A 51-year-old man died during a Cathay Pacific flight from Manchester to Hong Kong on Friday morning – this is a breaking story

A 51-year-old man has died during a Cathay Pacific flight from Manchester to Hong Kong.

The passenger lost consciousness during flight CX216, which departed Manchester Airport at 11.04am HKT on Thursday and landed at Hong Kong International Airport at 6.53am on Friday (11.53pm BST on Thursday). Hong Kong police said they received a report at around 6.15am local time on Friday that a passenger had collapsed on board the flight, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.

An autopsy is currently underway to determine the cause of death, the outlet reports.

In a statement to the South China Morning Post, a spokesperson for Hong Kong’s flag carrier said that “the crew and a doctor on board had provided immediate first aid to the victim”. The spokesperson added that an ambulance was called and paramedics boarded the plane upon landing.

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It comes just days after doubts were raised over Jimmy Bullard’s attendance, following an explosive row during filming with Adam Thomas.

Although Jimmy has now confirmed he will be appearing on tonight’s (April 24) ITV show, when viewers will vote for their I’m a Celeb ‘ultimate legend’, sadly, Beverley Callard will not be there.

The Coronation Street favourite who was diagnosed with breast cancer in February issued an update to fans on her TikTok account yesterday (April 23).

Why is Beverley Callard not attending I’m a Celebrity final tonight?

In the caption alongside a video message, she shared: “A last minute change of plans…Absolutely gutted but I know it’s for the best. Resting up and getting well is more important at the moment.”

Beverley, who currently lives in Dublin, went on to explain: “Yesterday I should have flown over to England to get ready for the I’m a Celeb final which is tomorrow at 7.30pm.

“I was so excited and looking forward to it, and on medical advice I can’t go.

“So I’m absolutely gutted, I was dying to see them all, and it would have been brilliant, but I can’t go.”

Health professionals have told Beverley that attending the I’m a Celebrity South Africa final would be “too long a day” as she recovers from surgery.

She continued: “Flying there and you know, very late night… so here I am.”

However, the soap star will still be featuring in the live ITV final this evening and reuniting with her fellow campmates via Zoom, to “chat to everyone”.

Beverley added: “I’ve got to make the best of a bad job but I am resting, I am doing as I’m told, thanks to everybody.”

The actress was advised by medics to leave camp in the last week of the ITV reality show.

Beverley told the other celebrities she “didn’t feel well” after having “a bit of a funny turn”.

As she tearfully said her goodbyes, the 69-year-old said she was “absolutely gutted and wanted to finish” her time on the all-star show, and that she “wanted to prove that older women could do it”.

Since announcing her diagnosis of early-stage breast cancer, Beverley has documented her treatment on social media and has recently undergone surgery to remove the cancer.

Who is in the final of I’m a Celebrity South Africa 2026?

The four celebrities who have made it to Friday night’s final are Olympian Sir Mo Farah, former football manager Harry Redknapp, actor and DJ Craig Charles, and actor Adam Thomas.

Scarlett Moffatt just missed out and said she was “gutted” to become the latest campmate to be evicted during Thursday’s episode.

The Gogglebox star learnt she would be leaving the ITV programme after she came last in a trial, telling hosts Ant and Dec: “I felt like I was so close. I was the last girl standing.”

The challenge saw the celebrities have to count coloured balls as they rolled down a tube in front of them while they were showered with maggots, cockroaches, crickets and mealworms.

The five contestants were then asked how many blue balls there had been and were told that whoever’s estimate was the furthest from the correct figure would be evicted.

Thursday night’s instalment also saw the celebrities take part in the Cyclone challenge, which saw them have to clamber along a water slide to reach stars while being pelted with huge balls and sprayed with high-pressure hoses.

The group won the task, which resulted in them all receiving phone messages from their loved ones at home.

They also enjoyed a breakfast of 10 eggs between them after successfully catching them from a large “chicken” roosting in a tree above their camp.

The final of I’m a Celebrity South Africa will be shown from 7.30pm tonight on ITV1, STV, ITVX and STV Player.

Let us know which celebrity campmate you will be voting for to win, in the comments below.

Can we ever really understand Chernobyl? As a researcher in visual culture, I find myself returning to this question again and again as I examine films, TV shows, documentaries, visual novels and artworks.

We know that the explosion occurred on April 26 1986 at 1:23am due to a safety test gone wrong, and that the radioactive contamination spread across the exclusion zone and far beyond, reaching other parts of Europe. Beyond these facts, however, things get shaky. Although the official death toll was, according to the World Health Organization’s 2005 report, less than 50, the real number is considered to be much higher, with thousands affected by the long-term consequences of exposure.

Radioactive contamination is what made this technological disaster so extraordinary. While many people may not be interested in decay chains or wavelengths, popular culture renders radioactive pollution immediately legible.

At the same time, these representations often operate in the space between historical fact and dramatisation. Although many can be criticised for exaggerating an already fantastical disaster, that dramatisation is also part of what keeps audiences engaged and ensures that Chernobyl remains alive in our cultural awareness.

Here are five of my favourite pop culture depictions of the Chernobyl disaster, that I believe give a pretty good glimpse of what the disaster entailed.

1. Chernobyl (2019)

This series is one of the best ways to understand or be introduced to Chernobyl. Over the course of five episodes, HBO’s drama series brought viewers through the social, political and bureaucratic aspects of the disaster.

Following the scientist Valery Legasov (Jared Harris), as well as the story of firefighter’s wife Lyudmilla Ignatenko (Jessie Buckley), the series does a great job at narrating the disaster in compelling ways. It is visually well constructed with attention to every minor detail.

The series finds ingenious ways to visualise invisible radiation, while scientists’ struggle to force the truth into the open is heart-wrenching enough to hold the viewer through all five episodes.

2. Chernobylite (2021)

The horror indie video game Chernobylite allows players to wander freely around Chernobyl’s exclusion zone – one of the most radioactively contaminated areas on Earth.

With time and climate change, the structures and buildings within the zone are at increasing risk of disappearing from both wildfires or age that leaves buildings crumbling. In an effort to preserve the zone, the creators of Chernobylite began to 3D scan it. Left with a virtual map, they decided to turn their project into a video game.

In Chernobylite, players can roam freely and uncover the mystery of the zone. Although embellished with green glowing crystals and monsters, the game does offer a setting that allows you to walk around and experience the zone while scientists tell you information about the disaster.

This game is a wonderful way to experience the zone at a distance. It is photo-realistic and allows the players to really locate some of the famous landmarks of the zone (such as the Ferris wheel or the monument for the firefighters).

3. Chernobyl Abyss (2021)

This Russian disaster film follows fictional firefighter, Alexey Karpushin (Danila Kozlovsky) through some of the challenges in the immediate aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster.

To save his son from radiation poisoning, Karpushin agrees to become a “liquidator” in exchange for having him sent to a care facility in Switzerland. Around 600,000 military personnel were drafted as liquidators – sent to high-radiation zones (often wearing inadequate protection) to clear radioactive debris and manage contaminated waste.

While it’s not a perfect film, it gives a good impression of the emotional and individual toll of the disaster.

4. The Babushkas of Chernobyl (2015)

Amid the tragic and often action-driven representations of Chernobyl, this documentary feels hopeful rather than bleak. It portrays life in the exclusion zone (some people have returned to live on their generational land) in all its complexity.

More importantly, it’s a reminder that while the zone may be reduced to a story for those of us watching from afar, for the people who live there, it remains a home.

5. YouTube

Before the escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022, the zone was frequently visited. In fact, after the release of HBO’s Chernobyl series, tourism allegedly increased by 40%.

In a space where souvenirs like a stone from the ground are illegal to pick up, many instead captured the zone through their camera lens. Viewing videos from tourists and “stalkers” (illegal explorers) on YouTube, offers one of the best ways to gain insights into how the Chernobyl disaster has affected the land.

Many of these tourists capture the samoesely (resettlers), wildlife and guides who talk about the zone and what the disaster means to them.

It comes after the EU has issued a warning that passengers face a ‘very serious crisis’

Airlines have announced they are cancelling and cutting back flights to and from the UK amidst massive rises in jet fuel costs and fears over shortages. The BBC has reported that 6 carriers so far which fly to the UK have said they’re going to operate fewer flights.

It comes after the EU has issued a warning that Europe faces a “very serious crisis” as aviation fuel supplies begin to dwindle due to the conflict in Iran, and holidaymakers may need to alter their summer travel plans.

“Unfortunately, it’s very likely that many people’s holidays will be affected, either by flight cancellations or very, very expensive tickets,” Dan Jorgensen, the EU energy commissioner, told Sky News. “Even if we do everything we can do, if the jet fuel is not there, then it’s not there.”

Jorgensen added: “[Currently] it is primarily a crisis of prices and not yet a crisis of supply, but unfortunately we cannot be sure to prevent a crisis of supply, especially on jet fuel in the future, if the crisis continues.”

The International Energy Agency has cautioned that significant supply problems could emerge within the next five to six weeks. Airlines are already implementing measures to curb demand: the Lufthansa Group, among Europe’s largest airline operators, has confirmed the scrapping of 20,000 flights over the coming months. Meanwhile, other carriers are hiking ticket prices on long-distance routes to offset rising fuel costs.

READ MORE: EU gives UK holidaymakers flight cancellations update in new statement on April 22READ MORE: Holiday alert as 14 UK tourist hotspots face ‘indefinite’ strikes from Friday, April 17

The price of flights has been rising since the start of the conflict in the Middle East, a worry for anyone planning a summer holiday.

Which airlines are cancelling flights?

Airlines that serve the UK which plan to operate fewer flights.

• KLM
• Air Canada
• Asiana Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• Lufthansa
• SAS

The following companies have said they don’t plan to change their schedules:

• British Airways owner IAG
• EasyJet
• Jet2Holidays

Flight prices

While some airlines have cut back on the number of flights to save money, others have said they will start charging more per passenger or will put up charges for luggage.

These include:

• Air France-KLM
• Indigo
• Pakistan International Airlines
• Thai Airways
• Turkish Airlines-Sun Express
• Virgin Atlantic

Rory Boland, travel editor at consumer publication Which?, says overall cancellations will be a very small proportion of the millions of flights in and out of the UK, and the changes will be targeted on routes where there are multiple flights a day so that passengers can be rebooked on to an earlier or later flight. Low-cost Spanish regional airline Volotea has come under fire for saying it will add a surcharge to tickets it has already sold and is being challenged by local consumer rights groups.

Holiday giant Tui said the Iran war cost it around 40 million euros (£34.8 million) last month after it was forced to repatriate thousands of holidaymakers and staff.

READ MORE: Spain takes action at 24 airports to tackle border control chaos and ease queues – full list

Europe’s largest travel operator cut its profit forecast and suspended revenue guidance as a result, sending it shares lower.

The company is among travel firms to have been significantly disrupted by the conflict in the Middle East, which began at the end of February. It is also among airline firms to face pressure from a surge in jet fuel prices after the conflict pushed up the price of oil.

On Wednesday, Tui told shareholders that it had to absorb 40 million euros worth of costs in March due to “repatriation efforts and related operational disruptions”.

Following the start of the war, Tui repatriated around 5,000 passengers from two cruise ships anchored in ports in Abu Dhabi.A lot of the industry’s jet fuel supplies come from the Gulf region, and most of it passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which has effectively been closed to shipping since the start of March.

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Businesses have doled out up as much as $4 million to move boats through the Panama Canal with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, according to the Panama Canal Authority, in a move that has created a seismic shift in global trade flows.

While passage through the waterway usually comes at a flat rate via reservations, companies without reservations can cross by paying an additional fee in an auction for slots, which are awarded to the highest bidder rather than waiting for days off the coast of Panama City.

That price has ballooned in recent weeks as Iran and the United States have bottlenecked the key shipping route, the Strait of Hormuz, and demand for those slots has skyrocketed. Ships have increasingly traveled through the Panama Canal as shipments are rerouted and buyers purchase from other countries to avoid commerce through now-treacherous Middle Eastern waterway.

“With all the bombings, the missiles, the drones … companies are saying it’s safer and less expensive to cross through the Panama Canal,” said Rodrigo Noriega, said lawyer and analyst in Panama City. “All of this is affecting global supply chains.”

Meanwhile, Noriega said Panama’s government is “maximizing what it can earn from the Panama Canal.”

The average price to cross through the canal ranges between $300,000 and $400,000 depending on the vessel. Previously, to get an earlier crossing, businesses would pay an additional $250,000 to $300,000. In recent weeks, the average additional cost has jumped to around $425,000.

Ricaurte Vásquez, the canal’s administrator, said another company that he would not name paid an extra $4 million when its fuel vessel had to change its destination because of ongoing geopolitical tensions.

“It was a ship carrying fuel to Europe, and they redirected it to Singapore, and it needed to get there because Singapore is running out of fuel,” he said.

Other oil companies paid an excess of $3 million in addition to the crossing fee to accelerate their passage in the face of soaring oil prices.

Vásquez said that ships have not piled up at the canal, but rather the costs can be attributed to last-minute shifts and greater urgency by vessels needing to get from one point to another faster in the wake of larger trade chaos.

Vásquez emphasized that the costs were not a blanket market rate, but rather a temporary toll shouldered by companies.

“They decide how high a price to go,” Vásquez said.

At the same time it’s earning more money from the new business, Panama’s government has also been dealt a blow by the geopolitical struggle.

On Wednesday, the country’s foreign ministry accused Iran of illegally seizing a Panama-flagged vessel from the Italian company, MSC Francesca, in the Strait of Hormuz.

Panama, a country with one of the world’s largest ship registries, said the ship was “forcibly taken” by Iran. It wasn’t immediately clear if the boat remained in Iranian custody.

“This represents a serious attack on maritime security and constitute an unnecessary escalation at a time when the international community is advocating for the Strait of Hormuz to remain open to international navigation without threats or coercion of any kind,” it said.

Noriega, the analyst, said that the amount companies are paying to cross the Panama Canal may only go up if the conflict continues to stretch on, as oil prices are already skyrocketing. The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly jumped above $107 this week, soaring from around $66 a barrel a year ago.

“No one really foresaw the potential effects (the war) would have on global trade,” Noriega said.

Neil Donaldson, commercial director of growers Hall Hunter, which has farms near Wokingham and Wargrave in Berkshire and Godalming in Surrey, said: “Cool nights and warm sunny days create the perfect conditions for growing sweet, full-flavoured strawberries — and that’s exactly what this weekend’s forecast is bringing.

Footage appears to show an Albanian gang clad in balaclavas filming themselves on TikTok raiding a cannabis ‘crop house’.

The chilling post shows masked men using infrared scanners on normal suburban streets to locate the heat from cannabis grow lamps. Once they have found a target, they make their way inside.

They pose for the camera with a violent trap song accompanying the footage with ‘f*** you’ written as a caption as the gang appear to rob the house.

The clip shows a bewildered-looking man in shorts and a T-shirt who apparently lives or works in the house being intimidated by the gang. The camera focuses on the raiders clutching cannabis plants.

The ‘crop houses’ are kitted out with high-tech lighting and heating to aid the growth of the plants in what can be a highly lucrative business.

The shocking footage is one of a series of videos featuring the men in what seems to be a celebration of their criminal lifestyle. The house, allegedly a ‘crop house’ in which cannabis is grown on an industrial scale, features several times on the account.

The property, which looks like an ordinary suburban house, cannot be identified.

The video is believed to have been shot in West Yorkshire, according to the online footprint of the account holder who posted the clip.

Other footage posted on the same TikTok account shows a masked member of the ‘gang’ climbing up the side of a house before clambering through an open window.

Another shows an apparent reconnaissance mission in which the gang hide and watch a crop house.

Some of the footage is tagged with Albanian flags and accompanied by slogans in Albanian.

The rap themes are charged with violence and knives are mentioned. But no weapons are featured in the clips.

In one of the films the ‘gang’ members are seen holed up in what appears to be a safe house.

The latest ‘crop house’ footage is chillingly similar to that posted by another Albanian ‘crew’ this time in east London.

In Barking, a heavily armed Albanian gang called the Hellbanianz filmed themselves brandishing weapons while flaunting cash, Rolexes while driving Ferraris.

They ran the Gascoigne estate where their ‘soldiers’ lived. Their brash online posts eventually led the police to the door and some members have been convicted.

Meanwhile the Metro exposed a criminal network operating in Southgate, north London, where people trafficking and drug deals are bringing in huge sums.

An Albanian gang with its centre of operations around Southgate station has a ‘vice-like’ grip on the area, according to local security sources.

Such is the prevalence of the crew that the area around the station is known to locals as ‘Little Tirana’ after the Albanian capital.

A source told Metro: ‘We call it little Tirana around here. The Albanian gangs have a grip on the community and there is a lot of fear about being taken out [killed]. They have taken over some of the businesses and have threatened others.

‘There have been connections with people trafficking, protection rackets and drug dealing. It’s their turf for sure and they hide in plain sight.They have taken over some of the businesses and have threatened others.

 ‘There have been connections with people trafficking, protection rackets and drug dealing. It’s their turf for sure and they hide in plain sight. We know who they are and where they operate out of. It has been reported to the police they need to get a grip of this.’

Other areas of the capital have also seen the rise of Albanian gangs.

When raiders stormed an Albanian cannabis factory to steal the product their machetes and knives proved no match for the handguns the Albanians pulled to defend their territory.

A court heard that the robbers who were trying to steal from the factory in Croydon had ‘brought knives to a gunfight’.

The Shqiptare is the term used by the National Crime Agency to describe the Albanian crime syndicates.

They sell huge amount of cocaine smuggled into into the UK via Latin America.

It is believed they run a majority of the estimated £5bn cocaine market. They are buying for up to £5,000 a kilo according to police estimates. They started selling for less profit than their rivals to corner the market.

The supply of cocaine and other drugs on an industrial scale has provided the Albanian mob with funds to almost ‘buy up’ communities.

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Taken just before 4pm on Monday, April 20, the driver stops at a red light and a pedestrian starts to cross Trinity Street.

But, moments after – a car crashes with a white Mercedes which pushes it towards the pedestrian island as a woman crossing stops and quickly rushes back across the road.

The Mercedes crashes through the pedestrian signal light and the traffic light before coming to a stop on the road located between Aldi and Bolton One.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that a fire engine attended the scene shortly after the crash – which involved seven vehicles.

A spokesperson said: “Just after 4pm on Monday 20 April, one fire engine from Bolton Central attended a crash involving seven vehicles on Trinity Street, Bolton.

“Firefighters assisted North West Ambulance Service and Greater Manchester Police to help make the surrounding area safe and were in attendance for around half an hour.”

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said there were no crimes recorded and only minor injuries in the crash.

Britain should consider rejoining the European Union after none of the Leave campaign’s “heady promises” materialised, the man who led the country’s departure from the bloc has said.

Philip Rycroft, former permanent secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union, said there needs to be a “clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interests” and that life outside the EU had not lived up to lofty expectations.

Writing in The Times, he warned the road back into the bloc would be “long and windy”, but that the “argument is there to be won”.

The unusual intervention comes after Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would not cross the “red lines” of rejoining the single market or customs union.

But the newspaper reports several senior figures in government are pressing for the policy to be reviewed ahead of the next general election.

Mr Rycroft cited figures from recent YouGov polling for the campaign group Best for Britain, which shows that 53 per cent of people are now in favour of rejoining the EU, while 32 per cent are opposed and 14 per cent don’t know.

“Most economic analysis suggests that we have taken a significant hit to GDP as a result of leaving the single market,” he added.

“The precise number, and the impact on our export performance to the EU and beyond, might be subject to debate, but no one can credibly claim that we have marched to the sunny uplands of sustained economic growth as a consequence of Brexit.”

He said it was “not hard to see” why people may be “falling out of love” with Brexit.

“We are seemingly no nearer achieving an immigration policy that commands general consent,” he continued, in reference to the Leave campaign’s promise that leaving the bloc would allow the UK to take back control of its borders.

Last month, European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told The Independent “there is no appetite” to return to the debates of the past over EU membership.

While he insists that the government wants to develop closer ties with the EU, particularly as the world becomes a more dangerous place, Mr Thomas-Symonds ruled out any sort of deal that would lead to the UK and the EU entering a customs union.

He said that even a bespoke version, like the agreements the bloc has with countries like Turkey and Norway, is off the cards.