cold

Travelling by car can make some people feel queasy, but one woman has uncovered a simple trick that might make your sickness vanish – and it involves one simple cold remedy

Travel sickness can make life incredibly difficult for those who struggle with it. It makes using public transport a chore as you have to make sure you’re not going to be sick on an unsuspecting stranger on the train, and even travelling by car can be a nightmare, as many people who suffer can’t drive themselves.

There are many products on the market that claim to tackle travel sickness, such as patches and tablets, but these may not work for everyone, and aren’t always accessible if you suddenly feel motion sick and need effective relief. One woman, however, has claimed that one product most of us have in our medicine cabinets is “life-saving” for travel sickness sufferers.

In a video on Instagram, Kiki Rough explained that she was recently “fighting for her life” while trying not to be sick in the back of a taxi that was taking her to the airport.

She told the taxi driver that if she was sick in the car she would pay for the car to be cleaned and would give the driver a hefty tip for having to deal with the unpleasant situation – but the driver did something unexpected.

Instead of getting angry that Kiki was at risk of vomiting, the driver reached into her pocket and pulled out some Vicks VapoRub, which she handed to Kiki and told her to “put it under her nose”.

Kiki explained: “When I tell you, three decades of my life where I have fought to not throw up on every long-form car trip just disappeared. My nausea? Out the window.”

The kindness of the taxi driver didn’t stop there, as she also pulled out a small, empty container and scooped some of the VapoRub into it, handing it to Kiki for the rest of her journey, along with the sweet message: “Don’t get sick on your flight.”

Commenters on the video were blown away by the trick. Many said it would be “life-saving” for their upcoming trips if the smell of the Vicks product could keep them from feeling sick.

One person said: “I’m actually excited to try a long car ride now. Thank you for sharing this!”

Another added: “This is LIFE SAVING.”

A third wrote: “Did you just change my life with this?”

It’s believed that Vicks VapoRub works because the menthol scent blocks any strong smells that might be exacerbating your illness.

Getting fresh air and breathing in clean smells are proven ways to alleviate motion sickness, and the smell of Vicks could contribute to that.

Advice for dealing with motion sickness

Vicks is not designed to cure motion sickness, and the trick may not work for everyone, but there are other things you can try. According to the NHS, you can try these steps to ease the sickness yourself:

• Reduce motion by sitting in the front seat of a car or the middle of a boat
• Look straight ahead at a fixed point, such as the horizon
• Breathe fresh air if possible – for example, by opening a car window
• Close your eyes and breathe slowly while focusing on your breathing
• Break up long journeys to get some fresh air, drink water or take a walk
• Try ginger to settle the stomach, either as a tablet, in a biscuit, or in tea

The NHS also recommends that you do not do the following:

• Do not read, watch films or use electronic devices
• Do not look at moving objects, such as passing cars or rolling waves
• Do not eat heavy meals, spicy foods, or drink alcohol shortly before or during travel
• Do not go on fairground rides if they make you feel unwell

Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) has obtained testimony from Palestinian American teenager Mohammed Ibrahim, whose case has become a symbol for the mistreatment of minors in Israeli jails.

In an interview with a DCIP lawyer, published on Tuesday, 16-year-old Mohammed described the harsh conditions he has faced since his detention began in February, including thin mattresses, cold cells and meagre meals.

“The meals we receive are extremely insufficient,” he is quoted as saying.

“For breakfast, we are served just three tiny pieces of bread, along with a mere spoonful of labneh. At lunch, our portion is minimal, consisting of only half a small cup of undercooked, dry rice, a single sausage, and three small pieces of bread. Dinner is not provided, and we receive no fruit whatsoever.”

According to DCIP, Mohammed has lost a “considerable amount of weight” since his detention started more than eight months ago. He was 15 years old at the time.

Mohammed’s family, rights groups and US lawmakers have been pleading with the administration of United States President Donald Trump to pressure Israel to release the teenager.

The US has provided Israel with more than $21bn over the past two years.

“Not even an American passport can protect Palestinian children,” Ayed Abu Eqtaish, the accountability programme director at DCIP, said in a statement.

“Despite his family’s advocacy in Congress and involvement of the US Embassy, Mohammad remains in Israeli prison. Israel is the only country in the world that systematically prosecutes children in military court.”

After Israeli soldiers raided Mohammed’s family home in the occupied West Bank in February, they took the teenager into custody. Mohammed recalled to DCIP that the soldiers beat him with the butts of rifles as they transported him.

The teenager was originally housed in the notorious Megiddo prison – which a recently released Palestinian detainee described as a “slaughterhouse” – before being transferred to Ofer, another detention facility.

“Each prisoner receives two blankets, yet we still feel cold at night,” Mohammed told DCIP.

“There is no heating or cooling system in the rooms. The only items present are mattresses, blankets, and a single copy of the Quran in each room.”

The teenager has been charged with throwing stones at Israeli settlers, an accusation that he denies. Legal experts say that Palestinians from the occupied West Bank almost never receive fair trials in Israel’s military courts.

The abuse that freed Palestinian captives have described after the recent prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal, spurred renewed calls for releasing Mohammed.

“Right now, Mohammed Ibrahim, a US citizen, is being held in an Israeli prison. His health is deteriorating. The circumstances are desperate,” Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley wrote on X on Sunday.

“The United States must use every avenue available to secure the release of this Palestinian American child.”

Since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 79 Palestinian detainees have died in Israeli jails amid a lack of medical care, restrictions on food and reports of violence and torture, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Club.

Medical officials in Gaza have described signs of torture and execution on the bodies of slain Palestinian captives handed over by Israel after the ceasefire over the past week.

Earlier this year, Mohammed’s relatives told Al Jazeera that they fear for his life.

His father, Zaher Ibrahim, said that the Trump administration could use its leverage to free his son with a single phone call. “But we’re nothing to them,” he told Al Jazeera.

Since 2022, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 10 US citizens, including two in the West Bank in July.

Jamie Marie, 24, has explored a number of spooky places – but her creepy experience at one abandoned asylum, the Mansfield Training School, chilled her to the core

An urban explorer has spoken about the ‘scariest night’ of her life after she paid a visit to a creepy abandoned hospital.

Jamie Marie is no stranger to spooky situations; she has braved more than 100 eerie sites. But there is one place she has vowed never to return to after a truly terrifying experience.

The Mansfield Training School in Connecticut, US, is a vast asylum that opened in 1860 but was finally shut in 1993 after years of scandal and neglect. It has been left to rot and has earned a reputation among ghost hunters who swear its dark corridors and tunnels are still haunted.

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Now Jamie has shared details of her own spine-chilling ordeal in a clip racking up 925,000 views and 152,000 likes. “An energy I felt there steered me away from the property for over a year,” the photographer and social media manager told What’s The Jam.

“I made my way down to the basement, which included storage, a former electroshock room and a crematorium. The air turned very cold, and I was overwhelmed with a strange feeling. I can’t even put it into words.

“I felt that I needed to get out immediately and proceeded to do so.”

Jamie says the basement, with its electroshock room and crematorium, was so horrifying she bolted upstairs in panic. And the 24-year-old has vowed never to step foot in an asylum again.

She said: “I have not visited the basement floor since, but I have returned to the other portions of the campus. The experience didn’t make me stop urban exploring, but it kept me away from hospitals and asylums.

READ MORE: Abandoned care home found littered with creepy dolls, mould and rotting beds

“Even as a sceptic, and someone who has been doing this for over a decade, I still become overwhelmed with the energy in these places.”

Jamie, who lives in New England, US, has seen her passion for the paranormal take her across the states.

She said: “I have always had a passion for abnormal and unsettling things. I have always loved stop-motion movies, puppets, the paranormal and everything Halloween.

“As I grew older, I needed to incorporate this interest into something more physical, like a hobby. I started exploring abandoned places with my best friend and found a way to mesh the non-physical interests of my childhood with an abnormal hobby.”

It comes after another urban explorer named Ben claimed to have spotted a ghostly figure lurking in the hallway of an abandoned school.

READ MORE: Abandoned UK zoo left eerily quiet with horrifying animal corpses left behind

“I was definitely alone in the building, it’s a very rural area and I called out and checked rooms before I started taking pictures,” he revealed to What’s the Jam.

The school was abandoned following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan in 2011, which claimed over 18,000 lives, including several thousands victims who were never recovered.

Ben continued: “The place is quite creepy because it is completely untouched. There are still the school bags on desks, homework on the walls, awards on the walls, even the plants which are dead in biology. It sits on its own on the outskirts of town with everything frozen in time.

“But it was only after looking back at my photos that I noticed a figure in the hallway. It was like a black and white figure and looked like a spirit. I just felt really weird after seeing it.

“I haven’t experienced much with the supernatural or spirits. But I know the Japanese believe spirits stay where they belong.”