Deir el-Balah, Gaza – For years, Nuha Abu Lebda dreamed of becoming a mother. But Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has turned that dream into loss, time and time again.
As she was forcibly displaced several times across the Gaza Strip since the war began in October 2023, Abu Lebda lost three pregnancies. She says the losses came after months of air strikes, hunger, fear and living without proper medical care.
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“I miscarried because of the air strikes, the displacement, the difficult conditions, the lack of clean water and malnutrition,” she tells Al Jazeera.
After each miscarriage, she hoped she could still become a mother.
“When I lost my baby, I was exhausted. I woke up hoping my baby was still inside me. But the dream I carried for 10 years was gone.”
Abu Lebda sold her gold and almost everything she owned to pay for injections of heparin, a drug prescribed to some women to prevent blood clotting during pregnancy. She hoped the treatment would help her bring her pregnancies to term, but she lost the babies despite it.
“I cried so much because I lost the baby I dreamed of every single day,” she laments.
Even after the fighting slowed, her dream remained the same. “I dream of bringing a baby into this world. I want to be a mother and have children. Every time I see my husband playing with children, I start crying.”
Medical officials in Gaza say they are treating a surge in miscarriages, which they link directly to Israel’s genocidal war and blockade. The trend has worsened as Gaza’s health system has collapsed under bombardments and Israeli ground operations with malnutrition and psychological strain cited as key drivers.
Dr Yasser Saadeddine, the maternity director at al-Awda Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, told Al Jazeera roughly 70 percent of pregnancy losses his team treats are linked to the war and blockade.
A displaced Palestinian mother has a meal with her children inside a tent in Deir el-Balah. The war has led to malnutrition and psychological strain, which has taken a particular toll on pregnant women [File: Ramadan Abed/Reuters]
‘I lost my daughter during childbirth’
Abu Lebda is one of many women in Gaza who say they have lost pregnancies during the war. They describe miscarriages, premature births and losing newborns while trying to survive bombardments, displacement, hunger and the collapsing healthcare system.
Mai Zaqout tells Al Jazeera she lost her daughter because she could not access the medical care she needed.
“I lost my daughter during childbirth. She had already died inside my womb for a month, but I could not deliver her because the medical resources and support I needed were not available,” she says.
Her loss came shortly after another tragedy. “All of this happened within a very short time after my husband was killed.”
For Sara al-Awad, she had a scare when she was eight months pregnant. She says powerful explosions in Tal al-Hawa, a neighbourhood in Gaza City, caused extreme fear and stress, leading to severe bleeding.
“Because of the fear, anxiety and the power of the explosions, I started bleeding. My placenta had separated.”
Al-Awad says no ambulance could reach her, and she waited for hours before her brother took her to al-Quds Hospital in a wheelchair. “The doctors decided I needed an emergency C-section immediately.”
Her baby, Muhammad, was born weighing only 1.1kg (2.4lb) and was placed in an incubator. But as fighting continued around the hospital, Sara and her family were separated from him.
“My brother had to leave for the south while Muhammad stayed alone in the incubator. We could only check on him through messages from the medical staff,” she says.
After more than a month, al-Awad was finally reunited with her baby. “Thank God, the ceasefire came. … Muhammad left the incubator after 37 days.”
‘I witnessed horrific situations’
Across Gaza, other women have similar stories.
For Iman Badah, the loss was of the child she had waited years for.
“I am a mother who lost my only son. I waited six years to have him. I gave birth prematurely while I was being displaced,” she tells Al Jazeera.
Nuha Salameh was carrying twins during the war. “Fear and trauma caused me to lose them.”
She says doctors told her that, before the war, her babies may have survived.
“The doctor told me that if the situation had been normal, we would have placed them in the incubator, and they would have lived.”
Nidaa Seyam says she experienced her second miscarriage during the war. “I lost a baby girl, and this is the second time I have miscarried.”
She says doctors told her the war conditions affected her pregnancy. “They told me it was because of the psychological stress we are living through and malnutrition.”
She also describes surviving intense bombardment.
“I witnessed horrific situations where I was trapped under air strikes. I inhaled a lot of toxic fumes.”
A medical staff member works in the dark at al-Awda Hospital during Israel’s war when the facility had to suspend medical services due to running out of fuel needed to operate its electric generators in December 2025 [File: Moiz Salhi/Anadolu Agency]
‘War, blockade, malnutrition, displacement’
Palestinian doctors say these stories are becoming more common.
They report more miscarriages and pregnancy complications linked to hunger, stress, displacement and the lack of medical care.
At al-Awda Hospital, doctors say they have seen a major increase in pregnancy losses.
“During the war, there was a significant increase in miscarriage cases we received,” Saadeddine says.
He says the causes include “the war and the blockade, including malnutrition, poor hygiene, environmental contamination and continuous displacement”.
Doctors say miscarriages are only one part of the crisis. They are also seeing more babies dying in the womb, more premature deliveries and more dangerous pregnancy complications.
Many women lost their homes, medical records and access to regular check-ups during repeated displacements. Hospitals are also struggling with shortages of medicines, equipment and medical staff.
For many mothers, the war has left wounds that continue to hurt even after most of the fighting has stopped. For women in Gaza, the war has not ended with October’s “ceasefire”. It continues with every pregnancy lost, and every dream of motherhood left unfulfilled.
Love Island stars Aidan and Priya have split up in emotional scenes that aired just days before the final and now fans are “genuinely worried” for one contestant in particular
21:58, 24 Jul 2026Updated 22:11, 24 Jul 2026
Love Island stars Aidan and Priya split up in emotional scenes that aired just before they were voted off (Image: ITV/Shutterstock)
Love Island stars Aidan and Priya have split up in emotional scenes just before they were dumped from the villa. The couple had been going strong on the ITV2 reality dating show, but things went awry when Aidan made a comment about his significant other, claiming that she “pounced” on him when they were in bed, and things have not really been the same since.
On Friday night’s episode of the reality show, the pair had the ultimate conversation, which viewers will know came just days after Aidan told Priya he was unsure of just how he felt about the girl who was meant to be his significant other.
Delivering the decision to break up, he told Priya: “It’s deep, it’s feelings. Maybe I’m really overthinking it, Priya. Maybe I’m really overthinking it. I’m gonna do not what I wanna do to not ruin our friendship. Let’s leave it.”
Priya then told the girls in the makeup room that they hard decided to part ways, and viewers instantly flooded social media. One fan wrote on X: “Sorry was Priya and Aidan’s friendship even that good to begin with?
Another said: “For the sake of Priya’s mental health, I hope she doesn’t open social media after the show & the wellness team helps her. I’m genuinely worried”A third wrote: “Why is Priya acting as if she’s the one that ended things with Aidan LMAOOOO”
Just moments later, it was revealed that Priya and Aidan had been voted out by the public anyway after fans decided they were the least-compatible couple on screen. Aidan was on the verge of tears as he said his goodbyes to the boys.
He told them: “The relationships, the friendships I have built in here have been incredible. It’s emotional but I feel really grateful to have been here. All you boys have helped be grow, and helped me change as a man, even though I haven’t found love.”
Priya was then quick to speak to the girls and describe them as a “sisterhood” as she thanked them for everything they had done for her.
Following the emotional exit, Priya spoke out about her time in the villa and seemed to only have positive things to say about her experience.
She said: “It feels surreal. I’ve had the best time ever. I’ve learned a lot, made mistakes, but also met the most amazing people ever. I feel very grateful for the experience.I’m really excited to catch up with my friends and family.
“If I could describe the experience in one word, I’d say humbling. Extraordinarily humbling. I’m going to remain strong and just take everything in my stride.”
When asked what it was like to leave specifically, Priya said: “It was actually really positive. We had a really nice ending. We had an amazing dinner, dressed to the nines, and left together.
“I believe that we have a genuine love for each other, whether that be platonic or romantic. I actually wouldn’t change the end to my journey in the slightest.”
Love Island continues Sunday night at 9pm on ITV2 and ITVX.
Latest travel advice for updated information about travelling with medication
The FCDO has shared an update today (stock image)(Image: Getty)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued an alert today (July 17), updating its travel advice for British tourists travelling to the European hotspot with medication. With the peak travel season almost here, families up and down the country are set to go away on holiday as schools close, with Portugal a top pick for many.
Plenty of people will pack various medications with them when going on holiday, and for anyone going to Portugal, the FCDO has shared the latest information to keep in mind. It says: “The legal status and regulation of some medicines prescribed or bought in the UK can be different in other countries.”
The FCDO says there are strict rules around dispensing certain medicines in Portugal, including antibiotics. It explains: “UK prescriptions are not recognised so bring in Portugal.
“Carry enough medication for your visit. Keep the medication in the original container with the prescription label. UK prescriptions are not recognised in Portugal. Carry enough medication for your visit.”
It continues: “If you need a repeat prescription, go to the nearest health centre or hospital A&E. You may have to pay for your medication. You will need to go to a pharmacy to get most medicines, though some non-prescription medication is sold at health stores in supermarkets and shopping centres. Find a pharmacy on the Pharmacy Association website.”
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Holiday-goers can read best practices when travelling with medicines on TravelHealthPro. Changes to your routine when travelling, such as later nights, coping with heat and changes to your diet, can have an impact on your medication. See the Summer Proof Your Health campaign for more information.
Key advice when travelling with medication from FCDO
Check your destination before bringing medication with you. The FCDO advises reviewing the specific country page for the place you are visiting (and transiting). Many include a ‘Health’ section with medication notes. Some countries have strict rules on certain medicines (including over-the-counter ones). Generally, it is best to:
Carry medication in its original pharmacy packaging, with a copy of your prescription and a letter from your prescriber/doctor.
Keep it primarily in hand luggage (with some extra in hold luggage as backup).
Take enough for your entire trip plus extra for delays.
The legal status of your medication (including some OTC items) can differ abroad — some countries ban or restrict substances legal in the UK.
What are the rules for controlled drugs like certain painkillers?
For quantities of three months’ supply or more, you may need a UK export licence (apply at least 10 days in advance).
Carry a doctor’s letter detailing your name, the medication (generic name, dose, quantity), travel dates, and reason.
Always check rules for your destination country via its embassy/high commission in the UK.
Travellers can stay up to date with the latest travel advice on the FCDO country page. There is also the NaTHNaC Medicines factsheet. Gov.uk also offers guidance on taking medicine in or out of the UK. People can also contact the destination country’s embassy for specific import rules.
EXCLUSIVE: After Sarah-Jane Doherty found out she had a brain tumour the size of a golf ball in her brain, she got in touch with loveholidays to cancel a £1,100 upcoming trip – but claims they initially ‘didn’t want to know’
09:02, 11 Jul 2026Updated 09:03, 11 Jul 2026
‘I was misdiagnosed – it took doctors a year to find out what was really wrong’
A young woman who is awaiting brain surgery for a tumour the size of a golf ball watched her mum sob while fighting for her holiday to be refunded after being told she was unfit to fly. Sarah-Jane Doherty, 24, from Doncaster in Yorkshire, was told she had a brain tumour in June 2026 after one year of being misdiagnosed.
She first noticed she was ill in July 2025 when she found herself being overly exhausted, to the point where she could not stand up for long periods of time. Other symptoms included depressive episodes, psychosis, hallucinations, manic episodes, and issues with her mood being up and down, which led professionals to believe she was displaying symptoms of bipolar disorder.
This meant she was put onto anti-psychotic medications which masked what would have been one of her major symptoms, seizures, as an electric shock-type of feeling down her left side. She also suffered issues with her vision before being rushed to A&E after having a severe headache that caused her so much pain that she sobbed on her bed.
After having a CT scan at Doncaster Royal Infirmary, Sarah-Jane was told doctors thought she had a bleed on her brain, and that she would need to be admitted and have an MRI scan. The next morning, Sarah-Jane’s life changed forever after being told she had a brain tumour around the size of a golf ball.
Medication masked a golf ball-sized brain tumour
She said: “They told me in a bay of four people by myself that I had a brain tumour, and that they think is a glioma. I was just distraught, I was absolutely hysterical.
“I rang my mum straight away, and she came into the hospital. She rang my dad and he came home from work to see me. I feel a bit like I’m in an episode of Grey’s Anatomy, like it just doesn’t feel like it’s actually me.
“I was upset, I was stressed thinking, ‘what if it’s not removable?’ I didn’t know what grade it was. What if it’s spread somewhere else in my body? And I just had so many what-ifs in my mind that I just kept crying.”
Before being diagnosed with a suspected grade 2 glioma, Sarah-Jane had booked a £1,100 holiday to Ayia Napa with one of her friends through loveholidays, with flight bookings through British Airways.
Loveholidays booking dispute after Sarah-Jane’s cancer diagnosis
Sarah-Jane said: “I went to Ayia Napa last year and it was really good so we were set on [going] there. But it was last minute because it’s just finding time for us to be together and book holiday.
“I hadn’t been on holiday this year yet, we just wanted to get away so I’d not really had any annual leave or anything like that.
“Just wanted a break and plus because I would be starting a new training programme in September. I wanted to find a decompress before that.”
The day Sarah-Jane was diagnosed with cancer, she contacted loveholidays to make them aware and asked for a refund of her package. At the same time she realised her yearly travel insurance cover had not renewed as she thought it had.
She said: “The first time that we called they didn’t want to know at all. They didn’t even express empathy or anything like that. And then I got an email just saying I can get £62 back.”
Sarah-Jane then sent two letters from medical professionals, one from a consultant at the hospital, and a second from her GP, which were both rejected by loveholidays due to her first letter being a “statement for fitness for Work (SSP)” and the second being a letter that “outlined that it had been issued to support a travel insurance claim”.
Sarah-Jane’s TikTok video prompts action from loveholidays CEO office
After receiving pushback from loveholidays the 24-year-old made a video about her experience on TikTok, with a member of the CEO office at the company reaching out shortly after.
Sarah-Jane continued: “So it was just calls back and forth. They said you need to get in touch with British Airways. British Airways said it has to all be done through loveholidays.
“I asked them to speak to my mum, I just couldn’t deal with speaking to them. I couldn’t keep hearing no and saying, ‘there’s nothing we can do’.
“Then the person from the CEO office said ‘we wish Sarah the best and stuff’ which just shows that there’s no compassion.”
The company then offered Sarah-Jane a £300 refund, which her mum refused, before offering £600, which they also rejected. The following day, however, the loveholiday’s team confirmed they would offer Sarah-Jane a full refund.
She said: “She spent over eight hours on the phone, backwards and forwards, to loveholidays and British Airways because they just kept sending each other to each other. She started crying on the phone because the way people were speaking to her was just… It’s not what she needed to hear.
“She was unnecessarily sent between two different companies that both didn’t want to know. I think that just shows that more protection is needed in the event of major health diagnoses, because if it wasn’t for the TikTok then nothing would have been done.”
Loveholidays and British Airways issue official statements
A loveholidays spokesperson said: “We are deeply sorry to hear about Sarah’s diagnosis and the difficult circumstances she is facing. We wish her all the very best with her treatment and recovery.
“To support Sarah during this difficult time, we have refunded her in full for her holiday, and we have also explained how she can request a refund for the seat purchase she made directly with her airline.
“While we always do everything we can to support customers in difficult circumstances, as a travel agent we are bound by the cancellation policies of our airline and hotel partners, many of which do not provide refunds when customers are unable to travel due to illness.
“For this reason, we always strongly recommend that customers take out travel insurance to help protect them if unforeseen circumstances prevent them from travelling.”
A spokesperson from British Airways said: “We’re very sorry to hear of our customer’s experience and our teams have been in touch.”
The spokesperson also said that the airline had “resolved this matter”, however Sarah-Jane told us that she has yet to receive the refund or, indeed, any further communication from British Airways customer service.
Dr Amir Khan has opened up about his own mental health, saying he has a “full-blown case”
07:08, 01 Jul 2026Updated 07:42, 01 Jul 2026
Dr Amir Khan asked if “anyone else have this” after diagnosing himself with anticipatory anxiety(Image: Dr Amir Khan/Instagram)
A doctor has asked if “anyone else has this”, revealing he’s diagnosed himself with a form of anxiety. Doctor Amir Khan, who is known for his appearances on ITV, opened up about something called anticipatory anxiety.
In a video uploaded to social media platform Instagram, the medical professional shared more about his experience. Speaking to his more than one million followers, he said: “I’ve diagnosed myself with something called anticipatory anxiety and I need to know if anyone else has this.”
He explained how this phenomenon causes his brain to prepare for the “worst case scenario”, which in reality, doesn’t happen. “You know, when you’ve got like a meeting coming up or you’ve got an awkward conversation with someone you just don’t want to have,” Dr Amir said.
“It could be, I don’t know your boss at work, a friend, a family member, literally anyone – a meeting normally for me. Well then my brain decides we’re not just going to have one conversation in my head with these people, we’re gonna have 47, it just replays conversations in my head and what they’re going to go like.
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“I’ll imagine them saying something awful. So I prepare my perfect comeback, then they say something even worse in my head, so I then prepare for that.
“Then I imagine myself calmly standing my ground, walking away with dramatic dignity, probably to a soundtrack that only I can hear. By the time I’ve finished, I’ve won an argument that never actually happened.
“Then the real conversation comes along and they’re lovely, they’re polite, we agree on things. The meeting lasts like just six minutes, so then it’s just a chat. And I come away thinking, ‘Why on earth did I spend two days emotionally preparing for that?’
“Well, that is anticipatory anxiety, and I have a full-blown case of it all the time.” He said this occurs when your brain starts worrying about something before it’s happened and because your brain’s threat system is trying to protect you, it “often throws in a bit of catastrophizing as well”.
Dr Amir said: “It’s trying to help me it, believes that if it rehearses every possible disaster, I’ll be ready for anything. But in reality most of those disasters, just don’t happen.
“So all that’s really happened is I put myself through stress, once in my imagination and then once again in real life, except the real life version usually turns out absolutely fine.” He added: “Please tell me this isn’t just me.”
He was met by support in his comment section with one person saying: “Omg Amir this is me! I drive myself mad doing it. Glad I’m not alone. Thanks.”
Another commented: “Yes! Amir you most definitely are not alone, this is so me.” And one person replied: “I do this too, it can be exhausting.”
Anticipatory anxiety is a recognised form of anxiety. On its website, Anxiety UK says: “Anticipatory anxiety is where a person experiences increased levels of anxiety by thinking about an event or situation in the future.
“Rather than being a specific disorder in its own right, anticipatory anxiety is a symptom commonly found in a number of anxiety-related conditions, such as generalised anxiety. Anticipatory Anxiety can be extremely draining for people as it can last for months prior to an event.
“The worries people experience specifically focus on what they think might happen, often with catastrophic predictions about an event. The nature of negative predictions about the event will be the difference between an anxiety level that is incapacitating or merely uncomfortable.”
The NHS lists common symptoms of general anxiety as:
Feeling tired, restless or irritable
Feeling shaky or trembly, dizzy or sweating more
Being unable to concentrate or make decisions
Trouble sleeping
Worrying about the past or future, or thinking something bad will happen
Headaches, tummy aches or muscle pain
Dry mouth
Pins and needles
Noticing your heartbeat gets stronger, faster or irregular, or you get short of breath when you start feeling anxious
It says that if you cannot tell if shortness of breath is from anxiety or if you are worried about any other symptoms, you should see a GP.
Bethlehem, occupied West Bank – In the narrow alleyways of the Dheisheh refugee camp, three children debate which of their encounters with the Israeli military is worth telling, and who gets to tell it.
Yanal, 14, wins the opening round on language skills alone. He speaks three languages: Arabic, English and Spanish, and insists on telling his story in English.
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“Life in the camp is complex,” he says, because, as he explains, there is nowhere to run away to when the army comes.
Yanal keeps returning to one memory: a football match, soldiers entering the field, and there being no way out.
Mustafa Abu Aliyah, 13, counters with a raid that he ran into as he was on his way to his grandfather’s house. The Israeli army fired live rounds and tear gas, he says. “We were in the middle of the fire.”
He can’t remember his first encounter with soldiers, “but I definitely saw them when I was little, because they are always coming here”.
His sister Diyar, 12, was mid-piano lesson the last time the army came through.
“Whenever the army comes, there will be tear gas,” she says. “People will be beaten. There’s usually someone injured or killed.”
She compares it to life elsewhere. “I see children in other countries, in other worlds, living in safety, but we can’t even leave our front door without suffering.”
The raids happen so often that the children often can’t remember the dates of specific incidents. But what they do remember is the fear they experienced and the aggression displayed by the Israeli soldiers.
In the first nine months of 2025 alone, Israeli forces carried out nearly 7,500 raids across the occupied West Bank, or about 27 a day, and a 37 percent increase compared with the same period in 2024.
‘Essence of childhood destroyed’
The children in the Dheisheh refugee camp reflect a wider pattern of childhood experiences under Israeli occupation, set out in a report the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory released on Tuesday.
It examines Israel’s treatment of Palestinian children in Gaza and the occupied West Bank since October 2023.
Titled, “The essence of childhood has been destroyed”, it found that Israeli forces have killed at least 20,179 Palestinian children and wounded more than 44,000 across the occupied territory, most of them in Gaza – where it said that the deliberate targeting of children constituted part of the genocide in the Palestinian territory.
The report also documents a pattern of killings, mass arrests, torture, sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.
In the West Bank, it records a sharp rise in settler violence against children and killings by Israeli forces, among them a two-year-old girl shot dead in January 2025. Children, the report notes, are held in Israeli detention, with no lawyer and no word sent to their parents, a separation it says can amount to enforced disappearance. Schools, too, are targets: 85 across the West Bank are under demolition or stop-work orders, and others have been closed or attacked by soldiers and settlers.
Mustafa Abu Aliyah, 13, and his sister Diyar, 12, sit in the alleyways of Dheisheh refugee camp in the occupied West Bank [Leila Warah/Al Jazeera].
Beyond the casualty count
The UN commission argues that Israel has created conditions in which Palestinians live in a constant state of “diffused, ambient terror, that does not require constant bombing to remain effective”.
“We are talking about repeated shocks, about continuous events that never end,” says Lemis Farraj, a psychologist and the project coordinator at Shorouq in Dheisheh, emphasising that a child’s physical and mental health cannot be separated from each other.
The report calls this continuous traumatic stress, distinct from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), because there is no single event to recover from. The danger does not just come from experiencing one raid, but from the fear that comes with waiting for the expected raids that will likely come in the future.
Diyar explains that when the army enters her neighbourhood, she has to stay home and wait, no matter what her plans were. “Our life stops,” she says.
Her brother, Mustafa, says that the repetition has worn the fear flat.
“When I see the army, I [am] used to it and I stop being afraid.”
Farraj sees the same in the young children she treats: a startle at an ordinary sound, certainty that a raid has begun, and regression – skills already learned suddenly lost again.
Five-year-old Khour Hammad, who lives a few alleys away from the older children, has experienced the same raids.
She explains that both of her parents are in prison. Israeli forces arrested her father in July 2023 and her mother last March, according to the family.
Khour remembers the night the army came for her mother. Half-asleep, she heard a man’s voice and thought her father had finally come home. She climbed out of bed expecting him. Instead, she found soldiers inside the house.
The soldiers tried to question Khour. She says that she “felt like I was going to throw up”.
Handed an old family photo, she brightens at once, pointing out her mother, Islam Amarna, and her father, Osama Hammad, and rattling off memories in bursts.
Khour Hammad, 5, stands on a rooftop overlooking Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank. Both of her parents have been arrested by Israeli forces [Leila Warah/Al Jazeera].
Generational trauma
While Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank face different lived experiences, the UN finds the same cause behind the harm: a military occupation described as a “long-term mechanism of domination, subjugation and oppression”.
Farraj adds that children are affected not only by their own experiences of trauma, but also by what is passed down from parents and grandparents.
“The first generation of the Nakba lived in shock and passed it on to their children,” she says, referring to the ethnic cleansing of at least 750,000 Palestinians following the formation of the state of Israel in 1948.
The report similarly notes that Palestinian refugees, now in their fifth generation, have internalised a sense of “dispossession from the Nakba” alongside present-day experiences of occupation.
In the West Bank, roughly one in four Palestinians are refugees; in Gaza, it is about 70 percent.
Israeli violence and forcible displacement have been carried through generations of Palestinians, compounding as the cycle repeats. Farraj says trauma recovery depends on stability: family support, schooling, safe spaces and a predictable routine, all of which remain precarious under Israel’s occupation.
For Khour, that stability begins with her parents.
“I want the whole world to listen and see my picture,” Khour says, “and get my mom and dad out of prison.”
The award-winning journalist takes centre stage one last time in an extraordinary new film made for Channel 4
In the new film Jon uncovers one of the worst mining and ecological disasters of modern times.(Image: Channel 4)
Former newsreader Jon Snow Is now “living a quieter life” months on from filming a documentary with Channel 4 about having Alzheimer’s disease.
The 78-year-old cancelled a planned appearance on a panel at the Sheffield Documentary festival on Friday which coincided with a screening of Jon Snow : A Last Big Story which shows him navigating life with Alzheimer’s.
The film, which shows the beginnings of his memory fading, actually finished filming last year. Asked how he was now, the Executive Producer Ben de Pear who also worked with Jon for many years on Channel 4 News said: “He has been in Zimbabwe(on holiday) and I spoke to him recently. He was his usual self, he was feisty, funny and really excited about the film coming out. Jon is living a quieter life but I think he is still interested and engaged in the world and still fascinated by people. When he goes to the supermarket he still ends up speaking to people for 20 minutes each.”
On the original plan of him being at the event in person, Ben added: “To be honest some days it is good and he could have been on stage, we could have had a discussion and some days it’s worse. That is the nature of the disease.” He told the audience that Jon “sent his love” before the screening began.
Ben and director, Laura Warner also spoke about the unusual circumstances around making the emotional film and then showing it to Jon and his wife, Dr Precious Lunga.
Laura said she would start each day explaining who she was and what film she was making to make sure Jon was still happy. She added: “Every day we would have to re-consent Jon and he would ask why there were cameras and we would explain.
“He was extremely engaged and leading the story. But there would come a time every day, around about sort of sunset, I think it is called sundowning where Jon would really start to struggle. The cameras went down at that point every day and we would look after him.”
On the final edit, Laura recalled: “Jon and Precious watched it several times in terms of giving it send off. It was really important to Precious that he viewed it by himself the first time, so he wasn’t influenced by her reaction too it or anyone else’s.
“He had a really emotional reaction to it because I think it was the first time he had seen himself with the condition.”
Ben added: “Precious loves the film, she thinks it is really important.”
The film also sees Jon discover a news story whilst on holiday in 2025, which leads an investigation into a Zambian community whose land and water were impacted by a mining disaster.
As the Mirror previously reported, he speaks in the film about his own mortality, and seems happy with the life he has.
Jon says: “A strange old business life. I had a good innings of it. It’s understandable, you can be worried about death, but to be worried about growing older is irrelevant. It’s absurd. How old is older? You’re going to die tomorrow or the next day. Stop worrying and get on with it.”
His wife Precious says of the film: “I want it to be a story of love, laughter, acknowledging that times are hard. I don’t shy away from the fact that it’s hard caring for someone with Alzheimer’s. But we can also be on the lookout for opportunities that would lessen that burden. And yeah we do that by having our little adventures.”
* Jon Snow: A Last Big story will be available to watch and stream on Channel 4 on Sat June 20 at 8pm.
People with hidden disabilities tend to use this as a way of making others aware
Hundreds of airports and airlines do recognise the lanyards(Image: Getty)
Travel can be made easier for some people living with an invisible disability or health condition by wearing a ‘Sunflower Lanyard’. Hundreds of airports around the world recognise it and what it may mean for some passengers – but not every airport is the same.
The Sunflower Lanyard isn’t recognised everywhere. Although many airlines and airports around the world support it, some international airports and locations ask you to use their own specific hidden disability programs or badges to get access to special fast-track lanes, priority boarding, or customised assistance.
Employees at participating venues are trained to recognise the lanyard and offer specific help, such as using simpler language, giving you extra time to process information, or guiding you to a quieter space. But, not every part of the world will instantly recognise or understand the lanyard.
On the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower website, it says: “It’s a misconception that people living with a disability don’t want to, or can’t travel. They do and they can. Globally, one billion people live with some sort of disability, and while some experience a disability that is visible, for many it is not visible.”
The system is designed for any condition that isn’t immediately obvious to others, including conditions like neurodivergence, mental health, sensory impairments, and chronic conditions, to name a few. The lanyard does not reveal your specific medical condition or disability.
What parts of the world accept and follow the Sunflower system?
According to the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower website, hundreds of airports and airlines do recognise the lanyards. As of April 2026, the number was around 325 – but checking the specific airport’s accessibility page can give more details such as finding out if staff can provide free Sunflower lanyards and where to collect them.
Because the lanyard operates on an “opt-in” basis for businesses, an airport will not recognise it unless its staff have been explicitly trained to do so. Holiday hotspot Spain made headlines because its airport authority (Aena) rolled out its own alternative system.
Most other non-participating airports simply do not recognise the lanyard at all, instead of replacing it with a local version. Outside of a few specific exceptions (such as Singapore Changi, Tokyo Haneda, and select major airports in India), the scheme is not widely adopted or understood by security staff across Asia and Africa.
What isthesystem
The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard system is an initiative that allows people to discreetly let others know that they have a non-visible disability and may need additional support, time, or help. Wearing the bright green lanyard that features yellow sunflowers indicates to trained staff that you have a hidden condition.
Anyone who feels they have a non-visible disability can use the lanyard. You do not need to show medical records or a doctor’s letter to get or wear one.
The system is designed for any condition that isn’t immediately obvious to others, including conditions like neurodivergence, mental health, sensory impairments, and chronic conditions, to name a few. For more information, click here.
This is a “natural” part of being a woman, he said
10:35, 06 Jun 2026Updated 11:03, 06 Jun 2026
Dr Amir shared some advice on weight gain that older women might experience(Image: Getty)
A doctor has revealed why women start to put on belly fat as they age, stating it’s a “normal” part of life. According to the expert, women can expect to see their weight fluctuate when they get older.
In a clip from his podcast No Appointment Necessary, shared to his Instagram page, Dr Amir Khan issued some reassurance about weight before and after the menopause. He explained how fat is distributed on the body differently as a result of this hormonal change.
As a consequence of these hormonal shifts, the body can experience a broad range of symptoms that can impact both physical and mental health. These include hot flushes, mood swings, and brain fog.
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However, it can also affect how your body stores fat. On the podcast, his co-host Cheery Healey said: “Lots of women find that when they go through perimenopause and menopause, they gain weight.”
Dr Amir responded: “So, before the menopause, fat distribution in women is usually around the hips, thighs, and buttock area. And that fat distribution is completely normal and healthy and women should have fat there, you don’t want to lose it.”
He explained why. “It’s really good for your fertility,” he said.
“It’s really good for your overall health. It is expected and needed.”
But after menopause, you might notice that you are more prone to weight gain around the tummy. Dr Amir continued: “After the menopause, as the hormones shift, things change.
“And that fat usually deposits around the tummy area and the hips as well and so people can refer to it as a ‘meno belly’. It’s not really a great term but it is just the shift of weight, really.”
He added: “Normal, natural, not the end of the world, part of being a woman, an adult woman.” His advice is supported by the NHS website, which says: “Weight gain during perimenopause and menopause is common.
“It often happens around the stomach and upper body.”
Other symptoms of menopause
The other symptoms of menopause, as listed by the NHS, include:
Changes to your periods
Hot flushes and night sweats
Sleep problems
Mood changes, poor memory and brain fog
Vaginal problems such as dryness, a burning feeling, irritation or itching in and around the vagina
UTIs (urinary tract infections)
A faster, slower or more noticeable heartbeat (palpitations)
Weakening bones (loss of bone density), which can lead to osteoporosis
Feeling the need to pee more or not being able to control when you pee (urinary incontinence)
Headaches and migraines that are worse than usual
Muscle aches and joint pains
Hair thinning or hair loss
Skin changes, including dry and itchy skin
Reduced sex drive (loss of libido)
Sensitive teeth, painful gums or other mouth problems
The health body says you should contact your GP if:
You think you have symptoms of menopause or perimenopause and want to know what your options are
You have symptoms like a fast heartbeat (palpitations)
You still have periods but your bleeding pattern has changed and you’re bleeding more, not less, than before
You have not had a period for 12 months or more, and you have any vaginal bleeding
The most commonly prescribed treatment for menopause symptoms is hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
Closed since 2014, the airport was briefly brought back into use as a lorry park during the pandemic, but the reopening plans have hit a snag after the local council raised concerns
Manston Airport hasn’t been a working airport since 2014(Image: Getty)
An abandoned airport boasting the UK’s 11th-longest civilian runway has hit a significant obstacle ahead of its long-anticipated reopening. Plans to restore Manston Airport, near Ramsgate in Kent, back to full operation have been in motion since 2019, with the project anticipated to cost somewhere between £500m and £750m.
The site has stood idle since 2014 but was given a new lease of life during the Covid-19 pandemic as a lorry park. Current owner RiverOak Strategic Partners Ltd (RSP) is aiming to relaunch the airport as a global air freight hub, alongside offering commercial flights by 2029.
In March, RSP launched a public consultation on the proposals. Its director, Tony Freudmann, invited people to “provide any feedback they might have to help shape our plans”.
At that point, the firm anticipated construction work beginning early next year. However, in May, Ramsgate Town Council announced it would raise concerns over proposed changes to flight paths and airspace as part of the Stage 3 consultation.
Shuttered since 2014, the site was temporarily repurposed as a lorry park during the Covid-19 pandemic. RSP acquired Manston in 2019, with the Development Consent Order (DCO) granting approval for the reopening signed off in 2020.
This faced legal challenges, though an updated DCO was approved in 2022. Ramsgate Town Council contended that the proposed flight paths would result in aircraft passing over heavily populated areas of Ramsgate at low altitudes.
It was noted in the proposals that the airport could see up to 14,000 air traffic movements a year by 2038—about 38 flights a day. The council highlighted the potential impact this could have on residents.
RTC highlighted potential adverse health consequences stemming from noise exposure, as outlined in the proposal. These include disrupted sleep, a heightened risk of strokes and heart attacks, loss of amenity and possible links to dementia.
In fact, the applicant’s own plans put the potential cost of noise-related health conditions at more than £20.8 million over 10 years. RTC said it had further concerns, too.
It argued that the size of the intended operations is much larger in scale compared to past levels. RTC also suggested that there was a lack of evidence regarding secured funds or operators.
Also, it claimed demand had not been independently verified. In addition, the council didn’t believe that the consultation was enough for the size of the proposal, citing a limited number of engagement events.
RTC chairperson Cllr Steve Albon told The Isle of Thanet News: “Ramsgate Town Council recognises the importance of this issue to residents and is committed to ensuring that local concerns are clearly and professionally represented.
“The council will continue to engage with relevant authorities and stakeholders to try to ensure that any decisions relating to Manston Airport fully consider the impact on Ramsgate’s community.”
Vinnie Jones says one career moment is way above all others
Vinnie Jones looks back on career in new Netflix doc(Image: Courtesy of Netflix)
Vinnie Jones believes winning the FA Cup will be written on his gravestone. Footballer and actor Jones, 61, was part of the Wimbledon team that stunned Liverpool in 1987 with their victory at Wembley. A new Netflix documentary looks at his extraordinary career working as a hod carrier and playing semi-pro football to becoming a Premier League star and then a Hollywood actor.
Looking back, Vinnie said: “I think the biggest achievement is the FA Cup. The odds, you know? Leeds was magnificent, but we built a good team and that was “shit or bust”—we had to get up that season. But Jack and the Beanstalk was a great story of mine as a kid, and that’s what we did at Wimbledon when we beat Liverpool.
“I remember the first round being 1-0 down against Mansfield away. Fast forward a few months, and you’ve beaten one of the greatest teams in the last 50 years. 1-0 in front of a hundred thousand people. It was some achievement. It will probably be on my gravestone, I should think.”
Vinnie is still making movies and also now has his own reality TV show In The Country, detailing his life after taking on 2,000 acres of West Sussex countryside, but it hasn’t all been plain sailing. His wife Tanya died in 2019 with cancer, having beaten the disease several times in the past.
Asked if his attitude in life was all about proving people wrong, he said: “Not prove people wrong, but to keep trying to get to the summit. When you get to the ledge, there’s another ledge and another ledge. I don’t really know where the summit is, to be honest. So I’ll go to the next ledge and the next ledge. Hopefully one day I’ll get there and go, “There’s no more ledges.
“We’re happy in life right now. I’ve got a couple of great movies and TV shows. It’s been a long road; the last six years has been a long road for me. You can’t stay on the same ledge. You’ve got to look up.”
Vinnie admits in the doc he has a “big ego” but also that he had periods in his life when he struggled due to trouble he got into but also heavy drinking, with no one to talk to about his problems. He recalls how he considered suicide when he took a shotgun into the woods near his home and was struggling with his mental health.
He says in the film: “I was on the bed and I was just curled up like the baby position and I was like, enough. I can’t keep doing this to people, can’t do it to the family. So far, I thought I could go for a walk up the wood…. I took the gun, walked up the wood, and then all stupid things go through your head. And the easiest thing to do was just to stop it right there and then, that would be it.
“And then I sort of came round, like being knocked out I suppose like in boxing, when you come around and miss all the scream and the shouting and everything is slow motion and you’re kind of back, you go right f*** this.”
Later in the film he adds: “I’ve taken as many knocks as I’ve given, but I’ve grabbed every opportunity that’s come my way. Be someone, make your mark. I’ve made my mark.”
Asked what people should take away from his story in the documentary, Vinnie says: “I can remember back when I was cutting the grass at the Masonic School in Bushey, just looking up and thinking: give me one chance, one chance, wherever it is, third division, fourth division, please, I want to be a professional footballer. You’re saying that every day. And then all of a sudden, a bolt of lightning or a flash or a spark gives you that chance.
“Talk to the universe and be straight with the universe. Ask for what you want and don’t let it down when it gives you that chance. That’s what it is. There’s a reason why the chance to win the lottery is a billion to one. To build on your dreams is up to us. I think we’re the bricklayers and the carpenters of our own dreams.”
Asked about mistakes in his life, he said: “The biggest regret is not giving up drinking probably 20 years beforehand. I tried it but never stuck at it. I think I’d have achieved a lot more without the booze. When I first went to Wimbledon on that trial, I never had a drink for a year. I wanted to be the fittest I could be. And then I fell into the culture.”
He added: “I wasn’t a drinker or a smoker growing up; it was just football. It was all part of being part of the Crazy Gang. I think I’d have been a lot better player if I hadn’t drunk through my career. But when you’re a young lad from a building site and the next minute you’re playing in front of 50,000 people, you never think it’s going to end.
“Older people say, ‘I hope you’re putting money away because this won’t last forever,’ but they’re talking to a brick wall. You think it’s going to last forever.” Thankfully for Vinnie he found a new career and big paydays in films including Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
* Untold UK: Vinnie Jones is on Netflix from Tuesday May 26.
