cries

‘Not only has our past been destroyed but so has our future.’ A Palestinian journalist broke down into tears as he returned to northern Gaza to find his family home as a pile of rubble. Many Palestinians returning to the area are finding nothing left but destruction following Israel’s war.

Pensioner Freda Jackson had been looking forward to her holiday in Benidorm all year, but ended up outraged at the number of Spanish guests at her hotel

A British tourist claims she ended up crying at the end of her two-week holiday to Benidorm as her hotel had “too many Spaniards in it”.

Freda Jackson, from Blackburn, Lancashire had booked to stay at the Poseidon Playa, located on the outskirts of the popular tourist spot with a pal back in April 2017.

The following year, the pensioner, who is in her eighties, opened up about the allegedly miserable time she had on her trip raging, “why can’t the Spaniards go somewhere else for their holidays?”

According to retired care assistant Freda, her hotel was full with supposedly “rude” Spanish people, one of whom almost knocked her “flying” without so much as an apology.

READ MORE: Spanish island ‘sounds the alarm’ over tourist issue and it doesn’t involve Brits

Grandmother-of-six Freda, who lives with mobility issues, revealed: “The hotel was full of Spanish holidaymakers and they really got on our nerves because they were just so rude.

“One evening a Spanish guy nearly knocked me flying and he just walked off without even apologising.”

And when it came to the entertainment on offer, unimpressed Freda was left far from amused. She recalled: “The entertainment in the hotel was all focused and catered for the Spanish – why can’t the Spanish go somewhere else for their holidays?”

As explained by Freda, she’d been recommended the Poseidon Playa by travel operator Thomas Cook, and was left dismayed on a number of counts.

Although she’d request flat ground access, Freda says her accommodation was located on a slope. She and her friend, who had paid a total of £1,133 for the holiday, went on to demand either a full refund or a free trip as compensation.

Freda continued: “I have never complained about a holiday before – but this one was a disaster from start to finish. My friend and I paid for it from our pensions and it was a struggle trying to fund it over 12 months and the holiday was totally ruined – I cried after.

“We wanted to go somewhere on flat ground and not in the hills because we have mobility issues. To top it off, once we got to reception they told us we had been put on the 14th floor – thankfully we were moved to the second floor – and that it was 42 steps down to the hotel’s swimming pool.”

Freda, who has previously enjoyed trips to Greece, Turkey, Portugal and Tenerife, alleged that Thomas Cook “mis-sold” and “ruined” what should have been a dream holiday.

She and her then 61-year-old friend journeyed 1,500 miles from Manchester Airport to Alicante on May 10 of that year, having allegedly not been notified that their flight dates had changed.

According to Freda, she had to submit a letter of complaint directly to Thomas Cook, as there were no reps on the holiday to whom she could air her various grievances. Thomas Cook bosses initially offered the duo a £75 holiday voucher as compensation for the “disappointing” experience.

A Thomas Cook spokesperson issued the following statement at the time: “Due to a system error Ms Jackson was not informed of a change to her flights until six days before departure.

“We are very sorry for the inconvenience this caused and are investigating to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We have offered Ms Jackson and her travel companion a gesture of goodwill to try and put things right, which we hope she will accept.”

The grandmother later denied to the Mirror that she had made any derogatory comments about Spanish people.

Do you have a story to share? Email me at [email protected]

READ MORE: Butlin’s revamp major holiday park with ‘top quality’ attractions and prices at £69

Former United States President Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis has rekindled questions about whether he deceived the public about his health while in office, with his successor, Donald Trump, adding his voice to those suggesting a coverup.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday, President Trump cast doubt on the timing of Biden’s advanced cancer diagnosis amid renewed scrutiny of the former president’s physical and mental fitness during his tenure.

“I’m surprised that the public wasn’t notified a long time ago,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

“Why did it take so long? This takes a long time, it can take years to get this level of danger,” Trump added.

“So, look, it’s a very sad situation, I feel very badly about it. And I think people should try and find out what happened.”

Trump also said that the doctors who had examined Biden while in office were “not telling the facts”.

“That’s a big problem,” he said.

Biden’s office said in a statement on Sunday that the former president was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.

The statement said Biden was diagnosed on Friday after experiencing “increasing urinary symptoms” and that he and his family were reviewing treatment options.

Doctors graded Biden’s cancer with a score of 9 under the Gleason classification system, according to the statement, indicating it is among the most aggressive kinds.

Late-stage prostate cancer has an average five-year survival rate of 28 percent, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Biden earlier on Monday expressed gratitude to well-wishers for their words of support and encouragement.

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on social media.

“Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support. pic.twitter.com/oSS1vGIiwU

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 19, 2025

The news of Biden’s cancer diagnosis came as the former president’s health was already under renewed scrutiny ahead of the publication of a new book detailing the alleged coverup of his physical and mental deterioration by his inner circle.

Original Sin, written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios correspondent Alex Thompson, contains various damning accounts of Biden’s alleged decline, including an incident in which the then-president was reportedly unable to recognise Hollywood actor George Clooney at a 2024 fundraiser.

In his comments on Biden’s diagnosis on Monday, Trump drew a link between the former president’s cancer and the alleged concealment of his mental acuity.

“If you take a look, it’s the same doctor that said Joe was cognitively fine, there was nothing wrong with him,” Trump said.

“There are things going on that the public wasn’t informed of, and I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor,” he added.

Some doctors have publicly questioned the account of Biden’s cancer diagnosis provided by his office, pointing out that such advanced cancer would have had to progress over a period of years.

“For even with the most aggressive form, it is a 5-7 year journey without treatment before it becomes metastatic,” Steven Quay, a pathologist who is the chief executive of biopharmaceutical company Atossa Therapeutics, said in a post on X.

“Meaning, it would be malpractice for this patient to show up and be first diagnosed with metastatic disease in May 2025. It is highly likely he was carrying a diagnosis of prostate cancer throughout his White House tenure and the American people were uninformed.”

Howard P Forman, a professor of radiology at Yale University, said it was “inconceivable” that Biden’s cancer was not detected before he left office, as it would have been picked up by a blood test known as a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.

“Gleason grade 9 would have had an elevated PSA level for some time before this diagnosis. And he must have had a PSA test numerous times before. This is odd,” Forman said in a post on X.

However, Daniel W Lin, a prostate cancer expert at UW Medicine in Washington state, said that while Biden has “very likely” had cancer for years, it is possible he was not given a PSA test.

“There are screening controversies with the use of PSA, and many medical groups do not recommend PSA testing after 70 or 75 years of age, although others recommend based on life expectancy or state of health rather than age cut-points,” Lin told Al Jazeera.

Lin said it was also possible that Biden has a rarer form of cancer that is not detectable by the test.

“This situation is less common, but not considered overly rare. Additionally, when this situation occurs, it is more common in high-grade cancers, such as former President Biden’s case,” he said.

“Playing the odds, he does not fall into this category, however, it can definitely occur.”