The Foreign Office urged UK tourists them to stay vigilant for a number of issues, including sexual assaults, harassment and groping
13:12, 07 Oct 2025Updated 13:12, 07 Oct 2025
Foreign Office said women had been targeted and said people in Vietnam should take precautions (stock image)(Image: Getty)
British holidaymakers have been issued a stark warning after a spate of sexual assaults and harassment in Vietnam. The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice, stating that women have been targeted for inappropriate touching and groping while walking alone.
In a fresh alert, officials have urged tourists to be particularly cautious about what they are consuming and take measures to prevent their drinks from being spiked. They also highlighted that many of the offences were committed by unlicensed taxi drivers.
Furthermore, they cautioned that victims would be required to demonstrate that they did not consent to the attack, especially if they had consumed alcohol. Officials stated: “British nationals have reported rape and sexual assaults in the main tourist areas and places where foreigners live, often committed by or linked to unlicensed taxi drivers. Women have also reported indecent assaults and harassment. These include inappropriate touching and groping, particularly while walking alone.”
Foreign Office advice to reduce risk:
buy your own drinks and keep them in sight to avoid them being spiked
be wary of accepting snacks, beverages and gum from strangers and new acquaintances. These items may contain drugs that could put you at risk
use pre-arranged transport or official taxi-hailing apps, such as Grab or XanhSM, which supply licensed cabs. Be wary of scammers who claim to be from these companies and always book your full journey on the app
save the location of your accommodation on a map app (such as Google Maps), so that it is easier to find at the end of the night
set up a WhatsApp group to keep in contact with others in your group
report anything that does not feel right to the management of local bars, restaurants, hotels or hostels
An official added: “In Vietnam there is a higher burden of proof for victims than in the UK. Victims must show they did not consent, particularly if they drank alcohol or knew the alleged attacker.”
“If you are a victim of a sexual assault, you can reach out to the British Embassy in Hanoi or Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. Consular staff can assist you in reporting an incident to local authorities, if you would like to do so. Read FCDO’s information pack relating to rape and sexual assaults in Vietnam for more advice.”
The Foreign Office has also issued a fresh warning for vapers planning to visit the country: “Vapes and related products are banned. You cannot buy vapes in Vietnam or bring them into the country.”
More information on rules and safety issues in Vietnam is available on the Foreign Office website.
No one goes to Cannes expecting to be frightened by a film about a long-dead British writer. Unless, of course, that writer is George Orwell.
When Raoul Peck’s documentary “Orwell: 2+2=5” premiered at the festival in May, the crowd reacted with the startled tension of a horror screening — gasps, murmurs, a few cries — before finally breaking into thunderous applause.
What they saw on screen felt both familiar and terrifyingly current. Peck builds the film entirely from Orwell’s words, delivered in a low, steady burn by actor Damian Lewis (“Billions”), repositioning the dying author of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” in his final tubercular days on the Scottish Isle of Jura, into today’s world. His vision of power, propaganda and language as a weapon meets a barrage of torn-from-the-news imagery: refugees adrift on boats, authoritarian leaders twisting the truth, AI hallucinations blurring what’s left of reality. The film, to be released nationwide on Friday by Neon, plays less like a documentary than a séance in which Orwell’s ghost watches his own warnings play out: urgent, relentless, immersive as a nightmare.
Peck says the Cannes reception didn’t surprise him.
“I knew it would touch a nerve,” Peck, 72, says over Zoom from New York. His calm, French-accented voice — he’s based in Paris but travels frequently — carries the quiet fatigue of someone who’s spent decades watching history repeat itself. “It’s not just a problem of the U.S. — it’s everywhere. We have all sorts of bullies and there’s no reliable sheriff in town. Even the most powerful institutions are on shaky ground. I knew the film would either break people or energize them. If you’re a normal citizen, a normal human being, you must ask yourself questions when you come out of it.”
There are no talking heads in Peck’s film, no experts spelling out the relevance of an author who died in 1950. Instead, he draws from the writer’s letters and diaries, as well as the longer-form works like the barnyard political allegory “Animal Farm” and the dystopian novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” He also weaves in fragments from past screen adaptations of Orwell’s titles, including the 1954 animated “Animal Farm” and Michael Radford’s stark, desaturated adaptation of “Nineteen Eighty-Four” starring John Hurt, cross-cutting them with current images of drone wars, surveillance and algorithmic control.
A scene from the documentary “Orwell: 2+2=5.”
(Velvet Film)
“Raoul has been unbelievably thorough,” says narrator Lewis via Zoom from his home in London, where he regularly rides his bike past one of Orwell’s former residences. “The film is dense in the best way, thick with ideas and images. You come out of it feeling like you’ve been through something important.”
Lewis, who delivers Orwell’s words with a steely intensity that builds toward alarm, says his warnings have only grown more urgent.
“I read recently that about 37% of countries in the world are now categorized as not free,” he adds. “That’s getting dangerously close to half the planet. What Raoul’s film captures — and what Orwell saw so clearly — is how authoritarian ideas don’t arrive overnight. They creep up on us, little by little, as words like ‘democracy’ get redefined to mean whatever those in power want them to mean.”
Peck’s filmmaking has long blurred the line between art and activism. Born in Haiti, he fled with his family from François Duvalier’s dictatorship in 1961 and grew up in what was then the Republic of the Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), where his father worked for the United Nations. After studying engineering and economics in Berlin, he returned home to serve as Haiti’s minister of culture in the 1990s. His breakthrough, the Oscar-nominated 2016 film “I Am Not Your Negro,” channeled James Baldwin’s words to examine race and power in America and the country’s uneasy reckoning with its past. He continued that exploration in HBO’s “Exterminate All the Brutes” (2021), tracing the myths of empire and white supremacy that shape the modern world.
“If I can’t mix politics and art, I probably wouldn’t make a project,” Peck says. “That’s what Orwell himself said — ‘Animal Farm’ was the first time he was really trying to link politics with art. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do all my life as a filmmaker.”
Few writers have been more quoted — or misquoted — than Orwell. Decades after coining ideas such as Newspeak (state-controlled language) and doublethink (the ability to hold two contradictory beliefs at once), he’s been claimed by every side: Fear-mongering politicians cite him, pundits weaponize him, partisans wield “Orwellian” as shorthand for whatever offends them most. Even President Trump recently praised Orwell in the same breath as Shakespeare and Dickens at a state banquet at Windsor Castle.
Asked what Orwell would make of that, Peck gives a small, mirthless laugh.
“He would probably faintly smile,” he says. “Because that’s exactly what he wrote about — how thought corrupts language and language corrupts thought. We’re living doublespeak now in an exponential way, the bully using the words of justice and peace while bombing people at the same moment. It’s so absurd. That’s why I feel so close to him. Coming from Haiti, I learned very early that what politicians were saying never matched my reality.”
George Orwell, author of “1984” and “Animal Farm,” whose warnings about power and language echo through the timely documentary “Orwell: 2+2=5.”
(Associated Press)
Peck came to the project warily. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure I wanted to touch Orwell,” he admits. “Where I come from, Orwell had been turned into a kind of Cold War mascot.” Raised under Mobutu Sese Seko’s U.S.-backed regime in what became Zaire and later educated in America and Europe, he was keenly aware of how Orwell’s legacy had been co-opted, from the CIA’s funding of the 1954 animated “Animal Farm” to the deployment of his books as Cold War propaganda.
“That was not something that interested me,” Peck says. “I grew up deconstructing everything I was getting from the West, including Hollywood movies.”
Then came a call from his friend, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker and producer Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side”), who was involved with a project that had secured the rights to Orwell’s complete body of work and wanted Peck to direct it.
“How could I say no?” he recalls. “For a filmmaker like me, who loves to dig deep into someone’s mind and work, it was an incredible gift.”
What Peck found wasn’t a prophet or a symbol but a man full of contradictions: a writer wrestling with class, illness and empire, trying to fuse politics and art before his own time ran out. That realization deepened when he came across a photograph of Orwell as a baby in the arms of his Burmese nanny, a white child of the British Empire cradled by the colonized woman charged with his care. Born into what he called the “lower-upper-middle class,” Orwell gradually recognized his own complicity in the system he opposed and came to despise his role as a kind of middle manager in the machinery of oppression.
“His own biography — born in India, sent to Burma as a young soldier, doing what he did there and being ashamed of it — drew him closer to my own experience,” Peck says. “We were from the same world. We saw the same things.”
To embody Orwell, Peck turned to Lewis, also known for “Band of Brothers” and “Homeland.”
“I knew I was telling a story, not making a traditional documentary,” Peck says. “So I needed a great British actor, someone with real stage experience. I knew Damian could bring the presence I wanted — to be Orwell, not imitate him. That was the main direction I gave him: to work from the interior.”
“If we don’t bring rules around AI very rapidly, we won’t be able to put the paste back in the tube,” says filmmaker Raoul Peck. “AI is an instrument and should stay an instrument. That means we’re using it. It’s not using us.”
(Justin Jun Lee / For The Times)
Lewis, who had previously voiced Orwell for the international Talking Statues project — an app that lets passersby scan a QR code to hear historical figures “speak” — approached the feature-length performance with similar restraint.
“His language, the rhythm of his prose, dictates the rhythm of delivery,” he says. “Raoul was very clear that it should sound intimate and conversational, not overly formal. That’s what we tried to aim for — something direct, specific, detailed and personal.”
Much of “Orwell: 2+2=5” unfolds like a fever dream, Orwell’s words colliding with scenes from the present, including bombed-out streets in Gaza and Ukraine. “There were too many conflicts to include,” Peck says. “So I had to find the connections — what repeats, how bodies are treated, how power behaves.”
In one of the film’s most charged moments, Peck turns Orwell’s warning about political language into a montage of modern euphemisms: “peacekeeping operations,” “collateral damage,” “illegals” — and then, pointedly, “antisemitism 2024.” He knows the inclusion is provocative but says that’s the point: to show how words can be twisted or emptied of meaning, including in debates over Israel’s war in Gaza.
“Every word is precise,” Peck says. “I don’t say the Jews, I don’t say Israel, I say the Israeli administration. But even then, there’s a reflex — you can’t touch this.”
At Cannes, that moment drew applause. One of Peck’s closest friends — a Jewish writer who, he notes, agrees with him on nearly everything politically — told him later that while she was deeply moved by the film, she’d felt a jolt of fear as the audience clapped.
“We talked about it,” Peck says. “In France today, you can’t touch that term. And for me, that’s the beginning of the end — when you can’t speak your mind.”
He recalls being in New York after 9/11, unable to voice unease about the flag-waving and rush to war. “I cried like everybody else,” he says. “But when, after five days, you’re asked to wave a flag, that’s using your humanity for war. The point is the same — to shut down conversation.”
Peck carries Orwell’s warning into the digital present. The writer’s words play against AI-generated images and voices, echoes of the future he once imagined.
“He wrote about it without knowing it would be called AI,” Peck says. “He said someday you’d be able to write whole books and newspapers with artificial intelligence — exactly what’s happening now.”
For Peck, the technology is the next front in the battle over truth and power. In his film, every AI-generated sound, image and piece of music is clearly labeled with onscreen text.
“There should be transparency about that,” he says. “If we don’t bring rules around AI very rapidly, we won’t be able to put the paste back in the tube. Profit is the only guideline right now — nobody’s controlling its impact, not on energy, not on children, not on schools. AI is an instrument and should stay an instrument. That means we’re using it. It’s not using us.”
Even as “Orwell: 2+2=5” reaches theaters, Peck is already working on two new documentaries, including one about the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.
“It’s an incredible geopolitical mess,” he says. “Every day I discover more. I need to go back to fiction for a while — documentaries are exhausting. But I can’t complain. I wish everyone could be as passionate about their work as I am.”
For all its darkness, Peck insists on leaving a sliver of light. He points to Orwell’s line in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”: “If there is hope, it lies in the proles.”
“The civil society is always the one who saved the day — the civilians, the students, the churches, the alliances,” he says. “Like the civil rights movement. Blacks, Jews, whites, churches, everybody sat down around the table and decided to have a strategy. And unfortunately, that’s the only thing we have. It’s long and it’s hard, but that door is still open. It’s us, individually and collectively, who have to make that choice.”
What keeps him going, he says, isn’t optimism so much as duty.
“If I lived completely engulfed in my own bubble, I’d probably be desperate,” he says. “What keeps me grounded is that I still have friends in Congo. I still work with Haiti every day. I talk with journalists who risk their lives in Gaza. So I can’t afford to look at those people and say, ‘I’m tired.’ They’re still doing the work.”
He pauses, his voice tightening. “People laugh at the latest stupidity from the president, as if it’s funny,” he says. “But that’s a dictatorship coming. He’s attacking every institution — newspapers, academia, justice, business. It’s the same playbook. They change the laws first, because most people would rather obey the law than say ‘No, two plus two equals four.’ That’s what authoritarian leaders count on.”
He sits quietly for a moment. “People are waiting for miracles,” he says finally. “But there are no miracles.”
Married At First Sight UK is introducing three more couples to the chaotic E4 experiment, with The Mirror revealing a first look at one of the nervous couples
17:45, 06 Oct 2025Updated 17:45, 06 Oct 2025
Married At First Sight UK is well underway, but the E4 programme likes to keep things interesting by introducing several new couples almost two weeks after the experiment begins. Three more couples will join the chaos of the already tense series, which has many of the couples struggling to get along.
In a first look shared with The Mirror, Abi, 34, is seen with her new hubby, John, 38, taking professional photos. John has been single for five years and calls himself a ‘Romantic Romeo’, claiming he’s single as he gives off ‘single man energy’. Meanwhile, Abi revealed she’s never had a relationship that lasted longer than a year.
The clip starts with John asking his wife whether she walked down the aisle with her mother, to which she confirmed that she did.
She then said: “Just to warn you, she’s never liked any of my previous partners. She’s quite hard to please. So you might have a bit of a grilling from her.”
During a confessional, a determined John said: “I would try to and prove myself to Abi’s mum. It’s scary, really, before Abi separately confessed that her mum “isn’t afraid to say how she feels”.
A teaser clip that aired on Sunday night gave fans a glimpse of Abi’s mother’s “honesty”. John said in the voiceover: “Today is now or never, everything is riding on this.”
The narrator then teased drama and says: “But will an over protective mum derail the first new couple’s first day?”
Abi’s mum insisted she “will not see her hurt again” during the confessional and later told the groom: “The last thing I want to be is upset by some arrogant person that comes along.”
Her mum said to the camera in another clip: “I am the one that vets everybody, I am the bad guy. Beware.”
Other new intruder latecomers to the show include April, who has been single since 2023, and Leisha, who hopes to settle down and start a family.
Meanwhile, Leo, 31, calls himself bombastic and a “yes man” who has been single for five years, while Reiss, 33, is a painter and decorator who has been unattached for six months.
The three new couples arrive as the original contestants continue to navigate their difficult relationships.
The nasty outbreak has been linked to tomatoes and the UK Heath Security Agency has issued a new warning.
Experts revealed new, rare, strains of salmonella called as Salmonella Strathcona sparked the particularly severe bouts of sickness.
According to the ECDC and the EFSA, nine European countries have reported 29 cases of Salmonella Strathcona since January 2025.
Your product recall rights
Chief consumer reporter James Flanders reveals all you need to know.
Product recalls are an important means of protecting consumers from dangerous goods.
As a general rule, if a recall involves a branded product, the manufacturer would usually have lead responsibility for the recall action.
But it’s often left up to supermarkets to notify customers when products could put them at risk.
If you are concerned about the safety of a product you own, always check the manufacturer’s website to see if a safety notice has been issued.
When it comes to appliances, rather than just food items, the onus is usually on you – the customer – to register the appliance with the manufacturer as if you don’t there is no way of contacting you to tell you about a fault.
If you become aware that an item you own has been recalled or has any safety noticed issued against it, make sure you follow the instructions given to you by the manufacturer.
They should usually provide you with more information and a contact number on its safety notice.
In some cases, the manufacturer might ask you to return the item for a full refund or arrange for the faulty product to be collected.
You should not be charged for any recall work – such as a repair, replacement or collection of the recalled item
2
Salmonella is a food bug that can cause illness in both humans and animals
The Foreign Office (FCDO) said there could be problems for two reasons
Rome in particular could be hit(Image: Alexander Spatari via Getty Images)
Anyone jetting off to Italy this weekend has been warned of potential disruption. The Foreign Office (FCDO) has announced that a 24-hour national strike on Friday is set to cause issues.
The strike was scheduled to impact trains from 9pm on Thursday, October 2, and all transport from midnight and then throughout Friday, October 3.
Travellers have been advised to check schedules with transport providers.
Additionally, the FCDO has flagged up potential issues in Rome on Saturday, October 4.
It said: “Demonstrations are planned in Rome for Saturday, October 4. This is likely to attract a large number of protestors and cause disruption to roads and transport in the city centre. Plan your day and avoid any demonstrations.”
The FCDO has directed travellers to its safety and security page for more information about industrial action and demonstrations.
Jubilee 2025 – Holy Year
The FCDO also reminded travellers that The Jubilee, also known as the Holy Year, will be taking place in Rome from December 24, 2024, to January 6, 2026.
It added: “The city is expected to be very busy, if you are planning to travel to Rome during this time, see our Jubilee 2025 – Holy Year information in safety and security.”
Airlines will not know exactly how many flights they need to cancel until the action is confirmed and almost underway, but Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said he expects Ryanair to be told to cancel up to 600 daily, affecting up to 100,000 passengers.
EasyJet’s CEO said the airline has been “held hostage”(Image: BrasilNut1 via Getty Images)
Ryanair and easyJet have issued warnings to passengers ahead of a run of disruptive strikes that could impact more than 100,000 passengers.
The main French air traffic control union, SNCTA, has announced a strike scheduled from 7 to 10 October 2025, which is expected to trigger a large number of flight cancellations and delays throughout western Europe.
Airlines will not know exactly how many flights they need to cancel until the action is confirmed and almost under way, but Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said he expects Ryanair to be told to cancel up to 600 daily, affecting up to 100,000 passengers.
He said: “We cannot have a situation in the EU where we have a single market yet we close that market every time the French go on strike. They have the right to strike, but if flights are to be cancelled they should be flights arriving to and from France. They should not be overflights.”
The union’s reasons for striking include concerns over air traffic control governance, highlighting “mistrust, punitive practices, and harsh managerial methods,” along with demands for pay increases to offset inflation.
Kenton Jarvis, CEO of easyJet, said: “While this is outside of our control, we will be doing all we can to minimise the impact this will have on our customers. Our passengers and crew have been impacted by ATC related disruption for too long and so a solution must be found.
“We are calling on the new head of the French aviation authority to urgently address this issue by building more resilience into the system and crucially, by protecting overflying on strike days to ensure the travel plans of passengers whose flights do not take off or land in France are not needlessly ruined.
“We need action on this now, so the rest of Europe is not held hostage when French Air Traffic Controllers go on strike.”
This industrial action is likely to cause major disruptions, especially affecting flights crossing French airspace, with past strikes having resulted in thousands of cancellations and substantial costs for the aviation sector.
By law, airlines must reroute passengers and provide accommodation and meals for cancelled flights, regardless of the strike’s cause—though managing these obligations becomes difficult during widespread disruption.
Latest analysis by AirAdvisor shows the strike will impact over 129,600 UK passengers, with mass cancellations expected on routes to Spain, Italy, France, and beyond. AirAdvisor expects a 50-60% disruption rate, which means 240 UK flights per day or over 720 flights to and from the UK will be disrupted, affecting 129,600 Brits over three days.
According to AirAdvisor, the routes that are most vulnerable to being disrupted are:
UK to Spain (all routes except northern Spain via the Bay of Biscay)
UK to Portugal (including Madeira and Azores)
UK to Italy (especially southern Italy)
UK to Greece (western routes)
UK to the Canary Islands
UK to Morocco and Tunisia
French airspace acts as Europe’s bottleneck. More than 30% of all UK-to-Mediterranean flights, and a huge chunk of UK-Spain, UK-Italy, and UK-Portugal routes, are about to face either outright cancellation or one to four hour delays. The disruption isn’t limited to French airports, but will affect every hub from Barcelona, Madrid, and Palma to Amsterdam and Brussels.
Airlines cannot simply fly around France as alternate, oceanic or North African routes add time, cost, and complexity. Fuel, crew, and slot constraints mean not every flight gets an alternative path.
Travellers headed to Spain and Portugal from London, Manchester, and Bristol are expected to be especially hard hit, with flights being axed at the last minute and others rerouted hundreds of miles out of the way, resulting in arrivals creeping into the early hours or simply overnighting at hubs.
Weekly insights and analysis on the latest developments in military technology, strategy, and foreign policy.
South Korea has selected an L3Harris Global 6500 bizjet-based solution for its new airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft. As we discussed at the time, Seoul launched its search for a new radar plane back in 2020, to bolster its current fleet of four Boeing E-737s, the South Korean version of the E-7 Wedgetail that has been selected by the U.S. Air Force, NATO, and the United Kingdom, and is in service with Turkey, South Korea, and Australia. Reports from earlier this year suggested that Boeing had already been eliminated or dropped out of the new South Korean AEW&C competition, something that the company appeared to deny.
A rendering of the Global 6500 bizjet-based solution from L3Harris, as selected today by South Korea. L3Harris
According to L3Harris, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) has selected its proposal for its next-generation AEW&C program. The L3Harris solution allies a Bombardier Global 6500 airframe with the EL/W-2085 radar from Israel’s Elta. This series of radars is already used in AEW&C aircraft operated by Israel, Italy, and Singapore. It uses side-mounted active electronically scanned arrays (AESA), with additional antennas in the nose and tail helping to provide 360-degree coverage.
An Israeli Air Force Eitam Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft with a local version of the EL/W-2085 radar. IAF
For the South Korean bid, L3Harris had also been in competition with Sweden’s Saab, offering its Erieye Extended Range (ER) radar, also on a Global 6500 platform, a package known as GlobalEye.
According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, DAPA chose the L3Harris option after it received a higher score following an evaluation.
Yonhap quoted DAPA as saying: “There was no significant difference in the evaluation of the performance of the target equipment, and L3Harris received high scores in the areas of operational suitability, domestic defense industry contribution, and operation and maintenance costs, while Saab received high scores in the areas of contract terms and acquisition costs. As a result of synthesizing the scores for each evaluation item, L3Harris received a high score.”
The GlobalEye multi-sensor surveillance plane combines the Erieye Extended Range radar with a Canadian-made Bombardier Global 6000/6500 airframe. Saab Saab
DAPA further stated: “Through this project, we expect to secure the ability to conduct constant aerial surveillance of enemy aerial threats in both wartime and peacetime, and to enable smooth execution of air control missions led by the Korean military.”
The four new AEW&C aircraft are due to be introduced by 2032, at a cost of 3.0975 trillion won (roughly $2.2 billion).
Exactly what happened to Boeing in the competition is unclear.
Having provided the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF) with its four E-737s, under the Peace Eye program, it might have been viewed as a frontrunner in the second phase of the AEW&C acquisition.
South Korea ordered four E-737s under the Peace Eye deal, with deliveries completed in 2012. Boeing
In July of this year, reports emerged that the Boeing offering (again based on the E-7/E-737) had been removed from the South Korean competition.
At the time, Boeing provided the TWZ with the following statement: “We continue to support the U.S. government, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, and the Republic of Korea Air Force on our offering for additional E-7 AEW&C aircraft via the Foreign Military Sale process. In addition to detecting, tracking, and identifying targets, the E-7 AEW&C provides unmatched battle management capabilities ideally suited to the ROKAF’s needs.”
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the acquisition told TWZ that Boeing had submitted a proposal and supporting documents for its bid, but that none of the bidders involved met all the requirements outlined in two previous rounds. As a result, DAPA reissued the request for proposals (RFP), albeit with no changes in cost or requirements. Although the U.S. government didn’t resubmit the Boeing offer, it apparently remained a bidder in the competition. Once the RFP was reissued, the U.S. government and Boeing together submitted a letter stating that the original proposal still stood, with the same price tag attached.
We have reached out to Boeing for an update on the competition, but reports from South Korea, at least, suggest that, by the end, the bidding was a two-horse race between L3Harris and Saab.
Another view of a South Korean E-737. Boeing
Once the ROKAF fields its new radar planes, they will be a critical part of a broader effort to significantly enhance the country’s intelligence, surveillance, targeting, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) capabilities. In particular, they will help shore up possible gaps in its aerial surveillance coverage as the threat from North Korea, as well as from China, continues to grow.
Seoul approved the new AEW&C acquisition plan in June 2020, with DAPA already discounting any potential domestic solution.
As we reported in the past, South Korea first identified an emerging airborne early warning requirement as long ago as 1980, which it deemed necessary due to the country’s topography. This limits the performance of ground-based radar stations.
However, the first phase of its AEW&C acquisition wasn’t launched until 2005. On that occasion, the Boeing E-7 was chosen in favor of a U.S.-Israeli consortium of Gulfstream, L3, and Israel Aerospace Industries/Elta offering the Gulfstream G550 Conformal AEW (CAEW) — a forerunner of the L3Harris Global 6500-based solution.
A Republic of Singapore Air Force G550 Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) aircraft lands at RAAF Base Darwin as part of Exercise Pitch Black 2016. Australian Department of Defense LSIS Jayson Tufrey
Interestingly, however, it seems that Seoul would have opted for the U.S.-Israeli product, especially due to its low acquisition and through-life costs, but export restrictions ruled this out, and the Boeing offer was selected by default in August 2006.
The resulting $1.6-billion Peace Eye project included four E-737 aircraft, the last of which was delivered in 2012.
But there have also been reports that the ROKAF may have been dissatisfied with its E-737s.
In October 2019, the South Korean daily newspaper Munhwa Ilbo reported on a ROKAF document that had been submitted to the Korean parliamentary National Defense Committee. It cited “frequent failures” in the period from 2015 to September 2019 that meant the E-737s had failed to meet a targeted availability rate of 75 per cent. This lack of airframes reportedly exposed gaps in South Korea’s air defense coverage due to aircraft being unavailable to maintain constant patrols.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un takes a close look at an X-wing drone. North Korean state media
Since Seoul launched its latest AEW&C competition, Boeing has found additional customers for the E-7, with the U.S. Air Force and NATO choosing it to replace or partially replace their aging E-3 Sentry AWACS fleets.
However, the future of the U.S. Air Force E-7 procurement remains somewhat precarious, with a Pentagon plan to axe the acquisition, amid a push to eventually move most, if not all, of its airborne target warning sensor layer into space. In July of this year, the House Armed Services Committee made a move toward reversing that decision.
A rendering of a Boeing E-7 AEW&C aircraft in U.S. Air Force service. U.S. Air Force
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has also now laid out plans to buy more of the U.S. Navy’s E-2D Hawkeye AEW&C aircraft to mitigate any capability gaps in the interim.
A pair of E-2D Hawkeyes. Northrop Grumman
Whatever is decided, the U.S. Air Force’s E-7 program had already suffered notable delays and cost growth, which the Pentagon has said were major factors in the cancellation decision.
With all that in mind, today’s decision in South Korea looks like especially bad news for Boeing.
It should also be recalled that the Global 6500 is a new platform for this technology. It would appear that L3Harris will have to reintegrate the entire CAEW configuration, including its conformal systems, and flight-test it on a new airframe. With the production of the G550 ended, this would appear to be the only solution if a new-build airframe is to be used. We have asked the company for more details on this process.
Nevertheless, with its selection of the Global 6500 airframe with the proven EL/W-2085 radar, South Korea underscores the growing importance of relatively small business-jet-type aircraft for ISTAR missions. Platforms like these are becoming increasingly cost-effective, thanks in no small part to steady improvements in jet engine technology, and their popularity has been proven out by the U.S. Air Force, which opted for an L3Harris/G550-based solution for its EC-37B Compass Call program.
Amid growing interest in AEW&C platforms, including from countries that didn’t previously operate aircraft in this class, Seoul’s selection of the Global 6500 as its next-generation radar plane could have major implications for others looking at fielding similar capabilities.
Hurricane Imelda, which can be seen at the left, next to Hurricane Humberto, was expected to move toward Bermuda in the coming days. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Sept. 29 (UPI) — Imelda strengthened into a hurricane Tuesday morning as it made its way northeast toward Bermuda, where officials issued a hurricane warning, the National Hurricane Center said.
The eye of the Category 1 storm was located about 735 miles west-southwest of Bermuda. It was moving northeast at 7 mph.
Imelda, the ninth named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph, a slight increase over the course of the morning, the National Hurricane Center said in its 11 a.m. EDT Tuesday update.
Imelda initially moved toward the west-north west, but the storm made a turn toward the northeast overnight.
“On the forecast track, the center of the hurricane should continue to move away from the Bahamas today and be approaching Bermuda Wednesday afternoon,” the NHC said.
The NHC said Imelda could bring damaging hurricane-force winds to Bermuda
A Brit living in Tenerife has shared a vital warning for visiting Brits, urging them to be ‘very careful and aware’ if they’re planning to visit for some winter sun
The expat warned visitors going to popular areas such as ‘the Golden Mile’ (stock image)(Image: We-Ge via Getty Images)
A Brit who traded the UK for sun-soaked Tenerife has issued a stark warning to fellow holidaymakers heading to the popular winter sun destination. The video resurfaced as one visitor to the island claimed three ‘racist’ hospitals turned her away.
The Canary Island, a favourite among those seeking some winter warmth, may seem like paradise, but visitors are being urged to stay on their toes. TikTok user @theknightstrider1, who’s called Tenerife home for over a decade, warns of a recurring issue that hits the island every winter season. Unlike mainland Spain, which winds down in winter, Tenerife’s tourist trade thrives, drawing in criminal gangs who “fly in” with the sole aim of pickpocketing from tourists – some even treating it like a “full-time job”.
In his video, which he posted last year, the expat explained: “They are very good at it, and they will do pickpocketing. They will steal from cars if you leave stuff inside them, so please do be very careful with your wallets, and stuff like that.”
Content cannot be displayed without consent
He went on to say: “If you’re down here, busy, the golden mile area, the Sunday markets, the Tuesday markets, all of that – those busy areas – people bumping into you, just be careful. Just like at home, we do have pickpockets around.
“I normally just take my little wallet out, and I have it in my front pocket. Just be very careful and aware. You’ll be absolutely fine if you are but, unfortunately, so many people switch off, and they have their wallet busting with cash hanging out of their back pocket.”
He warns that pickpockets can be shockingly quick, swooping in for the pinch when you’re least expecting it.
The expat also claimed thieves are on the hunt for pricey electronics like cameras and iPads, which shouldn’t be left unsecured or in plain sight. Recently, he’s heard “more and more” tales of holidaymakers being targeted.
The video sparked a wave of comments online. One user remarked: “I genuinely was expecting you to say bring a coat.”
Others fondly recalled their holidays, with one posting: “Never had an issue over there. Can’t wait to go back in December.”
Not everyone is eager to return though, as another commented: “I don’t know what is going on in Tenerife. I know it’s not just Tenerife, but the vibe is off. I don’t think I would go back, and I’m not alone in that.”
Another person added: “Such a shame. Always come in the winter, but noticed it’s definitely getting worse. Just don’t feel safe in the evening.”
Travel blogger Chelsea Rodd was left stranded at London Gatwick Airport after being denied a flight to Italy owing to a passport issue she believes may not be common knowledge
Alan Johnson Social News Reporter
11:17, 29 Sep 2025Updated 11:25, 29 Sep 2025
A woman has highlighted an expiry issue with British passports after being denied travel to the EU (stock)(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
A woman has issued a warning to all British passport holders after her holiday plans ended in tears at the airport. Travel blogger Chelsea Rodd fell victim of a rule she was unaware of, resulting in her having to cancel her plans despite the fact her passport is yet to expire.
“I should be in Milan right now with the girls,” began a tearful Chelsea in a TikTok video. She continued, explaining that after arriving at London Gatwick Airport ready to drop off her baggage, her passport was subsequently checked and it soon became apparent she wouldn’t be heading to Italy. “I’m not sure if this is common knowledge – I travel all the time – but because my passport’s start date is July 2015, it’s just gone over the 10-year mark even though it doesn’t run out until April 2026,” Chelsea explained.
Content cannot be displayed without consent
So what’s the problem? “I learned the hard way that for travel to the EU your UK passport must have been issued within the last 10 years – even if it hasn’t expired yet,” she revealed.
Chelsea continued: “I’m absolutely shocked by that. When you go to book your flight to the EU, nothing on the website mentions this and at the point of check-in nothing was said.”
Attempts to fly with a different airline, on alternative flights and to another airport all proved in vain. “I even tried the Passport Office and booking an emergency appointment online” Chelsea said. “But there was nothing until Monday when we’d be due to come back. I tried everything and the girls didn’t want to go without me, but I wanted them to have a lovely time as we’ve been planning it so long.”
To compound her misery, Chelsea revealed she will now be forced to miss out on numerous content creation opportunities she had arranged with a number of brands over the course of the past year.
She closed by urging others: “If you have a trip coming up, check your passport’s start date, not just the expiry date. This rule came in after Brexit, but it’s still catching so many people out.
“Previously when you renewed a passport, if you did it before the 10 years was up they would give you the extra on top – this was my issue. They don’t do that now.”
Writing in response, one TikTok user shared the same frustration, penning: “The annoying thing is when you check in and put your passport details in they only ask for expiry – and given this has happened so many times of people being unaware airlines should ask for start date too.”
A second person added: “This happened to me many years ago. I organised a trip to Milan. We all at airport checking in. That’s when I was informed that my passport had expired. I had to wave goodbye to my friends.”
While a third fumed: “Happened to me too a couple of weeks ago at Gatwick. Passport expires Sept 2026 and issued June 2015. Don’t get how they allow you to book. I always thought you had to have 6 months from when you return.”
The European Union’s travel website advises: “If you are a national from a country outside the EU wishing to visit or travel within the EU, you will need a valid passport and possibly a visa.
“Your passport should be valid for at least 3 months after the date you intend to leave the EU and it must have been issued within the last 10 years.
“This means your travel document must have been issued within the previous 10 years the day you enter the EU on condition that it is valid until the end of your stay plus an additional 3 months.”
THE majority of home insurance policies do not include cover for accidental damage such as spills or smashed windows, analysis reveals.
When households take out buildings or contents insurance, many assume that they are also covered for accidental damage.
1
Homeowners are unaware they are not protected against mishaps including spilt drinks, getting paint on the carpet or a ball smashing their windowCredit: Getty Images – Getty
This is protection against certain mishaps, including spilling drinks or paint on the carpet or accidentally smashing a window with a ball.
But analysis by consumer group Which? of 78 home insurance policies from 35 providers revealed this is not the case.
It found that only 28% of buildings insurance policies and 27% of contents policies included accidental damage cover as standard.
But seven in ten policies offered this cover as an optional extra or provided basic cover, such as for windows or bathroom fixtures, that you can upgrade.
The remainder of insurers don’t offer it at all.
But 31% of consumers who had bought insurance thought their policy would cover them for anything that was not their fault, according to a recent Which? survey of 4,000 people.
A similar proportion believed that if they had cover for possessions, they are protected against any event that involved those possessions – including accidental damage.
But accidental damage is one of the most common reasons that people make a home insurance claim.
This means hundreds of thousands of people could be caught out each year.
In a separate Which? survey of 2,804 people who had tried to make a claim on their policy in the last two years, accidental damage made up around a fifth of cases.
Which? said lack of clarity when people take out insurance is leading to poor outcomes for customers.
Its previous research had found customers do not understand what is included and excluded, and can’t tell the difference between products.
But the definition of what is covered will vary between providers, which is why it’s important to check your policy.
Sam Richardson, deputy editor of Which? Money, said: “When it comes to making a claim on your insurance, it’s sadly all too common to get caught out by the small print.”
Most policies that offer accidental damage cover include issues caused by broken glass and underground pipes.
But in many cases the cover won’t include damage caused by cleaning or by lodgers.
Meanwhile, the insurance doesn’t include damage due to a lack of upkeep or damage caused by pets.
A spokesperson for the Association of British Insurers said: “Always check your policy details or speak to your insurer to make sure you have the right level of protection for your needs.”
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing [email protected].
British tourists on the two holiday islands of Ibiza and Mallorca have been issued the alert for breaks between now and the end of October, with lifeguards who look after some of the most popular beaches in the Balearics going on strike
Lifeguards have warned some beaches are not safe(Image: Getty Images)
Holidaymakers in Mallorca and Ibiza have been warned that “beaches are unsafe” as lifeguards go on strike.
British tourists on the two holiday islands have been issued the alert for breaks between now and the end of October. The warning comes from lifeguards who look after some of the most popular beaches in the Balearics.
They have called a strike over pay and conditions, saying salaries are so low that some of them have to sleep on the beach as they cannot afford to rent. And they have accused local councils of putting lives at risk by failing to come to an agreement which would have avoided walk-outs.
“Safety on the beaches is not guaranteed,” a spokesperson for the lifeguards warned. A last-ditch attempt was made today to reach an agreement, but without success.
The lifeguards from the Balearic Islands have therefore called for a strike on Sunday, September 25.
They are telling the public that the “security on the beaches is not guaranteed”, despite the imposition of minimum services of 100% of the workforce, which the group considers “a violation of the workers’ right to strike.”
The strike will affect all the beaches of the municipalities of Palm and Calvià on Mallorca, as well as the sandy beaches of Ibiza, Sant Antoni de Portmany, Sant Joan de Labritja, SantJosep de sa Talaia and Santa Eulària des Riu. It will start at 8.30am on the beach of Can Pere Antoni, in Palma, with an assembly of workers.
The strike will then be repeated with Sunday strikes until the end of the season, which ends on October 31, in the sandbanks of Palma.
Cristian Ezequiel Melogno, spokesperson for the Balearic Islands Rescue Union, said the strike is over staffing, infrastructure and also wages.
“The lifeguard service is the first to intervene in an emergency on the beaches but the staffing is minimal,” he said. “The concessionaire companies receive the municipal award because they present the cheapest offer.”
“A lifeguard receives a monthly salary of 1,410 euros gross, insufficient to live in the Balearic Islands in a dignified way, with a contract marked by temporality, because we do not work every month,” say the lifeguarsa. “The situation is so undignified that in Ibiza there are colleagues who are forced to live on the beach because they cannot access housing.”
Although the strike occurs at the end of the summer, the beaches continue to receive visitors and the lack of surveillance could put the safety of bathers at risk, the lifeguards have warned.
The lifeguards are demanding improvements in their working conditions, job stability, strict compliance with regulations and greater public investment in beach safety. They point out that reducing surveillance on beaches is comparable to closing a hospital, as the safety of citizens must be a priority.
This summer, concerns were heightened after four drownings on Palma’s beaches in just 45 days. The deaths, all in bathing areas without active lifeguard coverage at the time, triggered renewed debate over beach safety during peak tourist season.
The incidents occurred between late June and August at Playa de Palma, Ciudad Jardín and El Molinar. The victims, aged between 65 and 84, suffered collapses or drownings at times when no lifeguards were on duty, before shifts began, after they ended, or in areas without surveillance. In all four cases, the emergency response came too late and resuscitation attempts failed.
Lifeguard professionals warn that regional regulations in place since 2015 are being poorly enforced. The Balearics are estimated to be short of more than 300 lifeguards, while current shift patterns fail to cover peak bathing hours. In many coastal areas, there is no standby staff outside standard service times, leaving long stretches of beach effectively unprotected.
Hurricane Gabrielle could even have knock-on effects on the weather in the UK with reports of heavy rainfall on its way
Angra do Heroísmo is the capital of Terceira in the Azores(Image: Getty)
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has issued an urgent travel update for anyone planning to visit a popular Portuguese hotspot or its surrounding regions. It comes amid a warning published today (September 25) with the government department alerting travellers to an approaching storm that’s expected to hit very soon.
Its update forms part of the Foreign Office’s Portugal travel advice which also includes Madeira, Porto Santo and the Azores. In its latest advisory, it noted that a tropical storm warning has been issued specifically for the Azores, where adverse weather conditions are anticipated to develop rapidly – and where around four million tourists visit a year, with Brits the top nation for visitors.
The travel experts highlighted that Hurricane Gabrielle is forecast to reach the Azores during the afternoon of September 25, urging travellers in the region to stay informed and take precautions if needed. Because of the expected weather conditions, there could “be disruption to services due to hurricane force winds and possible coastal flooding.” People are being urged to take care and read up on the latest advice over the next few days.
Noting that “hurricanes can change course and intensity”, it stated that the situation is being closely monitored by the US National Hurricane Center. It further advised people follow the guidance of their local authorities, adding: “If you are due to travel, check for updates from your travel provider.”
The US National Hurricane Center website warned travellers that currently, “a hurricane warning is in effect for all of the islands of the Azores, and hurricane conditions are likely tonight into Friday. Significant hurricane-force wind gusts are likely across portions of the Azores even after the center passes.”
The warning continues: “A dangerous storm surge is expected to produce significant coastal flooding in areas of onshore winds in the Azores. The surge will be accompanied by large and destructive waves.”
As well as this, “heavy rainfall from Gabrielle could produce flash flooding across the terrain of the central Azores tonight through Friday morning. Swells generated by Gabrielle will continue to affect Bermuda during the next couple of days, and the east coast of the United States from North Carolina northward and Atlantic Canada for the next day or so.”
Guidance from the experts concluded: “These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions. Please consult products from your local weather office.”
What to do if you are affected by flooding or a storm
Flooding may result from heavy rainfall, tropical cyclones, or tsunamis. These events can cause extensive damage, including loss of life and major disruption to transport networks. During a flood, there is a significant risk of drowning and after, the likelihood of contracting water-borne diseases such as malaria or typhoid fever increases.
People can find out more about flooding from TravelHealthPro (from the UK’s National Travel Health Network and Centre), the World Health Organisation and the Met Office. In addition to flooding, tropical cyclones cause “considerable loss of life” every year. They can also cause “immense damage to property, and damage transport, electricity and communication infrastructure.”
Tropical cyclones gain energy from the heat released when moist air rises into the atmosphere. Hurricane season takes place during the months when sea surface temperatures in a given region are at their peak.
Highest risk:
June to November in the Northern Hemisphere Tropics (Caribbean, Atlantic, Southeast Asia, Pacific, Far East)
November to April in the Southern Hemisphere Tropics (for example, East Africa coast)
Tropical cyclones can cause:
high winds: buildings can be damaged or destroyed; trees, power and telephone lines fall; flying debris becomes dangerous
storm surge: a hurricane can cause a temporary rise in sea level of several metres which can flood coastal areas and damage buildings on the shoreline
very heavy rainfall: this can cause localised or widespread flooding and mudslides
You can find the latest Portugal travel advice here. Please keep an eye on the Foreign Office before and during your holiday.
Hurricane Gabrielle is expected to reach the Azores on Thursday. Photo courtesy of NOAA
Sept. 22 (UPI) — Hurricane Gabrielle was expected to continue rapidly moving toward the Azores in the Atlantic on Wednesday, where the government has upgraded a hurricane watch to a warning.
The eye of the storm was located about 1,360 miles west of the Azores, the National Hurricane Center said in its 5 a.m. AST update.
It was moving east-northeast at a blistering 25 mph and had maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, a significant decrease from Tuesday when it was a Category 4 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. As of Wednesday morning, it was a Category 3 hurricane.
The government of Portugal had issued a hurricane watch for all of the Azores, an autonomous region of the European nation, due to Gabrielle on Tuesday, but upgraded it to a warning on Wednesday.
A hurricane warning is generally issued 36 hours before the anticipated first impact of tropical-storm-force winds and is a signal that one should complete storm preparations.
“On the forecast track, the center of Gabrielle will approach the Azores during the day on Thursday, and move across the island chain Thursday night into Friday,” the NHC said.
Gabrielle had been traveling northwest and made a turn to the north toward Bermuda as it gathered strength last week. But the storm made a turn toward the east on Monday and passed east of the island Monday night.
Forecasters said Gabrielle was weakening and will continue to do so as it travels over the northeastern Atlantic.
The swells from the storm will continue to reach the U.S. eastern coast from North Carolina northward, as well as Atlantic Canada, the NHC said, adding that they are expected to continue through this week.
“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” it said.
Gabrielle is the seventh named storm of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season.
Last month, Erin became a Category 5 hurricane with 160-mph winds spreading across a 500-mile area.
MAFS icon Emma Barnes’ warning for couples(Image: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/Getty I)
The autumn chill is settling in, and what better way to celebrate than with a dose of wedding chaos!
Luckily, we have Married At First Sight legend Emma Barnes here to give her verdict for the Mirror on all the weekly tears and madness the E4 show…
Firstly… Welcome to my weekly column! Honoured to pen my thoughts on, let’s face it, the UK’s welcome to Autumn. Darker nights, drama-filled dinner parties and clinging onto the hope of some happy endings while our dating life is in tatters: MAFS IS BACK PEOPLE!
What a first couple of episodes! The series will fly by with this new format, switching between weddings and honeymoons. We all get a bit bored of the often repetitive nuptials and personally I’d send Mel, Charlene and Paul to the honeymoons, some of these couples need them.
The cast seem a kind, calmer collective than the previous couple of series (for now, we all know!). I think I’d totally fit in with this group had I not made it into last series. Love that there’s two same sex couples, and I want to be bezzies with Nelly immediately.
This week Davide and Keye hitched in a classy, emotional day (round of applause on their guest’s pure style please!). Sarah’s asked for a bad boy and her new husband pre-wrote an acapella number that went down like a lead balloon, and we all learnt some lessons in feminism from Grace’s protective pal.
If you go into this experiment expecting the full package, you’re going to be disappointed, and emotions were running high. Types come up every year, two brides had tears after their vows. Sarah’s never dated someone like Dean. She likes a flirt, a cheeky wink and someone to through her down on the bed and rip her clothes off. Dean with the dimples is a kind, gentle, poet, and that’s not helping his sex appeal.
Grace expected an instant spark, (Ashley is going to have queues at his door if this doesn’t work out, he’s totally a bit of me!) but here’s the thing; from my experience women are more open to getting to know the person if the spark isn’t there. It will be a refreshing twist on blokes wanting fit birds and nothing else. Mark my words I predict one of these couples will go some distance with a sprinkling of expert help.
This is why we get hooked, the twists, turns, feedback and growth. The happiest couples on their wedding day face rocks in the road, while what starts off Grace’s tears after the ceremony could turn in a river of love by Christmas. Plenty of weddings to go so strap in, get hitched onto that sofa and get a wine and crisp in hand.
P.S I hate taking out the bins – totally a blue job if I had a boyfriend…
Thailand is a popular travel destination for Brits seeking some winter sun – but new travel restrictions came into place earlier this year that people should be aware of before arriving
Thailand has introduced new requirements for entry that passengers need to be aware of
As the colder weather approaches, some of us may not be ready to say goodbye to summer, and looking for some winter sun.
While there are many destinations offering balmy weather for freezing cold Brits, Thailand is a popular spot for many people over the winter months. Data from Thailand Travel Specialists at Travelbag found that during peak travel seasons (November to February), departures to Thailand increase by more than 158 per cent.
More than 35 million visitors flock to Thailand annually, with more than 700,000 travelling from the UK alone. With this demand, the experts urge all travellers to be aware of the new entry requirement that took effect in May of this year to avoid any stress or delays when entering the country.
According to Helen Wheat, asia destination manager at Travelbag said: “As of May, all foreign nationals travelling to Thailand must complete the Thailand Digital Arrival Card (TDAC) online. While there is no strict minimum time, it is recommended to submit the TDAC at least 72 hours before arrival to avoid any delays in processing.”
She said this digital form has replaced the traditional paper TM6 card to “streamline immigration procedures” and does not require any fee or payment.
Wheat further noted: “If the TDAC isn’t completed in advance, travellers may experience delays at immigration and be required to fill it out at a self-service kiosk on arrival, which can take much longer.”
The expert also recommended screenshotting or emailing the confirmation to your phone as you may be asked to show it, and said to make sure you have your passport, flight details and accommodation information ready when completing the form.
“At Travelbag, we advise all customers to complete the TDAC ahead of time to avoid unnecessary stress and enjoy a hassle-free start to their trip,” Wheat added.
For those who don’t want to travel as far as Thailand, there’s a European secret that delivers a comparable adventure much nearer to home. The Shala River has earned the title “Thailand of Europe,” offering a taste of paradise without the lengthy journey or cost of a holiday in Southeast Asia. It features stunning turquoise waters and dense, rainforest-like landscapes, creating an exotic adventure in Europe’s heartland.
Ideal for an autumn getaway, Albania enjoys delightfully mild temperatures of approximately 25C in October, with plenty of sunshine making it perfect for late-season sun-seekers.
For those drawn to Thailand’s 1,500 miles of shoreline and more than 1,400 islands scattered with limestone formations, colourful coral reefs, and magnificent beaches, Albania’s Shala River offers an extraordinary substitute.
ITV’s Coronation Street aired shock scenes on Monday night which saw a villain killed off without any warning after subjecting two characters to a load of abuse
21:00, 22 Sep 2025Updated 21:29, 22 Sep 2025
The homophobic church clerk has been wrapped up in a whole load of drama concerning Todd and Theo (Image: ITV)
Coronation Street aired shock scenes on Monday night in which a villain was killed off without any warning. Richard Winsor, 43, has been playing homophobic church clerk Noah Hedley on the long-running serial for the past few months, and was placed at the centre of a controversial storyline.
When Theo Silverton (James Cartwright) made his debut on the programme, he was introduced as a married man who had two kids with wife Danielle (Natalie Anderson) before it was revealed that he had been put through conversion therapy earlier in life. After his wife left him once his affair with Todd Grimshaw (Gareth Pierce) was exposed, she struck up a relationship with Noah, and he has been on a campaign of hate ever since.
In the latest trip to the nation’s favourite street, viewers watched as Theo geared up for a custody hearing concerning his children Millie and Miles, with Todd and Noah sitting in on the whole thing in court as well. Throughout it all, Noah made homophobic comments , which led to an outburst from Todd. He left and waited at home, where Theo told him he had been granted a ‘shared care agreement order,’ and the pair went to the Bistro for lunch.
However, Noah turned up and things between them immediately got heated as he subjected Todd and Theo to a torrent of abuse as he revealed that Danielle was set to appeal the decision.
He told them: “I’m concerned. People like you are allowed to live near kids, twisting their little minds so they end up like you.” Todd interjected with, ‘That’s enough!’ but Noah shot back: “I don’t think it, not while disgusting perverts like you are allowed to do what they want.” He labelled homosexuality as ‘a form of mental illness,’ and when Theo simply told him he ‘couldn’t get to them’ now, Noah simply said: “We’ll see…” and walked out.
A short time later, Todd and Theo had been joined in the Bistro by Todd’s adoptive daughter Summer (Harriet Bibby) and Dee Dee Bailey (Channique Sterling-Brown) to celebrate. But things took another dramatic turn when Natalie burst into the restaurant that Noah had died.
Looking for answers, she demanded: “What did you do to him? What did you do to Noah?! He’s dead! The last I heard he was coming to see you.” When asked how Noah had died, she explained through tears: “I found him in his front room, I called 999. The paramedic said he’d had a heart attack.”
Dee Dee assured Danielle that no one could make someone have a heart attack and it must have been an underlying condition. Danielle, hysterical by this point, then proclaimed: “This is all my fault. I did all this! Come on, Theo, you hate me!” but he insisted that was not the case, and they will always be connected in some form because of the children they have together.
Back at their flat, Theo had burst into tears over the shock news and admitted there was a time in his life that he ‘loved’ Noah. He explained: “He wasn’t always the bad guy. He was my friend. Maybe the best friend I’ve ever had. That’s why it was so much harder when he started to change. I loved him. I looked up to him. I thought he cared about me but maybe it was never real. Do you know what? I hate myself for saying this but I miss him. I always will.”
In recent weeks, viewers have seen Todd become a victim of control as he was forbidden from seeing former boyfriend Billy Mayhew (Daniel Brocklebank), and in disturbing scenes that aired last month, Theo grabbed hold of him and forced him to eat a kebab. The night before Noah’s death, Todd had thrown a small gathering to celebrate moving into their new flat together, but Theo took issue with the whole thing and made Todd sleep in the spare bedroom.
At the end of Monday’s episode, Theo told Todd: “I can’t do this without you. I mean it. If you ever left me…” before Todd assured him he wouldn’t. Theo warned him: “You’d better not!”
Coronation Street runs Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1. Episodes can also be downloaded on ITVX.
Passport holders have been told that taking just their passport may not be good enough
The UK Government have issued a checklist you should follow(Image: Getty)
The Foreign Office is advising travellers to take two essential documents when going on holiday. In addition to your passport, they recommend carrying another form of identification.
As part of their foreign travel checklist, officials urge people to “take an extra form of photo ID with you, other than your passport.” Alongside this, they also advise holidaymakers and business travellers to have a contingency or “backup plan” in place.
This is intended for situations where you may need to access important information like your accommodation details, flight information, passport number, emergency contacts and insurance policy. This could be crucial if you lose your phone.
Do you have the post Brexit blue British passport?(Image: Maksims Grigorjevs via Getty Images)
Travellers are encouraged to share this information with trusted friends or family members, or to store it securely online using a reliable data storage platform. The Foreign Office also advises taking a few additional documents and completing certain tasks before departure, as part of their broader travel recommendations.
They write: “Remember to check that your passport is valid for the country you are travelling to.” They add that you need to “check the entry requirements” listing their website.
Following the link, it takes you to the Foreign travel advice page. Listing a series of destinations, the page is there to help people get “advice and warnings about travel abroad, including entry requirements, safety and security, health risks and legal differences.”
If you need to renew your passport, you can do it via the official GOV.UK website. The site allows you to apply for a new passport, renew your current one, update personal details or request a replacement – all while making secure payments online.
It’s important to note that passport fees vary depending on your age and how you apply. Applying online is the more affordable option, saving you £12.50 compared to applying by post. For full details on how to apply for a new UK passport, including costs and delivery times, you can visit Liverpool Echo.
