FORMER Strictly pro James Jordan secretly lived apart from his wife Ola for months prior to their split.
Pals said he moved into a flat earlier this year close to the five-bedroom house the dancers once shared.
James, 48, is said to have “needed space” as he and Ola, 43, embarked on a trial separation after 22 years of marriage.
A source explained: “It was James’s decision to move out, he needed some space. It happened months ago. He has been holed up in a small flat in Kent.
“These past few months have been tough for James but he is trying to keep moving forward. Ola has been supporting him as best she can but their decision to end their marriage has been incredibly difficult for both of them.”
James was photographed looking downcast as he walked close to his flat last week, minus his wedding ring.
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We revealed on Saturday how the couple, who have not been photographed together since last year, had split.
James, originally from Gillingham, and Polish-born Ola, who have a daughter, Ella, then released a joint statement confirming their break-up.
It read: “We’re taking some time apart as we work through very difficult personal challenges.
“James moved out of the family home some time ago. This has been an incredibly painful and emotional journey for us both and it certainly wasn’t an easy decision.”
It said James’s mental health “hasn’t been in a good place for quite some time”.
James added: “I’ve been struggling more than I’ve let people see and I’m taking the time I need to focus on getting myself into a healthier place, both for myself and for Ella.
“Neither of us is in a good place right now. We’re both doing our best to navigate one of the hardest chapters of our lives.”
James and Ola both joined Strictly in 2006.
James quit in 2013 with Ola leaving two years later, after winning the trophy in 2009 with Chris Hollins.
In a darkened room in Maldon, Essex, a ship’s lantern illuminates the laundry drying on a web of ropes suspended from the ceiling. Between piles of sailing memorabilia, 86-year-old Barry Pearce is flipping through a yellowing logbook, watched by his mongrel, Winkle. It feels more like a ship’s cabin than a terrace house. Pearce is one of a handful of surviving skippers who delivered freight on the Thames by sailing barge, the flat-bottomed trading boats famous for their striking red sails that were endemic to the river’s estuary until the 1960s. He remembers the names of every vessel he worked on – Remercie, Edith May, Colonia.
In the 19th century, the ochre sails of thousands of Thames sailing barges pierced the skyline as the craft carried cargo from the Thames estuary and beyond in and out of London. Their shallow draft allowed them to snake far upriver in as little as a metre of water (bargemen would boast that they could sail anywhere there had been a heavy dew). Their ingenious rig, with sails that could be set and stowed with the help of winches, meant around 150 tonnes of cargo could be shifted by just a skipper and mate – often accompanied by a guard dog. This efficiency allowed them to outlive all other commercial sailing vessels, surviving until the 1960s, when Pearce himself took the helm.
Today, only about 30 Thames barges are still sailing, either as private homes or leisure cruisers. Two of them – Pudge and Centaur – lie like beached krakens on the oozing mud of Maldon’s Blackwater estuary. Both are owned by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust, a charity run entirely by volunteers, including Pearce. Every summer, both vessels can be hired as private charters for groups of up to 12, or you can book a berth on one of their one- to three-day public sailing cruises. They also offer events such as children’s art days throughout the year.
I’m here on a scorching evening at Hythe quay to spend the weekend exploring the River Blackwater and Essex coast aboard Centaur, a barge built in 1895. Itineraries are flexible and based on passengers’ interests. For us it involves sailing up the Blackwater, a Pimm’s at Tollesbury Marina, and a swim off Shingle Point and wander around West Mersea on Mersea Island. Our motley crew consists of three trainees overseen by skipper Chris Martin, who teaches boatbuilding at vocational training organisation Circles Alternative Education.
There are also six passengers, ranging in age from 18 to 76, in five cabins, which are basic but comfortable (each has a wash basin). Although I am the only one who is not a competent sailor, Martin makes it clear that helping to handle the barge is optional.
Unwisely, given our 3am departure to catch high tide, I sink several pints with the two youngest members of Pudge’s crew in the Little Ship Club on the quay. A behemothic man wielding a squeezebox sings sea shanties as salty couples slow dance nearby. “I only know of one or two people my age who are into barging, and I find that disturbing,” yells 25-year-old Charlie Francis over strains of Bound for South Australia. “Barging was the lifeblood of the east coast. We should be proud of our heritage and celebrate the communities working to preserve it.”
After a few hours in my bunk, I make it on to deck at 4.15am. The moon is a slice of radish in a lilac sky. We’re bearing away from the wind and, having set the sails, the crew is already on their second round of tea and custard creams.
As dawn paints its peachy palette, Martin turns the great wheel. He points out Blackwater landmarks that only a local would know: the green buoy known as the Doctor, where early 20th-century fishers left spirits for the alcoholics supposedly drying out at Osea Island’s temperance resort; the pub where, as recently as 20 years ago, Martin witnessed a smuggler wordlessly deliver two dripping bags while regulars stared determinedly into their pints; the hulking trawler, Ross Revenge, which is still home to Radio Caroline, the former pirate station – another relic kept alive by volunteers of the Blackwater.
Where the river opens into the silvery sea, the wind picks up and the barge rocks gently against the tide. My eyelids are heavy and the slowness of the whole experience is working its magic on my screen-frazzled brain. Martin calls for the staysail to be unfurled, a 20-minute task that rewards the barge with another knot and a half of speed. “This life is the antithesis of the digital age’s obsession with instant gratification,” he says. “Sailing barges may not be able to teach us much about cargo any more, but they can teach us the value of slowing down, doing things with our hands and spending time in nature.”
As we make our stately, seven-knot progress, 370 sq metres of rust-red canvas billows above and fingers of salt marsh slide by. With so little distraction, the coffee tastes lip-curlingly bitter, the bacon sandwiches as saline as the deep. I settle on a coil of rope to scan the horizon for porpoises, but soon drift into sleep.
A swim from a sandbank near Tollesbury is followed by a meander through West Mersea at golden hour. Clapboard cottages framed by hollyhocks sit beside sailmakers and chandleries converted into trendy cafes. We drop anchor in the Blackwater estuary and beneath a blazing sunset tuck into lasagne on deck. I haven’t felt this present for months. It’s all such a delight I begin to feel concerned about the trust’s future. Sailing barges cost between £30,000 and £100,000 a year to keep afloat. The trip I’m on costs just £220 including meals, while the Trust’s annual membership is only £37.50.
Although the trust offers training in many of the skills needed to maintain the barges, sourcing the timber is becoming increasingly difficult – and expensive. “Centaur’s exterior planking is pitch pine from the Mississippi basin, which is incredibly durable, but has been virtually exhausted,” says Martin. “And so much of the timber trade has been replaced by plastic.”
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The trust also offers free training for future skippers, including the mate on our trip, 18-year-old Ben Weldon, the son of a local shipwright. However, it typically takes 2,000 hours – or 10 years – and the dropout rate is high.
While the trust has recently been awarded £28,090 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to develop a bid for the £4m needed to restore Centaur, it seems wrong that responsibility for keeping this thread of Britain’s maritime story from unravelling rests on so few shoulders. Sailing may be associated with privilege, but we are a seafaring nation and this inheritance belongs to all of us.
On Sunday morning, our last on board, a westerly fills the sails, and the tea-coloured Blackwater wrinkles beneath the bow as we beat our way back towards Maldon. “Lee ho,” Martin calls, showing me how to spin the wheel to help the crew tack. “So far we’ve used less than a gallon of fuel to do 50 miles. Pretty extraordinary, given that a family car does about 30 miles to the gallon.”
When I asked Pearce at the start of the trip why keeping Thames sailing barges afloat is worth the fight, he looked blank, as if such a question had never occurred to him. He showed me a pencil sketch of a barge he had drawn at the age of 15 in Greenwich, left half-finished when his skipper had poked his head through the hatch and invited him below for dinner. Now, more than 70 years later, he bends once more over that drawing as though no time has passed.
Eventually, he half-whispers: “Well, they’re just lovely, ain’t they?” He glances toward the window. Nearby, Centaur waits on the mud for the returning tide.
The trip was provided by the Thames Sailing Barge Trust. The next weekend aboard Centaur departs on 14 August, £220 for two nights’ full board; three-night trips depart on 3 September (£350 on Pudge, £320 on Centaur) and 18 September (£290 on Centaur). A variety of one-day sailings are also available
from £55 to £125pp
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MOLLY Mae has confirmed she’s not trying for another baby with Tommy as she makes a confession two months after welcoming their son Midas.
Speaking on her YouTube Vlog, Molly-Mae explained that she went to Wimbledon which “was absolutely fab” before making a health admission.
She explained: “The day before Wimbledon, I actually had my 6-week check-up with my obstetrician.
“And basically, we were speaking about contraception and I ended up randomly on that day getting the coil fitted.
“Like, that was just really random.”
She then explained how she thinks she told “every single person in that Wimbledon suite that had the coil fitted”.
She later added: “So I had the coil fitted, I had one called the Kyleena. It’s not the copper coil. It’s a different one. It’s one that’s going to last 5 years.”
Molly then made the confession about not wanting to have more children.
“I really wanted to get on some form of contraception because the last thing we need right now is another pregnancy,” she said bluntly.
Molly quickly added: “Like, it would be a blessing of course but it’s just not like… I think I’m done anyway with the children.”
This comes as Molly is understood to be experiencing some tension with her Irish traveller in-laws and wider extended family, as reported by us in June.
A source told The Sun: “Some family members on the Fury side feel they have not been able to spend as much time with baby Midas as they would have liked.
“The arrival of their second child has done little to ease some long-running differences between Molly Mae and members of Tommy’s family.
“Ultimately, Molly comes from a different world to Tommy, and in spite of the best of efforts at times, there have always been difficulties blending their worlds and their wider families.
“There is ongoing grumbling and remarks over family expectations and how much time – or lack of it – Tommy’s family get to spend with the children.”
Meanwhile, another family source told us there are key cultural differences between Molly and Tommy’s relatives which have caused some raised eyebrows.
“There are also very different views about family and what the future should look like and Molly’s comments about not wanting any more children have gone down really badly – it’s become a real talking point within the family.”
SIX months after being diagnosed with cervical cancer, Jersey Shore star Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi has undergone a radical hysterectomy.
The reality star, 38, documented her emotional journey to the operating theatre in a tearful video shared with fans on social media.
Snooki, who previously admitted she was too terrified to schedule the operation, said before: “I’m so scared, I just don’t know what is going to happen.”
Surgeons went on to remove her uterus, cervix, fallopian tubes and part of her vagina to ensure all the cancerous tissue was taken away.
Her ovaries were preserved to prevent her from going through early menopause.
Snooki hopes the operation has left her cancer-free and previously said doctors believed she would not require chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
The mum-of-three also filmed herself preparing for surgery, joking: “Got the gown, got the cap. I feel like an alien serving this look.”
Speaking from her hospital bed afterwards, the MTV star admitted she was struggling with the painful recovery.
She said: “So the first couple of days is hell, and then it’s gonna get better.
“I’m trying to stay in good spirits, and the nurses and doctors and everybody was so great.”
Snooki also revealed surgeons repaired her diastasis recti, a separation of the stomach muscles which can occur during pregnancy, while carrying out the procedure.
She signed off the video by telling fans: “I love you. Thanks for being here. And get your Pap smears, okay?”
Snooki shares sons Lorenzo, 13, and Angelo, seven, and daughter Giovanna, 11, with husband Jionni LaValle.
Although she said their family was complete, the star has said that losing her ability to carry another baby had been difficult to process.
She previously said: “That’s a part of being a woman, and even though I’m done having kids, the thought of not being able to really upset me.
“It messes with you a little bit.”
Snooki revealed in February that a biopsy had confirmed she had stage-one cervical adenocarcinoma, a cancer which begins in the glandular cells of the cervical canal.
She had received abnormal smear-test results for four years but admitted putting off follow-up appointments because she found the examinations painful and frightening.
The biopsy removed the visible tumour, while subsequent scans found no evidence that the cancer had spread elsewhere in her body.
Snooki rose to fame on MTV reality hit Jersey Shore, which followed a group of young housemates spending their summers together on the New Jersey coast.
A MAJOR European airport is set to close for months in 2028, impacting all flights.
Charleroi Airport in Brussels, Belgium, will close for 11 weeks as its runway is renovated and the airport is revamped.
All flights will be impacted between August 15 and October 31 – which includes travellers heading away during both the school summer holidays and October half-term break.
Charleroi Airport is the second largest airport in Belgium.
It will undergo a number of updates during the closure, estimated to cost around €50million (£42.8million).
Airlines that operate to and from the airport include popular budget carriers, Ryanair and Wizz Air.
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For UK travellers, this will include flights from and to Newcastle and Manchester.
Airlines will need to temporarily reroute their flights to different airports.
Currently there is no further information of what this will look like although is likely to mean cancellations and diverted.
According to several reports, the airport stated: “A complete refurbishment of Charleroi airport’s sole runway, together with other major infrastructure modernisation works, has been scheduled by SOWAER (the company behind the works) for the second half of 2028.”
Works include completely resurfacing the 3,200 metre runway.
The works are expected to impact two million travellers.
The Sun has contacted Charleroi Airport for comment.
SINGER-songwriter Linda Perhacs has gone missing – with the artist’s loved ones issuing a plea for information on her whereabouts.
The musician, 82, who struggles with dementia, was discharged from a care facility eight months ago – but has not been heard from since.
The cult songwriter’s friends and collaborators posted a plea for help on social media on Monday.
Her manager Laura Stearns said Linda had not been seen or heard from in eight months.
In December, she was released from an assisted living facility in Northridge, California, by her legal guardian.
Stearns said: “Linda Perhacs our dear friend and legendary singer-songwriter was discharged from a residential care facility approximately eight months ago under the supervision of her legal guardian.
“Since then, friends and longtime collaborators have been unable to reach her and repeated attempts to contact her guardian have reportedly gone unanswered. Please help us locate Linda to ensure her wellbeing.
“The intention is not to intrude upon her privacy, but simply to ensure that she is safe and to re-establish communication with someone whose artistic contributions continue to resonate across generations.”
A missing persons report for Linda was filed with the Los Angeles Police Department on June 6.
The singer’s friends and collaborators, including writer Jessica Hundley, singer Julia Holter and DubLab co-founder Mark “Frosty” McNeill, have shared pleas for information.
Her co-producer, Fernando Perdomo, said on Monday that he had been unable to reach her next of kin.
He said: “We’ve all been in touch with her since she’s been in a home for memory care, and we even performed with her two years ago for her 80th birthday party.”
Perdomo added that he wanted to speak to Linda about six weeks ago.
He explained: “So I gave her a call and found out that she had been moved out by her next of kin, and because of California law they can’t tell us where she is.
“I think he might have blocked us, which is really, really weird.”
Perhacs shot to fame decades after the 1970 release of her debut album, Parallelograms.
The record initially bombed and sold poorly, prompting Perhacs to quit the music industry and go back to her job as a dental hygienist.
However, the internet helped new fans rediscover the album in the late 1990s.
It was soon hailed as a lost folk classic and re-released several times.
Following her revived career, Perhacs returned to the studio to release her second album, The Soul of All Natural Things, in 2014, followed by her third, I’m a Harmony, in 2017.
SCOTT Thomas has revealed a secret row between him and brother Ryan that led to the two not speaking to each other for six months.
Former Love Island star Scott and his actor twin Adam, 37, are the younger brother of ex-Coronation Street actor, Ryan, 42.
All three Thomas siblings joined Sam Thompson on his Staying Relevant podcast, where he asked the trio questions that had been sent in.
They addressed how long they’d gone without speaking to each other after an argument.
Turning to Scott, Ryan said: “You can answer that one, can’t ya?”, while Adam added: “They fell out for a while.”
Scott elaborated: “Me and Ryan didn’t speak for six months. This was back in the day.”
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He further explained how Ryan “used to be really stubborn” regarding arguments.
Continuing, Scott added: “There was one time… he was playing a charity football game.
“I was just meant to come down and mind Scarlett while you were playing the game.
“Bearing in mind, he had other people there, but wanted me there.
“I was so hungover. And I couldn’t get there. So next minute, we didn’t speak for six months.”
Ryan jokingly quipped: “You let the family down.”
Scott said: “He was punishing for me for going on a night out basically and being hungover.
“Bearing in mind, now I never drink, I don’t punish you.”
Liverpool club record signing Denise O’Sullivan is expected to leave this summer just six months after joining.
It is understood a return to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) is most likely and Gotham FC are favourites to sign her.
The Republic of Ireland international joined Liverpool in January for £300,000 and has been a standout performer since her arrival.
Her departure is a huge disappointment to the Reds, who are looking to rebuild following a disappointing campaign in 2025-26.
During her time at Liverpool, O’Sullivan has made 13 appearances, including nine in the league, and helped Gareth Taylor’s side reach the Women’s FA Cup semi-finals.
Reports suggest, external O’Sullivan’s move could involve an initial one-year loan with an obligation-to-buy clause included.
Sources have told BBC Sport that Liverpool are in positive discussions with O’Sullivan and Gotham and are expected to receive a large fee in return for her departure.
O’Sullivan’s decision to leave Liverpool is believed to be a personal one as she seeks a return to the United States, where she spent nine seasons with North Carolina Courage, making over 150 appearances and captaining the side.
The 32-year-old is vastly experienced on the international stage, making 132 appearances for the Republic of Ireland and played a key role in their Women’s World Cup qualifying campaign this year.
Liverpool still hope to be active in the transfer window having already made three signings, though losing O’Sullivan and being unable to turn goalkeeper Jennifer Falk’s loan move into a permanent deal are blows to the club’s summer plans.
People in Cuba already faced an ongoing economic and humanitarian crisis, largely due to a US blockade.
Published On 7 Jul 20267 Jul 2026
Cuba has suffered its third nationwide power blackout since the start of the year, as the country’s fuel reserves diminish and its electric grid crumbles due to an energy crisis precipitated by the US fuel blockade.
The blackout in the country of nearly 10 million people was reported on Monday by the state-run Electric Union, which said that the cause is under investigation.
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Cuba’s Energy and Mines Minister Vicente de la O Levy said protocols were quickly activated to restore electricity throughout Cuba after the outage.
“Vital services continue to be protected, amidst this complex situation exacerbated by the energy blockade we face,” he said.
Grid operator UNE said it was providing electricity to some vital services, including hospitals and food production centres, but by late afternoon was able to serve only 1 percent of the capital, Havana’s, demand.
Cuba was already struggling with fuel supplies before US President Donald Trump cut off oil deliveries from Venezuela to the island in January. But Trump’s actions, including threatening tariffs on any country that sells or provides oil to Cuba, have made things significantly worse, and deepened the island’s financial crisis. As a result, blackouts and power cuts have accelerated.
Since January, Washington has only allowed one oil tanker, from Russia, to pass its blockade and dock in Cuba, as part of a sanctions campaign aimed at ending more than six decades of communist government in Havana.
Trump has pointed to the US abduction of Venezuela’s socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, in January, and his replacement with a successor that can be pressured to work with the US, as a potential blueprint for Cuba.
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel accused the US of trying to “incite social unrest by strangling Cuba’s fuel supply”.
“The actions of electrical workers in the midst of a genocidal energy blockade are heroic,” he wrote on social media.
The blackout is the eighth on the island of 9.6 million people since late 2024. It comes as the state imposes power cuts across the country – over 30 hours straight in parts of Havana and over 70 hours in some rural areas – in a desperate attempt to preserve fuel.
“Living like this is agony,” Meyboll Font, a 51-year-old self-employed social media community manager, told the AFP news agency.
Font said her Havana neighbourhood has been surviving on just “three or four hours of power a day”, but that the blackout was worse because “you never know when it [electricity] will return”.
OLIVIA Attwood has revealed the ‘real reason’ why she was cuddling Pete Wicks in those cosy yacht pictures from last year.
The former Love Island star, 35, was seen pictured looking very close to Pete, 37, while lounging on a boat in Ibiza in August 2025.
Olivia and Pete went public with their relationship in March this year.
And it comes after she split from her ex husband Bradley Dack, who she tied the knot with in 2023, in January 2026.
In the most recent episode of the Olivia’s House podacst, the ITV star and pal Mark Johnson discussed the trip, and the pictures of her and Pete.
“Okay, let’s talk to my listeners about the yacht pictures with Pete,” Olivia said.
“Because there is a funny story here. Just as a subtext, okay I was obviously leaning back on him like on the yacht, but nothing happened.”
Mark then told her: “Tell the whole story!”
Olivia continued: “But the pictures, the actual came back was funny, right? So I am lent back on him and whatever…”
Mark chimed in: “Yeah, but let’s go first, when that woman dunked you! Do you remember? Rebecca is her name. She dunked. Do you remember?
“She slipped drunk and dunked you.”
Olivia confessed that she didn’t remember and Mark explained: “What the hell? You were getting out off the board, you know that board, where you jump? Do you not remember? Where were you?!”
“Did she give me concussion?! Because I don’t remember,” Olivia told him.
Mark continued: “So when you were getting out of the water, you know when you get in that board bit.
“You were getting out and she was rotten, fell down the stairs, slid and dunked you.”
Olivia asked: “So is that why he was cuddling me?”
Mark told her: “Yeah so when you were getting out, you were crying, and I was laughing.”
“I remember hitting my head, but I thought I hit it inside,” Olivia confessed.
Mark said: “No. It was when you got dunked under the water. And you were crying. I don’t see you cry at all.
“So I thought it was funny!”
Olivia then went on to explain the other part of the story.
She said: “Our friend Megan Elliot, who we love, we adore her. She is my second sister. She is my blood, my family.
“But love her, sometimes, she is a couple of sandwiches short of the whole picnic. Sometimes she comes out with things, we go “Oh, shut up, Megan!”
“So anyway, she goes, we’re in the middle of the ocean, right? And not posted anything for days.
“There’s a catamaran, so if you don’t know what a catamaran is, it’s one of those boats that has two bits, and then the middle bit is like, it’s a weird boat.
“She goes, “Someone is taking pictures of us off that boat! I saw a flash, it was massive.”
“And we go “Shut up, Megan!” We were all taking the p**s. Someone is taking pictures of us. Who do you think you are? Jennifer Aniston?!
“We were actually mocking her for it. And then she was like “No I swear!” We carried on about our business, next day we’re at the pool and I’m so hungover, I think I’m going to die.
“I’m on the back. I’m on the bed, and she comes in and she goes “Told you.” And then she was going all like “I told you, I told you”.
“She’s scrolling through and she goes “I knew it, I knew it. I saw…”
“She had her t*ts out.”
TV star Olivia had kept tight-tipped about her romance with Pete after being pictured snogging the hunk and leaving a hotel together after the Brits.
But in March, in a statement accusing her ex Bradley of cheating on her multiple times over their 10-year relationship, Olivia admitted she’s trying to move on.
“Yes, I’m dating,” wrote Olivia.
“Yes, I’m getting up every single day even when I have cried all night to film the shows I love filming, record my podcast, record my radio show, shoot campaigns and somewhere in there TRY to move on.”
Since then, the pair haven’t been able to keep their hands off each other.
They were spotted smooching on a sun lounger while on Nikki Beach in St. Tropez.
Olivia and Bradley first met in 2015, dated for three months, and then went their separate ways.
After Olivia went on Love Island in 2017, and split from ex Chris Hughes, the pair got back together in 2018.
Bradley proposed to the star in 2019, and they tied the knot in 2023.
Meanwhile Pete has dated the likes of Maura Higgins, Megan McKenna and Chloe Sims.
A UK airport is going back on the market just months after its first sale fell through.
The 350-acre site, which has suffered millions in losses at the expense of the taxpayer, is up for grabs for a second time.
Gloucestershire Airport in Staverton was put up for sale last year by joint owners Cheltenham Borough Council and Gloucester City Council, with an asking price of £25million.
However an agreed deal with the preferred bidder fell through, after the terms of the proposal changed.
The councils have now agreed to put the airport on the market for a second time and are said to be “hopeful” that it can be successfully sold.
Estate agent, Savills, has been appointed to head up the process.
It’s hoped a buyer who can offer growth and investment for the space will be found.
Gloucestershire Airport has been hailed as a “vital economic and aviation asset for our county and region” by the City Council.
It’s also been confirmed that there has been “considerable interest from potential investors” in recent weeks, making it the “right time” to put the airport back up for sale.
The airport is still in operation, with the Cheltenham-based site offering charter services for private jets and helicopters.
Flying lessons are also operated from the airport as well as gift experiences like hot air balloon flights.
Speaking on the decision during a recent council meeting, Rowena Hay, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council, said: ”We are hopeful this renewed sale process will attract the right partner for the airport’s future, which remains our key priority.
“We will work with partners and stakeholders to update as the new sale process proceeds.”
GLADIATORS star Steel and his wife Samantha have welcomed a baby boy just over a year on from the tragic death of their son.
The couple’s second- born, Leo, died 14 months ago after being bornprematurelye at 23 weeks.
Steel — real name Zack George — said the arrival of their newborn will help heal them following the loss of Leo, who lived for just 13 days.
Writing on Instagram this evening, the 35-year-old said: “You will heal us more than you will ever know.
“We love you so much…Our baby boy.”
Friends and fans were over the moon for the pair.
Kate Lawler said: “Congratulations to you both. You deserve so much happiness x.”
Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, aka Gladiator Nitro, wrote: “Massive congratulations! Beautiful!”
Matty Campbell, better known as Bionic, posted: “Over the moon for you both.”
Zack and Samantha are also parents to Ivy, three.
The couple bravely shared late son Leo’s fight with followers last year.
He was initially placed on a ventilator, but after responding well he was taken off it and provided with CPAP, a non-invasive way of keeping airways open.
However, when he was retubed after six hours, it is believed accidental damage was done to his windpipe.
As well as suffering from brain bleeds, a hole in the heart and collapsing lungs, air pockets began to form around his lungs.
Zack told the Mirror: “Around the tenth day they started getting a bit bigger. They came to the conclusion that when they tubed him, either the first or the second time, they created a hole in his windpipe. It’s no one’s fault, a baby that young is really fragile; it’s just a risk.
“That was really hard, because if it hadn’t happened, he would probably still be here. A 23-week-old baby has so much to do. Overnight, he got quite bad, that’s when we went in and he passed away.”
The couple decided against giving Leo CPR having already witnessed him go through so much.
Zack announced Leo’s tragic death with a heartbreaking picture of he and Samantha holding him.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk called on the international community to re-engage in support for the people of Myanmar as his office reported Myanmar’s military is responsible for more than 700 civilian deaths over a six month period. File Photo by Salvatore Di Nolfi/EPA
June 22 (UPI) — The United Nations Human Rights Office reported Monday that the Myanmar military is responsible for at least 702 civilian deaths between August and January.
The United Nations published its report on human rights abuses in Myanmar during conflict from the military’s announcement of elections through the end of the ensuing voting period. The United Nations notes that foreign actors have continued to supply the military with arms and ammunition, potentially facilitating human rights violations.
Of the deaths it says have been credibly verified, 476 were due to airstrikes. Victims included 224 women and 153 children. More than 500 civilians were killed in attacks from jet fighters, drones, paramotors and gyrocopters.
The highest volumes of civilian deaths spiked between two periods: August through September and December through January.
The absence of international assistance has also played a role, the United Nations said. Access to emergency healthcare declined due to military blockades and cuts to foreign aid.
U.N. Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called on the international community to re-engage in support for the people of Myanmar.
“As if the people of Myanmar have not suffered enough at the hands of the military, they have now seemingly been forgotten by those outside the country,” Turk said in a statement. “Funding for localised protection efforts was in many areas the only solace from the suffering caused by constant targeting and indiscriminate attacks by the military. The pullback just compounds the injury.”
The preliminary deal to end US-Israel war on Iran has sent oil prices tumbling to a three-month low amid hopes that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen.
But it could be months before American consumers see major relief at the petrol pump.
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The closure of the strategic chokepoint disrupted global energy markets for more than three months, cutting off a major shipping route through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas normally passes.
On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said prices would “drop like a rock” once the strait reopens, a claim he has made multiple times in the past few weeks.
However, experts caution that a major decline in prices is unlikely to happen as quickly as Trump suggests.
While Asian markets rely more heavily on oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz than North American markets, tighter supply and steady demand have pushed prices higher worldwide.
On Monday, petrol prices in the US remained above $4 per gallon (3.78 litres), averaging $4.06 nationwide, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA). This was a dip from a high in early May of $4.48 per gallon.
By comparison, prices stood at $2.98 per gallon on February 28, when the US and Israel first struck Iran, triggering a ripple effect across global energy markets.
Energy prices have risen sharply in the US in recent months, increasing 7.7 percent over the last two months alone, and are up 40 percent from a year ago, according to last week’s inflation report from the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics,
However, prices are beginning to fall, a dip that began as Washington and Tehran entered negotiations.
“The potential deal that the US and Iran agreed to over the weekend certainly could pave the way for even lower prices… in the next two to three days by what we saw over the weekend,” Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, which tracks petrol prices, told Al Jazeera.
But De Haan expects a plateau and says that consumers may not see gas prices at pre-war levels until 2027, even if the ceasefire holds.
“It may take many months, if not beyond a year, for global oil inventories to recover to pre-war levels,” De Haan said.
Amid strains on the supply chain, producers will also need time to ramp up output, while port bottlenecks and heightened demand during the busy summer travel season could delay any substantial relief for everyday consumers.
“There are some mitigating factors that are going to slow the decline in prices. There are a lot of organisations and companies that have to re-up their stockpiles [like the US’s strategic petroleum reserve] and fulfil contracts that have been on hold for the last few months,” John Deal, managing director of capital markets at the Post Oak Group investment bank, said.
Fixing kinks in the supply chain takes time.
Oil production slumped amid the war. More than 14 million barrels per day, or 14 percent of the world’s demand, has been shut, according to the International Energy Agency.
Deal said it would take time to get oil production back online.
“My sense is that there’s going to be sustained high demand through the summertime, and we probably won’t get back to pre-war levels [on petrol prices] until after the summer, maybe September or October,” Deal said.
Mark Jones, a professor of political science at Rice University, said that producers might be reluctant to bring full operations back online until they can see the ceasefire hold.
The agreement opening the blockade is for a 60-day negotiation period between the two countries.
“Many [producers] may be reluctant to restart production until they are convinced that the peace will hold, because the last thing they want to do is carry out the costly effort to restart production only to see the conflict revived and then have to shut it down once again,” Jones told Al Jazeera.
Getting production back online is also dependent on the impact individual producers have faced throughout the war.
Refineries that were shut as a precaution could reach as much as 95 percent capacity within 40-60 days, Vitol Bahrain’s head of research, Bader Nooruddin, told the Reuters news agency. Those damaged in the fighting could take much longer.
But bottlenecks at ports could be the biggest hurdle, according to Deal.
“There’s a lag time with shipping capacity. Shipping capacity is perhaps the most significant constraint,” Deal said.
This is because there are more than 500 ships still awaiting passage, according to shipping data from Kpler.
With the ships headed all over the world, it will take them weeks to reach their destinations, dock, and unload at the ports.
That also means a wave of empty ships is waiting in limbo for spots at ports to load cargo and ramp back up to normal operations.
Major shipping giants are in a holding pattern.
Norway’s Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Denmark’s Maersk both told Reuters that they have not changed their Middle East operations in the wake of the announcement.
During the war, there was limited passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with an average of 10 ships a day passing through, compared with 135 that normally transit the waterway, according to an analysis by Bloomberg.
“Tankers take months to reach their final destination and then come back again. So the ability to replenish the stocks is going to take until, I think, the early fall, just from a shipping perspective, to get back to the status quo that was in place before the conflict started,” Jones said, referring to the preferred term for the months of September through November in North America.
At the same time, US strategic reserves are running low, at their lowest levels since 1983. Reserves have tumbled by 18 percent since the war began.
“Demand might keep prices high through the summer as strategic reserves get refilled,” Deal added.
Jet fuel demand will also put pressure on consumers amid the normally busy JuneAugust travel season in the US.
“The war has really affected airlines and their ability to schedule and anticipate how the summer months are going to go,” Deal added.
In April, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that airfares for the carrier may have to jump as much as 20 percent on higher fuel prices.
The increase in prices is also hitting food budgets.
The most recent consumer price index report showed US inflation ticked up by 4.2 percent compared with this time last year. While inflationary pressures were mostly driven by fuel prices, the impact has still been felt at the grocery store.
Almost half of the world’s urea, which is used in fertiliser, is produced in the Gulf region and passes through the Strait of Hormuz. For American farmers, that means access to fertilisers for the next crop season is more expensive.
Tomato prices, already driven up by Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, have surged 40 percent in the last year amid rising transportation costs.
Lettuce prices rose by more than 16 percent in May, and the price of ground beef increased by about 12 percent compared with this time last year.
Jones warned that food prices may not go down.
“Many retailers, wholesalers, and producers will keep them where they are or only reduce them if forced to from a sales perspective. Unlike petrol, which tends to ebb and flow with the price of oil, prices for many other goods that have been adversely affected by all of this are much less likely to return to where they were prior to the start of the conflict,” Jones said.
“For groceries, for manufacturing goods, for anything that has gone up during the conflict, the price that is there now often becomes the new baseline from which prices move in the future.”
This can be compared with the COVID-19 pandemic period. When the pandemic stalled supply chains, producers increased prices. A 2024 investigation by the Federal Trade Commission found that retail grocers kept prices elevated after supply chain constraints brought on by the pandemic had eased.
“Some in the grocery retail industry seem to have used rising costs as an opportunity to further raise prices to increase their profits,” the report said.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down part of a historic California law inspired by Cesar Chavez and the farm workers union, ruling that agricultural landowners and food processors have a right to keep union organizers off their property.
The justices by a 6-3 vote said the state’s “right of access” rule violates property rights protected by the Constitution, which states private property shall not be “taken for public use without just compensation.”
Writing for the court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said “the access regulation is not germane to any benefit provided to agricultural employers or any risk posed to the public…The access regulation grants labor organizations a right to invade the growers’ property. It therefore constitutes a per se physical taking,” he wrote in Cedar Point Nursery vs. Hassid.
He cited as precedents a pair of California cases. One ruled for the owner of a beachfront home in Ventura who objected to giving the public access to the shore and a second from 2015 which ruled for a grape grower from Fresno who objected to giving his grapes to a government-sponsored cooperative.
“The upshot of this line of precedent is that government-authorized invasions of property — whether by plane, boat, cable, or beachcomber — are physical takings requiring just compensation,” Roberts said.
The three liberal justices dissented. They described the rule as a regulation, not a taking of property.
The California Legislature in 1975 became the first in the nation to extend collective bargaining rights to farm workers. Months later, a new agricultural labor board adopted the “right of access” rule to allow organizers to seek out those who were working on farmland.
Earlier this year, the state’s lawyers said the rule was still needed because farm laborers often worked in remote areas and were not fully aware of their rights to join a union.
It has come under attack in recent years by agribusinesses that have called it a “union trespassing” rule that violates their property rights.
A lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the farm owners, cheered the ruling as “a huge victory for property rights.” It “affirms that one of the most fundamental aspects of property is the right to decide who can and can’t access your property,” said Joshua Thompson, a senior attorney for the group, based in Arlington, Va..
Karla Walter, a director of employment policy for the liberal Center for American Progress, called it a major setback for union organizing.
“Today the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned nearly a half-century of progress for California’s farm workers, who have struggled to exercise their right to bargain for decent wages and to protect their health and safety,” she said. “Reaching farm workers — the overwhelming majority of whom are Latinx and migrant workers — where they work is critical to protecting their rights and interests.”
The case decided Wednesday began in 2015. The owners of the Fowler Packing Co. in Fresno, which produces grapes and citrus fruit, refused to allow union organizers onto their property.
A few months later, union organizers entered a strawberry packing plant near the Oregon border and disrupted the work, according to Mike Fahner, owner of the Cedar Point Nursery.
The two companies then joined in a lawsuit seeking to have the California union access regulation declared unconstitutional. They lost before a federal judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but the Supreme Court voted to hear their appeal.
Lawyers for the Pacific Legal Foundation representing the farm owners argued the Constitution “forbids the government from requiring you to allow unwanted strangers on to your property.”
In defense of the rule, California officials called it a temporary regulation of property, not a taking of the grower’s land. Union organizers may enter a farm for one hour before the start of the workday or for an hour at the end of the day.
The state’s lawyers said the rule is similar to federal and state laws that allow meat and poultry inspectors to go into packing plants or health and safety inspectors to visit warehouses, manufacturing plants or construction sites.
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.
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Staff at Molineux have been stunned by the decision which also blindsided Rob Edwards and his coaching team.
Technical director Matt Jackson was given the job of dismissing Edwards just weeks after saying they were united.
His “if there isn’t alignment here, we’re dead in the water before we start” comment at the fans’ Q&A last month could come back to haunt the club.
Edwards called Wolves a mess and had been working to change the culture of the club and squad but that blueprint will now be ripped up.
There was no flashpoint but it is a ruthless decision taken by the club, one which was made above Jackson, with executive chairman Nathan Shi and owners Fosun unconvinced by Edwards.
Yet midfielder Andre signed a new deal while Kieran Trippier and Raul Jimenez have joined on free transfers. A large part of the three committing their future to Wolves was because of Edwards.
He left Middlesbrough to join Wolves in November when they were second in the Championship and five points behind leaders Coventry.
He was planning another promotion assault and this time had a better squad and would have been backed financially, so why sack him now?
Wolves had been planning for the Championship since January, a strategy was in place and there appeared to be clear thinking.
Edwards did only win three Premier League games and there were doubts from the fans but it did at least feel the club was finally on the same page.
It cost Wolves close to £4m to bring him and Watling to Molineux from Boro and it will not be cheap to pay them off.
Reported replacement Cesar Peixoto, currently manager of Gil Vicente in Portugal, will also cost money.
He is a client of Jorge Mendes’ Gestifute agency – who have a close relationship with Wolves owners Fosun.
Peixoto has never managed outside of the country and would come into one of the toughest leagues in Europe.
That does not mean he cannot be a success but it is a gamble Wolves desperately need to pay off.
Additional reporting by Dan Wheeler, BBC Sport, West Midlands
The first image in months of Gaza doctor Hussam Abu Safia has been released. He’s seen on a video call during his court hearing in Israeli court. His son recounts in an exclusive interview, the moment his family witnessed the images for the first time.
Published On 10 Jun 202610 Jun 2026
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Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have reportedly ended their relationship after almost three years together.
According to multiple outlets, the former couple — who met on the set of the 2024 musical blockbuster “Wicked” — quietly called it quits several months ago.
“It’s amicable, they gave lots of time and careful consideration and decided to go their separate ways,” a source told People. “They are still friends and very supportive of one another. They have been quietly broken up for several months.”
The “Thank U, Next” singer, 32, and “SpongeBob SquarePants” actor, 34, had been linked since 2023. They made their relationship Instagram-official in 2024 in the lead-up to the release of “Wicked,” in which Grande starred as G(a)linda the Good while Slater portrayed Munchkin and future-Tin Man Boq.
Their dating rumors were scrutinized at the time because Grande and Slater both had highly publicized splits from former spouses around the same time. Grande was previously married to real estate agent Dalton Gomez, while Slater had been married to psychologist Lilly Jay, his high-school sweetheart with whom he shares a child.
In March, Slater wrapped the off-Broadway run of “Marcel on the Run.” In addition to co-writing the play with Marshall Pailet, Slater portrayed mime artist Marcel Marceau.
Grande, meanwhile, embarked on her Eternal Sunshine tour in Oakland on Saturday. This marks the “Hate That I Made You Love Me” singer’s first tour since 2019. Grande is slated for five shows in Los Angeles beginning June 13.
This might be the last time fans can catch Grande at a live concert — at least for a while. In November, she mentioned these shows might be her “last hurrah” as a touring pop star.
“I’m very excited to do this small tour, but I think it might not happen again for a long, long, long, long time,” she said on the “Good Hang With Amy Poehler” podcast. “So I’m going to give it my all, and it’s going to be beautiful, and I think that’s why I’m doing it, because it’s like, one last hurrah.”
Grande’s next album, “Petal,” will be released July 31.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer threw down the gauntlet to tech firms on Monday at London Tech Week at Olympia in west London, threatening to legislate unless they act to block children using their phones to shoot, share or view naked images. Photo by Carlos Jasso/EPA
June 8 (UPI) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer issued an ultimatum on Monday to tech companies, including Apple and Google, to prevent explicit images from being taken or viewed on children’s mobile phones within three months or face legislation compelling them to comply.
Speaking at the London Tech Week show, Starmer said the initiative, requiring operating system developers to enable nudity-detection software or other technical fixes, was a global first that would make Britain the first country where children would not be able to shoot, share or view naked images.
“For too long, people have been told that [children sharing explicit images] is simply the price of modern tech — that nothing could be done. That government is powerless. That parents just have to accept it,” said Starmer.
“I reject that completely because tech should adapt to the needs of society, not the other way round. If we are serious about unlocking the opportunities that tech can bring then we must also be serious about preventing those who want to abuse it — the online predators.
“That is why today, I am calling for tech companies operating in this country to introduce vice controls that prevent children from sending and receiving sexually explicit images. Because this is not an impossible challenge. If they choose not, then we will act and we will change the law,” he added.
Adult phone users are exempted from the changes, but will be required to complete an age-verification process to prove they are over the age of 18.
The phone companies have until September to make the change or legislation will be introduced to Parliament requiring the appropriate software is installed on all phones and tablets sold in the four countries of the United Kingdom.
Starmer’s move came four weeks after Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls Jess Phillips resigned, citing his failure to act on her recommendations to remove the ability for children to take explicit photos of themselves or others.
The government dismissed criticism from advocates of privacy and the right to expression, accusing it of trampling on people’s democratic freedoms.
“The government mandating that all phones in Britain require ID and surveillance software is a crossing of the Rubicon that would make the U.K. one of the most authoritarian internet regimes in the world,” said Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo.
Silkie warned it also raised the specter of spyware in the pocket of every person with a phone that would end up being “exploited for other purposes before long.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government’s motivation was stopping the coercion and sextortion of children and that it was not interested in “surveilling or policing” people’s phones.
“There is no reporting, no data collection, no monitoring, and no images leaving the device,” she explained.
The leader of the Conservative opposition Kemi Badenoch questioned how it would be achieved and said the approach was piecemeal, saying there needed to be a total ban that included social media for children younger than 16.
The BBC’s science team said the technical hurdles were considerable because so much of the child sexual abuse material was shared via encrypted apps such as WhatsApp, Signal and Discord, where the content being sent cannot currently be detected.
In April, the government announced it will pass legislation banning children from using smartphones in schools in England. The law will only apply to England because education policy is devolved to the parliaments and assemblies of the other countries of the United Kingdom — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The law, an amendment to the government’s flagship education and child well-being bill, formalizes what is already policy in many schools but introduces a “clear legal requirement” that would empower them to enforce it — including removing phones from children before class.
The government is currently also running a public consultation on whether to implement an Australia-style ban on social media for children younger than 16 and a separate initiative to develop screen-time guidance for children older than 5, including the minimum age at which a child should be given first phone and how much time they should be on it.
A MUCH-loved English lido is set to finally reopen – after being forced to close last year.
The 90-year-old Stroud Lido has just received funding from the local council for urgent repairs.
The Stratford-based pool initially closed 10 months ago as it needed to undergo structural and mechanical repairs.
In early 2026, it was announced that lido would not be reopening and would be closed indefinitely.
Since its closure, locals have been campaigning to save the lido with over 100 written requests from residents to see what the future of the pool would be.
In a huge U-turn, Stroud District Council has now approved the funding needed to repair the pool.
Work is set to start immediately, so the lido could open as soon as July 29 – failing that, it’s scheduled to reopen on August 14.
Initial funding to upgrade the lido was estimated at £5.1million, but has been brought down to £476,000.
The pool may need to undergo more repairs at a later date.
On its Facebook page, Save Stroud Lido said: “We are absolutely delighted by last night’s decision and can’t wait to see families, swimmers and young people enjoying the Lido again this summer.
“And now the focus turns to getting the works completed and the gates reopened as quickly as possible. Because this is more than a pool.
“It’s part of Stroud’s identity. A place for fun, friendships, exercise, memories and safe outdoor swimming for generations to come.’
The Stratford-based lido first opened to swimmers in 1937 at a cost of just £20,000.
It’s a 50-metre long cold water pool with six swimming lanes and has a 10-metre high diving board.
Usually the pool is only open for the summer season and is open for around 100 days starting in May.
