unexpected

A EUROPEAN city has been forced to cancel all flights at short notice – affecting thousands of passengers.

Air traffic ​in Belgium ‌will be halted from 12pm ⁠to 7pm ​today due to an unexpected air traffic controller strike.

At Brussels Airport, passengers are being told not to travel to the airport.

In a statement, they said: “All flights to and from Brussels Airport between 2pm and 9pm will unfortunately have to be cancelled by the airlines.

“Please do not come to the airport if you are flying between 2pm and 9pm.”

This has already included some British Airways flights from London Heathrow.

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According to local media, this has also affected Brussels Charleroi Airport, with 30 flights cancelled so far.

This mainly means Ryanair passengers, who are the primary carrier at Belgium‘s second biggest airport.

Ryanair slammed the strike, which has affected 20,000 passengers.

The airline’s boss Michael O’Leary said: “While we respect the right to strike, it is unacceptable that airlines were given zero notice of today’s Belgian ATC strike.

“As a result, airlines were forced to cancel flights at short notice, unfairly impacting thousands of passengers travelling to/from Belgium – many of whom are now stranded at Charleroi and Zaventem Airports.”

But Wizz Air passengers are also being hit, with flights being forced to divert and land at other airports.

Brussels Charleroi said in a statement: ” A new work stoppage will bring operations to a standstill starting at 2:15pm at Charleroi Airport.

“As a result, all flights scheduled to depart or arrive from 2:15 p.m. onward are canceled.

“Passengers with a flight scheduled after 2:15pm departing from or arriving at Charleroi Airport are advised to contact their airline for refunds or rebooking.

“Passengers with flights scheduled after 9:00pm are advised to check their flight status on their airline’s website.”

Similar restrictions are affecting other airports in Belgium too, including Antwerp, Liege, Ostend-Bruges.

The strikes are due to a disagreement over a new digital control tower being introduced.

Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike’s feminist romcom Ladies First tops the Netflix number one charts.

Ladies First has arrived on Netflix and it stars Doctor Who icon David Tennant’s child.

Despite only dropping on the streamer, Ladies First has already shot straight to the number one spot, telling the tale of arrogant yet charismatic ladies man Damien Sachs (played by Sacha Baron Cohen).

While he enjoys a life of money and power, his world is turned upside down when after a head injury, he wakes up in a parallel world dominated by women.

It is in this world that he comes across his business rival Alex Fox (Rosamund Pike) who’s also mum to Charlie, brought to life by Red Tennant.

What Netflix subscribers may have realised though when watching Ladies First is that Red is the non-binary child of Broadchurch star David.

Red, who was born Wilfred Tennant, had their acting debut in the 2017 film You, Me and Him which starred their famous dad.

They also starred in a single episode of Casualty back in 2022 when they played a character called Joey Parker.

In Ladies First, Red is behind Alex Fox’s child Charlie who encourages their mum to “stand up for herself at work” when she’s having doubts about her career.

Red is the child of both David Tennant and his wife Georgia Tennant who he met in 2008 on the set of Doctor Who.

She guest starred as Jenny, the artificially created daughter of Tennant’s Tenth Doctor.

Georgia is also the real-life daughter of Peter Davidson who was the fifth ever Time Lord back in the 1980s.

While Ladies First is at the top of Netflix’s most watched list, it has left viewers divided with the film scoring just 19% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Someone wrote: “I am truly overwhelmed how this made it to the screen.

“If I said it was utter rubbish, I would be being polite! I have no words how awful it was.”

On the other hand, a fellow user said it was an “absolute must-see” with someone else stating that it was one of their “new favourites”.

Ladies First is available to watch on Netflix.

Rivals Season 2 has landed with fans just discovering Dermot O’Leary’s personal connection to the saucy comedy-drama.

Dermot O’Leary may not be in Rivals Season 2 but he does have a close link to the Disney Plus hit.

Two years after Rivals exploded onto our screens, the raunchy Disney Plus drama is back for more with the first three episodes of Rivals dropping today, Friday, May 15.

As fans eagerly await for the rest of the series to become available, many are only just discovering This Morning star Dermot O’Leary has a close tie with the 1980s phenomenon.

He is married to Norwegian-British television and film producer and director Dee Koppang O’Leary who has worked behind the scenes on both seasons of Rivals.

She is also well known for her work on other major shows such as The Split, Bridgerton and The Crown, just to name a few.

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Dermot and Dee have been married since September 2012, having met at a TV production company where they were both working. They dated for nine years before getting engaged in New York in 2011 and married the following year.

The pair now share one son together, Kasper, who was born in June 2020. While the famous couple tend to keep their marriage out of the spotlight, Dermot did show his support on Rivals season two by hosting an “in conversation” event with its cast and producers earlier this month.

Following the success of the first series, Dermot also posted that he was “proud as punch” of his wife after winning two Broadcast Awards.

Dermot previously spoke to Fabulous magazine about the secret to having a happy marriage.

“We don’t have the recipe, but it’s going well.

“It’s a work in progress, isn’t it? The key for me is giving each other space, not giving each other a hard time and actually having fun together. And we do.”

He added: “It’s about the neighbourhood you live in.

“If you embrace the greengrocers, the local store, the dry cleaners, you just become a face and part of a community. And that’s how you have a normal life.”

Rivals Season 2 will continue to air weekly every Friday on Disney Plus.

A BRIT rock back have been forced to cancel an impending gig after an “unexpected medical situation”.

Enter Shikari were due to play a gig at Dublin Academy in Ireland this evening but have been forced to withdraw.

The band kept details sparse but confirmed a “medical reason” was behind their decision to pull the plug on the gig in the Irish capital city.

Issuing a statement, the band revealed they were gutted to be unable to complete the concert as planned.

The band said: “Due to a medical situation both unexpected and beyond our control, we’re sad to have to say we’re having to postpone tonight’s Dublin Academy show.

“If you know anything about us, you know that cancelling/postponing shows is always the absolute last resort once all other options have been exhausted, especially at this short notice.

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“We’re very sorry for any inconvenience this causes anyone.

“We’re in conversation with our Irish promoter and will immediately start looking at potential date to reschedule to.

“Thank you in advance for your understanding, and we hope we can see you as soon as possible. ES x.”

Their fans were quick to issue their well-wished amid the uncertain situation.

One penned: “Sending you guys so much love hope you’re all ok.”

Another went on to write: “Hope all is ok – let us know when you’re planning to be back in Ireland!”

A third then said: “Absolutely gutted as flew here solo from Brighton especially *but* sending everyone so much love and hope, and thank you for still being the reason I finally visited Ireland!”

Before a fourth commented: “Sending love as this can’t have been an easy decision, get well soon.”

Whilst a fifth comment read: “Health first always. Hope all is ok. We go again even harder on the rescheduled show to make up for this. Grá mór.”

The band were first formed in 1999 and adopted their current identity in 2003.

Their debut album, Take to the Skies, was eventually released in 2007 and reached number four on the UK Albums Chart.

Their seventh record, released in 2023, became their first chart-topper.

The group’s latest record, surprise released earlier this month, managed to chart at number 16.

EastEnders fans were not expecting to see one character randomly head back to the BBC soap without warning during Monday’s episode of the BBC soap amid a scene with Ravi Gulati

Fans got a surprise during Monday’s episode of EastEnders as a character returned without warning after four years offscreen.

With the episode now up on BBC iPlayer ahead of it airing on BBC One on Monday evening, we saw Ravi Gulati faced with a blast from the past. The death of his ‘father’ Ranveer Gulati was revisited, as Ravi headed to hospital amid his mental health spiralling.

There, his nurse was none other than his ex and former stepmother Nina Gupta. Fans may recall Nina was having an affair with Ravi behind Ranveer’s back.

Around this time we saw Suki Panesar believe she had killed Ranveer after he sexually assaulted her. She attacked him in self-defence, and Ravi walked in and decided to help her cover up the crime.

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It was soon apparent his ‘dad’ was still alive though, and Ravi killed him. Nina was helping Ravi trying to get Ranveer’s money, and she covered for Ravi for killing her husband too.

Now she’s back, treating Ravi in hospital where she addressed their past. Seeing him struggling, she said it was karma for what he did all those years ago.

Fans were divided over the return, as one fan posted on social media: “Now why did we need to bring Nina back. We didn’t need her the first time and she’s just proven why we didn’t need her this time.”

A second fan said: “I’m glad they bought back Nina for this episode cause even though this sl was triggered by the drugs and the spiking I think it reminds people that everything genuinely stems from Ranveer and Nish.” A third added: “Unexpected Nina in the bagging area!!!”

Another viewer said: “Seeing Nina return today took me by suprise but has equally left me convinced that Kheerat and/or Ash might return at some point. Kheerat took the fall for Ranveer’s death in the end and that showdown at the surgery beteeen Ash and Nina was brilliant.”

The reactions kept on coming too, with one fan saying: “Bringing back Nina Gupta wasn’t on my bingo card!” another confessed: “For some reason I thought Nina died lmao clearly not.”

A final comment read: “I was really divided about Nina. I think it’s really good when you bring back a past character to explore someone else’s past and I think this did that and reminded us of that time in Ravi’s life. But equally why was she acting like she wasn’t a ‘baddie’ style character then too?

“She was hardly innocent! I thought it was a good twist as we didn’t know it was going to happen and it was like oh hello, but at the same time I don’t know if it added much.”

EastEnders airs Mondays to Thursdays at 7:30pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. * Follow Mirror Celebs and TV on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .

Professional pickpocket Lee Thompson left Amanda Holden open-mouthed when he admitted his real age on stage

A skilled pickpocket who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent tonight (April 18) left the judging panel gobsmacked within moments of stepping onto the stage.

Lee Thompson, from Birmingham, delivered a slick routine in which he repeatedly lifted Ant and Dec’s phones, glasses and room keys without them having the faintest idea.

He was also shown secretly planting wristwatches in the bags and pockets of audience members after posing as a security guard in a pre-recorded segment — and even managed to pull one over on the judging panel backstage, Simon Cowell included.

Yet it wasn’t his nimble fingers that first left the panel speechless — it was his age. Within moments of stepping out on stage, he had Amanda Holden in particular utterly open-mouthed.

“You look very dapper,” Amanda began as the performer first walked out. He swiftly fired back: “Oh! Do I look my age?”, reports Wales Online.

“I don’t know, how old are you babes?” the judge quipped, prompting Lee to reveal: “I’m touching 60.”

The admission left Amanda visibly stunned as she shot back with a “You’re not! Are you?” in sheer disbelief. Simon, clearly equally impressed, then weighed in with: “You look good.”

Following that exchange, he went on to wow the entire panel with his act, earning himself the title of the “modern-day Artful Dodger” from Amanda.

Remarkably, Lee was actually employed as a Pickpocket Consultant on Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock series on Prime Video, which follows a young Sherlock Holmes as he finds himself trying his hand at pickpocketing after being inspired by the story of Oliver Twist.

Viewers at home were equally taken with the performer, with one writing: “This is genuinely amazing. Even if he might be incriminating himself.” A second enthused: “That was clever, funny and amazing….good job.”

While Lee breezed through to the next round with four yes votes from the judging panel, some viewers questioned why he wasn’t awarded the prized Golden Buzzer, which grants an act a direct pass through to the live final.

Fans were outraged this evening after KSI awarded his Golden Buzzer to a contentious act. Comedy performer Mr Cherry, 44, kicked off his routine by opening a jar of pickles before subsequently uncorking wine bottles with his buttocks.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I don’t know about you but that was the greatest thing I have ever seen,” KSI declared, as disgruntled viewers swiftly branded his choice the “worst Golden Buzzer” act ever put through on the programme.

Britain’s Got Talent airs Saturday nights from 7pm on ITV1 and ITVX. All episodes can be streamed on ITVX after broadcast.