devastation

UN Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher has inspected damage in Gaza City as the agency plans to ramp up its humanitarian relief efforts. He visited a destroyed water treatment plant and emphasised the enormity of the response needed.

The stench of decay extends miles beyond Poza Rica in one of the regions most devastated by last week’s torrential rains that inundated central and eastern Mexico.

By Wednesday, the official death toll had reached 66, with the number of missing people increasing to 75. Nearly 200 communities remain isolated — predominantly in Hidalgo’s central mountainous region, where persistent cloud cover has hindered helicopter access.

A persistent dust cloud hangs over the main avenue of Poza Rica, a gulf-adjacent oil-producing city, where soldiers laboured continuously. To the east, near the overflowed Cazones River, numerous streets remained submerged under 3 feet (about 1 metre) of water and mud, covered by an additional 6 feet of accumulated rubbish, furniture, and debris.

“A week later, this looks horrible — worse. You can’t even cross the street,” lamented Ana Luz Saucedo, who escaped with her children when water rushed in “like the sea”.

She now fears disease because a decomposing body near her home remains uncollected. “The dead body has already started to rot, and no one has come for him.”

The impact of last week’s catastrophic rains, floods, and landslides continues to unfold as Mexico’s government proceeds with rescue and recovery operations.

Officials attribute the disaster to multiple converging weather systems — two tropical systems colliding with warm and cold fronts — arriving as an unusually intense rainy season concluded, leaving saturated rivers and unstable hillsides.

Residents like Saucedo believe warnings were insufficient, particularly in Poza Rica.

“Many people died because they didn’t give notice — really, they didn’t warn us,” she said. “They came only when the river was already overflowing … not before, so people could evacuate.”

President Claudia Sheinbaum explained that alert systems for such events differ from hurricane warnings. She acknowledged the need to review river maintenance and emergency protocols after the crisis to determine “what worked, what we need to improve and whether there are better alert mechanisms”.

Military, naval, and civilian emergency teams continue operating across affected states, supplemented by hundreds of volunteers.

In Poza Rica, women from Veracruz distributed clothing and 1,000 pots of homemade tamales to flood victims.

Meanwhile, authorities work to clear blocked roadways, restore electricity, and monitor dams — many now at maximum capacity.

Strictly Come Dancing judge Anton Du Beke has opened up about his wife Hannah Summers’ battle with endometriosis and the couple’s IVF journey to parenthood

Strictly judge Anton Du Beke has opened up about his wife’s agonising battle with endometriosis and how it affected their journey to parenthood.

The BBC favourite married marketing executive Hannah Summers in 2017, having first met at Wentworth Golf Club in Surrey back in 2012. The pair welcomed twins George and Henrietta soon after tying the knot, following IVF treatment.

But Anton revealed on Giovanna Fletcher’s Happy mum Happy Baby podcast that Hannah had doubts about their ability to conceive because of her crippling condition.

The professional dancer admitted he “couldn’t understand the universe” after witnessing Hannah’s bond with her nephews, before opening up about their IVF experience.

He said: “I knew I wanted to be with her, I saw her with her nephews. She’s so kind and so caring, I just couldn’t understand the universe.”, reports Lancs Live, reports Wales Online.

“And whoever is upstairs, if anyone’s upstairs, looking down and going ‘you are the most perfect person to have children, but I’m not going to let you have any children because I’m going to give you this’.

“And I’m going to say ‘you’re going to have this endometriosis, and you’re going to suffer with this all of your life, chronically, and I’m not going to let you have any children.

“I thought that was peculiar, cruel, and inexplicable and unforgivable. And if ever I go up to somewhere and meet this person I would say ‘I think you’re not OK with decisions like this, this doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Anton has candidly spoken about the hurdles he and wife Hannah encountered during their fertility treatment, which ultimately brought them closer together.

The couple were blessed when the treatment worked first time, resulting in the birth of twins George and Henrietta in 2017, with their nuptials taking place later that same year.

In an emotional chat with Giovanna, Anton admitted his previous lack of understanding about endometriosis and highlighted the urgent need for increased government funding in women’s health.

Reflecting on their journey, he shared: “Then we went through the process of IVF, well crying out loud. You girls are extraordinary. As much as I want to get involved, all I can do is hold your hand. It makes me emotional every time I talk about it. The injections, the stress, the anxiety. I have anxiety and stress but it’s not my body.

“She has these injections and the bruises in the bum, in the thigh, in the stomach. And you’re trying to help but what can you do? Whatever you want, tell me and I’ll do it but that’s all you have and it’s horrendous as a man to watch it.

“You feel so inadequate and you want to do so much more but I can’t do anything. And that’s why you girls are so extraordinary, you’re extraordinary that you do all this stuff.”

Joy turned to devastation for many after Israel added a twist to its release of almost 2,000 imprisoned Palestinians as part of the ceasefire deal. It’s sending 154 into exile, refusing to let them back into Gaza or the occupied West Bank.