asked

There are a few places on a plane that are best avoided, and if you’re looking for a few ideas, some experts have shared their top tips for finding a seat that’ll make your trip more comfortable.

Jetting off on holiday is always exciting, especially during the chillier months when the idea of swapping the UK for somewhere warm and sunny is enough to lift anyone’s spirits. However, even if you’re simply heading to a European destination, the journey there isn’t always plain sailing.

We’ve all endured the horror of a dreadful flight before. Whether it’s down to discomfort, fellow passengers’ antics, or something else entirely, it can cast a shadow over your holiday before it’s even started.

So, to help travellers kick off their trips on the right foot, I decided to consult some experts about the worst spot on the aircraft to reserve your seat – and they all had very similar answers.

Nearly all of the specialists I spoke to agreed that the very last row of the aircraft might not be your best bet if you’re after a peaceful journey, reports the Express.

Nicholas Smith, Holidays Digital Director at Thomas Cook, warned that anyone who struggles with turbulence will want to steer clear of this section. He explained: “Seats at the very back are typically less desirable. They are close to the galley and restrooms, service can be slower, food choices may be limited, and it is also the area where movement during turbulence feels strongest.”

He also emphasised the importance of being organised when reserving aircraft seats. This often comes at an extra charge, but if you’re anxious about securing a decent seat, then there’s a good chance it’ll be money well spent.

The expert continued: “Thinking about your priorities in advance also makes a difference – nervous flyers will be more comfortable over the wings, those with a tight connection should choose an aisle near the front, while couples booking a row of three might secure the window and aisle, leaving the middle free for a chance at extra space.”

Izzy Nicholls, a travel expert and founder of road trip blog The Gap Decaders, agreed, saying: “Seats at the back are best avoided. They’re typically noisier because of engine proximity and galley activity, and you’ll be among the last to board and leave the plane.”

Unsurprisingly, the front of the aircraft proved to be the best location for the smoothest experience. Izzy explained: “Travellers who want a calmer journey should book seats at the front of the plane. This area is away from restrooms and heavy foot traffic, so you’ll experience fewer interruptions.

“Choosing an aisle seat here also gives you the freedom to stretch your legs and get up easily without disturbing others. Select these placements to make long flights more comfortable and reduce the effects of motion.”

The rear section of the aircraft isn’t just problematic for comfort – it’s also less ideal when it comes to storage space, particularly if you’re late boarding. Jacob Wedderburn-Day, CEO and Co-Founder of luggage storage firm Stasher said: “Avoid sitting near galleys and toilets, where staff members often store their things in overhead bins, leaving less space for passenger baggage.

“The last few rows are a concern because if you board late, the bins above you may be filled, which means you may have to store your luggage several rows away. Also, stay away from seats that are located behind bulkheads, as these spaces often have limited storage.”

Travel expert Andrea Platania from Transfeero also warned passengers to avoid the back row when flying, explaining: “The very last row is typically the least desirable: limited recline, proximity to bathrooms, and more cabin noise. Middle seats anywhere are usually least popular unless you’re traveling in a group.”

However, for those seeking maximum legroom, there are two areas offering the most space. Andrea said: “Exit-row and bulkhead seats offer more space, but they come with trade-offs: fixed armrests, limited recline, or restrictions for passengers traveling with children.”

And for travellers prone to airsickness during turbulence, one specific location is recommended. The expert added: “Sit over the wings. This area is closest to the aircraft’s centre of gravity, so you’ll feel less turbulence compared to the back, where bumps are magnified.”

LILY Allen was stopped awkwardly in her tracks as she was asked “Who is Madeline?” following the release of her bombshell new album.

On the LP, West End Girl, Lily, 40, accuses her ex David Harbour, 50, of infidelity with someone called Madeline – though she has stressed the record is a combination of fact and fiction.

Following its release, the real life Madeline spoke out, with New Orleans based costume designer Natalie Tippett, 34, claiming to have been involved in the fling.

In a new interview with Perfect magazine, Lily was put on the spot and asked to name the title of her songs as the interviewer read lyrics in a dramatic style.

It was a trip down memory lane, with Lily correctly answering Not Fair, The Kooks’ Naive, Cheryl Tweedy, Friday Night and Pussy Palace.

She was then asked directly: “Who the f**k is Madeline?”

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Pop star Lily, who was sitting on a toilet in a glamorous mini dress embellished with a large bow, momentarily hesitated before saying “erm that’s Tennis”.

On the track, which documents her discovering that her man’s connection with another woman is deeper than just sex, Lily sings: “So I read your text, and now I regret it. I can’t get my head ’round how you’ve been playing tennis.

“If it was just sex, I wouldn’t be jealous. You won’t play with me. And who’s Madeline?”

It has been put in the same lane as Dolly Parton classic Jolene, which sees the country star plead with an attractive woman not to steal her man, and Beyoncé’s Sorry, in which she takes aim at ‘Becky with the good hair’ after husband Jay-Z admitted to being unfaithful.

Stranger Things star David and Natalie reportedly began an affair while working on 2021 film We Have A Ghost, and he later allegedly flew Natalie to his home in Atlanta, Georgia.

He had married Lily the previous year in a Las Vegas ceremony.

Speaking from her home in New Orleans’ historic Treme district, Natalie told Daily Mail she was the woman behind “Madeline”.

When approached by Daily Mail, Natalie said: “Of course I’ve heard the song.

“But I have a family and things to protect.

“I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and I understand this is going on.

“It’s a little bit scary for me.”

The affair reportedly came to light when Lily found an incriminating text on David’s phone.

The discovery inspired several tracks on her new album, which details betrayal and heartbreak.

Natalie declined to discuss the lyrics further, saying: “Yeah… I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it at the moment.”

The Sun has contacted Lily and David’s reps for comment.

Lily and David announced their split in January after four years of marriage.

It is understood they separated in December, with Lily spending Christmas alone with her children in Kenya.

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The LDN hitmaker was previously married to Sam Cooper from 2011-2018, although the relationship was understood to have crumbled some time before they made their split official.

With Sam, Lily had two children, 13 year old Ethel and Marnie Rose, 11

NEW YORK — A day after a mass of federal agents questioned street vendors and sparked protests on Manhattan’s Canal Street, sellers were scarce on the busy strip. Some who did venture out Wednesday, though, were disheartened or riled up by a sweep in which they said people, including U.S. citizens, were pressed to show their papers.

Federal authorities said 14 people, including immigrants and demonstrators, were arrested in Tuesday’s sweep. The Department of Homeland Security said it was a targeted operation focused on the alleged sale of counterfeit goods, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting Director Todd Lyons said it was “definitely intelligence-driven.”

“It’s not random. We’re just not pulling people off the street,” he told Fox News on Wednesday.

But some vendors saw it as an indiscriminate and heavy-handed crackdown by masked agents who queried a wide swath of sellers.

Awa Ngam was selling sweaters Wednesday from a table at a Canal Street intersection where at least one of her fellow vendors was taken away the previous afternoon.

She said she also was asked for ID, showed it, and then for her passport, which she doesn’t carry around. Agents quizzed her about how she had come to the U.S., but they eventually backed off after her husband explained that she’s an American citizen, she said.

“They asked every African that was here for their status,” Ngam said.

She returned to the spot Wednesday unafraid but upset.

“I’m saddened because they should not walk around and ask people for their passport in America,” said Ngam, who said she came to the U.S. from Mauritania in 2009. She added that if not for her legal immigration status, she would be fearful: “What if they took me? What would happen to my kids?”

Some other sellers decried the sweep as harassment. Others were keeping a low profile and shied from speaking with journalists.

Signs freshly posted on streetlights mentioned Tuesday’s sweep and urged people at risk of detention to call an immigration law group’s helpline.

Separately, state Atty. Gen. Letitia James, a Democrat, asked New Yorkers to send in photos or videos of Tuesday’s immigration sweep so that her office could assess whether laws were broken.

Law enforcement raids aimed at combating counterfeiting are relatively frequent on Canal Street, which is known for its stalls and shops where some vendors hawk knockoff designer goods and bootlegged wares. Federal authorities often team up with the New York Police Department and luxury brands on crackdowns aimed at shutting down illicit trade.

But the sight of dozens of masked ICE and other federal agents making arrests drew instant protests.

Bystanders and activists converged at the scene and shouted at the agents, at one point blocking their vehicle. ICE, Border Patrol and other federal agents tried to clear the streets, sometimes shoving protesters to the ground and threatening them with stun guns or pepper spray before detaining them.

Nine people were arrested in the initial immigration sweep, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Four more people were arrested on charges of assaulting federal law enforcement officers, she said, adding that a fifth was arrested and accused of obstructing law enforcement by blocking a driveway.

McLaughlin said some of the people arrested had previously been accused of crimes, including robbery, domestic violence, assaulting law enforcement, counterfeiting and drug offenses.

The sweep came after at least two conservative influencers shared video on X of men selling bags on Canal Street’s sidewalks.

While clashes between immigration authorities and protesters have played out in Los Angeles and other cities, such scenes have been rarer on New York City streets, which Mayor Eric Adams has attributed in part to his working relationship with President Trump’s administration.

Adams, a Democrat, said city police had no involvement in Tuesday’s immigration sweep.

“Our administration has been clear that undocumented New Yorkers trying to pursue their American dreams should not be the target of law enforcement, and resources should instead be focused on violent criminals,” he said.

Peltz and Offenhartz write for the Associated Press.

US President Donald Trump told Israel’s parliament that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had often asked him for weapons during the Gaza war, including “some I’d never heard of.” More than 67,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Tim Hentschel, CEO of HotelPlanner.com and HotelPlanner.ai, says his virtual travel agents are already taking 50,000 real calls a day and will hit the 100,000 mark before the year is out

“I’m sorry. That was a generic answer. Let me come up with something a little more meaningful.”

There’s something quite novel about a robot apologising to you. Cassandra, one of HotelPlanner.ai’s American representatives, was as quick on the contrition as it was on suggesting hotels in Tupelo, Mississippi, that I might want to stay in.

I chucked a few requirements at Cassandra and it quickly found me a place that ticked all of the boxes. Cassandra even obliged when I asked for a description of the rooms, and then apologised when I cut it off, demanding that those descriptions be a little less lifeless.

Try as I might, my efforts to wind Cassandra up failed. It kept delivering helpful answers and even extra titbits of information without being prompted, all with an upbeat tone of voice against a backdrop of fake call center sounds.

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Robo-travel agents such as Cassandra are currently fielding calls on HotelPlanner.ai, where you can choose the language and gender of your call handler before taking it on a test run. It’s working on a beta trial basis in the UK at the moment, but in the US, the world of AI travel agents is very much here already and booming.

Tim Hentschel, CEO of HotelPlanner.com and HotelPlanner.ai, says his virtual travel agents are already taking 50,000 real calls a day and will hit the 100,000 mark before the year is out. He claims that 10% of HotelPlanner.com’s bookings are made by bots.

That’s no small potatoes, given the company’s expected $1.8 billion gross revenues this year and the 1.5 million properties it can book.

Tim is a huge believer in the power of AI to transform customer service in the travel industry and argues that HotelPlanner.com’s agents are trained to be “more helpful and efficient” than humans and already able to “compete head-to-head” when it comes to customer satisfaction and sales.

While Tim says the company has no desire to stop using humans to answer calls, the AI side of the business is growing quickly and could one day field 100% of all calls. Partly because they’ve learned from the best. The large language model bots were trained using eight million human phone calls.

What’s arguably a little unnerving is that customers aren’t told they’re speaking to a robot, and they often don’t realise.

“We only tell customers if they’re speaking to an AI agent if they ask. Sometimes it has come up as customers have asked them out on dates,” Tim told the Mirror.

“We find AI works best with older customers as it’s extremely helpful and patient—sometimes to a fault, as the AI doesn’t understand the money value of time. The question is, if you want a service, who can perform it better? A human or AI with unlimited information?

“The agents have accents. They make an attempt at humour. The robots are programmed always to be helpful, it has nothing but kindness.”

Whether the idea of an AI customer service bot excites or appalls you, their arrival in increasing numbers seems inevitable. Just this week, OpenAI announced it had struck a deal with travel giant Expedia, paving the way for holidaymakers to book trips directly through the platform.

At the Travel and Tourism Summit in Rome at the end of September, Jane Sun, CEO of Trip.com Group, predicted that AI would “double the travel market” – because “people will work three days due to AI, and take much longer holidays.”

Jane went on to describe how she thought AI would improve customer service.

“We must make sure our customers are very well looked after with good customer support. 30 seconds, an AI in your native language will be able to speak to you over the phone. Within 30 seconds a call centre employee will be able to answer your call. Within two minutes of a crisis, our team will be able to call them to get them to safety. This will be powered by AI,” she said.

How do you feel about AI travel agents? Let us know in the comments below or by emailing [email protected].

Convicted music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs looked to the White House for major relief amid his legal saga, President Trump says.

“I have a lot of people asking for pardons,” Trump said Monday as reporters pressed him about whether he will pardon Ghislaine Maxwell, the imprisoned former girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein. Trump went on to name-drop Combs, using one of his former stage names.

“I call him Puff Daddy, he’s asked me for a pardon,” he continued. A representative for Combs did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but reports about a potential pardon for the Bad Boys Records founder and former Cîroc alcohol entrepreneur first surfaced months ago.

Combs, also formerly known as “Puffy,” “P. Diddy” and “Love,” was convicted in July in his high-profile federal criminal case, in which he was accused of sexually assaulting numerous women. Jurors found Combs guilty on two prostitution-related charges but cleared him of the most serious: racketeering and sex trafficking.

A month after the verdict, CNN reported that Combs’ legal team had reached out to the Trump administration to clear his name. “It’s my understanding that we’ve reached out and had conversations in reference to a pardon,” attorney Nicole Westmoreland told the outlet at the time. Days later, the New York Post reported otherwise, with Combs’ lead attorney Marc Agnifilo disputing Westmoreland’s claim.

Earlier this year, Trump also issued pardons for rapper NBA YoungBoy and “Chrisley Knows Best” reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley, among others.

Combs was sentenced Friday to more than four years in federal prison for transporting prostitutes across state lines for drug-fueled sex performances he dubbed “freak-offs.” The rapper’s legal team on Monday requested he carry out his sentence at FCI Fort Dix, a low-security federal prison in New Jersey. This will allow Combs “to address drug abuse issues and to maximize family visitation and rehabilitative efforts,” lawyer Teny Geragos wrote.

Meanwhile, as Combs prepares for time behind bars, 50 Cent is making it abundantly clear he’s going to make the most out of his rap foe’s sentence. Over the weekend, the “Candy Shop” musician poked fun at an upcoming speaking engagement that Combs had scheduled before his sentencing, joking that he’s open to take the spot.

50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, also reacted on Trump’s latest pardon comment, of course. “Man you can’t get No pardon running ya mouth like that,” he wrote on Instagram. “LOL Get Out of here.”

Times staff writer Richard Winton and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Oct. 6 (UPI) — A 13-year-old Florida student was arrested after allegedly asking an AI tool how to kill a friend. He was taken to a juvenile detention center.

A school resource deputy officer at Southwestern Middle School reportedly received a Gaggle-run alert Wednesday that a person had asked a school-issued ChatGPT device: “How to kill my friend in the middle of class,” according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s office.

Police responded immediately to the school in Deland about an hour north of Orlando and confronted the unidentified minor. The student insisted it was just a prank.

According to officials, the boy said a friend annoyed him and he was “just trolling.”

But Florida law enforcement failed to find humor in the state reeling still from the 2018 school shooting in Parkland, one in a rising number of U.S. school shooting incidents, that left 17 dead.

The sheriff’s office characterized it as yet “another ‘joke’ that created an emergency on campus.”

They issued a public plea to parents: “please talk to your kids so they don’t make the same mistake.”

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT. The ‘most grotesque killer in US history’ Ed Gein admitted to exhuming bodies from numerous cemeteries before finally being caught for murder

A new Netflix series has given viewers a dark look inside the mind of the ‘most grotesque killer in US history’ – and true crime fans are horrified.

The highly anticipated Monster: The Ed Gein Story was released on Friday (October 3), and profiles notorious killer Ed Gein.

It’s the latest follow-up in director Ryan Murphy’s Monster series, which has so far included shows on the Menendez brothers and Jeffrey Dahmer.

The writer’s latest show sees Charlie Hunnam star as Ed Gein, a sadistic killer who inspired fictional monsters like The Silence Of The Lambs killer Buffalo Bill. He also inspired Psycho and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

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From ten years, the murderer and body snatcher dug up graves near his remote home in Plainfield, Wisconsin, to practice necrophilia and harvest body parts.

Gein also murdered and mutilated two women, with police making an unthinkable discovery when they finally searched his home in 1957.

Mary Hogan, 54, had mysteriously vanished from the local area – but no-one suspected Gein initially. Then another woman, Bernice Worden, 58, vanished from her hardware shop.

The deputy sheriff in the area became suspicious of Gein and arrested him. That night, the cops went inside the killer’s home and found Bernice’s headless body hanging from the ceiling in the shed.

Polce also found bowls made out of human skills, organs in jars and chairs made from human skin. Human noses and lips, all carefully preserved, were also discovered. Gein confessed to shooting, killing and decapitating Bernice as well as Mary three years later.

Psychiatrists suggest that Gein’s depraved acts were directed towards women who physically resembled his late mother Augusta.

During his confession after being arrested, Gein reportedly said that he said he wanted a “woman suit”, that looked like his mother, who be was disturbingly obsessed with.

It was intended to allow him to “become his mother – to literally crawl into her skin,” according to forensic psychologist and author Katherine Ramsland.

The local sheriff, Art Schley, was reportedly so distressed by the scene that those close to him attributed it to his untimely death of heart failure aged 43 in 1968. He would not live to see Gein’s trial.

In a police interviews, Gein was asked if he sexually abused the corpses he dug up. The killer denied he ever did this, saying: “They smelled too bad”.

Gein was also suspected of being responsible for the disappearance of two children Georgia Jean Weckler, eight, and Evelyn Grace Hartley, 14. Both vanished while babysitting.

Evelyn is portrayed by Addison Rae in the Netflix series and is Gein’s second victim in the show. The gruesome murder is similar to a scene in the horror movie The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – although there is no evidence Gein committed this murder.

There were also neighbours who went missing, before Gein was arrested including James Walsh, 32.

Gein passed lie detector tests when questioned about the three cases. After admitting the murders of Bernice Worden and May Hogan, Gein was in court on murder charges in late 1957, but was declared unfit to stand trial after being diagnosed with schizophrenia.

He spent a decade in mental health institutions before authorities determined he was capable of participating in his own defence, and he finally faced court.

In the end, the jury returned a verdict of guilty but legally insane, and Gein was sentenced to life in a psychiatric institution. He died from lung cancer at the age of 77 in 1984.

Reporting from Washington — It was an October afternoon when 13-year-old Andy Lopez, wearing shorts and a blue sweatshirt, walked down a sidewalk in Santa Rosa, Calif., loosely carrying at his side a plastic pellet gun that resembled an assault rifle.

Two Sonoma County sheriff’s deputies were driving in the neighborhood on a routine patrol. When Officer Erick Gelhaus, an Iraq war veteran, spotted the 5-foot-3 teenager, he thought the boy might be carrying an AK-47.

Their patrol car swung behind Andy. From 60 feet away, Gelhaus jumped out, crouched behind the door and shouted “Drop the gun!”

As Andy began to turn toward him, Gelhaus fired eight shots, killing the boy.

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to shield the deputy from being sued by the parents of the boy on the grounds that no law “squarely governs” this situation and would have alerted the officer that shooting the teenager on the sidewalk amounted to the use of “excessive force.”

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Joined by several California law enforcement groups, Sonoma County’s lawyers are urging the justices to “support the common sense proposition that officers need not wait for a gun to actually be leveled or pointed at them before responding with deadly force to protect themselves and the public.”

They stand a good chance of prevailing, even though the high court grants only about 1% of appeal petitions.

In recent years, the justices have regularly intervened in police shooting cases to overturn rulings that cleared the way for a jury to decide whether an officer used excessive force.

In April, the high court, by a 7-2 vote, tossed out a lawsuit against a Tucson police officer who shot a woman four times as she stood in her front yard holding a large kitchen knife. The officer, one of three who came on the scene, decided she was threatening another woman who stood six feet away. The other woman later testified they were housemates, and she did not feel threatened.

The justices reversed the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had allowed the woman’s suit to proceed. “Use of excessive force is an area of law in which the result depends very much on the facts of each case, and thus police officers are entitled to qualified immunity unless existing precedent squarely governs the specific facts at issue,” the court said in Kisela vs. Hughes.

In dissent, Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the decision “sends an alarming signal to law enforcement officers … that they can shoot first and think later.”

The shooting of Andy Lopez in 2013 sparked protests in Santa Rosa and an FBI investigation. But no charges were brought against Gelhaus, and the officer returned to duty in two months.

Andy’s parents sued under the long-standing federal civil rights law that authorizes suits against officers who violate a person’s constitutional rights. In this instance, the suit alleged a violation of the 4th Amendment’s ban on “unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Chief District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland refused to grant immunity to the officer, and the 9th Circuit Court, by a 2-1 vote, affirmed her decision last year.

Judge Milan D. Smith, an appointee of President George W. Bush, said the officer did not appear to face an imminent threat.

“Andy was walking normally … in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood” and carrying a weapon that another driver in the area saw as being a toy gun, even though it did not have an orange plastic tip. “Gelhaus deployed deadly force while Andy was standing on the sidewalk holding a gun that was pointed down at the ground,” Smith wrote. And he “shot without having warned [him] that such force would be used, and without observing any aggressive behavior.”

In dissent, Judge Clifford Wallace, a Nixon appointee, called the case “tragic. A boy lost his life, needlessly, as it turns out.” But the suit should be dismissed nonetheless. “The majority greatly understates the potential danger Andy posed as perceived by Deputy Gelhaus. [He] reasonably believed that Andy was carrying an AK-47,” he wrote.

Sonoma County appealed to the Supreme Court in Gelhaus vs. Lopez and said the recent ruling in the Tucson case calls for throwing out the suit against the deputy.

“No existing precedent ‘squarely governs’ the ‘specific facts’ at issue here,” the county said. Its petition described “the specific situation” as “an individual apparently armed with an assault rifle refusing to drop a weapon. … An officer need not wait to be put in harm’s way before responding in defense of himself and the surrounding community … when confronting an assault weapon capable of spraying 30 bullets in seconds.”

The justices considered the appeal in their private conference on May 31 and relisted it for further consideration this past week. They could act on the case as soon as Monday.

If they deny the appeal, the parents’ suit would go to trial in Oakland. The court could agree to hear the case in the fall. Or the justices may reverse the 9th Circuit’s decision to allow the suit by citing their recent ruling in the Tucson case.

The latest from Washington »

More stories from David G. Savage »

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A six-year-old boy asked his dad if they were ‘going on the slide’, and his dad corrected him – but a flight attendant on the plane wasn’t as kind and it sparked a discussion

Safety briefings happen every single time you step on an aircraft, and they’re designed to assist you should the unlikely event of an emergency occur while you’re travelling on the plane. It covers details about the brace position, oxygen masks that will drop from the overhead panel if cabin pressure falls, and chutes you might need to utilise during an emergency, among other things that would come in handy if something went wrong.

Naturally, if you have any queries, cabin crew will be delighted to share their expertise with you, as they must complete rigorous training before they’re permitted to work aboard the aircraft, for more than obvious reasons.

Nevertheless, one six-year-old lad received more than he expected when he enquired about using the slide on the plane – likely imagining it was an entertaining playground feature, rather than a potentially life-saving apparatus in the proper circumstances.

Hannah Cantile posted a clip of herself on TikTok, though you could overhear the exchange between the youngster and the flight attendant.

The little lad told his father they were “going on the slide,” and he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm.

The father responded: “No slide,” and the flight attendant supported the dad’s response, explaining the boy wouldn’t be using the slide.

The inquisitive child then enquired: “What’s the slide for?” and the flight attendant explained it’s utilised during “emergencies”.

He candidly added: “So if everybody is about to die, that’s when the slide comes out.”

Hannah awkwardly chuckled at how bluntly he explained this, but many applauded him for preventing the youngster from “asking any more unnecessary questions”.

Someone also remarked that children don’t require “sugar coating and tiptoeing” and should be told the truth – even if it’s harsh.

The slide deploys when passengers need to evacuate rapidly, such as during a fire, smoke in the cabin, a water landing, or a crash landing.

In a water landing, the slide may also serve as a life raft for passengers.

It will automatically inflate if a cabin door opens whilst the door remains in the “armed” position.

Doors are “armed” for slide deployment before take-off and landing, ensuring that during an emergency, the slide will inflate instantly when the door opens.

The slide doesn’t deploy during normal boarding or disembarking; in these instances, the doors are “disarmed” so the slide won’t activate.

Cabin crew are responsible for arming and disarming the doors and for triggering slide deployment during emergencies.

It’s a vital safety mechanism designed to help passengers exit the aircraft swiftly and securely, and it’s not routinely used.

A woman has left people divided after a mum asked her to swap seats with her son for a ‘stupid’ reason, but she branded her as selfish and accused her of ‘making a scene’

Everybody has their preferred plane seat, which is likely to be a window or an aisle. The middle seat is often one that’s dreaded – especially if you’re sitting next to random people. But when one woman asked if she could swap with the occupant of a window seat on the plane for a “stupid” reason and was told no, she was seething.

Posting a video of her side of the interaction, @life_in_mini_stories shared a clip of a woman sitting in a window seat, minding her own business. Of course, many times when you occupy these seats, you’ve paid an additional fee for the pleasure.

She shared a woman allegedly said to her: “Excuse me, would you mind switching seats? My son really wants to sit by the window. He just loves watching the clouds.”

The female responded by saying she couldn’t switch, because she “picked this seat ahead of time”. The woman in the video also shared she also likes looking outside during a flight.

The mum was incensed already, saying she didn’t understand why the woman wouldn’t swap with her, pointing out “nobody has ever refused before”.

She also seethed: “You must not have kids; otherwise, you’d know it’s normal to give your seat up for a child. Or do you want him crying for the whole flight?”

The woman in the video explained it wasn’t her “problem” if the child was crying, stating once more that she wouldn’t be giving up her seat.

“If you wanted your son to sit by the window, you should’ve planned ahead and booked a window seat,” she pointed out.

The mum said she wasn’t “paying extra just because one person thinks she’s smarter than everyone else”. She also continued her attack, saying: “You’re a grown woman, have some shame,” accusing her of “making a scene”.

But the female responded by pointing out she knows she’s a “grown woman,” and that’s why she books her seat “ahead of time instead of guilt-tripping strangers into giving theirs up”.

The mum accused her of not caring about other people’s feelings, or children, branding her as “disgusting”.

In the comments of the video, someone wrote: “You’re 100% in the right and she has absolutely no right to ask.”

Another added: “Asking is okay, but she needs to take no for an answer.”

“While I agree that I’d keep my seat, I also think the mother of the child has a right to ask as much as I have the right to say hell no,” somebody shared.

A man seethed: “NEVER give up a seat you prepaid extra for! ESPECIALLY to accommodate those who tried to be clever by not paying for seats they wanted.”

Someone joked: “You’re teaching that child and parent a great lesson… In the real world you, #1 plan ahead, #2 stand your ground, #3 you can’t get what you want by crying.”

US President Donald Trump and his Middle East envoy both claimed the talks could happen next week, following the Iranian president’s comments on being open to dialogue.

Iran says it has not requested talks with the United States over its nuclear programme, as claimed by US President Donald Trump.

“No request for a meeting has been made on our side to the American side,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday in comments carried by the country’s Tasnim news agency.

The clarification came a day after Trump, during a dinner in the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said Iran was actively seeking negotiations on a new nuclear deal following the 12-day war with Israel last month, which the US also joined.

“We have scheduled Iran talks. They want to talk,” Trump told reporters. “They want to work something out. They are very different now than they were two weeks ago.”

Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff – also present during the dinner – had even said the meeting could take place in the next week or so.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times newspaper on Tuesday that Tehran remains interested in diplomacy but “we have good reason to have doubts about further dialogue”.

Sanctions relief

On June 13, Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign on Iran that targeted military and nuclear sites as well as residential areas, killing senior military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iranian authorities say the Israeli strikes killed at least 1,060 people. Israel says retaliatory drone and missile fire by Iran killed at least 28 people.

The US joined the war, bombing Iranian nuclear sites at Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz, just days before a planned meeting between Tehran and Washington, DC on reviving the nuclear talks. Trump then went on to announce a ceasefire between Israel and Iran.

The negotiations, aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, would replace the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – a deal signed with the US, China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union – which Trump ditched during his first term in office.

Floating the prospect of more talks on Monday, Trump also dangled the prospect of lifting punitive US sanctions on Iran, imposed after the US withdrawal from JCPOA, with further restrictions piled on this year.

This month, the US issued a new wave of sanctions against Iranian oil exports, the first penalties against Tehran’s energy sector since the US-backed ceasefire ended the war between Israel and Iran.

“I would love to be able to, at the right time, take those sanctions off,” said Trump.

Towards the end of last month, Trump said he was working on “the possible removal of sanctions”, but dropped his efforts after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei claimed “victory” in the Iran-Israel war.

Tehran’s denial regarding talks with the US came after Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told US journalist Tucker Carlson that Iran had “no problem” resuming talks so long as trust could be rebuilt between the two sides.

The interview, aired on Monday, provoked a backlash in Iran, with the critics accusing Pezeshkian of being “too soft” in the wake of last month’s attacks on the country.

“Have you forgotten that these same Americans, together with the Zionists, used the negotiations to buy time and prepare for the attack?” said an editorial in the hardline Kayhan newspaper.

The conservative Javan daily also took aim at Pezeshkian, saying his remarks appeared “a little too soft”.

In contrast, the reformist Ham Mihan newspaper praised Pezeshkian’s “positive approach”.

A plane passenger taught an ‘entitled’ man the importance of planning ahead after refusing to swap seats on a flight so he could enjoy the journey next to his girlfriend

A man has been praised for refusing to swap plane seats so an ‘entitled’ boyfriend could sit next to his partner on a flight. The 29-year-old explained how he was travelling home from a work trip and made sure to pre-book an aisle seat so he could stretch his legs out a little.

However, his peaceful journey was disrupted when another passenger spotted him sitting alone and approached him to ask a ‘favour’. He said on Reddit: “I was flying home from a work trip and had booked an aisle seat because I’m tall and need legroom. As soon as I sit down, a guy comes over and says, ‘Hey bro, can we switch? My girlfriend’s by the window and I’m in the middle back there.’

“I glance at his seat, literally the second-worst spot on the plane. I say, ‘Sorry, I booked this one specifically’. He gets annoyed and says, ‘Dude, I’m just trying to sit next to my girl.'”

He told him he understood why he’d want to swap seats but tried to gently explain he didn’t want to give up his comfort for a stranger.

He added: “He said, ‘You’re sitting alone, man. What do you need the aisle for?’ I replied, ‘Because I paid for it. That’s how seats work’.

“He called me an ‘inconsiderate loner,’ which was cute, considering he tried to guilt-trip me into a downgrade. The flight attendant eventually had to tell him to sit down or be removed.”

Sharing a final message of disgust on social media, he added: “Couples don’t get priority over people who planned ahead. Sorry not sorry.”

While most users praised him for standing his ground, others shared their own stories about ‘entitled’ passengers on planes.

One user said: “This happened on a 12h flight from Korea to Toronto and when the person said no the girlfriend started bawling and eventually someone else nearby traded with her.

“I was so mad they gave into her crocodile tears because now she’s going to do it every damn flight.

“This poor tiny Asian woman was stuck in a middle seat for 12 hours instead of her aisle seat because a pretty young white woman can cry on command.”

Another user added: “In the airplane seat war card game, inconsiderate loners beat inconsiderate losers every time. Especially the ones too cheap to buy an aisle seat.”

A third user said: “This exact thing happened to me! What preceded it was the girl jumping into the window seat in my aisle and laughing cutely at him that she got the good seat first.

“Then she asked if I could trade with him (in the middle seat in another row) so they could sit together.

“I thought, if they really wanted to sit together, she could have given up her window seat to someone for a fair trade.

“I said no. She replied, ‘It doesn’t hurt to ask’. Sure it doesn’t, but don’t expect anyone to take a downgrade to give you an underserved upgrade.”

Damian Homer, 51, was convicted of murder and attempted murder in November 2024 after launching a brutal attack on his partner and her mum while their two young children were at home

A quiet spring evening in a Worcester suburb erupted into chaos when police and paramedics swarmed a residential street, responding to a harrowing double stabbing on March 2, 2024.

Inside the house, Damian Homer stood at the door, blood staining his t-shirt. His partner Stacey Hill and her mother Wendy Francis lay injured on the floor – both stabbed in a frenzied attack that left one dead. The horrifying details of the case have been revealed in full in the BBC Two docuseries Murder 24/7.

Homer had launched a violent assault on Stacey and Wendy in a terrifying outburst, even pausing mid-attack to ask Stacey – bleeding and helpless – for a kiss. As she lay critically wounded, Stacey described hearing the “noise the knife made in my mum”.

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Wendy, 61, had rushed to the home after her daughter called in fear, having seen the reflection of a knife in Homer’s pocket in their mirrored wardrobe.

When officers arrived, they restrained Homer against the wall. As he was arrested for attempted murder, he claimed: “Stacey went to stab me, then Wendy came in and they both tried to stab me. I had to protect myself… it’s a good job I did otherwise I’d be the one dead.”

Paramedics found Stacey surrounded by blood, urgently asking them to check on her mother and her two children who had been inside the house at the time. Police carried the two young children to safety, telling them: “Keep your eyes tight, tight, tight” as they were taken past the bodies.

While Stacey, 38, was rushed to hospital, Wendy went into cardiac arrest. Despite efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead at 9:18pm on March 2, 2024.

In police interviews the following morning, Homer claimed he loved Stacey and described a domestic argument escalating. He alleged Stacey tried to grab a knife first, which he took and placed in his pocket. Then he claimed Wendy stormed in and jumped on him, prompting him to draw the knife:

“We fell over and the knife went into her. Stacey was shouting, and she went to grab another knife… and came towards me. I launched at her. And she just froze on the spot.”

But his version immediately raised suspicions. He referred to a “second knife” Stacey had supposedly grabbed – yet when police searched the property, no second knife was found.

With Stacey in critical condition and Wendy dead, investigators turned to other sources. The couple’s children – now in the care of relatives – gave troubling accounts. A social worker noted they played with dolls, identifying one as “Daddy… he’s bad”.

One child said: “One of them got blood on Daddy’s T-shirt, and they were screaming. Daddy was in the kitchen, Mummy was lying down on the kitchen floor, and Nanny’s blood was dripping. Dad was throwing the knife he’d got in his hand, and it hit both of them.”

Homer’s violent past also began to emerge. His former boss Clair recalled his threatening outburst during a disciplinary meeting: “How fing dare they… if I find out it’s you I’m going to fing hurt you.”

He also had a suspended sentence for assaulting Stacey in 2020.

Detectives reviewed the couple’s mobile phones, uncovering evidence of a deteriorating relationship. On the day of the attack, Stacey had texted her mother: “I’ve had to come upstairs… believe me when I say I’m done.”

In another message to Homer, she wrote: “Find somewhere else to live… you’re lucky I ain’t called the police on you.”

To which he replied: “Lol. Only if you buy me out.” Concerned, Stacey’s aunt phoned emergency services:

“She’s just told me her chap’s got a knife in his pocket. Please get there quick.”

When Stacey was finally able to speak, she gave a harrowing account of that night. After a day out at a garden centre, Homer started drinking and grew increasingly aggressive. She went upstairs to get away, and spotted a knife in his pocket via their mirrored wardrobe:

“I said to my auntie, ‘Call the police, he’s got a knife.’ I called my mum and said, ‘Mum, Damo’s got a knife and I think he’s going to kill me.’”

Stacey tried to leave, but Homer pulled her back and began assaulting her. “He was swinging me around the kitchen and punching me in the head. I heard my mum come through the door and say, ‘Get your hands off my f***ing babbi.’ I breathed a sigh of relief – my hero had come to save me.”

But Homer didn’t stop. Instead, he pulled out the knife.

“We both ended up curled up on the floor… he pulled the knife out of his back pocket and stabbed my mum in the left side of her chest, for ages. All I could hear was the noise the knife made in my mum.”

“I tried to get on my mum to stop any more stab wounds being inflicted. He started panicking and as he did that, he came down to me and asked me for a kiss.”

Stacey, stabbed in the chest with a collapsed lung, was losing consciousness. But her thoughts were still with her mother:

“I kept asking about my mum but I could tell by the look on their face that it was bad news.”

Stacey’s detailed testimony, along with the children’s accounts, forensic evidence, and Ring doorbell footage capturing Wendy’s final moments, left police confident Homer’s story was false. He was charged with murder and attempted murder.

Though he initially claimed self-defence, Homer later pleaded guilty and was sentenced in November 2024 to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 20 years.

“Everybody loved Damo,” Stacey reflected. “But when you were living with him 24/7, the mask started to come away. The first time he hit me, he said sorry. But there was no point in ever being happy, because I knew it wouldn’t last.”

“The biggest thing for me was losing my mum. But every time I think about giving up, I look at what my mum did for me. She saved my life and I know now what I have to do for my kids. I have to be the mum to them, that she was to me.”

Murder 24/7 is available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

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June 17 (UPI) — New York state education officials might face a U.S. Justice Department investigation into potential Title VI of the Civil Rights Act violations related to a public school’s chosen mascot.

The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday announced it has asked the DOJ to investigate the New York State Department of Education and Board of Regents for banning Massapequa, N.Y., High School’s mascot, which is the “Chiefs.”

The mascot refers to the Massapequa Tribe that formerly occupied New York’s Long Island.

“Both the New York [State] Department of Education and the Board of Regents violated federal anti-discrimination law and disrespected the people of Massapequa by implementing an absurd policy: prohibiting the use of Native American mascots while allowing mascots derived from European national origin,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said.

“Both of these entities continue to disrespect the people of Massapequa by refusing to come into compliance with the Office for Civil Rights’ proposed agreement to rectify their violations,” McMahon added.

Officials with the state’s Education Department and Board of Regents have banned schools from using mascots and logos that refer to and depict aboriginal tribes.

The U.S. DOE’s Office of Civil Rights had proposed a resolution to the matter by requiring the state to rescind its ban on aboriginal tribal mascots and logos, but the state rejected it.

The DOE has opened a Title VI investigation into the matter to determine whether or not the state’s ban amounts to discrimination based on race and national origin.

A New York Education Department spokesperson called the matter a “farce” in an emailed statement to UPI.

“The referral of this matter to the Department of Justice shows that USDOE’s investigation was a farce from the outset,” NYDE spokesman JP O’Hare said.

“To the extent that any investigation took place, it represents a blatant attempt to do a political favor for the Massapequa Board of Education.”

He called the use of aboriginal tribal mascots “indolent symbolism masquerading as tradition” and said nearly all state school districts are complying with the state’s regulations.

“To date, with the exception of four school districts that have contacted us to request an extension, every school district in New York, 727 of them, has engaged in the community-driven process to rebrand their team names, mascots and logos,” O’Hare said.

“Rather than wrestling over mascots, maybe we could all focus on what’s paramount, ensuring our schools are inclusive and respectful for every student,” he added.

State education department officials have threatened to withhold state funding from the Massapequa school district if it does not change its mascot to one that conforms with New York regulations.

Those regulations don’t ban the use of mascots and logos that reference other racial or ethnic groups, such as the “Fighting Irish,” “Huguenots” and the “Dutchmen,” which the DOE says violates the Civil Rights Act.

“The U.S. Department of Education will not stand by as the state of New York attempts to rewrite history and deny the town of Massapequa the right to celebrate its heritage in its schools,” McMahon said on April 25.

She visited the school district on May 30 after the DOE investigated the matter and determined the state violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Native American Guardians Association agrees with McMahon and the DOE.

“The [NAGA] stands firm in asserting that the preservation of Native themes and imagery in New York schools is not only a matter of cultural dignity but a fundamental civil right for all students,” NAGA Vice President Frank Blackcloud said.

“We call on federal and state leaders to help us defend these dwindling expressions of our presence and contributions,” Blackcloud added.

Massapequa Board of Education President Kerry Watcher thanked NAGA, the DOE and the Trump administration for their support.

“Attempts to erase Native American imagery do not advance learning,” Watcher said.

“They distract from our core mission of providing a high-quality education grounded in respect, history and community values.”

That Scottie Scheffler is the prohibitive favorite to win the U.S. Open this week at historic Oakmont Country Club surprises no one. He’s the top-ranked golfer in the world, winning three of his last four starts, including the PGA Championship.

That Scheffler deleted his Venmo account because bettors continually clicked the pay/request link on the mobile payment app and rudely demanded that he reimburse them when he didn’t win probably shouldn’t surprise anyone, either.

“I think everybody hears from fans whether they have a financial benefit or anything in their outcome,” Scheffler told reporters at the U.S. Open on Tuesday. “That’s why I had to get rid of my Venmo, because I was either getting paid by people or people requesting me a bunch of money when I didn’t win. It wasn’t a good feeling.”

Scheffler chuckled nervously when he said it, but athletes getting harassed by folks who lost money betting on their performances isn’t a laughing matter.

Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 struck down a federal law that had prohibited most states from allowing sports betting, abuse toward athletes from bettors who blame them for their financial losses has soared. Gambling on sports is now legal in 39 states.

Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. and Boston Red Sox pitcher Liam Hendriks said recently that their families have received death threats on social media.

A man who lost money May 10 when McCullers gave up seven runs while recording only one out in a loss to the Cincinnati Reds threatened to “murder” McCullers’ two young daughters. Police traced the threats to an intoxicated man overseas who had lost money betting on the game.

“I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with,” McCullers said in an understatement. “There have been many, many threats over the years aimed at me mostly … but I think bringing kids into the equation, threatening to find them or next time they see us in public they’re going to stab my kids to death. Things like that are tough to hear as a dad.”

Hendriks posted on his Instagram story that he has received death threats while struggling to regain his form after missing nearly two years because of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Tommy John surgery.

“Threats against my life and my wife’s life are horrible and cruel,” Hendriks wrote. “You need help. Comments telling me to commit suicide and how you wish I died from cancer are disgusting and vile. Maybe you should take a step back and re-evaluate your life’s purpose before hiding behind a screen attacking players and their families.

Hendriks later explained to reporters why he responded on social media.

“With the rise of sports gambling, it’s gotten a lot worse,” he said. “Unfortunately, that tends to be what it ends up being — whether it be Venmo requests, whether it be people telling you in their comments, ‘Hey, you blew my parlay. Go [f—-] yourself,’ kind of stuff.”

Some gamblers believe they can impact the outcomes of competition through harassment. FanDuel banned a man in Philadelphia after he bragged on social media about intimidating three-time Olympic gold medalist Gabby Thomas at a Grand Slam Track meet two weeks ago.

“I made Gabby lose by heckling her. And it made my parlay win,” he wrote on a post that included a screenshot of two bets on FanDuel.

Thomas responded by posting, “This grown man followed me around the track as I took pictures and signed autographs for fans (mostly children) shouting personal insults — anybody who enables him online is gross.”

College athletes are also targets, especially during high-volume betting events such as March Madness and the College Football Playoff.

The NCAA is lobbying for states to ban proposition bets on the performances of individual college athletes, saying it creates a temptation to compromise game integrity.

College athletes have long been considered more susceptible to taking money from gamblers than pro athletes because they are amateurs. That will soon change because of the passage last week of the House settlement, a revenue-sharing model that will allow universities to directly pay athletes up to $20.5 million per year.
Not to say paying college athletes will insulate them from disgruntled gamblers. The NCAA will continue to press for laws that could ban bettors from state-licensed sportsbooks if they are found guilty of harassment.

The sheer volume of betting makes policing the harassment and intimidation of athletes an enormous challenge. This year, it was estimated that $3 billion was legally wagered on the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA), an increase of about 10% from 2024.

In an attempt to be proactive about harassment ahead of March Madness, the NCAA posted a public service announcement video titled “Don’t Be a Loser.”

“There’s losing and then there’s being a loser. Game time comes with enough pressure,” the video said. “Way too often, people are betting on sports, losing, and taking it out on the athletes. Only a loser would harass college athletes after losing a bet, but it happens almost every day.

“Root for your team, get crazy when the buzzer sounds, but don’t harass anyone because you lost a bet. It’s time we draw the line and put an end to the abuse.”

Scheffler drew the line by deleting his Venmo account, which had become just another means for gamblers to communicate with a prominent athlete. His career earnings exceed $150 million, according to Spotrac, but he said a handful of bettors had paid him “maybe a couple bucks here or there” via Venmo after he won tournaments and presumably lined their pockets as well.

“That didn’t happen nearly as much as the requests did,” Scheffler added.

Far-right anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, better known as Tommy Robinson, was asked to leave a London restaurant after the business said guests and staff felt uncomfortable.

The 42-year-old said he and four others were told to leave the Hawksmoor steakhouse, near Piccadilly Circus, on Thursday.

Yaxley-Lennon has accused the restaurant of “discriminatory behaviour” due to his political beliefs.

Hawksmoor, which did not name Yaxley-Lennon in its statement, said the group left the restaurant “politely”, adding that its decision was “not about politics or belief” and it was “not trying to engage in a public debate”.

The restaurant chain has been contacted for further comment.

Video footage, posted on X by a member of Yaxley-Lennon’s group, shows a member of staff telling them that his colleagues felt “uncomfortable serving” them.

The staff member is then heard saying that he had a “duty of care”, adding that he would waive the bill for their drinks and apologising for the inconvenience.

Posting on X, Yaxley-Lennon said: “Restaurants and businesses should not be political. We weren’t loud, aggressive or inappropriate, so this can only be my politics.”

Tripadvisor has temporarily suspended reviews on some Hawksmoor restaurants due to an influx of reviews “that do not describe a first-hand experience”.

It comes after Yaxley-Lennon called for a boycott of the restaurant and for his followers on X to leave reviews.

The steakhouse chain has seven restaurants in London, with branches in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Manchester and abroad.

In a statement Hawksmoor said: “On Thursday, a public figure was asked to leave one of our restaurants because guests and staff felt uncomfortable and had complained.

“The party left peacefully and politely on request.”

It added it wanted to welcome guests “regardless of background or views” and its team had to deal with a “huge amount of fallout… some of which is quite concerning”.

BBC News has contacted the steakhouse chain’s CEO for comment.

It comes after Yaxley-Lennon pleaded not guilty to two charges of harassing two Daily Mail journalists on Thursday.

Yaxley-Lennon founded the far-right English Defence League, known for its protests against what it calls “radical Islam”. He stepped down in 2013.

Michael Zervos embarked on a trip around the world, visiting 195 countries in 499 days and asking hundreds of people exactly the same question – what was the happiest day of your life?

What is the happiest day of your life?

That’s the question Michael Zervos asked hundreds of people during his record-breaking, mammoth trip around the world.

Last week, the Greek-American globetrotter returned to Detroit, his goal of reaching all 195 countries in the shortest time ever completed. He stopped the clock at 499 days.

The former movie maker was not just motivated by the glory of becoming the speediest nation-visiting completist but also by a desire to understand what makes people tick in different parts of the world.

Some similar themes quickly emerged.

“There were a lot more similar answers than different ones. Many of them fall into particular themes, of connection, of relief or release from pain or agony. Many were mixes of sadness and happiness, like a knot. Sometimes, it was people coming through a period of sadness after a great event,” Michael told the Mirror.

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“Specifically, about 10% of people who responded would say motherhood, fatherhood, or marriage.”

Amid all the expected answers were some more unusual gems, highly specific to the person and place.

“In Russia, I interviewed six people. One was a 65-year-old woman who was at an art museum with her children. Her happiest moment was seeing her grandkids’ artwork being exhibited alongside her own. Another time, a guy told me that his happiest day was at college when he met his idol, a rockstar of the Moscow mathematics scene. He met him and was given some words of wisdom,” the traveler explained.

Michael embarked on his project in the hopes of connecting with people across the world, in a way that would let him scratch a little beneath the surface. If, he had realised, the question was ‘what makes you happy?’ he’d be inundated with short, repetitive answers. ‘Family’. ‘Friends’ ‘Money’.

However, ask people what the happiest day of their life was, and the answer is likely much more personal and considered.

During our conversation, Michael suggested a quick-fire quiz. I’d name a country, he’d give me a ‘happiest day’ anecdote. We start with Samoa.

“There was a fella named Christopher. A big, friendly, jovial guy. He was so proud of their heritage. Christopher’s happiest moment was the time he got his entire heritage tattooed on himself. It is an extremely important decision for Samoans. You are taking upon the past traditions, heritage and the stories of your people on your body. It is very painful and traditionally takes place over long, long periods of time. You can’t take any pain killers. You can’t drink at all. It’s 10 hour sessions, day after day. His happiest moment was when he completed it,” Michael recalled.

Next up, Sierra Leone – a country that typically finds itself at the bottom of global development indexes.

“I got more interviews in Sierra Leone than in any other country. People lined up to be interviewed by me. There was a guy on the street talking about being a child soldier. This guy told me his happiest moment was running away, escaping (from the army).”

The third country causes more pause for thought, and links to another reason Michael landed on his question. It is Finland, recently ranked as the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report for the eighth year in a row.

“It was immensely difficult to get interviews out of Finns. Did I find them to be more happy? No, no I didn’t.”

The more people Michael spoke to, the more he questioned the metrics used to measure happiness in the Report. He found them “somewhat Westernised” and unable to get to the core of what people want and what they’re about.

While he admits his work is limited by being so anecdotal and interpretive, Michael felt he got to the heart of some countries and what brings joy to the people there.

“The Pacific Islands seemed the happiest region to me. There is a high level of community and support. It is a high trust society with tight cultural norms. They’re in the here and now. We’re here today and tomorrow and the rest is a dream. That is how people think of their realities there. They build together.”

Other places remained a mystery.

“It was hard in some countries, especially Japan. There were things that seriously disappointed me and some that surprised me. I was walking through Tokyo, which I had imagined as the city of the future, a cyberpunk world. When I visited, it was hard for me to separate the metal from the living, undulating mass of people and concrete. The humanity and dignity of people somehow faded. It can be very isolating, immensely lonely, and amazing at the same time. The overstimulation in Japan. It can be extremely difficult to penetrate and interpret.”

Now Michael is back home he is working through his interviews, which are uploaded to his Instagram account. Soon, he will turn his investigation and travels into a book for Penguin Random House.

Whether he gets to the bottom of what makes people happy, or the ingredients for a happy life, once all of his notes have been read through and interviews rewatched, remains to be seen.