storms

President Trump has approved federal disaster aid for six states and tribes following storms and floods that occurred this spring and summer.

The disaster declarations, announced Thursday, will allow federal funding to flow to Kansas, North Carolina, North Dakota and Wisconsin, and for tribes in Montana and South Dakota. In each case except Wisconsin, it took Trump more than a month to approve the aid requests from local officials, continuing a trend of longer waits for disaster relief noted by a recent Associated Press analysis.

Trump has now approved more than 30 major natural disaster declarations since taking office in January. Before the latest batch, his approvals had averaged a 34-day wait from the time the relief was requested. For his most recent declarations, that wait ranged from just 15 days following an aid request for Wisconsin flooding in August to 56 days following a tribal request for Montana flooding that occurred in May.

The AP’s analysis showed that delays in approving federal disaster aid have grown over time, regardless of the party in power. On average, it took less than two weeks for requests for a presidential disaster declaration to be granted in the 1990s and early 2000s. That rose to about three weeks during the last decade under presidents from both major parties. During Trump’s first term in office, it took him an average of 24 days to approve requests.

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the AP that Trump is providing “a more thorough review of disaster declaration requests than any Administration has before him” to make sure that federal tax dollars are spent wisely.

But delays mean individuals must wait to receive federal aid for daily living expenses, temporary lodging and home repairs. Delays in disaster declarations also can hamper recovery efforts by local officials uncertain whether they will receive federal reimbursement for cleaning up debris and rebuilding infrastructure.

Trump’s latest declarations approved public assistance for local governments and nonprofits in all cases except Wisconsin, where assistance for individuals was approved. But that doesn’t preclude the federal government from later also approving public assistance for Wisconsin.

Preliminary estimates from Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ administration said more than 1,500 residential structures were destroyed or experienced major damage in August flooding at a cost of more than $33 million. There was also more than $43 million in public sector damage over six counties, according to the Evers administration.

Evers requested aid for residents in six counties, but Trump approved it only for three.

“I will continue to urge the Trump Administration to approve the remainder of my request, and I will keep fighting to make sure Wisconsin receives every resource that is needed and available,” Evers said in a statement in which he thanked Democratic officeholders for their efforts, but not Trump or any Republicans.

Trump had announced several of the disaster declarations — including Wisconsin’s — on his social media site while noting his victories in those states and highlighting their Republican officials. He received thanks from Democratic North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein and Republican officials elsewhere.

Trump’s approval of six major disaster declarations in one day would have been unusual for some presidents but not for him. Trump approved seven disaster requests on July 22 and nine on May 21.

But Trump has not approved requests for hazard mitigation assistance — a once-typical add-on that helps recipients build back with resilience — since February.

Lieb and Wildeman write for the Associated Press. AP writers Gabriela Aoun Angueira, Scott Bauer, Jack Dura and Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report.

Iraqi police clashed with Popular Mobilisation Forces in Baghdad after they stormed an Agriculture Ministry building.

At least one police officer was killed and 14 fighters detained after a gun battle erupted in Iraq’s capital with members of the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), a state-sanctioned paramilitary umbrella that includes groups loyal to Iran.

The violence on Sunday broke out in Baghdad’s Karkh district when PMF fighters stormed a Ministry of Agriculture building during the appointment of a new director, the Interior Ministry said.

The gunmen disrupted an official meeting, stirring panic among staff and an emergency police response team. Police responding to the scene “came under fire”, also resulting in injuries among security personnel.

The ministry said “it would not tolerate any party attempting to impose its will by force and threaten state institutions”.

Group ‘does not want to escalate’

The PMF, known locally as Hashd al-Shaabi, is composed mainly of Shia paramilitaries formed to fight ISIL (ISIS), but has since been formally integrated into Iraq’s armed forces. Several of its factions maintain close ties to Tehran.

Security sources and witnesses inside the building said the fighters aimed to block the replacement of the former director. Hospital and police officials confirmed one officer was killed and nine others were wounded in the clash.

A statement from Iraq’s Joint Operations Command, which reports to Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, said the detained gunmen were referred to the judiciary. Those involved belonged to PMF brigades 45 and 46, units widely linked to Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iraq’s most powerful Iran-aligned militias.

An unnamed member of Kataib Hezbollah told AFP news agency that a fighter from the group was killed and six others were wounded. The group “does not want to escalate” and will allow the judiciary to take its course, the group member said.

In response to the escalation, al-Sudani ordered an investigative committee to look into the events.

The PMF’s continued influence in Iraqi politics and its armed confrontations with state institutions have raised concerns over the fragility of Iraq’s security apparatus, and the blurred lines between formal authority and powerful militia.

Battle for influence

Over the years since the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq, a battle has played out in the country between Iran and the US for government influence. Among those working in alignment with Iran are a number of members of the PMF, which emerged in 2014 to fight ISIL.

In 2017, the PMF’s legitimacy was codified into law against the wishes of the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and Defence, and was brought under the oversight of Iraq’s national security adviser.

Nearly half the global population has also been exposed to dust levels exceeding WHO safety thresholds.

A new report by the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has found that sand and dust storms are leading to “premature deaths” due to climate change, with more than 330 million people in 150 countries affected.

On Saturday, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) marked the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms and its designation of 2025 – 2034 as the UN Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms.

The storms “are fast becoming one of the most overlooked yet far-reaching global challenges of our time”, said Assembly President Philemon Yang. “They are driven by climate change, land degradation and unsustainable practices.”

The secretary-general of WMO, Celeste Saulo, said on Thursday that sand and dust storms do not just mean “dirty windows and hazy skies. They harm the health and quality of life of millions of people and cost many millions of dollars through disruption to air and ground transport, on agriculture and on solar energy production.”

Airborne particles from these storms contribute to 7 million premature deaths annually, said Yang, adding that they trigger respiratory and cardiovascular disease, and reduce crop yields by up to 25%, causing hunger and migration.

“About 2 billion tonnes of dust are emitted yearly, equivalent to 300 Great Pyramids of Giza” in Egypt, Laura Paterson, the WMO’s UN representative, told the UNGA.

More than 80% of the world’s dust comes from the deserts in North Africa and the Middle East, added Paterson, but it has a global effect because the particles can travel hundreds and even thousands of kilometres across continents and oceans.

Undersecretary-General Rola Dashti, head of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, told the assembly the storms’ economic costs are “staggering”.

In the Middle East and North Africa, it costs $150bn, roughly 2.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), annually to deal with dust and sand storms, she said.

“This spring alone, the Arab region experienced acute disruption,” Dashti said, citing severe storms in Iraq that overwhelmed hospitals with respiratory cases and storms in Kuwait and Iran that forced school and office closures.

Dust from the Sahara Desert in Africa has travelled as far as the Caribbean and Florida, she said. For the United States, dust and wind erosion caused $154bn in damage in 2017, a quadrupling of the amount since 1995, according to a study in the scientific journal Nature.

The WMO and World Health Organization also warned that the health burden is rising sharply, with 3.8 billion people – nearly half the global population – exposed to dust levels exceeding WHO safety thresholds between 2018 and 2022, up from 2.9 billion people affected between 2003 and 2007.

Questions are mounting about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents.

The hope of finding survivors of the catastrophic flooding in the US state of Texas continues to dim a day after the death toll surpassed 100, and crews kept up the search for people missing in the aftermath.

As the storms that had battered the Hill Country for the past four days began to subside, more attention was being paid to the government’s response.

Questions are mounting about what, if any, actions local officials took to warn campers and residents who were spending the July Fourth holiday weekend in the scenic area long known to locals as “flash flood alley”.

At public briefings, officials in hard-hit Kerr County have deflected questions about what preparations and warnings were made as forecasters warned of life-threatening conditions.

“We definitely want to dive in and look at all those things,” Kerrville City Manager Dalton Rice said on Monday. “We’re looking forward to doing that once we can get the search and rescue complete.”

Some camps were aware of the dangers and monitoring the weather. At least one moved several hundred campers to higher ground before the floods. But many were caught by surprise.

Debate has also intensified over how state and local officials reacted to weather alerts forecasting the possibility of a flash flood and the lack of an early warning siren system that might have mitigated the disaster.

On Monday, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick promised that the state would “step up” to pay for installing a flash-flood warning system in Kerrville by next summer if local governments “can’t afford it”.

“There should have been sirens,” Patrick said in a Fox News interview on Monday. “Had we had sirens here along this area … it’s possible that we would have saved some lives.”

The Houston Chronicle and New York Times reported that Kerr County officials had considered installing a flood-warning system about eight years ago, but dropped the effort as too costly after failing to secure a $1m grant to fund the project.

In San Antonio and in Washington, Democrats are questioning whether cuts at the National Weather Service (NWS) affected the forecasting agency’s response to catastrophic and deadly flooding in Central Texas.

The White House and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have denied the allegations and accused them of “politicising” the disaster.

The NWS’s San Antonio office is responsible for forecasting the area’s weather, collecting climate data and warning the public about dangerous conditions. Texas officials criticised the NWS over the weekend, arguing it failed to warn the public about impending danger.

The office issued a stream of flash flood warnings on Thursday and Friday across its digital and radio services, which are used to communicate with public safety professionals, according to alert records.

The messages grew increasingly urgent in the early hours of Friday morning. The team sent an emergency text message to area mobile phones at about 1:14 am, calling it a “dangerous and life-threatening situation”.

Phones must have reception or be near a cell tower to receive that message, said Antwane Johnson, former director of the Public Alert Team for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Mobile coverage is spotty in areas around the Guadalupe River, according to Federal Communications Commission records last updated in December.

“Even though those messages were issued, it does not mean it got to the people who needed them,” said Erik Nielsen, who studies extreme rain at Texas A&M University.

Here’s a closer look at the timeline of how the floods hit Texas and what warnings were sent when:

July 2

• The Texas Division of Emergency Management announces that the agency “activated state emergency response resources in anticipation of increased threats of flooding in parts of West and Central Texas heading into the holiday weekend”.
• In a statement, the agency urges Texans to “monitor local forecasts and avoid driving or walking into flooded areas”.

July 3

• 9:47am (14:47 GMT) – The Texas Division of Emergency Management posts warnings on social media of “the flood threat in West & Central TX”. These urge drivers to check road conditions before heading out and to turn around upon seeing water.
• 3:35pm (20:35 GMT)- The NWS Austin/San Antonio office issues a flood watch for portions of the western Hill Country.
• 11:14pm (04:14 GMT) – NWS issues a flash flood warning for Bandera County, marking the first official warning to go out.

July 4 

• 1:14am (06:14 GMT) – A flash flood watch is issued for Bandera and Kerr counties. More than a dozen flash flood warnings for counties across the affected areas will be issued by mid-morning. A mobile alert goes out to all mobile phones with reception in the area. Three more warnings are sent in the next few hours, according to the New York Times.
• 3:30am (08:30 GMT) – The level of the Guadalupe River at Hunt in Kerr County has grown from 2.3 to 5.1 metres (7.7 to 16.8 feet), according to the New York Times. With the water so high, the gauge goes offline for an estimated three hours.
• 4:35am (09:35 GMT) – The river level hits 8.8m (29 feet) in Hunt County, according to meteorologists at San Antonio TV station KSAT. The water makes its way rapidly downriver. Ten minutes later, it crests at 7m (23 feet) in Kerrville.
• 5-7am (10-12:00 GMT)- According to CBS, NWS sends out three mobile phone messages in Kerr County reading: “This is a PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION. SEEK HIGHER GROUND NOW!” News reports have noted that mobile service can be patchy in the more rural parts of Kerr County, and that some residents, accustomed to seeing flood warnings, were inclined to ignore them.
• 5:15am (10:15 GMT) – NWS reports “record high” water in Hunt.
• 6:29am (11:29 GMT) – The City of Kerrville Police Department (KPD) urges all residents who live near the Guadalupe to evacuate. “This is a life threatening event,” the KPD writes in a Facebook post. “Do not wait.”
• 7am (12:00 GMT) – The KPD and firefighters begin evacuating residents. Reunification sites and shelters are set up across town, including at a church and Walmart.
• 9:30am (14:30 GMT) – The Kerr County Sheriff’s Office announces fatalities, saying it will not release details until the next of kin have been notified. “This is a catastrophic flooding event,” reads a Facebook post. “The entire county is an extremely active scene. Residents are encouraged to shelter in place and not attempt travel. Those near creeks, streams, and the Guadalupe River should immediately move to higher ground.”
• Throughout the morning and afternoon, news of fatalities trickles out. Officials announce that around 20 children are unaccounted for at Camp Mystic. The camp later confirmed that 27 campers and counsellors died.
• 3:45pm (20:45 GMT) – The river gauge begins recording again, according to the New York Times. By now, the level at Hunt has dipped back to 9 feet. Although rains continue to lash the region, the river reaches extreme heights as it moves further downstream.

The UK government has issued a new travel warning against all travel to parts of Mexico as Tropical Storm Erick has taken shape off the southern coast of the country

A fresh UK government travel warning has been issued for parts of Mexico due to Tropical Storm Erick which is forecast to develop into a hurricane by the afternoon of June 18th.

Erick is currently south-east of Punta Maldonado in Mexico and is expected to intensify into a hurricane with forecasters warning it could make landfall on Mexico’s Pacific coast.

Heavy rain is forecast to affect Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas, and southern Veracruz, and a hurricane watch has been issued for the Pacific coast.

Forecasters said Erick was moving west-north-east at 12 miles per hour and will move closer to Mexico’s coastline by late Wednesday with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour being reported on Tuesday.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) warned Britons that their travel insurance could be rendered invalid if they fail to adhere to the advice issued.

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The FCDO’s website issued the following warning:

“Tropical Storm Erick is expected to make landfall on the pacific coast on 17 June with heavy rains affecting Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and the south of Veracruz.

“It is expected to gain strength and become a Category 2 hurricane by the afternoon of 18 June affecting an area along the southern pacific coast from Puerto Angel in Oaxaca to Punta Maldonado in Guerrero.”

The FCDO has warned: “You should closely monitor local and international weather updates from the US National Hurricane Center and follow the advice of local authorities and your tour operator, including any evacuation orders.”, reports the Express.

“See the tropical cyclones page for advice about how to prepare for travel during hurricane season and what to do ahead of a storm.

“In the aftermath of a hurricane, there can be flooding, high winds and continued rainfall.”

A previous warning states:

“The hurricane season in Mexico normally runs from June to November and can affect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Tropical storms and hurricanes cause floods, landslides and disruption to local services, including transport networks.

“After a hurricane there can still be continued flooding, high winds and rainfall. Monitor local and international weather updates from the US National Hurricane Center and follow the advice of local authorities and your tour operator, including evacuation orders.”

OMAHA, Neb. — UCLA will wake up Tuesday morning with a chance to rally from a two-run deficit.

The Bruins’ winner’s bracket game against Louisiana State on Monday night was suspended until Tuesday at 8 a.m. PDT following a three-hour rain delay — it will resume in the top of the fourth inning with UCLA batting and LSU leading 5-3. The remainder of the game is scheduled to air on ESPN.

It allows UCLA to regroup after a promising start fell apart.

The Bruins jumped in front early with three straight RBIs. Roman Martin laced an RBI double to left field, AJ Salgado followed with an RBI single and Payton Brennan’s weak grounder to the pitcher was enough to score Martin. For the 29th time this season, UCLA scored first. They were 27-1 in such scenarios before Monday.

Then LSU answered with three straight singles before junior Jared Jones sent a Landon Stump fastball 368 feet to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead before the first inning ended. Stump’s night ended in the third inning but not before he was responsible for the runner who scored on a Luis Hernandez single that doubled LSU’s lead.

The grounds crew brought out the tarp before UCLA could respond. Charles Schwab Field remained in a weather delay for nearly three hours until the announcement was made to suspend the game until Tuesday morning.

June 14 (UPI) — Rain may dampen President Donald Trump‘s plans Saturday night to celebrate the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday with thousands of troops, 150 vehicles and 50 aircraft.

The event also coincides with Trump’s 79th birthday and Flag Day.

A flood watch was in effect for the entire region starting at 2 p.m. and is expected to last until 11 p.m. Highs will be well into the 80s and it will be humid during daytime festivities on the National Mall, WRC-TV reported, while forecasts show showers and thunderstorms starting around 3 to 4 p.m.

Guest entry for the military parade began at 2 p.m.

The one-hour parade, which is expected to draw several hundred thousand people, is scheduled to start moving down Constitution Avenue at 6:30 p.m. near the Lincoln Memorial and then proceed past the White House.

The parade, which saw people assemble along the mile-long route early Saturday morning, will end alongside the National Mall, near the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Washington Monument.

The parade was originally planned to be smaller, but had been set to start outside the Pentagon and go 2.2 miles.

Trump posted Saturday morning on Truth Social: “OUR GREAT MILITARY PARADE IS ON, RAIN OR SHINE. REMEMBER, A RAINY DAY PARADE BRINGS GOOD LUCK. I’LL SEE YOU ALL IN D.C.”

Trump is scheduled to speak during the parade.

“For two and a half centuries, the men and women of America’s Army have dominated our enemies and protected our freedom at home,” Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social in early June. “This parade salutes our soldiers’ remarkable strength and unbeatable spirit. You won’t want to miss it. Just don’t miss this one. It’s going to be good.”

The parade will be followed by the Army Golden Knights’ parachute demonstration and a concert at the Ellipse. A fireworks show will occur at 9:45 p.m., the U.S. Army said.

Earlier in the day, a birthday wreath was laid at Arlington National Cemetery and there was a fitness event at the National Mall. The Birthday Festival there will include opportunities to meet with Medal of Honor recipients, astronauts and soldiers.

All of the activities are free and there is tight security.

Matt McCool, the U.S. Secret Service agent in charge of the Washington field office, said “thousands of agents, officers and specialists from across the country” are deployed. People attending the parade or a related festival will be required to go through checkpoints with magnetometers.

The big show will be the military equipment during the parade, officials have said, which includes 140,000-pound Abrams tanks, as well as 6,600 soldiers wearing uniforms representing every U.S. conflict dating back to the Revolutionary War and aircraft flying overhead

About 1,800 Soldiers from III Armored Corps in Fort Cavazos will participate.

“The Army’s 250th birthday is a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Col. Kamil Sztalkoper, a spokesperson for the III Armored Corps, said earlier this week as a train carrying tanks left Fort Cavazos, Texas.

“This is a chance to see our soldiers, our leaders and the world-class force on full display in our nation’s capital. We look forward to being a part of history,” he said.

On June 14, 1775, the Second Continental Congress voted to establish the Continental Army, more than a year before the Declaration of Independence.

D.C. officials have expressed concern about potential road damage from the vehicles, including 60-ton tanks. While the Army has installed thick steel plates at key turns, the straightaway on Constitution Avenue remains unprotected.

Road closures and security measures will make it difficult to drive around the area, and Mayor Muriel Bowser said potential damage could cost millions but the Army has pledged to cover the costs.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also clearing the airspace in the area, preventing all arrivals and departures at Reagan National Airport “during the peak of the celebration,” the agency said. The stoppage is expected affect about 116 flights, a senior government official told NBC News.

The last major military parade, the National Victory Celebration, was on June 8, 1991, to celebrate the end of the Gulf War, though Trump has noted that other countries regularly celebrate the end of World War II.

“We won the war, and we’re the only country that didn’t celebrate it, and we’re going to be celebrating big on Saturday,” he said.

Trump said he came up with the idea after watching the French Bastille Day military parade in France in 2017.

Pentagon personnel at the time convinced him not to move forward with the plan and, instead, in 2019, he celebrated Independence Day with a speech at the Lincoln Memorial with military aircraft flyovers and Bradley tanks stationed near the Lincoln Memorial.

“Humans are drawn to pageantry,” Barbara Perry, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, told NBC News.

“It’s usually about the personnel. Now we know that this president has political issues all around the world, and wanting to show off the might. And if he views it, as in his first term, ‘his generals,’ and, if he views it as ‘his military,’ then you tie it to your personal special day of your birthday- – that’s what’s different.”

On Friday night, U.S. Capitol Police arrested 60 people for unlawful demonstration, the agency said.

Military veterans and their families had gathered in front of the Supreme Court, demanding that taxpayer dollars for Saturday’s military parade and for troops in Los Angeles should be used for housing, healthcare and food.

“If there’s any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force. I haven’t even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force,” Trump told reporters earlier this week.

“It will be a parade like we haven’t had in many, many decades here,” he said. “And it’s a celebration of our country. It’s a celebration of the Army, actually.”

About 2,000 protests are planned nationwide against Trump spending millions on the parade, as well as his policies. No organized “No King” protests are planned in the nation’s capital.

But there was an event demonstrating against the military events by RefuseFascism on Saturday afternoon. They led a rally and marched outside the White House.

Trump “is forging and putting on display today a military loyal, not to the Constitution, not to the rule of law, but to Trump personally with all the White supremacy,” one of the chief organizers, Sunsara Taylor, told CNN.

A 20-year Navy veteran also told CNN: “The parade don’t belong here – you see that in dictatorships, okay? You see that in North Korea, you see that in China, you see that in Russia. This is we the people of the United States of America,”

The Chase star and quizzer Mark Labbett is said to have become so frustrated at filming E4 show Celebs Go Dating that he stormed off set leaving show bosses scrambling

Celebs Go Dating was reportedly thrown into chaos when The Chase’s Mark Labbett became so fed up he stormed off the set. The professional quizzer, aka The Beast, turned to the E4 dating experts for help in his love life.

He joins Atomic Kitten’s Kerry Katona, Too Hot To Handle’s Louis Russell, Love Island All Stars’ Olivia Hawkins and S Club 7 star Jon Lee. Mark, 58, has had a rocky love life having tied the knot with second cousin Katie in 2014 but called it quits after six years.

He then dated TV host Hayley Palmer and the pair appeared head over heels for each other however, the couple split after just one year together. Despite wanting to find love again, it seemed things became a little too intense for Mark on the dating show.

According to reports, Mark was far from pleased when filming began on the series, and things took longer than he had expected. The quizzer got so frustrated he reportedly “threw a strop” and walked off set.

“It was a really long day, around 11 hours, and none of them expected it to go on for so long,” a source told the Sun. “The others put up with it, but Mark isn’t one to hide what he was feeling. He made it clear he’d had enough and stormed out, leaving filming altogether.”

Bosses are said to have had to scramble behind the scenes over the future of the series, leaving everyone “really stressed”. Thankfully, Mark took time away from the situation and after a good sleep he returned refreshed for another day of filming.

However, it wasn’t the first time Mark had reportedly shared his frustrations at the show. He is said to have shockingly dozed off while out on a date as he was so bored.

A source told the publication: “Mark was yawning a lot and drifted off briefly. It was a bit of an awkward moment. It’s safe to say there wasn’t much of a spark between them.”

Mark blamed his age on the reason for his split from Hayley and said he was “lucky to date her for a year”. Opening up on his live life previously, he told the paper: “I was single, not coincidentally, for a long, long time when I was a 29st maths teacher who knew it was quite hard to attract a partner then. So I’m quite comfortable without a partner.”

The TV star also reflected on his new “content” single life, yet his comments seemed to rile ex Hayley as she branded them “heartless”. Taking to Instagram, she told fans: “I think it’s a shame that someone could say something so heartless over a relationship that lasted over a year.

“I have moved on and working to be the best version of myself. I think what is actually serious is Mental Health and we should all be working together towards a caring Christmas. X.”

Her response appeared to be aimed at Mark saying he is “quite content” on his own as he branded “people complicated”. Hayley had announced their last year, taking to social media to reveal: “It is with regret I announce that myself and Mark have gone our separate ways.

“We had the best year together, and I truly wish him all the very best for the future.” She went on to reveal she was turning to music to try to lift her spirits, writing: “Off I go to listen to Taylor Swift” accompanied by a broken heart emoji.

The Mirror has contacted Mark’s representative and Channel 4 for comment.

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EastEnders and Emmerdale were the joint shows to beat at the 2025 British Soap Awards as both had an impressive 13 nominations over 12 categories each – but the BBC soap proved triumphant on the night

EastEnders were the big winners at tonight’s British Soap Awards, taking away the top gong. Named Best British Soap, they beat Emmerdale, Coronation Street and Hollyoaks to the coveted accolade.

Walking away with eight awards in total, Steve McFadden picked up Best Dramatic Performance and Best Single Episode for Phil Mitchell’s psychosis. It comes in the soap’s 40th anniversary year.

Hollyoaks got three awards, Emmerdale got two and Coronation Street walked away with one – the Outstanding Achievement Award to David Neilson, who has played Roy Cropper for 30 years. The biggest names in soapland dazzled on the glitter carpet – with Hollyoaks actress Jorgie Porter and Corrie favourite Tina O’Brien both looking sensational in the same dress, a sparkly Oh Polly number.

Speaking before she was presented with the scene of the year award, EastEnders legend Anita Dobson said: “It was just perfect.” And asked if she could return again, she said: “I don’t think so, although I should say never say never, it would have to be something extra special.”

Gillian Taylforth, who plays Kathy Beale, added: “It was just brilliant, although none of us knew that she was coming back! We’ll need Ange back if anything ever happened to Kathy, not that I want it too.”

Hosted by Jane McDonald, telly favourites Sir David Jason and Larry Lamb presented awards at London’s Hackney Empire.

The awards were back after being cancelled last year. Watch the British Soap Awards 2025 on Thursday 5 June via ITV1 and ITVX at 8pm.

The British Soap Awards 2025 winners list in full;

BEST BRITISH SOAP

EastEnders

BEST LEADING PERFORMER

EastEnders: Lacey Turner (Stacey Slater)

VILLAIN OF THE YEAR

EastEnders: Navin Chowdhry (Nish Panesar)

BEST COMEDY PERFORMANCE

Coronation Street: Jack P. Shepherd (David Platt)

BEST FAMILY

Hollyoaks: The Osbornes

BEST DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE

EastEnders: Steve McFadden (Phil Mitchell)

BEST SINGLE EPISODE

EastEnders: Phil’s Psychosis: The Mitchells In 1985

BEST ON-SCREEN PARTNERSHIP

EastEnders: Rudolph Walker & Angela Wynter (Patrick & Yolande Trueman)

BEST NEWCOMER

Hollyoaks: Isabelle Smith (Frankie Osborne)

BEST STORYLINE

Hollyoaks: Sibling Sexual Abuse

BEST YOUNG PERFORMER

Emmerdale: Amelia Flanagan (April Windsor)

SCENE OF THE YEAR

EastEnders: Angie Watts’ Shock Return

OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

David Neilson presented by Julie Hesmondhalgh

THE TONY WARREN AWARD

Emmerdale – MIKE PLANT

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May 19 (UPI) — The National Weather Service in Alabama warned Monday that weather radio broadcasts are offline for routine maintenance as severe storms are forecast to hit the state Tuesday.

The weather service said while all watches and warnings will be released over the next few days, the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s Weather Radio transmitters will be offline during that time. Severe storms are forecast Tuesday for much of Alabama.

“NWS local offices plan to inform listeners both on-air and on their websites when updates are scheduled,” according to the NOAA Weather Radio website. NOAA Weather Radio is a network of stations that broadcasts warnings and weather information from the National Weather Service. The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System, or AWIPS, went offline Monday and will remain down through Wednesday.

“Our Weather Radio broadcasts have concluded and will remain unavailable until our system updates are complete,” NWS Birmingham wrote Monday in a post on X. “Weather products will continue to be transmitted via the Internet, weather apps and wireless emergency alerts.”

“During the time of the update, forecast operations will be conducted in conjunction with our service back-up office in Peachtree City in Georgia to minimize any potential interruption to services,” the National Weather Service said Monday. “No impacts to our core services of forecast products and weather watches, warnings and advisories are expected during this period.”

The software updates will impact transmitters across northern and central Alabama. The NWS said its forecast office in Birmingham will remain open and staffed during the maintenance.

Approximately 31 million people from Texas, north to Iowa, could see severe storms starting Monday with forecasts showing strong winds, hail and tornadoes. That risk will shift Tuesday to Louisiana and north into Alabama and Indiana.

The NWS is urging Alabama residents to gather several weather sources — the Internet, weather apps and local emergency management — to ensure they receive all severe weather warnings in order to stay safe over the next few days.

Deadly storms and tornadoes over the weekend hit 10 different states, including Texas, Kansas, Missouri and Kentucky, where at least 28 people were killed.