said at the time it was targeting logistics hubs used by Russians to buy military equipment and disrupting supplies to the Russian army. Ukraine's defence ministry said the latest attack meant that seven out of 10 of the largest Wildberries logistics centres had been "disabled".

Both warring sides accuse each other of targeting civilians. Firefighters work at the site of a book market hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv In Ukraine, a 66-year-old man and 64-year-old woman died after a private house was hit by a guided aerial bomb in the Zaporizhzhia region, officials said. Two more people were killed in Kryvyi Rih, a city in Dnipropetrovsk.

Officials in Sumy, Donetsk and Kherson also reported one death in each region, including a 51-year-old killed in a drone strike in Sumy. In Kyiv, air-raid sirens sounded four times overnight as the Ukrainian capital came under Russian attack. At least six people, including a child, were reportedly injured, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.

Russia said its attacks on Kyiv on Saturday night targeted a FirePoint facility producing parts for Ukrainian Flamingo missiles and a factory making components for drones. A book market in the city's Pochayna district was damaged in the strikes. Burnt books could be seen lying on the ground, while firefighters continue to douse the flames.

Sixty-nine-year-old Valentina's husband owned a market stall. Looking through the rubble, she told the BBC: "All these books in the street were from my husband's stall in the market – I recognise them on the floor." She added: "You never think that it will happen to you." Vinyl store owner Luba, 42, said she has lost 500,000 hryvnias (£8,262) worth of stock. "This business was my baby – many of the vinyls destroyed were rare and irreplaceable," she told the BBC.

"I want Russia to disappear from this Earth." Valentina said these books belonged to her husband's business Watch: The BBC's Dan Johnson says fighting between Ukraine and Russia has intensified Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said 13 regions had come under attack this week, with Russia launching more than 1,550 attack drones, nearly 1,560 guided aerial bombs and 62 missiles. "Wherever the Russians can reach with their ballistic missiles, they strike civilian infrastructure," he said. For years, Ukraine has relied on US supplies of Patriot interceptor missiles to shoot down Russian ballistic missiles.

But the US has used many of its stockpiles during its war with Iran and is reluctant to give up more. After initially offering Ukraine the licence to make Patriots in early July, President Donald Trump later denied the US had agreed to "give away that kind of technology". Throughout the war, as well as relying on Western partners, Ukraine has had to innovate – its home-made drones are responsible for the attacks deep into Russian territory.

And it will be able to strike Russia with domestically-made ballistic missiles within three to six months, the former Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov told CBS News, the BBC's US partner. Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and currently controls approximately a fifth of Ukrainian territory. With marginal gains being made by either side in an attritional ground battle along a lengthy front line, the war has predominantly become an aerial one, with exchanges of missiles and drones aimed at degrading each country's warfighting ability.

Putin can no longer claim victory in Ukraine, Nobel Peace Prize winner tells BBC Major Russian grain export terminals hit in Ukraine Black Sea port attack Russia using North Korean missiles to strike Ukraine, Zelensky says Ukrainian refugee wins place at Oxford University

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Trump Says US to Scale Back Korea Drills

Constantvpn.com – Trump says US to scale back its annual joint military exercises with South Korea, a decision announced via Truth Social on a Sunday just hours before the two nations were set to launch their yearly training cycle. President Donald Trump tied the move to two grievances: his claimed “very good relationship” with Kim Jong Un, and what he framed as Seoul’s refusal to join American operations against Iran. The timing left virtually no window for diplomatic recalibration before the drills were already underway.

The Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise — an 11-day combined operation drawing roughly 18,000 South Korean troops — was scheduled to begin the following Monday. Trump acknowledged the logistical reality, writing that it was “too late to cancel” at that point, yet his language made clear he intended the coming weeks to mark a structural break in how the two militaries operate together.

“These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for for the United States of America (as usual!), but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile.”

Seoul’s Cautious Response and Pyongyang’s Silence

South Korea’s government confirmed the drills would proceed “as scheduled,” a formulation that accepted the immediate reality while quietly rejecting the premise that the exercises needed curtailment. No further elaboration accompanied the statement, and the tone suggested a government managing domestic expectations while avoiding a public confrontation with its principal security guarantor.

North Korea had not issued any comment on the announcement as of the time of writing. That silence came against a backdrop of heightened military activity: Pyongyang had carried out ballistic missile tests earlier in the month, actions that violate United Nations resolutions governing its nuclear programme. Within days, South Korea, the United States, and Japan detected a second such launch, underscoring how rapidly the northern regime continues to expand its missile capabilities.

The Iran Factor and Broader Allied Friction

Underlying the exercise dispute was a deeper question about burden-sharing in America’s current conflict with Iran. Trump made explicit that he had asked South Korea’s president whether Seoul wished to join what he called the “Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” and that the answer was a flat refusal.

“While somewhat unrelated (?), I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’”

The parenthetical question mark and the quoted “No thanks!” carried an unmistakable tone of personal slight. The post appeared designed not merely to explain a military decision but to register displeasure with Seoul for withholding direct military or logistical support in the Iran campaign. That frustration extended beyond Korea: in recent weeks the president had voiced similar irritation toward Japan, France, and the United Kingdom over what he characterised as their hesitance to commit resources to the conflict.

What the Exercises Actually Involve

Ulchi Freedom Shield is the largest combined training event on the peninsula, drawing tens of thousands of personnel from both sides. Senior US and South Korean military leaders held a joint press conference the prior week confirming that the upcoming iteration would be comparable in scale to prior editions. They also addressed a specific operational concern: North Korea’s deployment of troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine. US military spokesperson Ryan Donald stated that “our training accounts for that threat,” referring to the prospect of experienced North Korean soldiers returning to the peninsula with combat experience gained on the Eastern European front.

Approximately 28,500 American service members remain stationed across South Korea, making the peninsula one of the largest peacetime US military footprints outside the continental United States. Any perceived reduction in joint readiness therefore carries implications well beyond the two Koreas, touching on deterrence calculations across the broader Indo-Pacific.

FAQ

Will the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills actually be cancelled?

No. Trump acknowledged it was “too late to cancel” the current iteration, and South Korea confirmed the exercises would proceed as scheduled. However, his language signalled intent to substantially reduce the scale and frequency of future joint exercises.

Why did Trump link the exercise decision to the Iran conflict?

Trump stated he had asked South Korea’s president to join US operations aimed at the “Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and was told “No thanks.” He framed the exercise reduction partly as a response to that refusal, alongside his stated desire to avoid sending a “hostile” signal to North Korea.

How many US troops are stationed in South Korea?

Roughly 28,500 American service members are based across South Korea, making it one of the largest peacetime US military deployments outside the continental United States. Any shift in joint training posture therefore has implications for deterrence across the wider Indo-Pacific region.

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Five Teenagers Killed in Head-On Collision on Ireland’s M9 Motorway

Constantvpn.com – A head-on collision between two cars on the M9 motorway in County Kildare claimed the lives of five teenage boys in the early hours of Sunday, while four other occupants of the second vehicle were rushed to hospital in critical or serious condition. The crash, which struck at approximately 03:00 local time near Junction 3 on the northbound carriageway, has left communities across the county in shock and prompted a wide-ranging appeal for witnesses and dashcam footage.

What Happened

Gardaí confirmed that one of the two vehicles involved had been travelling on the wrong side of the carriageway when it met the second car head-on. All five occupants of the wrong-way vehicle were teenage boys; their bodies were recovered from the scene and transported to Naas General Hospital, where post-mortem examinations are scheduled to take place. Irish broadcaster RTÉ relayed that gardaí stated no police pursuit was underway at the moment of impact.

The second vehicle sustained far less structural damage but its four occupants were all hospitalised. The driver and front-seat passenger — both women in their 30s — were airlifted or transported to Tallaght University Hospital and remain in critical condition. A female rear-seat passenger in her 20s was taken to St. Luke’s General Hospital in serious condition, while a child passenger was conveyed to Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin, also listed in serious condition.

Motorway Closure and Local Impact

The stretch of the M9 between Junction 3 and Junction 4 was closed in both the northbound and southbound directions following the collision. Local diversion routes were activated to reroute traffic around the sealed section. The M9 is a primary arterial route linking Dublin to the west of Ireland, and closures of this magnitude typically generate significant congestion for commuters and freight operators heading toward Limerick, Galway, and beyond.

Garda Commissioner’s Reaction

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly addressed the public shortly after the crash, describing the event as a “horrific incident” caused by “irresponsible and dangerous driving.” He identified the injured occupants of the second car as “family members” who were “travelling innocently” when struck by the vehicle on the wrong side of the carriageway.

“What makes this reckless behaviour even more appalling is that in some cases it is being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves.”

Kelly acknowledged the operational difficulty faced by frontline officers, noting that they “do what they can to stop such vehicles while also taking into consideration all other road users” and that “Gardaí are put in a really challenging situation dealing with such incidents.”

The Social-Media Driving Trend

The Commissioner’s remarks pointed to a growing pattern in which drivers deliberately travel the wrong way on motorways or major roads to capture short video clips for platforms such as TikTok and Instagram Reels. In Ireland, several near-misses and minor collisions have been attributed to this behaviour over recent months, and road-safety advocates have called for clearer signage and stronger enforcement at junctions where wrong-way entry is most likely. The M9’s design, with its multiple slip roads and a relatively narrow median at certain points, makes wrong-way entry particularly hazardous at night when visibility is limited and traffic volumes are lower.

Independent Investigation Underway

Fiosrú, the Office of the Police Ombudsman, was formally notified of the incident and dispatched an on-call team of investigators to the scene. An independent inquiry is now in progress. Fiosrú explained that its mandate covers incidents involving contact with gardaí in which a member of the public has died or been seriously injured, and clarified that a referral does not imply an accusation of wrongdoing against any officer. Rather, the body exists to determine independently whether any act or omission by a garda may have contributed to the death or serious harm of a person.

Political Response

Shónagh Ní Raghallaigh, Sinn Féin TD for Kildare South, described the aftermath as “absolutely catastrophic” and extended her “deepest sympathies” to the families of the five teenagers killed and to those still fighting for their lives in hospital beds.

“My heart also goes out to the first responders and all of those working in our emergency services who were met with the most horrific of scenes this morning. This loss of life is colossal and the effect those losses will have on their friends and families is incalculable.”

Appeal for Witnesses and Dashcam Footage

Gardaí have issued a public appeal asking anyone who witnessed the collision to come forward with details. Separately, they are urging road users who were travelling on the M9 — in either direction — between 02:00 and 03:00 on Sunday to check whether their vehicles were fitted with dashcams and, if so, to make any relevant footage available to the investigating team. Even brief clips capturing traffic flow, lighting conditions, or the approach of the wrong-way vehicle could prove significant in reconstructing the sequence of events leading up to the fatal impact.

Naas General Hospital, Tallaght University Hospital, St. Luke’s General Hospital, and Children’s Health Ireland at Crumlin have all been involved in the aftermath, and families of the deceased are expected to receive updates as post-mortem examinations are completed. The full circumstances of the crash, including the identity of the driver of the wrong-way vehicle and whether any prior police contact occurred, remain under active investigation.

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US Envoy Kushner Holds High-Level Talks with Hamas Leadership in Egypt

Constantvpn.com – In a diplomatic move that signals continued American engagement with the Gaza conflict, Jared Kushner — President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and designated Middle East envoy — sat down with a delegation headed by Hamas’s newly appointed overall leader, Khalil al-Hayya, in Egypt on Sunday. The encounter marks the first face-to-face contact at this tier of authority since the ceasefire agreement took effect in October of last year, underscoring how fragile and intermittent the communication channels between the two sides have remained even after formal hostilities paused.

The talks were framed around the practical mechanics of implementing the US-backed 15-point Gaza peace plan: specifically, concrete steps toward decommissioning Hamas’s arsenal, the phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from the strip, and the scale-up of humanitarian operations. No official communiqué was issued afterward, leaving the precise outcomes of the session to speculation among regional observers.

A Broader Diplomatic Constellation

Kushner did not travel alone. Board of Peace envoys Nickolay Mladenov and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair were present at the table, alongside representatives from Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey — the three states that have served as principal mediators throughout the peace process. The composition of the room reflected the multilateral architecture Trump has built around the Board of Peace, an international body originally chartered to broker stability in Gaza but subsequently broadened to encompass conflict mediation worldwide.

While in Cairo, Kushner also held a separate meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, reinforcing the role Egypt plays as both geographic neighbor and logistical gateway for any reconstruction effort in the strip.

Israel’s Defiance and the Muslim World’s Rebuke

The Kushner–Hayya talks unfolded against the backdrop of a sharp public rupture between Washington and Jerusalem. Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel would not implement the American blueprint, staking his position on a single precondition: total Hamas disarmament before any Israeli withdrawal begins.

“Israel rejects the Board of Peace’s 15-point document on Gaza. The IDF will not carry out any withdrawal until Hamas is genuinely disarmed,” Netanyahu stated, effectively defying his country’s closest strategic ally.

The plan itself, as outlined by the Board of Peace, envisions Israeli troops pulling out of Gaza and the territory being rebuilt under a new civilian Palestinian administration. Last month, the Board announced it had secured agreement in principle for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed factions operating in the strip — a milestone Netanyahu now appears unwilling to operationalize without further guarantees.

Within hours of Netanyahu’s remarks, eight Muslim-majority nations — Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, and Indonesia — issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s rejection. The communiqué warned that the Israeli position threatened the momentum of Trump’s peace architecture and risked unraveling months of painstaking negotiation.

The Human Cost Behind the Diplomacy

Behind every diplomatic communiqué and disarmament clause lies a staggering human toll. The war was ignited by the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which roughly 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were seized and held hostage. Israel’s military response launched a sustained campaign across Gaza that, according to the territory’s health ministry — whose tallies the United Nations regards as reliable — has claimed more than 73,000 lives.

The displacement crisis remains among the largest in the modern Middle East. The UN estimates that approximately 1.9 million people, representing around 90 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population, have been uprooted from their homes since the conflict began. For millions of families, the question of whether a rebuilt civilian administration will ever materialize is not an abstract policy debate but a daily survival calculation.

Fractures in the Ceasefire

Although the ceasefire that took effect on 10 October last year remains formally in place, it has been tested repeatedly. Israeli Defense Forces have carried out multiple strikes in Gaza since the truce was signed, most recently targeting what they described as “terrorists” in the Khan Yunis and Nuseirat areas. Each such operation fuels Hamas’s claim that the agreement is being violated, complicating any subsequent disarmament negotiations and giving Netanyahu additional rhetorical cover for his hardline posture.

What Comes Next

The diplomatic calendar tightens sharply on Monday, when Kushner, Mladenov, and Blair are expected to sit down with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. The stated aim is to advance implementation of the 15-point framework. Whether the Israeli prime minister will soften his disarmament-first condition, or whether the American envoys will press for a sequenced approach that pairs partial withdrawals with phased weapons handovers, will determine whether the peace architecture survives its most acute stress test yet.

For the displaced millions still living in tents and temporary shelters across Gaza, the stakes of that Monday conversation are not measured in diplomatic points but in whether a roof, a school, and a functioning hospital will exist by the next season.

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Constantvpn.com – Thousands of members of the crowd were unable to leave the event as transport was suspended Medal ceremonies at the European Athletics Championships in Birmingham were postponed after a man was arrested on suspicion of fraud. Transport at the Alexander Stadium tournament was also suspended on Saturday as a result of the arrest and necessary security procedures. Members of the crowd reported being held outside by security staff for more than an hour after the event finished, with a large police presence at the scene.

The evening session concluded with Great Britain winning a pair of gold medals in the men's and women's 4x100m relays. Tournament organisers said transport was suspended while the necessary security measures took place, but operations had returned to normal in the early hours of Sunday. A statement from Birmingham 2026 said: "The safety and wellbeing of our spectators, athletes, workforce and the wider Championships' family will always be our first priority.

"We recognise that the delays presented challenges for those affected and would like to thank everyone for their patience, understanding and cooperation throughout the evening." More information relating to the postponed medal ceremonies is due to be released later. A West Midlands Police spokesperson confirmed that a man in his 30s remains in custody for questioning. The crowd at the Alexander Stadium appeared to be near its 23,000 capacity.

At one point during the session, there was an announcement that the six medal ceremonies, scheduled to take place after the final event between 22:00 and 23:00 BST were cancelled, understood to be in relation to the police incident. People posted on social media, reporting "crazy queues" for the shuttle bus and blue flashing lights on the main road outside the stadium. A statement on the event's official account, posted on X at 23:03, said: "We apologise for the significant delays in leaving the Alexander Stadium venue this evening.

"Buses and coaches will start to arrive and departures will begin to gradually take place. "We thank you for your patience with this matter. Please listen to the instructions from the safety personnel and marshals who are there to support you." Tell us which stories we should cover in Birmingham and the Black Country West Midlands Police

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Constantvpn.com – White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt and Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez have both spoken in recent days about balancing their careers with motherhood Last summer, Representative Sara Jacobs would run up to her office to give herself injections of hormones before rushing back to Congress for a session with her fellow lawmakers. The shots were for the second round of freezing her eggs, a medical procedure that can give women more time to have children. "It was an empowering decision that gave me more agency," the 37-year-old said, adding that the process was challenging.

"Your body hurts. Your hormones are crazy. It's kind of like puberty and menopause at the same time." Jacobs announced she was beginning the egg freezing process in 2021, at a time when she said few lawmakers were discussing the topic in the halls of Congress.

The process – which can cost more than $10,000 (£7,400) and is rarely covered by insurance – involves doctors harvesting eggs from the ovaries and freezing them for a future pregnancy. This week, Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez announced she too was beginning the process of freezing her eggs , documenting the daily mechanics of giving herself hormone shots on social media. Watch: Key moments from Karoline Leavitt's White House tenure The left-wing Democrat's announcement sparked a conversation about the challenges of balancing motherhood and a demanding career, the same week that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she would be leaving the Trump administration to spend more time with her family, including her infant.

"The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mum my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy and attention required of [being] the White House press secretary," Leavitt said. Several women with busy careers spoke to the BBC about the challenges of juggling their work with motherhood in the only industrialised nation that does not mandate paid parental leave. Less than a quarter of workers in the US have access to paid family leave through their employer, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

More than 120 nations around the world – including all European countries – provide paid maternity leave. In the US, women are increasingly having children at older ages, while more are choosing not to have children at all. From 2016 to 2023, the average age of all mothers giving birth in the US rose from 28.7 to 29.6, according to a 2025 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Michele Heisler (left) says raising her children while working as a professor of medicine meant long nights, and lots of help Michele Heisler, a professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan, gave birth to her first child after going back to medical school at the age of 30. She was pregnant with her son during her third year of medical school. Heisler, who serves as medical director for non-profit Physicians for Human Rights, said she had only been able to dedicate enough time to her career because of access to resources – including nannies – and a husband who was an equal partner in parenting.

"Unless it's clear that both are equal parents, [child rearing] is always going to fall on the woman, and then you're going to have to take a step back in some way," Heisler said. Heisler said a flexible schedule is what allowed her to pursue her career to the fullest – staying up late at night to work and waking up sometimes at 05:00 to get her research done – so she could spend time with her children. Legal scholar Seema Patel says she stays up late to finish work after her children are in bed Seema Patel, an associate professor of law at UC Law San Francisco, also stays up late at night to try to finish her work so she doesn't have to miss moments with her children.

"The reality is that these years in your kids' lives are so fleeting, and I'm super aware of the time," she said. Patel worked for San Francisco's Office of Labor Standards Enforcement, which became the first local government in the US to pass a law requiring employers to provide paid parental leave. But through her career as a workers' rights lawyer, she has seen many lower-wage workers and parents who are not lucky enough to have access to paid time off.

When Patel began working as a federal attorney, her boss advised her to save up her vacation days in case she eventually wanted to have children and needed to take leave. She ended up taking the advice. "I was a brand new, young attorney who had not even contemplated that stage of my life, but I had to in that moment, face that question of – I better be saving my vacation days," she said.

But even with some maternity leave and a dedicated partner, as her children – now ages 13, 11 and seven – have grown older, the work-life juggling act remains a challenge. "I have a high-producing job," she said. "How can I do that while also being there for my kids and attentive to them?

I don't have an answer." Congresswoman Sara Jacobs documented her journey freezing her eggs on social media For now, Jacobs, who has completed two rounds of egg freezing, plans to hold off on having children while her job requires her to fly across the country from California to Washington. "Figuring out how to be a mum when I'm gone half the time across the country, it's logistically complicated," she said. Jacobs said she was impressed by her fellow lawmakers who have managed to make it work.

Only a handful of women have given birth while in Congress, while a few dozen lawmakers are mothers to children under the age of 18. The federal government, like many US employers, does not offer paid parental leave, Jacobs noted. "Both Congress and the general American workplace were designed by and for men who had often stay-at-home spouses who handled all of the domestic work," she said.

"It's going to take a lot of work for us to create a society where the domestic work is really shared equally between women and men." In the meantime, Jacobs feels reassured to have a back-up plan for whenever she does feel she can fit children into her busy career. "I hope to be able to do that one day, but I just haven't figured the time is right just yet." Who could replace White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt? Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says she's freezing her eggs Why doesn't the US have mandated paid maternity leave?

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