AN EIGHTIES bombshell looked unrecognisable as she ran errands in Los Angeles, 39 years after starring in the legendary sci-fi movie – but can you guess who she is?

The actress, now 69, shot to fame in the cult superhero film in 1987, with a blockbuster remake coming out earlier this summer.

She started out as a dancer on the 80s music show, Solid Gold, before scoring a small role in the 1985 John Travolta and Jaimee Lee Curtis film, Perfect.

Her big break came when she played the warrior goddess Teela in Masters Of The Universe opposite Dolph Lundgren and Courteney Cox, a box office flop that was a huge hit with fans.

She also starred as Bruce Willis’ wife in the 1991 comedy, The Last Boy Scout.

The actress turned to television later in her career, portraying district attorney Rita Deveraux in NCIS: New Orleans alongside her husband Scott Bakula from 2014 to 2021 – do you know who she is yet?

double take

80s pin-up from legendary film unrecognisable on walk in LA – can you guess?

LYRICAL MIND

Glam nepo baby with 80s pop legend dad goes into Big Brother USA house

Did you guess it? It’s US actress Chelsea Field!

The star – who became known for her legendary catsuit in Masters Of The Universe – looked just as beautiful almost four decades later as she was spotted out and about.

The brunette beauty kept things casual in a pair of black flared trousers, a white top, and a grey top and shirt layered over the top.

Chelsea was not joined on the outing by her Golden Globe-winner husband Scott, whom she married in 2009 after a 15-year romance.

She met Scott, now 71, in 1993 when they filmed thriller, A Passion To Kill. They have two sons together.

Chelsea – who has also appeared in films like 1995’s The Wrong Woman, 1996’s Flipper, 1998’s Wicked and 2008’s Just Add Water – has stepped away from acting in recent years, having not appeared onscreen since 2021. 

As 6.3 million people embark on road trips, the UKHSA has issued a yellow heat health alert with a risk to life for the elderly and vulnerable

More than six million people are hitting the roads as the summer holidays begin – battling 30C temperatures and nose-to-tail traffic jams.

The AA predicts 6.3 million of us will make journeys between now and Thursday. Yellow heat health alerts are in place across much of the country until tomorrow morning and the UK Health Security Agency is warning of minor impacts on health and social care services and an increased risk to life for vulnerable people.

The Port of Dover is braced for its busiest weekend of the summer. Holidaymakers faced gridlock as they waited for ferries today, and tomorrow is set to be the same. Ferry company DFDS said its wait times at Dover were up to 60 minutes at border controls.

But officials hope it will be smooth sailing compared to the May half-term getaway, when waiting times hit four-and-a-half hours due to technical issues with thenew border check Entry Exit System.

The RAC’s Simon Williams warned: “Drivers should be ready for some very busy roads this weekend and expect delays. The best advice is to plan journeys and think about setting off earlier or later in the day to avoid traffic jams.”

Opting to stay at home this week will also come with its challenges. Millions of Brits are now subject to hosepipe bans and a drought has been officially declared for large parts of north and mid-Wales.

The rest of Wales, along with much of central, southern and eastern England, is in the “prolonged dry weather” ­category – one stage below a drought. But parts of Britain might be in for some light relief from Sunday, as high pressure retreats and brings outbreaks of rain.

Showers could be heavy in the north and the west of the UK, with 20mm possible in parts of north west Scotland. The rain will be much patchier further south and east, with large swathes of England and Wales forecast to get just a few millimetres at most. And it’s likely some locations in the south of England will not see a drop.

The Met Office’s Dan Suri said: “After a prolonged spell of hot, dry and settled weather, some will see a temporary change this weekend as weather fronts move south east across the UK. While some areas, particularly in the north and west, will see rain and showers, many places are likely to receive ­relatively little rainfall.

“For much of southern England, dry conditions are expected to remain the ­dominant feature, with ­temperatures recovering quickly next week and the potential for very warm or locally hot weather to return.”

Meanwhile, British holidaymakers were among thousands evacuated from the Cap Ferret peninsula as wildfires raged across south-west France. Tens of thousands are being forced to leave the upmarket resort, including hundreds escaping by boat.

Headmaster David Morton, 53, from Gloucester, was holidaying in the coastal village of Petit Piquey with his wife and sons when they received an emergency text message at 3am.

He said: “We got in our car, packed everything up as quickly as we could… and then set off and joined a very long, slow-moving queue of traffic. We could see several fires in the distance. The whole forest was on fire.”

The fire has so far consumed around 10,000 hectares – nearly the size of the city of Manchester – with water-bombing planes deployed in a bid to keep the flames under control. French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 40,000 people either had been or were preparing to evacuate from the Cap Ferret peninsula.

Firefighters also battled blazes in Le Porge and Lacanau in the Gironde department of south-west France, while smoke from the fires dominated the skyline in nearby Biscarrosse.

Elsewhere in Europe, Spain has declared a national emergency after 20,000 people were forced to flee due to fires near Madrid, while the Italian island of Sicily has also been hit.

Olympic champion Rhys McClenaghan qualified for the Commonwealth Games pommel horse final as he posted a score of 14.500 after an almost flawless display with his new routine.

All eyes in the Emirates Arena were on McClenaghan and he delivered, even celebrating with a jig after stepping off the apparatus.

The 27-year-old finished third in the qualifying standings, with Scotland’s Reuben Ward and Canada’s Jordan Carroll (both 14.550) coming in ahead of him.

“It’s amazing to get him back out there, brand new routine, he smashed it with one of the best executions, we’ll take that it’s extremely positive and we have an upgraded routine to do for the final,” said his coach Luke Carson.

McClenaghan, who missed the entirety of 2025 after shoulder surgery, earned an difficult score of 5.500 and an execution score of 9.000, the highest in qualifying.

He is aiming to win his third Commonwealth Games medal on the pommel horse after picking up gold in 2018 and silver in 2022.

The Newtownards man also competed in floor qualifying for the first time since 2018, but failed to reach the final.

He scored 12.350 for his routine as he stumbled at the end when trying to land from a triple somersault.

Team-mate Eamon Montgomery faces an anxious wait to see if his score of 13.000 will be enough to qualify for the final after he received a 0.100 penalty.

Ewan McAteer reached the vault final as he finished third in qualifying with a score of 13.650.

“I definitely performed to the best of my ability, so very happy with how today has gone,” he said.

“It’s been a bit of a turbulent time for me out here, I’ve pulled a muscle in my stomach that extends down to my groin which has really flared so that was the first bit of gymnastics I did out there but a pulled groin wasn’t stopping me today.”

July 24 (UPI) — A Georgia teenager changed his plea to guilty Friday in the shooting deaths of four people at Apalachee High School in 2024.

Colt Gray, 16, entered a non-negotiated plea of guilty to 55 charges, including malice murder, aggravated battery and aggravated assault, CBS News reported. He was charged as an adult.

A non-negotiated plea means that though he’s changed his plea to guilty, he has not made a deal with prosecutors concerning his sentencing.

The judge in the case will determine his sentence, which ranges from life with parole to life without parole. The defense and prosecutors will each present a case for their preferred sentence, ABC News reported.

Gray is accused of fatally shooting two students — Christian Angulo and Mason Schermerhorn — and two teachers — Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irmie — at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., in 2024, when he was 14 years old. He’s also accused of injuring nine others in the shooting.

Breanna Schermerhorn, Mason’s mother, presented a victim impact statement Friday in court, saying her son “was so much more than victim.”

“Mason was kind, compassionate, funny and fiercely protective of others,” she said. “As a child with exceptional needs, he understood what it felt like to struggle and be overlooked by others. Instead of becoming bitter, he became an advocate.”

Breanna Schermerhorn said Gray knew that the shooting was wrong and would impact countless lives.

“I had no doubt in my mind if Cole had actually attended school as he should have, that Mason would have befriended him,” she said.

Prosecutors said Colt Cray used an AR-style rifle his father, Colin Gray, gave to him for Christmas despite being warned by sheriff’s deputies that his son had threatened an attack at school.

In May, a jury found him guilty of 29 charges, including two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of involuntary manslaughter. Colin Gray was the first adult charged in Georgia in connection with a school shooting by their child.

Omani delegation in Iran to discuss managing traffic in the strait, which has become the main focus of the US conflict.

A delegation from Oman has arrived in Iran to discuss options for managing shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, as the United States and Iran continue attacks.

The Omani diplomats arrived in Tehran late on Friday for talks with Iranian officials on mechanisms governing navigation through the strait, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Control over the strait has become the main focus of hostilities between the US and Iran, with the global economy exposed to rising energy prices due to the closure of the strategically important waterway, through which around 20 percent of oil and gas exports were shipped before the outbreak of the conflict.

IRNA said the delegation’s visit was part of ongoing consultations between Iran and Oman. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call with his Omani counterpart, Badr Albusaidi.

No details regarding the ideas being discussed were released. However, Tehran has maintained throughout the war that it is open to managing the critical waterway in coordination with Oman.

The US and Gulf states have rejected such a setup. However, Oman holds a strategic position at the entrance and exit to the strait and has historically played a mediating role in regional disputes, maintaining diplomatic ties with both Gulf states and Iran.

“Vital waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz, must remain open and accessible for navigation, free from any measures that would impede freedom of navigation and international trade flows,” Albusaidi posted on X.

Meanwhile, the US and Iran exchanged air strikes for the 14th day in a row, despite efforts to rekindle diplomacy aimed at persuading both to implement the Memorandum of Understanding. It achieved a pause in fighting last month but collapsed, largely due to differences over what was agreed regarding freedom of navigation in the strait.

The crisis has only deepened since Houthi rebels in Yemen declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia on Monday, opening a new front.

On Friday, Iran’s military claimed further attacks on US bases across the region, which have been the main target for its fire during the hostilities.

Attacks were reported on bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan, while a drone crash near Iraq’s Erbil International Airport forced the temporary suspension of flights.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they targeted US tech giant Amazon’s data centre in Bahrain for “providing intelligence support for the American child-killing army”.

The Houthis have also reportedly continued to target Saudi tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait. However, a Houthi spokesman denied the group has shut down the waterway.

The US Central Command said it had concluded air strikes on Iran. Iranian media reported four people were injured in blasts in several cities, including Khorramabad, Jask, Ahvaz and Bandar Abbas, as well as Qeshm Island.

Iran’s Health Ministry said at least 55 people have been killed in recent US attacks and nearly 650 injured.

SELENA Gomez has bent over in a cheeky thong bikini and flashed her bare butt while enjoying her vacation with husband Benny Blanco.

The singer is celebrating her 34th birthday as she took to Instagram today to share some behind the scenes content from her trip to Italy.

She posted a few pictures of herself wearing a stunning blue bikini as she and Benny, 38, relaxed on a yacht.

In one snap, Selena bent over on her knees and showed off plenty of cleavage as she went bare-faced for the excursion.

In another, the performer showed off her perky bum as she held onto her brunette locks, with a view of the yacht and the blue seas in the back.

The couple appeared to be having the time of their lives as they enjoyed delicious meals, horse riding and spending some time inside a church.

READ MORE ON SELENA GOMEZ

HANDS TO YOURSELF

Selena Gomez busts out of plunging top as Benny Blanco kisses her chest

One picture showed the husband and wife twinning in white outfits as she rocked a satin number.

She accessorised with matching open-toed heels, a beach bag, sunglasses and a multi-colored bandana.

Meanwhile, Benny looked cool in a t-shirt and shorts with paint splatters all over it.

He opted for animal-print shoes with bright-blue laces and wore some blacked out sunglasses.

The pair looked more loved up than ever as he held his arms around her waist and gave her a smooch on the cheek in yet another photo.

She simply captioned the post with a blue heart emoji.

Her followers rushed to the comments section as one gushed: “Happiness looks SO good on you. You are absolutely loved.”

Another person wrote: “Oh my god, you look gorgeous and so happy. This is what you have always deserved and will always deserve.”

Somebody else cheekily penned: “OK lil juicy butt.”

Yet another commented: “This is the dump the world needed.”

While a fifth added: “Love these pictures and seeing your happy moments.”

Selena officially turned 34 on Wednesday as she shared a photo of herself blowing out a candle in a tiramisu on her Italy trip.

She expressed: “First, I have to thank each of you immensely for your support, kindness and all the bday wishes.

“Every single day I get to create because of all of you. Thank you for always making me the happiest girlie in the world.”

IF you fancy a trip to the Cotswolds, then how about a stay in the quaint village of Burford?

Here is everything you need to know about staying at one of its hotels, the Prince of Burford.

What is the Prince of Burford like?

We loved this super cosy 4* hotel in the historic market town of Burford, in the Cotswolds.

The former 18th-century coaching inn is packed full of original features, including dark wood wall panelling and an impressive wooden carved staircase.

The hotel has been recently refurbished, with a big bar area and a more formal dining room – but we loved the squidgy sofas by the fireplace, the perfect place for a glass of red.

What are the rooms like?

We stayed in the spacious Family Suite room, and were blown away by the humongous bed – it was one of the best night’s sleep we had in a long time.

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The neutral-coloured furnishings made the room feel warm and bright, while the plump velvet armchair tucked away in the corner made for a perfect place to have our morning cuppa.

The toiletries smelt amazing and we enjoyed the rainfall shower. All rooms come with an ensuite, desk, TV, hairdryer and ironing board.

Double rooms start from £136 per night, including breakfast. See princeofburford.co.uk.

What is there to eat and drink at the hotel?

You won’t be disappointed by the grub.

The hotel won a 2025-26 Rosette Award for culinary excellence and the menu features pub classics like a pie of the week as well as more adventurous options, such as venison, swede mash and kale.

It was a little on the pricey side – I had a large Jerusalem artichoke risotto for £18.10 – but you won’t walk away hungry as the portions were huge.

My husband had the rump steak with mac and cheese for £38.50.

Next time I’d give dessert a miss – while the Brantley Apple Choux bun (£9.20) was decent, I didn’t think it was worth the money, and wish I had tried the dark chocolate and pecan brownie (£8.90) instead.

Breakfast was the star of the show. The ingredients were top quality – the fry up was perfectly cooked with a juicy sausage and hot buttered toast.

What else is there to do there?

While Burford was a quaint little market town, it was small – we finished looking around in under an hour.

It was posh and felt like the Mayfair of the Cotswolds, and you should expect to pay similar prices too.

We paid a painful £7.50 for a sausage roll at a nearby cafe, and £15 for two pints at The Bull along the high street.

I’d recommend going to Blenheim Palace nearby – an impressive stately home with huge grounds to keep the kids busy.

I’d love to go back around Christmas – the hotel’s rustic charm would be perfect for a cosy festive stay.

Is it family friendly?

From the Suite or Family Room where pullout beds can be made available to dedicated children’s menus makes this a family friendly option.

Is there access for guests with disabilities?

For guests with disabilities, it is advised to contact the bookings team at Prince of Burford to discuss requirements for their stay.

What’s done is done.

The Dodgers went to the White House on Thursday and met with President Trump for the second year in a row, following back-to-back World Series championships.

At the time of their visit, the Dodgers had the best record in Major League Baseball with 65 wins and 38 losses. Winning three titles in a row won’t be easy, but assuming they pull off another victory in October, here are five reasons the Dodgers should not go back to the White House next year.

What’s the point?

Ceremonial visits have been going on for years, and both Democratic and Republican presidents have embraced the tradition with athletes from various sports.

If you’d like to know why I didn’t have anything to say in 2021, when the Dodgers visited President Biden at the White House, that’s a good question.

I didn’t dwell on it at the time because I think such visits are kind of ho-hum. But now we’ve had three visits in five years, and in my head, this hammers home the point that baseball players have nothing to gain from a visit. They’re baseball players, and as such, there is no higher honor than winning the World Series.

I like baseball, but it’s not like these guys are astronauts, just back from the moon.

If the Dodgers want to mark their achievement and honor the game of baseball in the nation’s capital, fine. They should go to the Smithsonian as a team and visit the display where Jackie Robinson’s jersey is enshrined.

They’re being put in an awkward position

As Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts put it in saying that he wouldn’t join his teammates, he couldn’t win either way.

“If I do” go, he said, “people are gonna hate me. If I don’t, people are gonna hate me.”

That’s an exaggeration, but I get his point. Dodger utility man Kiké Hernandez said he wasn’t going, either, explaining that he was busy rehabbing an injury.

The Dodgers should take the pressure off the players by politely declining an invitation to visit.

Besides, people like baseball because it’s an escape, a distraction, a diversion. You want to have a clear head as you try to remember why you willingly packed up your kids and paid $400 for lousy seats and food at Dodger Stadium to watch Kyle Tucker, at $60 million a year, foul out to the catcher.

You do not want to think about the American political cesspool as you watch the Dodgers rally from behind, win in late innings, and inch ever closer to going back to the White House again next year.

They’re being used

The players were apparently told they could make their own decision about whether to go to the White House.

What they should have been told was that they were being exploited.

When a president hosts a team at the White House, there is only one reason.

It’s a photo op.

Not for the team, but for the president.

Baseball might no longer be the national pastime, but it’s a part of American culture, with fans of every political stripe in every state. There’s kind of a folksy quality in the manufactured banter between a president and the ballplayers. He can fawn over them and joke with them and look more like a regular guy — one of the boys.

“This is really a special team,” Trump said during the Dodger visit. “It’s special winners. They’re champions, and just unbelievable.”

Yeah, we knew that when they beat the Blue Jays.

Nine months ago.

Too much ring kissing is a turnoff

If you are going to go, can you at least not embarrass yourself?

Dodgers Chairman Mark Walter handed Trump a Dodgers jersey and World Series ring at the White House. Somehow, he managed to restrain himself from bending to one knee and kissing the president’s ring.

“Thank you for welcoming us today, Mr. President,” Walter said. “We’re proud of that team and what it has achieved, and we hope to be back here again next year.”

As The Times’ Maddie Lee noted, this was just days after Bloomberg reported that “two insurance companies controlled by Walter, as well as Guggenheim Partners, where Walter is chief executive, are being investigated by federal prosecutors for potential financial improprieties.”

“No charges have been filed,” Lee wrote. “Representatives from the parent company of the insurance firms as well as from TWC Global — the Walter business empire that controls his sporting investments, including the Dodgers and Lakers — have told reporters they are cooperating with the investigation.”

So that’s another problem with the Dodgers’ visit.

How can we not wonder about ulterior motives?

It’s hard to keep track of who’s kissing whose ring.

Politics is unavoidable

The Dodger brain trust has attempted to cast White House visits as an exercise in tradition, not politics.

“Like I’ve always said, my company line, my personal line is I hope that we get this invitation every year,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said before the visit. “Because that’s the goal: to win a championship, to get this invitation to the White House. And I’m not a politician, and I’m doing something that teams have done for decades. And so that’s where I stand, really. I’m a baseball coach. That’s what I do.”

That couldn’t be more naive.

The Dodgers love to project a wholesome, family-friendly essence. But American discourse has not been more vulgar, polarizing or politicized in my lifetime, and I’m reminded of the line, “Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.”

In Trump’s world, there are only two kinds of people: friends and foes. The Dodgers are now friends, and when Venezuelan World Series hero Miguel Rojas was singled out by Trump, who launched an unprovoked attack on his country, that reeked of calculated political staging.

The White House itself has been a staging ground for political assaults on the Dodgers’ home state and on immigrants who come from regions of the world that are home to some of the Dodger players. Election integrity has been politicized. The Supreme Court has been politicized. The water quality in the reflecting pool has been politicized. And at a White House cage fight, a former first lady was brazenly disparaged.

You can’t peel off your baseball uniform, put on your wedding suit, and stand there with the president, smiling and shaking hands and being voluntarily patronized, without having made a political statement.

Better to stick to what you know best.

And besides.

Trump is a Yankees fan.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

A transcript from an employment discrimination lawsuit filed by former JSerra girls’ basketball coach Chyanne Butler indicates the school could be facing a Southern Section investigation for CIF rules violations.

“We are aware of the transcripts and the trial,” Southern Section spokesman Thom Simmons said Friday.

JSerra has “no comment” while the case continues, a school spokesman said.

Butler alleged employment discrimination after being dismissed in January of 2025. A jury trial earlier this year resulted in a hung jury over an allegation of gender discrimination and a new trial is scheduled for Aug. 24 in Orange County Superior Court with Judge David O Carter presiding. Allegations of race discrimination and a sexual harassment claim against an assistant coach were dismissed.

JSerra has not self-reported any CIF violations even though in the first trial, an assistant coach testified under oath about recruiting a player from another school and then providing family expenses including “medical insurance, medical bills, groceries, toiletries, incidentals, basketball shoes.”

That would be a violation of CIF rules.

The Southern Section usually sends allegations of rules violations back to the school to investigate.

Butler is represented by attorney Tim Lawson, who deposed JSerra officials.

July 24 (UPI) — New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham held his first meeting at No. 10 North, his project to have official space in his hometown of Manchester, England, instead of keeping everything official in London.

Burnham, who was once mayor of Greater Manchester, said the new office will get “growth in every corner of the country,” the BBC reported.

The idea is to shift power from Whitehall and Westminster — the center of the British government — to other parts of the country. Manchester is about two hours by train from London.

Burnham told staff that the shift north showed he was rewiring the state.

“No 10 North is going to take that up to the next level. It’s not just a new office — through this place, power is going to flow, energy is going to flow, new ideas are going to come through,” Burnham said.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called it a “gimmick”, and said it “does not make decision-making any better, it’s just creating another branch of the civil service in a different place.”

“It’s sending a message to everybody here who has come in to No 10 North in its early days that you’ve got the full support of government from the very top — prime minister, chancellor, first secretary of state — that’s a very powerful message that we’re sending today, that the political commitment is there,” Burnham said.

No. 10 North is at Heron House in Manchester temporarily while a new Civil Service Campus just outside of the city is being developed.

Burnham has faced some opposition to the project over costs, but he dismissed it as criticism from London.

Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection, has named Burnham’s Manchester base “Number 10A.”

“Number 10A will have to be strengthened,” he said. “And, of course, there’ll have to be a 24-hour-7 protection. So it’s going to cost us taxpayers millions in terms of technical security, surveillance, cameras,” The Guardian reported.

“Depending on where it is, it may have to have underground detection systems, it probably will have to have a safe room, and Manchester police will have to bear the burden of protection, in the uniform sense, 24-7, I suspect. So the real cost is many millions of pounds,” he said.

Burnham has pledged several progressive reforms, such as capping the cost of public transportation, cutting taxes on home electricity bills and easing the cost of living.

Opening the new Manchester center, Burnham described it as the best day of his life.

“I cannot tell you what a proud moment this is. I think this might be the best day of my life. I’m not joking either. I know you think I am, but I’m not,” Burnham said. “Things are just completely coming full circle here for me, and to be here with you all in the heart of Manchester this Friday morning, at the end of a fairly big week, is just everything to me.”

The incident adds to concern that Moscow’s war on Ukraine risks spilling over to entangle neighbouring NATO states.

A Romanian fighter jet has shot down a drone, suspected to be Russian, that breached the country’s airspace.

The incident on Friday marked the first time the Eastern European country has intercepted an intruding aircraft since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, President Nicusor Dan noted.

However, concern that Moscow’s war on Ukraine risks entangling neighbouring NATO states is on the rise. Romania is one of several alliance members to confront repeated stray drones recently, as Russia and Ukraine launch hundreds of drones daily.

Dan reported that a Romanian F-16 jet shot down the drone after it entered the country’s airspace, adding that the fighter had shot over an uninhabited area.

A Romanian military source told the Reuters news agency that Russia was the suspected point of origin, given the pattern of previous incursions in the region.

Romania’s Ministry of National Defence said a radar first detected the drone about 20km (12 miles) east of the Black Sea port of Sulina, before it crossed into national airspace on a path through Braila, Fetesti and Buzau county.

Two Italian Eurofighter Typhoon jets, deployed to Romania under NATO’s air policing mission, were joined by two Romanian F-16s. One F-16 engaged the target with an air-to-air missile, downing it over unpopulated ground near the village of Padina. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Romania, an EU and NATO member sharing a border with Ukraine, has recorded dozens of drone incursions since the war began. This incident marked the first successful interception.

In late May, a drone struck an apartment building in the city of Galati, injuring two people – the first time such a strike hit a populated area in a NATO country.

NATO and European Union officials condemned the incident. The European Commission said it showed Russia’s war had “crossed yet another line”.

A month later, a Ukrainian sea drone exploded at the port of Constanta. Kyiv said that it had launched the vessel, which had been knocked off course by Russian jamming.

The Baltic states have also reported repeated airspace violations in recent months, incursions that contributed to the collapse of Latvia’s government in May.

NATO chief Mark Rutte has said Moscow’s “reckless behaviour is a danger to us all”. United States ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, has pledged the alliance will “defend every inch” of its territory.

Emmerdale has aired two very similar scenes this year which both confirm similar twists, so what if it was intentional, and we’ve just uncovered a Graham and Serena link?

It’s Emmerdale theory time, and I may have just rumbled an explosive twist yet to be confirmed on the ITV soap.

It might be pretty far-fetched, but there could be something in it. Firstly, it’s Emmerdale, anything can happen, but secondly, there’s been two scenes recently that almost mirror each other.

The dialogue is different, but what is alluded to and how they both unfold is very similar. So much so, I’m wondering if I’ve answered two big questions by linking the scenes.

Now, cast your minds back to a few months ago, when Graham Foster was confirmed to be targeting Kim Tate. He drugged her, and a phone call with a mystery person, still not identified, confirmed he was working with or for someone to target Kim.

Graham had revealed the drugs had not killed Kim and so their plan had not worked. He’s since confessed all to Kim and seemingly dropped the plan, but we still do not know who he was talking to about it on the phone.

This week on the ITV soap, it was Serena Sugden acting shifty at Home Farm. She broke in and stole a USB from Kim, which she had checked before she returned it.

Since then, she’s been trying to find any reason she can to be at Home Farm. She too had a cryptic phone call, confirming she was working for or with someone.

Again, like Graham, she is seemingly targeting Kim, trying to find something. So far, she’s told the person on the phone that they’ve got nothing yet, so what are they looking for and why is Kim yet again being targeted?

So this all got me thinking, and I wondered if the person in cahoots with Graham is none other than… Serena. What if he got too close last time, and so has enlisted the help of Serena to sneak into Home Farm to make it less obvious it’s him, and also while he sorts other issues out.

What if Serena was talking to Graham this week. One thing doesn’t make sense about this theory. Graham lives at Home Farm so if the was after something, surely he could just get it himself.

But what if it’s all to throw us as viewers off the scent, or perhaps he has no idea where the mystery thing they are trying to find is? Then I thought maybe it isn’t Graham and Serena who have teamed up.

But what if the plots are still linked? What if Graham and Serena have, knowingly or unknowingly, teamed up with the very same person? The fact they were both in cahoots with someone who is out to get Kim, it seems, surely cannot be a coincidence.

So what if the person gave up on Graham’s help and has now switched to Serena. So is the caller for both characters the same person? Could it be someone in the village or a past character?

Theories have included Jamie Tate, Sadie King, or another character. After all, Emmerdale boss Laura Shaw did confirm a Tate would be heading to the show very soon – while she did not specify if it was a new Tate or a returning Tate.

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Lewis Hamilton led team-mate Charles Leclerc to a Ferrari one-two in Friday practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Hamilton was 0.148 seconds ahead of Leclerc, with McLaren’s Lando Norris third, 0.499secs off the pace, and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen fourth.

Fernando Alonso ended the day 19th fastest in the new Aston Martin after what team principal Adrian Newey said was a “promising” first outing for a car that is new apart from its engine, gearbox and front suspension.

Alonso was 2.990secs off the pace, but had a lap nearly 0.4secs faster ruled out for track limits at the final corner.

Although that is still a long way from competitiveness, it is a significant step forward from where Aston Martin have spent most of the season.

Ferrari looked in good shape, as might have been expected on a track that lends itself to the car’s strong cornering performance.

But Mercedes, with George Russell in fifth 0.933secs off the pace and championship leader Kimi Antonelli in 13th, appeared to have some work to do.

Antonelli did not complete a qualifying simulation lap in the second session.

His first had to be abandoned when Franco Colapinto crashed his Alpine at the last corner, and his second came to grief when he made an error going into the chicane.

Antonelli was complaining all session about rear brake locking, but he was on a par with Norris’ time in the first sector on both laps before they were curtailed.

Behind Russell, Red Bull’s Isack Hadjar was sixth fastest, ahead of Racing Bulls’ Liam Lawson and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

Audi’s Nico Hulkenberg and Racing Bulls’ Arvid Lindblad completed the top 10.

Wadi Dawan, Yemen – From above, Wadi Dawan looks untouched – a ribbon of date palms winding through towering cliffs, divided by a white wadi bed. Scattered mud‑brick homes cling to the rocky slopes, overlooking one of Yemen’s most celebrated agricultural valleys, renowned for its palm dates and quality honey.

But continuing down into the valley, a starkly different picture emerges: plastic waste litters the flood channels, while the smell of burning rubbish hangs in the air, triggering coughs and polluting the valley’s once‑clean atmosphere.

“By God, this is a very serious problem,” said Yousef Abdullah, a 65‑year‑old farmer and orchard owner, speaking angrily to Al Jazeera. “If it remains unresolved, it will cause a disaster.”

Yousef stood beneath the shade of date palms, surrounded by a blanket of plastic bags, bottles, and food wrappers.

Throughout Wadi Dawan, home to thousands of people across dozens of scattered villages in Yemen’s eastern Hadramout province, plastic bags, bottles, and other household waste litter roadsides and palm groves.

Piles of rubbish – including dead animals – are dumped into flood channels that irrigate the valley’s farms. Household waste is mixed with sewage discharged into the wadi bed, while mounds of rubbish are dumped along roadsides just metres from people’s homes.

Yousef said that floods flowing through the valley pick up the waste, blocking irrigation channels, and depriving some farms of the vital waters they need. That has forced farmers to rush to the channels whenever the floods arrive, clearing the waste that has accumulated before the water recedes.

“We move from one irrigation channel to another leading to our farms, removing plastic bags, construction debris, and trees,” Yousef said. “We have to do it carefully because broken glass hidden in the rubbish can easily cut us.”

And then, after the floodwater recedes, Yousef and other farmers return to their fields and collect the plastic bottles and bags before they can sow their seeds.

Waste awareness initiative

Residents, environmental advocates, and local officials say the growing problem is driven by the lack of a proper waste collection system and limited public awareness of the environmental and health risks of indiscriminate dumping.

Large parts of the valley have no waste collection points at all. In the places that do, green rubbish bins can be seen along the roads, but are often overflowing. Garbage trucks are supposed to collect waste from the bins once a week, but the service is often disrupted because of a lack of funding and poor vehicle maintenance.

With almost no funding or resources, Salem Raji, who heads the Ministry of Agriculture’s office in Wadi Dawan and is also an agricultural researcher, launched an initiative to draw attention to the growing problem of waste dumping in his home valley. He has met with local officials, spoken to local media and used social media to warn residents about the environmental consequences of dumping rubbish into the valley’s flood channels.

“The agricultural sector is particularly affected by plastic waste, which contaminates the soil and leads to poor or even failed crop yields,” Raji said. “Waste causes numerous problems in the main irrigation canals, blocking water flow, damaging canal walls and preventing floodwater from reaching farmland. As a result, some farmers lose an entire harvest season because their fields receive no irrigation.”

The problem has worsened over the past decade as Yemen has been engulfed in a war between the Iran-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government. The conflict has killed hundreds of thousands of people, displaced millions, and devastated state institutions, leaving local authorities, including municipalities and agricultural offices, with little funding or capacity to provide basic services.

“The problem has worsened in recent years because of the war, which has led to administrative instability and a lack of funding for local authorities,” Raji said.

Raji appeared frustrated that his efforts had yet to bear fruit and that his warnings had largely fallen on deaf ears, with residents continuing to dump waste across the valley. He called for an increase in his office’s monthly budget, currently just 8,000 Yemeni riyals, or about $5, so that staff could conduct field visits, reach more residents, and help remove rubbish from farms and flood channels.

Despite Raji’s best efforts, he has had little success with his attempts to raise awareness. “Our office’s [limited] budget leaves us unable to carry out regular field visits to educate the public or remove waste from flood channels.”

Expanding problem

The crisis extends far beyond Wadi Dawan. Across Yemen, years of war, collapsing public services and inadequate waste management have turned rubbish dumping into a growing environmental and public health problem.

In cities such as Taiz, waste has polluted farmland, contaminated drinking wells and dams, and increased the risk of waterborne diseases, according to local officials and health experts.

Dr Yassin Abdul Malik al-Shuraihi, who heads disease surveillance in central Yemen’s Taiz governorate, told Al Jazeera by telephone that the province, home to millions of people, suffers from a severe shortage of rubbish bins and chronic delays in waste collection.

As a result, many residents have resorted to dumping rubbish into flood channels that run through agricultural areas.

“Sewage, household waste and construction debris are now being dumped directly into these channels,” al-Shuraihi said. “We record a large number of diarrhoea cases throughout the year because sewage contaminates some drinking wells, making the water unsafe.”

Environmental experts are now calling for urgent action, warning of the particular dangers the waste poses to Yemen’s rural areas and farmland.

Khaled Saleh Bawahidi, a professor and director of the Environmental Studies and Water Resources Centre at Hadramout University, said indiscriminate waste dumping poses serious long-term environmental and public health risks.

“Accumulated waste is degrading natural habitats and polluting the soil around the palms, threatening tree growth and long‑term productivity,” Bawahidi said. “Bee health is also at risk as grazing areas deteriorate and the quality of natural resources declines. This could lead to a drop in the quality of dates and honey.”

And ultimately, it will be local Yemenis who face the consequences.

“Waste dumped in valleys contaminates soil and surface water,” Bawahidi added, “and creates breeding grounds for insects and rodents that can transmit diseases to humans and livestock.”

As Israeli politicians and protesters keep up their demands to annex and settle in Gaza, recent satellite images reveal the construction of a huge earthen barrier dividing the territory. Al Jazeera’s Hala Al Shami explains.

IT was billed as the showbiz wedding of the year. As Elton John, Charli XCX and Hollywood royalty descended on Sicily to watch Callum Turner marry Dua Lipa in a £1.5million extravaganza, one notable guest was nowhere to be seen.

Instead of raising a glass with his son, Callum’s father Laurence Coles was more than 2,000 miles away at an altogether different event in North London. Now, I can reveal the shocking reason why the actor’s dad missed the celebrity ceremony – and the complicated family history that makes his absence all the more surprising.

Two thousand miles away in North London was Laurence Coles – known to friends as ‘Larry’, and to Callum Turner, ‘Dad’.

The actor has previously described his relationship with Laurence as “loose” – hardly surprising given the pair spent much of Callum’s childhood living at opposite sides of the world.

However Larry’s recent return to the UK has allowed him to build a relationship with Callum – with the family spending time together and mingling on holidays.

Yet, in an unexpected turn, I am told that Laurence, who lives in Hastings, East Sussex, travelled to London for a wedding – albeit not his son’s.

Callum’s parents Larry and Rosemary Turner were unmarried and living at separate addresses when he was born in February 1990.

Callum was given his mother’s name, Turner, and was brought up by Rosemary in a council flat on an estate in Chelsea, West London.

Meanwhile, Larry was beginning an entirely different life on the other side of the world.

The former Hammersmith plasterer swapped London’s building sites for Sydney, where he also retrained as a psychotherapist, settled down and started a second family – leaving Callum growing up almost 10,000 miles away.

Fast-forward three decades and things looked very different.

Despite the fractured start to their relationship, father and son appear to have grown much closer in recent years.

But in a surprising twist to their father-son relationship, Larry not only missed his son’s wedding – he was attending a completely different one instead.

Instead, he was a guest of Jamie Rae Keeble – the daughter of Spandau Ballet drummer John Keeble – as she tied the knot in the capital on the same day as Dua and Callum.

The contrast could hardly have been starker. While Callum’s guests were arriving at a secluded Sicilian estate by chauffeured cars for what insiders dubbed the “showbiz wedding of the year”, Laurence was celebrating another couple’s big day back in the capital.

The revelation comes despite signs that father and son had grown closer in recent years

Last Christmas, Callum was pictured enjoying a festive meal with Laurence, fiancée Dua and his younger half-siblings Louis and Clemmie after Larry returned to Britain following almost three decades in Australia.

Clemmie has become particularly close to the couple, joining Dua on girls’ trips to Ibiza.

She also has a sweet snap of her and Callum on her Instagram from the GALA Festival in South London in 2019.

A source said: “Laurence and Callum have been estranged over the years but it was nonetheless strange that he was at a wedding on the same day his son got married.

“Laurence kept a low profile but some people questioned the fact that he was at a wedding on the same day his son was marrying Dua.”

Growing up, Callum’s mum Rosemary worked as a promoter for the clubs in SW3 – brushing shoulders with models and musicians on the fashionable King’s Road in London’s Chelsea.

Rosemary is now the co-founder of Counselling For Life and is described as an “experienced psychotherapist” on LinkedIn.

The actor previously told the Evening Standard: “The thing I always found interesting in my childhood was, yeah, I was growing up on an estate, single mum, working-class, but then I also had all these colourful characters around.

“It wasn’t about navigating two worlds,” he said. “There were three, four, five more.”

However Callum, who starred in Marc Webb’s 2017 film The Only Living Boy in New York, also said the father-son relationship was “alien” to him.

“I didn’t understand the relationship between the son and the father,” he said in 2019.

“It was completely alien to me.”

Larry, now 66 and once again single, lives in a period flat in a smart garden square in fashionable Hastings on the east Sussex coast, from where he practices his therapy.

Friends locally have said they know Larry is now in regular contact with his son, and is reportedly “unashamedly proud of Callum.”

That makes his absence from one of the biggest days of the actor’s life all the more surprising.

Though his father wasn’t in attendance, Callum’s half-siblings Louis and Clemmie attended the spectacular Sicilian wedding,

Beyond family, their three-day Sicily extravaganza was every bit the A-list affair insiders had promised.

Around 200 guests descended on the 18th-century Villa Valguarnera, with Joe Alwyn, Mark Ronson, Grace Gummer, George Daniel, Elton John and Charli XCX among those celebrating.

Guests were reportedly asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, while metal barriers surrounded the historic estate to keep fans and photographers at bay.

The property, which featured in the opening credits of HBO drama The White Lotus 2, is widely considered one of the most historically and culturally significant villas in Sicily.

It was once a Mafia hideout but has since been taken on by 76-year-old Italian author and translator Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca, the Princess of Valguarnera, who still lives in the estate.

One Kiss hitmaker Dua, who has an estimated net worth of £150million, and Callum hired the venue for a reported £86,000.

Dua stunned in a bespoke Chanel haute couture gown featuring a seven-foot train, handcrafted using 25,000 feathers and almost half a million beads, while Callum opted for a custom Louis Vuitton suit.

Days earlier the pair had made things official during a private legal ceremony at London’s Old Marylebone Town Hall before jetting to Sicily for the lavish celebration.

Dua was introduced to Callum in 2023 while having dinner at The River Cafe in London with her dad and manager Dukagjin Lipa.

They were introduced by the restaurant’s co-founder, Ruth Rogers, after having crossed paths many times before.

The Sun revealed that the pair officially started dating in 2024 and confirmed their engagement in British Vogue last summer.

Dua told the fashion bible: “This decision to grow old together, to see a life and just, I don’t know, be best friends forever – it’s a really special feeling.”

BRITS are more likely to have seen overseas landmarks than British ones, according to research.

The poll of 2,000 adults revealed more have seen the Eiffel Tower (55 per cent) than some of Britain’s most popular landmarks, including Tower of London (54 per cent), Tower Bridge (53 per cent) and Trafalgar Square (52 per cent).

As well as more people visiting them, it was found they were also more likely to be able to identify landmarks abroad than those on home soil.

More than three quarters (78 per cent) could identify the Eiffel Tower, 71 per cent could clock the Leaning Tower of Pisa and 61 per cent know Rome’s Colosseum.

Whereas fewer could recognise St Paul’s Cathedral (58 per cent), Westminster Abbey (53 per cent) and Edinburgh Castle (52 per cent).

To celebrate the incredible range of landmarks and attractions across Britain, railcard.co.uk worked with sand sculptors to create the ‘Mount Rushmore’ of British landmarks.

The sculpture was unveiled on Blackpool promenade and will be in place for members of the public to see until the weekend.

It was built using 12 tonnes of sand, took three days to create and featured the attractions at the top of Brits’ wishlist: Tower of London (22 per cent), Edinburgh Castle (18 per cent), Stonehenge (18 per cent), Eden Project (18 per cent) and Scotland’s Loch Ness (18 per cent).

Meanwhile, other natural wonders, Lake Windermere (8th – 16 per cent) and Jurassic Coast (10th – 16 per cent) are in the top 10.

Catherine Lyver, from railcard.co.uk which commissioned the research to encourage Brits to make the most of British landmarks by offering a third off travel for adults and 60 per cent off for children, said: “It’s easy to overlook the iconic landmarks and hidden gems on our doorstep, yet Great Britain is full of incredible places to explore.

“We’re encouraging people to do a third more with their break, making it easier and more affordable to tick off some of the bucket-list-worthy destinations closer to home.

“Whether you’re still looking to tick off historic favourites like the Tower of London or have added the modern Eden Project to your list, there are plenty of opportunities to make your summer go further when you travel by train.”

Whereas just 21 per cent have seen the northern gems of Hadrian’s Wall and the Angel of the North.

The vast majority in the OnePoll.com study for railcard.co.uk (79 per cent) said they would like to explore more British landmarks – but the cost of living (43 per cent) and lack of time (33 per cent) are the main barriers stopping them.

And 40 per cent will get their trip inspiration from family and 32 per cent go off what their mates recommend – meanwhile 29 per cent get most motivated by social media.

When going to British landmarks 23 per cent will travel by train, because it’s relaxing (59 per cent), more convenient (46 per cent) and don’t have to worry about parking (43 per cent).

IF you fancy a camping holiday but don’t want to skimp out on a bit of luxury, you’re in luck.

Sun Travel has found six campsites across Europe that definitely don’t qualify for a classic camping break with beautiful swimming pools, beach access and pretty lodges.

Alannia Guardamar, Spain

Eurocamp does tend to pull it out of the bag when it comes to its campsites, and this one is very impressive

On the Costa Blanca coast, Alannia Guardamar has palm tree-lined swimming pools, wellness areas, restaurants, and you can try out sports too.

The most impressive part is probably its tropical aquatic zone with water jets, splash park, mini slides and hot tubs.

Guests can choose to stay in large Safari Tents to premium cabins.

HOL YES

Cheapest summer for holidays in YEARS – with August breaks still on sale for £188pp

COAST EFFECTIVE

Best UK family theme & waterparks with cheap stays from just £3pp a night

For seven-nights, a family of four can stay in a Safari Tent at the Alannia Guardamar from £502.86 – or £17.95pppn.

Amadria Park Camping Trogir, Croatia

If you want everything in one, check out Amadria Park Camping Trogir which you can book with Jet2Holidays.

The Croatian getaway has views across the Adriatic Sea with secluded beaches minutes away.

For those who want to get on the water, you can take a punt on the enormous inflatable obstacle course just off the coast.

There are three restaurants and five bars including a beach bar, cocktail bar, pool bar and sports bar.

For seven-nights a family of four can stay here in a Standard Mobile Home from £546pp – this includes return flights to Leeds Bradford.

Cambrils Park, Spain

This beautiful Eurocamp Costa Dorada looks like a sprawling resort with its five pools – one of which is a recently opened Mediterranean pool.

There are plenty of sunloungers dotted about and for drinks, check out the poolside café and bars with sun-trap terraces.

For activities, it also has a tennis court, full-sized football pitch and even trampolining.

If the resorts pools aren’t enough, the huge waterpark PortAventura is just a few miles away.

For seven-nights a family of four can stay at Cambrils Park in a two-bedroom bungalow from £691.33 – or £24.69pppn.

Camping Estival Vendrell Platja, Spain

On the Costa Dorada, or Golden Coast as it’s also called, is this campsite with a long swimming pool with a children’s play area and slides.

It is self-catering but there are still restaurants, bars and snack areas.

There’s also entertainment during school holidays from organised team games to arts and crafts

Guests can stay in a Classic Bungalow all the way to a Gran Safari lodge which comes with outdoor decking – perfect for al fresco dining.

For seven-nights a family of four can stay here in a two-bedroom Classic Bungalow from £417pp – which includes return flights from Birmingham Airport.

hu Park Albatros Village, Italy

You’ll never want to leave this Eurocamp with its six swimming pools, one being a lagoon and another Olympic-sized.

It’s considered one of Tuscany’s largest and best quality parcs – it’s spread over 30 acres and is surrounded by a pine forest.

It has plenty of places to eat too from its rustic Italian pizzeria to a snack bar and gelateria.

The campsite isn’t far from the beach with walkways and a cycle path leading down to the shore.

For seven-nights, a family of four can stay at hu Park Albatros Village in a Comfort Lodge from £175 – or £6.25pppn.

Camping La Forêt, France

For a luxe stay, head to Camping La Forêt on the west coast of France.

It has direct beach access to Pont d’Yeu Beach, a swimming pool as well as spa facilities from a sauna to a hammam, hot tubs and a quiet outdoor sun terrace.

The villas on-site have hot tubs, a bath, private entrance, with separate bedrooms and a terrace with garden views.

As it’s a small site it won’t be especially noisy either.

For seven-nights, a family of four can stay at Camping La Forêt in a Comfort Mobile Home from £523 – or £18.67pppn.

Alannia Els Prats Camping & Resort, Spain

Found on the Spanish coast, this campsite looks more like a Mediterranean-resort with a large outdoor swimming pool and pretty gardens.

On-site it also has a gym, spa, supermarket, bars, restaurants, sports pitches, a mini club, a teen club, a games room and children’s playgrounds.

Guests can stay in the wooden cabins, some of which come with small verandahs and sea views.

The nearby beach is a great spot for sunbathing and it has watersports facilities too.

For five-nights, a family of four can stay here in a Superior Bungalow from £405 – or £20.25 per night.

*Prices correct at the time of publication.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport has set a date for a hearing over Senegal’s appeal against being stripped of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title.

Hosts Morocco were declared the tournament winners after the Confederation of African Football (Caf) overturned the result of the final in January, which Senegal won 1-0.

The Senegalese players walked off the field after Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of about 17 minutes, the players returned and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

Senegal lodged their appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) on 25 March, seeking to set aside Caf’s decision and reinstate them as tournament winners.

Caf deemed that Senegal had forfeited the final and awarded Morocco a 3-0 victory.

Caf and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) did not agree to expedite the procedure so there will now be a hearing on 8 October.

According to a Cas statement, that follows the standard timeline.

Caf and the FRMF did not request that the hearing is made public so it will take place behind closed doors at the Cas headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Cas cannot state when a final decision will be announced but it will not be on the day of the hearing.

Built in 1875 and modelled on the Chapelle Saint-Marc in Lyon, the church was originally intended to be the chapel for St Joseph University, which was opened by French Jesuits as part of France’s colonial-era “civilising mission”.

Its pale stone facade rises above a busy Beirut street. Today, it remains under Jesuit stewardship, with Father Michael Petro leading the parish.

“It’s an interesting space, because it is on the edge of Ashrafieh, a predominantly Christian, francophone area, which has plenty of wealthy Lebanese people living in it. But it also has their domestic workers. From the start of the first waves of migrants in the 70s, this place became known as a place for them,” he tells Al Jazeera.

Every Sunday, during peacetime, the gravel car park is transformed into a cricket ground. Indian and Pakistani migrant workers play softball cricket while families sit on the sidelines sharing home-cooked food, catching up with friends and enjoying one of their few days away from work.

Today, the atmosphere is very different.

Instead of the crack of a plastic bat and Bollywood music spilling across the church grounds, rows of mattresses line the floors, and laundry hangs from railings. Men slouch on plastic chairs littered around the church, scrolling through their phones. Women carry blankets and washed clothes in plastic tubs. Only the children seem able to break the subdued mood, darting between adults and filling the space with bursts of laughter.

“When the war escalated, we immediately had large groups of Sudanese and South Sudanese come here,” Father Michael says. “They showed up because they would ask community leaders what to do, and were told to come here, as it is the first place they trusted.

“On one hand, that’s very beautiful, because people thought they would be welcome here, and they were.”

However, the strain of being a first port of call for so many displaced migrants is beginning to show.

Supplies are low, and tensions occasionally flare among those sheltering at the church. Father Michael says the church reached its capacity of 250 people on just the second day of the war.

“We’ve turned away more than 100 people in the last few days,” he says. “It’s a disaster.”

Mohammad says daily life has become increasingly difficult, particularly since the arrival of their son.

“We do not have enough clothes, especially now that the baby is growing. Also, my wife’s nutrition is not great. Sometimes she gets constipated, and then the baby becomes ill. We need more protein and vegetables. The diet is a huge concern.”

Living in crowded conditions, surrounded by uncertainty, has taken a toll on people’s mental wellbeing, Rufaida says.

“Because of the atmosphere and mental health problems, small problems become big ones. I said good morning to someone, and they didn’t like it. There are no big fights, but there is an underlying tension.”

Both say they understand why tempers sometimes fray. Many of those sheltering at the church have fled war, lost homes and spent months or years living with uncertainty.

Small problems become big ones.

by RUFAIDA, DISPLACED SUDANESE MOTHER

Their gratitude is rooted partly in what happened when Rufaida sought maternity care.

At Karatina Hospital, they say they were repeatedly overlooked by doctors in favour of Lebanese patients. “We were there to get papers so she could give birth in that hospital, but we were ignored, and Lebanese people were allowed into consultations first,” Mohammad says.

After waiting for three hours, a worker from the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), who had accompanied them to the hospital, intervened and helped ensure they were seen.

Through support coordinated by JRS and partner organisations, the entire cost of Rufaida’s pregnancy was covered, including prenatal care, the cesarean delivery and Ahmad’s vaccinations.

“It gave me comfort and peace that I was able to deliver in a safe environment,” Rufaida says.

Their experience is increasingly common among Sudanese migrants in Lebanon, many of whom have found themselves uprooted more than once — first by war in Sudan and then by conflict in Lebanon.

Rufaida’s story is far from unique. According to figures published by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in August 2025, there are 164,097 migrants living in Lebanon, of which 14,854 are Sudanese nationals.

That number represents only a small fraction of the 4.4 million Sudanese who have fled their country since the outbreak of civil war in April 2023.

Some, like Rufaida, arrived on tourist visas. Others found jobs as concierges or domestic workers, under Lebanon’s kafala sponsorship system, which ties a migrant worker’s legal residency to their employer.

Human Rights Watch has described the system as, at its worst, a form of modern slavery.

About 3,800 Sudanese have also found asylum in Lebanon as registered refugees with the UN Refugee Agency.

For refugees in Lebanon, a UNHCR registration card can mean far more than a piece of paper. It offers a measure of protection from detention or deportation, can unlock access to aid and education where services exist, and, for many, represents their best hope of one day being resettled in another country.

Among them is 30-year-old Roudaina Mustafa.