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LAS VEGAS — Aaron Mahan is a lifelong Republican who twice voted for Donald Trump.

He had high hopes putting a businessman in the White House and, although he found the president’s monster ego grating, Mahan voted for his reelection. Mostly, he said, out of party loyalty.

By 2024, however, he’d had enough.

“I just saw more of the bad qualities, more of the ego,” said Mahan, who’s worked for decades as a food server on and off the Las Vegas Strip. “And I felt like he was at least partially running to stay out of jail.”

Mahan couldn’t bring himself to support Kamala Harris. He’s never backed a Democrat for president. So when illness overtook him on election day, it was a good excuse to stay in bed and not vote.

He’s no Trump hater, Mahan said. “I don’t think he’s evil.” Rather, the 52-year-old calls himself “a Trump realist,” seeing the good and the bad.

Here’s Mahan’s reality: A big drop in pay. Depletion of his emergency savings. Stress every time he pulls into a gas station or visits the supermarket.

Mahan used to blithely toss things in his grocery cart. “Now,” he said, “you have to look at prices, because everything is more expensive.”

In short, he’s living through the worst combination of inflation and economic malaise he’s experienced since he began waiting tables after finishing high school.

Las Vegas lives on tourism, the industry irrigated by rivers of disposable income. The decline of both has resulted in a painful downturn that hurts all the more after the pent-up demand and go-go years following the crippling COVID-19 shutdown.

Over the last 12 months, the number of visitors has dropped significantly and those who do come to Las Vegas are spending less. Passenger arrivals at Harry Reid International Airport, a short hop from the Strip, have declined and room nights, a measure of hotel occupancy, have also fallen.

Mahan, who works at the Virgin resort casino just off the Strip, blames the slowdown in large part on Trump’s failure to tame inflation, his tariffs and pugnacious immigration and foreign policies that have antagonized people — and prospective visitors — around the world.

“His general attitude is, ‘I’m going to do what I’m going to do, and you’re going to like it or leave it.’ And they’re leaving it,” Mahan said. “The Canadians aren’t coming. The Mexicans aren’t coming. The Europeans aren’t coming in the way they did. But also the people from Southern California aren’t coming the way they did either.”

Mahan has a way of describing the buckling blow to Las Vegas’ economy. He calls it “the Trump slump.”

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Mahan was an Air Force brat who lived throughout the United States and, for a time, in England before his father retired from the military and started looking for a place to settle.

Mahan’s mother grew up in Sacramento and liked the mountains that ring Las Vegas. They reminded her of the Sierra Nevada. Mahan’s father had worked intermittently as a bartender. It was a skill of great utility in Nevada’s expansive hospitality industry.

So the desert metropolis it was.

Mahan was 15 when his family landed. After high school, he attended college for a time and started working in the coffee shop at the Barbary Coast hotel and casino. He then moved on to the upscale Gourmet Room. The money was good; Mahan had found his career.

From there he moved to Circus Circus and then, in 2005, the Hard Rock hotel and casino, where he’s been ever since. (In 2018, Virgin Hotels purchased the Hard Rock.)

Mahan, who’s single with no kids, learned to roll with the vicissitudes of the hospitality business. “As a food server, there’s always going to be slowdowns and takeoffs,” he said over lunch at a dim sum restaurant in a Las Vegas strip mall.

Mahan socked money away during the summer months and hunkered down in the slow times, before things started picking up around the New Year. He weathered the Great Recession, from 2007 to 2009, when Nevada led the nation in foreclosures, bankruptcies soared and tumbleweeds blew through Las Vegas’ many overbuilt, financially underwater subdivisions.

This economy feels worse.

With tourism off, the hotel where Mahan works changed from a full-service coffee shop to a limited-hour buffet. So he’s no longer waiting tables. Instead, he mans a to-go window, making drinks and handing food to guests, which brings him a lot less in tips. He estimates his income has fallen $2,000 a month.

But it’s not just that his paychecks have grown considerably skinnier. They don’t go nearly as far.

Gasoline. Eggs. Meat. “Everything,” Mahan said, “is costing more.”

An admitted soda addict, he used to guzzle Dr Pepper. “You’d get three bottles for four bucks,” Mahan said. “Now they’re $3 each.”

He’s cut back as a result.

Worse, his air conditioner broke last month and the $14,000 that Mahan spent replacing it — along with a costly filter he needs for allergies — pretty much wiped out his emergency fund.

It feels as though Mahan is just barely getting by and he’s not at all optimistic things will improve anytime soon.

“I’m looking forward,” he said, to the day Trump leaves office.

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Mahan considers himself fairly apolitical. He’d rather knock a tennis ball around than debate the latest goings-on in Washington.

He likes some of the things Trump has accomplished, such as securing the border with Mexico — though Mahan is not a fan of the zealous immigration raids scooping up landscapers and tamale vendors.

He’s glad about the no-tax-on-tips provision in the massive legislative package passed last spring, though, “I’m still being taxed at the same rate and there’s no extra money coming in right now.” He’s waiting to see what happens when he files his tax return next year.

He’s not counting on much. “I’m never convinced of anything,” Mahan said. “Until I see it.”

Something else is poking around the back of his mind.

Mahan is a shop steward with the Culinary Union, the powerhouse labor organization that’s helped make Las Vegas one of the few places in the country where a waiter, such as Mahan, can earn enough to buy a home in an upscale suburb like nearby Henderson. (He points out that he made the purchase in 2012 and probably couldn’t afford it in today’s economy.)

Mahan worries that once Trump is done targeting immigrants, federal workers and Democratic-run cities, he’ll come after organized labor, undermining one of the foundational building blocks that helped him climb into the middle class.

“He is a businessman and most businesspeople don’t like dealing with unions,” Mahan said.

There are a few bright spots in Las Vegas’ economic picture. Convention bookings are up slightly for the year, and look to be strengthening. Gaming revenues have increased year-over-year. The workforce is still growing.

“This community’s streets are not littered with people that have been laid off,” said Jeremy Aguero, a principal analyst with Applied Analysis, a firm that provides economic and fiscal policy counsel in Las Vegas.

“The layoff trends, unemployment insurance, they’ve edged up,” Aguero said. “But they’re certainly not wildly elevated in comparison to other periods of instability.”

That, however, offers small solace for Mahan as he makes drinks, hands over takeout food and carefully watches his wallet.

If he knew then what he knows now, what would the Aaron of 2016 — the one so full of hope for a Trump presidency — say to the Aaron of today?

Mahan paused, his chopsticks hovering over a custard dumpling.

“Prepare,” he said, “for a bumpy ride.”

After Storm Alice wreaked havoc in Spain last week, Brits staying in the Los Alcazares area of Murcia have been left withouta basic essential for a week due to contamination

A number of British tourists have revealed the desperate conditions in Murcia, Spain that has left them without running water for a week. Flooding across the Iberian Peninsula triggered by Storm Alice led to water supplies becoming contaminated throughout the region, with Spanish authorities issuing evacuation orders in certain areas.

Those who stayed behind have turned to TikTok to document their ordeal. Jodie Marlow shared clips of her “reality” from Los Alcazares, showing her family had “no access” to water. “I’m in a flood zone and we have had so much rain,” she explained in a video, which showed residents wading through ankle-deep murky water flowing through the streets.

“Six or seven days with no water, it’s been crazy,” she continued. “The town hall has been amazing though in keeping us up-to-date and they tried to keep us as safe as possible in making sure we went to high ground.”

Grateful that her car had survived the disaster, Jodie continued: “As you can see there is mud everywhere, but the council has been amazing – the clean-up has been insane.”

Yet, venturing into a local shop, Jodie highlighted the desperate situation on its shelves. “We are on one week of no water… this is the reality of what the shops look like,” she added, showing that bottled water was now in extremely short supply.

Large tanker lorries on the back have been sent to the area. Other consequences have seen Jodie forced to travel to another neighbourhood to use a laundrette to wash her clothes, while her family have resorted to using paper plates and cutlery as they are unable to wash up. “It’s been an eventful week,” she summarised.

Meanwhile, a second Brit – Jade Gartshore – confessed she had been unable to shower for four days in her own clip recorded in Los Alcazares. Instead, she was forced to travel to a community centre for access to clean water.

“We are lucky enough that our neighbours in Cartagena are helping us with water and shower facilities!” she explained. “We’ve had news that in the storm it has damaged a system meaning that our water is contaminated, we have told that I can be anywhere up to five days without water. This is day four, today our water has been turned off to treat the water.”

Like Jodie, however, she was quick to praise the local authorities. “I have to say the councils have been absolutely fantastic, we have had updates every couple of hours from the mayors, even 3am!” she hailed. “I feel very grateful to be part of such a beautiful community even in a difficult time.”

Writing in response, another Brit commented: “Here in Sucina, the water is off possibly [for] 6 days. Just been in my pool for a swish off, getting plenty of notices about the situation and we have a water truck where we can fill our bottles up!”

Another holidaymaker shared their predicament: “We’re in San Pedro and it’s the same – we’ve booked a hotel in Pilar for the week to go back and forward to shower and wash clothes.”

Meanwhile, a third TikTok user from nearby La Torre chimed in: “We have been told tonight the water is now not usable for personal use. We’re now in the same boat. We’re all be washing in the Mar Menor [lagoon] soon.”

It comes after a tornado wreaked havoc in nearby Cartagena, Murcia, on Friday (October 10), leading to the evacuation of 67 people. Authorities issued a red alert in the area due to the storm, warning of “extraordinary danger”.

Pablo Gárriz, Director General of Emergencies and the Interior, expressed his concern at the time: “The situation that concerns us most right now is in those municipalities where we have identified the possibility of heavy rain, hence the orange alert.”

A recent Chinese military study reported on Sunday says using three precision-guided warheads is more effective at destroying underground hard targets than a single bunker-buster bomb, such as those dropped on Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 by B-2 Spirit stealth bombers. File Photo by Shane A. Cuomo/USAF/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 1 (UPI) — Chinese military researchers recently reported that multiple nuclear strikes on a single target will produce greater damage than a single blast from a larger warhead to destroy hard targets.

The researchers examined the effect of three nuclear strikes on a single target in rapid succession in a laboratory study published in a peer-reviewed journal.

The study examined how three successive nuclear strikes on the same target would create a greater destructive force than when using a single nuclear weapon, according to Interesting Engineering.

The Chinese military researchers are assessing ways to magnify the damage caused by multiple shock waves produced by nuclear weapons, they said in an article that recently was published in the peer-reviewed journal Explosion and Shock Waves.

Xu Xiaohui, an associate professor at the People’s Liberation Army Engineering University in Nanjing, led the lab experiment that NextGenDefense said is based on the U.S. military’s 1965 Palanquin experiment.

Researchers in that experiment detonated a 4.3-kiloton nuclear device 279 feet beneath the Earth’s surface.

“Until now, most nuclear earth-penetration studies had examined only single warhead impacts based on the long-held belief that one powerful bunker-buster would be enough to collapse or destroy hardened underground facilities,” Xu, et al., said, as reported by PressTV.

The Chinese experiment simulated nuclear blasts within a lab setting by using a high-pressure gas gun that shot tiny particles at glass spheres containing a simulated blast gas to trigger a rapid release of energy that mimics a nuclear explosion, Interesting Engineering reported.

The study indicated surface damage expanded from 71,000 square feet in a single blast to more than 860,000 square feet after three blasts.

The study suggests a rapid triple strike would quadruple the damage caused by a 5-kiloton detonation 65 feet beneath the Earth’s surface and produce a much larger crater.

The results suggest multiple strikes could be effective at destroying hard underground targets, such as nuclear refinement facilities and other locations associated with national security, Interesting Engineering reported.

The Chinese researchers concluded that the use of precision-guided bombs using low-yield warheads deployed in clusters would be more effective at destroying hardened underground targets than a single blast.

ALL medications, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, and even herbal remedies, have the potential to cause side effects.

But experts have warned weight loss jab users to pay real attention to any side effects they experience, as they could actually be signalling deadly cancer, as Dawn Clegg tragically found out.

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The 51-year-old, from Morecambe, Lancashire, had been using Mounjaro to treat her diabetes, but in March this year, she began suffering from chest pain, which she initially put down to a side effect of the jabs.

When the pain persisted, she headed to A&E before doctors made a shocking discovery.

After undergoing several X-rays, doctors spotted shadows on her lungs, kidneys and breast, and she was diagnosed with soft-tissue cancer, known as sarcoma.

Dawn was then given the life-shattering news that she had less than a year to live.

Her heartbroken husband, Arron Clegg, 51, is planning to hold a “living wake” in November to celebrate the life of his wife.

He said: “We were devastated on hearing news of cancer in these areas – there is no cure and she is now terminal.”

Weight loss expert at The Lagom Clinic, Dr Jack Ogden, said he has also been made aware of a fat jab user mistaking symptoms of cancer for side effects, though they weren’t linked to the clinic.

He tells Sun Health: “As a clinician, hearing about cases like this is always sobering. It reinforces how easy it is for both patients and healthcare professionals to attribute symptoms to the most obvious cause.

“In this case, weight loss injections, when something more serious may be underlying.”

The fat jab user, a 52-year-old who remains anonymous, began experiencing persistent fatigue, feeling full quickly, and mild nausea while on a GLP-1 weight loss injection.

They initially assumed these symptoms were routine side effects, but they persisted beyond the expected two to three-week adjustment period.

Further investigation by their GP revealed a diagnosis of stage two stomach cancer – which isn’t very common in the UK but can be deadly.

When detected early, stomach cancer has a high chance of being cured.

But it’s often diagnosed at a more advanced stage, which makes it harder to treat and means survival rates can be low.

Dr Ogden said: “It’s important to monitor persistent symptoms, keep a log of side effects, and seek prompt medical advice if anything unusual arises.”

So what cancer symptoms could people mistake for the side effects of fat jabs?

Here, a team of experts offer their life-saving advice…

THE SYMPTOMS YOU MUST NOT IGNORE

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THERE are more than 200 different types of cancer, and they all have different signs and symptoms.

While some affect specific areas of the body, symptoms can be more general and similar to those caused by less serious conditions or medication side effects.

Superintendent pharmacist at pharmica.co.uk, Ana Carolina Goncalves, said symptoms such as persistent indigestion, heartburn and abdominal pain are potential side effects of weight loss injections, but could also be signs of liver, bladder, pancreatic or stomach cancer.

She says: “Thyroid swelling or a lump in the neck might be dismissed as an injection side effect, but it could also indicate thyroid cancer.

“The risk of thyroid swelling has been confirmed as a potential side effect by the manufacturers of both Mounjaro and Wegovy.

“And nausea is another common side effect of weight loss jabs that can also indicate liver, bladder or pancreatic cancer.

“There’s a lot of overlap between the symptoms of different organ cancers (like liver and pancreatic cancer) because they affect similar areas of the body.

“This can make identification of cancer symptoms difficult, especially when side effects of weight loss injections are also present.”

It’s also important to note that while use of the jabs results in weight loss, sudden, unexplained, unintentional, and significant (more than 5 per cent of your body weight in six to 12 months) weight loss could be a red flag for cancer.

HOW TO SPOT THE DIFFERENCE

THERE’S not always an easy way to tell the difference between cancer symptoms and weight loss side effects.

It depends on the symptoms you experience, says Ms Goncalves.

She explains: “High levels of acid reflux or heartburn that persist even after you’ve stopped weight loss injections should definitely be looked into by a doctor or GP.

“Also, a lump in the neck, hoarseness, or difficulty swallowing could indicate thyroid cancer.

“It’s not possible to fully tell on your own, so you should consult your doctor or GP if you experience these symptoms.”

WHAT’S THE RISK?

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KEVIN Joshua, clinical lead at Juniper, an online healthcare provider, says while it’s not very common, confusing symptoms and side effects are a real risk.

He warns: “The danger is that someone may put persistent or worsening symptoms down to the medication, rather than seeing their GP.

“That missed time can make all the difference in cancer treatment and survival.”

Ms Gonclaves adds: “Cancer caught early is far easier to treat. If people assume ongoing pain, nausea or weight loss is just a side effect, they may only get checked once the cancer is more advanced – and that can be life-threatening.

“Given the increasing use of weight loss injections in the UK, the potential for confusion is likely growing, especially for cancer symptoms that overlap with common injection side effects.

“However, there’s currently no large-scale study that estimates how frequently cancer symptoms are misattributed to jabs.

“But it’s important to note the safety of Wegovy and Mounjaro has been proven in clinical trials, and they are licensed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for weight management in the UK.”

WHAT SHOULD YOU DO?

IF you experience any symptoms after starting weight loss jabs, Dr Ogden recommends you do the following:

1. Track your symptoms – keep a daily log noting timing, intensity, and duration.
2. Monitor persistence – common side effects usually settle within two to three weeks.
3. Note severity changes – sudden worsening or new symptoms are red flags.
4. Consult a healthcare professional promptly – don’t wait to see if symptoms pass if they are unusual or severe.
5. Communicate openly – share your symptom log with your GP or specialist for accurate assessment.

Weight loss injections can be safe and effective, but awareness and careful monitoring are essential, added Dr Ogden.

“Early detection of serious issues can save lives and prevent complications.”

The majority of common side effects, such as nausea, diarrhoea, vomiting, skin redness or fatigue, can be managed with adequate hydration, dietary choices, and over‑the‑counter medication.

Ms Goncalves advises: “You can try eating smaller meals, and using herbal teas or oral rehydration salts to alleviate gastrointestinal symptoms.

“You should drink fluids regularly to ensure you are hydrated.”

But you should seek medical help if symptoms are severe, continue for more than a few weeks, or are linked with alarm signs like vomiting blood, blood in stools, jaundice, unexplained weight loss or a lump.

“These should never be written off as ‘just the jab’,” said Mr Joshua.

EVERYONE’S talking about fat jabs – the ‘miracle’ injections trimming inches off waistlines, and helping turn the tide on the obesity epidemic.

But what if there was an even easier – and cheaper – way than Ozempic-like injections, Wegovy and Mounjaro?

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Science sits still for no slimmer and already, the next big thing is looming large on the horizon – and it could be as simple as popping a pill.

Slimming tablets have been around for decades, but now scientists want to harness the new momentum in obesity medicine – and use the billions being made from the jabs – to bring pills back with a bang.

Professor Jason Halford, of the European Association for the Study of Obesity, tells Sun Health: “I think pills will eventually replace injections.

“People don’t particularly like them and they’re a bit afraid of injecting themselves.

“You’ve got to have the device, the needle, the sharps bin, it’s got to be refrigerated, there are all sorts of challenges.

“If you can move it all to a tablet you can increase acceptance and hopefully it will be cheaper and become more widely available.”

Professor Richard Donnelly, editor of the medical journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism, and clinical adviser at online weight loss clinic Juniper, agrees.

“Thirty years ago weight loss tablets had a terrible reputation and nobody really wanted to prescribe them,” he adds.

“They had rare but severe side effects and weren’t particularly effective.

“Now there is a whole flood of development and a lot to be optimistic about.

“There is a big hope that developing pills will improve accessibility and cost less.”

There are several pills in development – some stimulate the same hormones as jabs to make us feel full, while others mimic bariatric surgery.

The end goal is the same – to do what willpower alone fails to achieve and stop us eating so much.

While some are yet to even be trialled in humans, one has already been submitted for approval in the US, meaning they could be available before the end of the year.

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The most advanced pills being made are by the same companies behind the fat jabs.

Novo Nordisk, creator of Wegovy and Ozempic, has developed a tablet version of semaglutide, the active drug in those injections.

It applied for approval from the US Food and Drugs Administration last month.

Trials showed patients lost an average of 15 per cent of their bodyweight over 17 months on a 50mg daily dose, compared with eight per cent over 12 months on Wegovy.

Participants were three times more likely to achieve “meaningful” weight loss when they were taking the pill, compared to those not taking the tablet.

Rival company Eli Lilly, which makes Mounjaro (tirzepatide) announced the results of its pill orforglipron in April.

The two drugs both work by stimulating GLP-1 hormones that make you feel full.

Patients taking 36mg of orforglipron lost eight per cent of their bodyweight in 10 months, equating to 1st 2lbs from an average starting weight of 14st 3lbs – while participants taking a placebo lost just 3lbs.

It compares with 15 per cent weight loss in a year on Mounjaro.

Lilly said their pill “could be readily manufactured and launched at scale for use around the world”.

But injections and pills have not been compared head-to-head yet.
Studies are ongoing and taking the science behind these game-changing jabs and applying it to tablets, does not guarantee success.

Pfizer abandoned the development of its drug lotiglipron in 2023 when a trial indicated potential liver damage as a side effect.

Drugs tend to be more easily absorbed by the body when they are injected directly into the bloodstream, compared to being digested through the gut.

And that’s another key consideration – what the potential side effects of these new pills could be.

Unpleasant side effects were the downfall of the old generation of slimming pills.

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The NHS has prescribed a pill called orlistat for years, dishing out £12million worth of it in England last year.

It works by preventing the gut from absorbing fat from food – but it means fat must be passed out in poo instead of digested.

This can lead to flatulence, more regular bowel movements and diarrhoea.

It can also cause bladder pains and breathing troubles – and weight loss doesn’t match up to the jabs.

About eight in 10 patients suffer at least one side effect when using injections, most commonly tummy upset, according to trials.

Early data suggests pills might have similar rates.

Around six per cent of people taking any of Lilly or Novo Nordisk’s pills or injections quit the medicines because of side effects.

Dr Leyla Hannbeck, of the Independent Pharmacies Association, says: “The old generation drugs tended to be uncomfortable for a lot of people whereas these new ones are much more effective.

“All medicines will have side effects but the fact that the results are much better now means people are more willing to endure them.”
Prof Donnelly said he still does not expect new tablets to be as strong as jabs, adding: “I don’t think anybody believes these will cause the same level of weight loss that you might be reporting with Mounjaro.

“The flipside of that is that major weight loss might not all be good.

“Some of that might be muscle and if you lose 30 per cent of your body weight that is a fairly major transformation.

“Having an oral agent that reduces your weight by, say, 10 or 15 per cent, might actually be more sustainable, better tolerated and medically safer in some respects.”

While the GLP-1 tablets are likely to be first to market, inventors are also working on a daily pill that mimics the effects of gastric bypass surgery.

‘GASTRIC BYPASS’ PILL

US company Syntis Bio’s offering, named Synt-101 creates a 24-hour lining in the gut that means food cannot be absorbed in the top six inches of the small intestine.

Rather, digestion is redirected to the lower areas of the gut, where hormones that tell the brain we are full, are triggered faster.

Working in a similar vein to surgery, it means patients feel fuller faster – and the lining is passed when the patient goes to the loo the next day.

Synt-101 has passed its first human safety tests and is expected to enter a full-scale clinical trial next year.

Another pill in development, Sirona, is made by UK-based Oxford Medical Products, and contains a “dual polymer hydrogel” that expands in the stomach when it comes into contact with water.

It works like a gastric balloon, filling the patient’s tummy making them feel full for hours, but is passed in their stools “several days” later.

Early data from an NHS trial found patients lost 10 to 12 per cent in a year of treatment and there were no serious side effects.

Experts believe weight loss pills will serve a variety of purposes – as a follow-on treatment after stopping fat jabs, as an option for those who can’t or don’t want to use jabs and for people with less severe obesity, and less weight to lose.

There are hopes they will be less toxic than injections, which often cause side effects like stomach aches, vomiting or diarrhoea.

Weight regain after treatment is also an emerging issue with the jabs, which can currently only be prescribed for up to two years in the UK.

Rahul Dhanda, chief executive of Syntis Bio, said: “Patients don’t want to be stuck on a revolving door of injections and their side effects; they want to be on a manageable and sustainable weight loss path.

“Oral drugs that are simple, tolerable and safe will be the rational choice for maintenance therapy.”