Donald Trump’s estranged niece has likened his suddenly voluminous hairstyle to Hermey the Elf from the animated “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” claiming the recent hair obsession mirrored one his late father went through as he struggled with dementia.

Speaking on SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah’s YouTube show, Mary Trump reacted to viral online speculation surrounding the president’s hairstyle that was sparked during a campaign rally in Nevada this week.

“I’m not going to say anything about whether it looked good or not. I don’t really care,” Mary Trump told Obeidallah. “However, he looked like Herby the Dentist from ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’ — that’s what, that was my takeaway.”

She went on to draw parallels between the president’s hair consciousness and his late father, developer Fred Trump. According to Mary, the elder Trump grew increasingly preoccupied with his hair loss after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, eventually wearing an ill-fitting toupee and dyeing both his hair and mustache.

“He would leave the dye on too long. So he would end up with a magenta mustache,” she said, adding that family members, including Donald Trump, found the situation embarrassing. “And now here’s Donald potentially… being all obsessed about his hair kind of like his dad.”

Obeidallah noted during the interview that the elder Trump began showing signs of dementia around the same age Donald Trump is now, questioning whether the sudden shift in appearance could be connected to cognitive changes.

President Trump has repeatedly touted having aced cognitive tests administered by his White House health team.

The commentary follows a flurry of viral reactions to the president’s speech at the Red Rock Casino Resort and Spa in Las Vegas, where he spoke on economic policies, endorsed local Republican candidates and referred to Canadian leadership as “nasty.”

Social media users quickly began debating the source of the president’s updated look.

“Is Trump rocking a wig, or what the hell is going on here?” one user user asked, after posting: “Trump’s hair, uh, has a lot more volume than normal.”

Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who previously voted to impeach Trump, also weighed in, posting on X: “Trump has a weave!!”

The official Democratic National Committee account posted a photo of the president from three months earlier featuring a flatter, slicked-back style to emphasize the contrast.

Supporters defended the president’s appearance.

“This is proof that President Trump is aging in reverse,” one supporter wrote on X. “His hair looks absolutely amazing today.”

The president has previously acknowledged his efforts to maintain his signature hairstyle. At a CPAC conference in 2018, he admitted to the audience, “I try like hell to hide the bald spot, folks. I work at it.”

During a 2015 campaign stop in South Carolina, he brought a woman on stage to verify his hair was real, and in 2016, he famously allowed host Jimmy Fallon to mess up his hair during an appearance on The Tonight Show.

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

Families could be stung with extra tax that eats as much as 91 per cent of inherited pensions from April, new figures for Wealth & Personal Finance reveal.

A tax ‘blind spot’ means bereaved families could be stripped of hundreds of thousands of pounds more from inheritances, according to calculations by financial services company NFU Mutual.

The tax trap will kick in when unspent pension pots start to be considered as part of your estate for inheritance tax purposes from April 2027.

Former Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the raid in October 2024 but failed to act on a clash between inheritance and income taxes.

A triple whammy could drive the tax hit on inherited pensions to eye-watering levels for those who die after age 75 – creating an even worse scenario than thought.

Here we explain the new rules, if your pension is at risk and what you must do now.

Pensions and inheritance tax

Pensions are among the most tax-efficient investments you can make. You receive tax relief at your income tax rate on savings up to an annual allowance of £60,000, and can take 25 per cent of your pot tax-free in retirement, paying income tax on withdrawals beyond this.

But pensions have also come with another tax benefit: unspent pots passed on at death fall outside of your estate for inheritance tax purposes.

This advantage has long led to financial advisers flagging pension pots as an inheritance-tax friendly way to pass on wealth. But Reeves decided to crack down on this in her autumn Budget in 2024, dragging pensions into the inheritance tax net from April 2027.

However, she ignored the fact that inherited pensions are not entirely tax-free. If you die before the age of 75, your beneficiaries can withdraw money from inherited pension pots free of income tax. But if you die after 75, they pay income tax at their marginal rate, which could be 20 per cent, 40 per cent or 45 per cent.

Recent official figures put the median age of death in England and Wales at 81.8 years for males and 85.5 years for females.

As pension withdrawals will be added to other income, even basic rate taxpayers taking out a meaningful sum are likely to get dragged into higher rate tax brackets.

Inheritance tax rules explained

Inheritance tax is charged at 40 per cent on an estate above the £325,000 tax-free threshold known as the nil rate band.

Your estate is the total value of everything you own when you die, including savings, investments, property and possessions, minus any outstanding debts.

The individual nil rate band can be doubled up to a joint total of £650,000 for married couples and civil partners, who can pass any unused allowances to each other.

A further allowance known as the residence nil rate band raises the threshold by £175,000 each if you leave your home to a direct descendant, which must be a child or grandchild. This creates an extra £350,000 for a married couple, to deliver a potential maximum joint inheritance tax-free total of £1 million.

However, the own home allowance starts being removed if your estate breaches £2 million, at a rate of £1 for every £2 above the threshold. There is no inheritance tax charged on assets left to spouses and civil partners. So, for example, it is possible for a husband to leave everything to his surviving wife inheritance tax-free. When she dies, her estate is then liable for tax.

How pensions could face a 91% hit

The new rules on pensions will drag some families into the inheritance tax net and deliver a heavy blow to others, depending on age, marital status and size of estate.

The greatest risk identified by NFU Mutual’s calculations is for a married couple with an estate on the cusp of where the residence nil-rate band is removed.

In this instance, the couple have a combined estate of £2 million plus pension pots worth a total of £700,000. For example, a £1.7 million home, £300,000 of savings and investments, and pension pots of £350,000 each.

Under the current rules, their pensions sit outside the IHT net, and if they died under the age of 75 their beneficiaries would pay no income tax.

If on the first death everything was left to the surviving spouse, they would benefit from a combined £650,000 nil rate band and £350,000 residence nil rate band, covering £1 million of their estate. On the second death, the remaining £1 million would face inheritance tax at 40 per cent, delivering a £400,000 IHT charge.

Their family would receive £2.3 million of their total £2.7 million wealth. From next April, they could face the triple whammy from the new pension rules of IHT, income tax and the sting in the tail of losing inheritance tax allowances.

With their £700,000 in pension pots counting as part of their estate, their residence nil rate band is completely lost. If their children withdraw the cash from the pension in full, they would pay 45 per cent income tax on it, if the surviving parent died after 75.

Experts at NFU Mutual say this would now mean an £820,000 inheritance tax bill and £219,326 income tax bill triggered on pension withdrawals, leaving the family £1,660,674 of their total £2.7 million wealth.

Financial advisers once flagged pension pots as an inheritance-tax friendly way to pass on wealth. But Reeves decided to crack down on this in her autumn Budget in 2024

Advertisement

The extra £639,326 in tax paid equates to 91 per cent of the £700,000 pension pots.

More modest estates will also be hit

You don’t need a multi-million-pound estate to be hit by the tax raid. The double tax charge will impact a huge number of families bumped into the IHT net, says Sean McCann of NFU Mutual.

Single parents who do not benefit from combining inheritance tax allowances will be particularly hard hit. A 74-year-old unmarried mother with a £500,000 estate and £500,000 pension pot could currently escape inheritance tax, if she leaves her home to children.

But from April, her estate will be worth £1 million for IHT purposes, with £500,000 taxed at 40 per cent. If she dies after 75, income tax would also be due on the remaining pension, taking the total extra tax to £364,250, says NFU Mutual. This is the equivalent of 73 per cent of her pension.

So use your pension strategically

The changes mean you should no longer hold on to pensions for inheritance tax purposes, says Shaun Moore of wealth management firm Quilter.

You should no longer hold on to pensions for inheritance tax purposes, says Shaun Moore of wealth management firm Quilter

Spending them and keeping other savings could be more beneficial because pension pots risk double taxation, while Isas or standard accounts will only be subject to death duties.

McCann says you can consider taking your 25 per cent tax-free lump sum when you turn 75, as once it is out of your pension there will not be income tax on withdrawals for beneficiaries.

You can also make gifts to reduce the size of your estate, which can in turn lower the IHT bill. The individual annual gifting allowance of £3,000 can be used. Above this, money given away becomes free of inheritance tax if you survive for seven years.

A valuable exception is something known as ‘gifts out of normal expenditure’, where regular gifts made from surplus income fall outside of the IHT net.

Marianna Hunt, of Fidelity International, says: ‘Ask yourself if you might need this money in future. Care needs can significantly increase day-to-day living costs.’

> Read our essential guide to avoiding inheritance tax here

Writing for the Mirror, Shelter CEO Sarah Elliott slams Tory leader Kemi Badenoch’s ‘cynical’ plans to ban non-UK nationals from social homes – ‘it is scapegoating, plain and simple’

Advertisement

Another day, another cynical kick-about, where the basic human need for a safe and secure home is punted around like a political football.

Hot on the heels of Reform, who outlined a similar plan earlier this year, the Conservative Party announced on Thursday that it would ban non-UK nationals from social homes in a bid to ‘free up’ a supposed ‘228,144 homes’ for British families and evict existing tenants who aren’t UK or EU nationals.

It goes without saying that this plan is cruel. There are already strict rules on eligibility for social homes, and they are not simply handed out to people on arrival in the UK.

Many of the families targeted by this scheme have lived in the country for years or even decades. They settled here and built lives for themselves. They are our friends, neighbours, and colleagues. They work jobs and pay into the system. They are a part of the fabric of our country.

If this plan was rolled out, thousands of people would be torn out of the homes and communities they have spent their whole lives in, with just six months to secure a roof over their heads. Worse still, many will be put at risk of homelessness.

It’s important to remember that those evicted under the scheme will not simply disappear from the system. They will be forced into ludicrously expensive private renting, where rents have soared out of reach of local incomes.

Social rents cost on average about a third of private rents and, like anyone who sees their rent more than double overnight, many will be forced to rely on housing benefit to make ends meet. Those who can’t afford it will be made homeless. Councils are already shelling out billions every year on the sticking plaster solution of grotty and unstable temporary accommodation.

Announcing the plan, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said social homes should not be given out as a ‘free ride on the benefits system’ and that ‘Britain cannot be a cash machine for the world’. But far from saving the taxpayer money, this plan will only serve to pile more costs on to already cash-strapped councils and public services that are stretched to breaking point.

And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society. It is completely senseless to ruin people’s lives, drive up homelessness and put extreme pressure on councils for a policy that simply cannot work.

Leaving aside the murky waters the Conservatives could find themselves in if they set about evicting people based on their nationality – a protected characteristic under equality law – let’s call this plan what it is: scapegoating, plain and simple. It’s an attempt by politicians to distract the failures of successive governments, including the Conservative Party, to address the root cause of the housing emergency: our dire shortage of social rent homes.

Social rent homes – where rents are pegged to local incomes – are the only genuinely affordable route out of homelessness for struggling families. For years, we have lost more than we’ve built through sales and demolitions and, last year, we only managed to build a measly 12,000 – just 13% of the 90,000 we need every year to end the housing emergency.

When you spell it out, it’s easy to see that the 1.3 million households who are on social housing waiting lists across England are stuck there because of the political failure to build the homes we need, not because of migration. Families who are trapped for months or even years in temporary accommodation are sick of struggling to hold down jobs and settle children in the appalling and insecure conditions they live with every day. But the good news is it doesn’t have to be this way.

There is a clear way for us to ensure everyone has access to a safe, secure and affordable home and that is to build a new generation of social rent homes. Is it possible? Absolutely. Not only that, we have done it before. In 1967, nearly half (46%) of all new homes built in England were for social rent and almost all (97%) were delivered by councils.

The Prime Minister hit the nail on the head when he said the solution to the housing emergency is to deliver the ‘biggest council house-building programme since the post-war period’. Councils know their communities better than anyone. They know the kinds of homes local people need, whether it is families looking for a permanent place for their kids to grow up or people rebuilding their lives after spending time on the streets.

Now the government must get on with the job of delivering on the Prime Minister’s vision by helping councils to get spades in the ground and removing the financial barriers that stand in their way.

Migrants didn’t cause the housing emergency, but like many of us, they have suffered the brunt of it. It’s time for politicians of all stripes to stop scoring cheap political points at the expense of their constituents and get on with the job in front of them. Anything else will be a distraction.

By ED HOLT

Published: 18:40 BST, 8 August 2026 | Updated: 18:41 BST, 8 August 2026

A runway defect at Bristol Airport has caused travel chaos as flights are cancelled or diverted hundreds of miles away.

Hundreds of flyers were stranded on Friday night as the airport was forced to close with dozens of people waiting in crowds at their departure gates.

Although flights did resume at 8am this morning, the airport warned that disruption would continue throughout Saturday.

Many holidaymakers were left with long and expensive journeys home after their planes were diverted to different airports across the country.

Advertisement

Dave Blackwell, who was travelling from Rhodes, found himself 246 miles away from Bristol after his plane landed in Newcastle.

‘We were in Rhodes Airport for three hours with no information. Now we have all been told our flight is going to Newcastle and then a five or six-hour bus ride – why Newcastle? How appalling,’ he told BBC News.

Other flights were diverted to Bournemouth, Birmingham and Cardiff.

Last night, passengers reported that there was little communication from the airport with no announcements on the tannoy system for over an hour.

Advertisement

EasyJet were said to be the only representatives in the departure lounge, which warned people travelling to and from the airport to expect significant disruptions.

Passengers at Bristol Airport have faced travel chaos after a defect was discovered in the runway (file image)

Pictured: Passengers queue outside Bristol Airport. Many flights were cancelled or diverted hundreds of miles away 

Advertisement

Hundreds of people were pictured waiting inside the airport terminal 

Furious passengers stuck in the chaos complained of being left stranded in the airport and ‘appalling communication’.

One wrote on X: ‘EasyJet holding everyone hostage at Bristol Airport! Let us out! Let us out! Communication is appalling.’

A second added: ‘It’s disgusting. They’ve locked me in the gate 26 toilets. All I did was ask them why it was cancelled.’

Advertisement

A third wrote: ‘Bristol Airport, what’s happening tonight? We are stuck in the airport with no clear guidance for 3 hours. Any information would be appreciated.’

One concerned parent said: ‘EasyJet I am livid!!!! Your flight from Dubrovnik to Bristol tonight has been cancelled and there are no staff there to assist.

‘My daughter has been told to go on your website and book another flight to Gatwick!! No mention of hotel! Pathetic!! Please dm me now!’

While another enraged passenger said their flight had been diverted hours away from Bristol to Newcastle.

Advertisement

In a statement, Bristol Airport said: ‘Flights resumed at 8am today after we temporarily suspended operations yesterday. There’s some disruption to flights today. 

‘Customers should contact their airline with flight queries. We’re very sorry for any inconvenience caused while essential runway repairs were carried out.’

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins and defensive end Maxx Crosby were suspended from team drills at practice Saturday following their fight the day before, giving rookie QB Fernando Mendoza his first opportunity in training camp to run the starting offense.

“We have very clear expectations about how we want to practice, how you go about our business,” coach Klint Kubiak said in a statement. “We violated that yesterday, so we held those guys out. That’s all I’m going to say about it. We addressed it with the team and we’re moving on.”

Cousins and Crosby had to be separated by teammates after the fight. The 37-year-old quarterback appeared upset that Crosby tipped his pass, forcing an incompletion, and then charged the 6-foot-5, 256-pound defensive end, who is three inches taller and 42 pounds heavier.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Andrew Davies has been behind bars since 1988, when he received 13 life sentences

Advertisement

The cause of death of a serial rapist dubbed the ‘Coronation Street rapist’ has been confirmed.

Andrew Davies, who also went by Andrew Longmire and Andrew Barlow was given 13 life sentences for his crimes.

Throughout the 1980s, Barlow, from Bolton – dubbed ‘The Coronation Street Rapist’ – struck mainly in Greater Manchester, but also in four other counties. He targeted women alone often in their terraced homes after waiting for husbands, or fathers to leave the property in the morning.

He was released in 2023 after 34 years in prison, but was recalled just six weeks later, reports the M.E.N..

The predator was taken to a probation service hostel by a police escort on March 6, 2023 following his release. He was returned to prison for breach of his licence conditions and due to his behaviour. At the time it was assessed that the risk he posed was not manageable in the community.

Davies appealed against his recall at a hearing in June 2024. In July that year it was announced by the parole board that his application had been refused.

A panel decided he ‘would present a very high risk of a contact sexual offence at this time’. It added: “His risk of serious harm towards other people was considered to be very high.”

It is understood Davies, 69, died from natural causes in early March.

One of his victims, who was raped at knifepoint by Barlow in her own bed in 1987, told the Manchester Evening News: “It’s a relief… but it isn’t. I still relive what he did to me. It is a very difficult feeling to handle.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “These were despicable crimes, and our thoughts remain with the victims of Andrew Davies.”

Davies was a prisoner at HMP Moorland, near Doncaster, a category C prison. The Prison Service said: “Andrew Davies, previously called Andrew Barlow and Andrew Longmire, died on 28 February 2026. As with all deaths in custody the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate.”

The prospect of his coming out again angered victims and their families who campaigned to keep him behind bars with the help of veteran Manchester MP Graham Stringer.

The relative of one of his victims told the Manchester Evening News in 2024: “A parole hearing took place in regards to his recall last year after being out in the community for just six weeks after he broke some of the 32 license conditions he was given. He is an unsafe rapist who hasn’t changed in my eyes.”

Barlow’s release was delayed after the then Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, Dominic Raab, asked the Parole Board to reconsider its decision.

Mr Raab described Barlow’s offences as ‘despicable’ and said in January 2023: “My thoughts remain with the victims of Andrew Barlow, whose despicable crimes blighted the lives of dozens of women.

“Public protection is my number one priority, which is why I’ve asked the Parole Board to reconsider their decision to release and I am overhauling the parole system to keep prisoners who pose a risk to the public off our streets.”

Advertisement

After Barlow’s rapid return to prison In April 2023, Mr Stringer said: “It is extraordinary. I think this is another failure of the Parole Board to use common sense and protect the public from a very dangerous man. They were warned by me and the victims. This is institutional failure of the highest order.”

A relative of a woman Barlow raped in her own home in Greater Manchester in 1987 said in May 2023 after the Manchester Evening News broke the news of his recall to prison: “I took it on the chin in January and decided to get on with my life when Barlow was released – now this animal is back in our lives again. We told the authorities and they didn’t listen.

“Someone has to be accountable for this. It will mean all the victims and their families are reliving the agony again like we had to in January when we tried in vain to stop his release. We told the authorities he was too high a risk and we have been proven right.”

The daughter of a woman whose mother was raped in Greater Manchester by Barlow in the early 1980s said: “I was shocked when I heard that he was being recalled so soon. But then when I thought about how evil and twisted he was when committing his crimes it doesn’t surprise me.

“When the victim support officer told me I had goosebumps all over my body and then my eyes swelled up with tears, I was thinking who has he attacked this time? The officer told me that he had not hurt anyone but that his behaviour had meant an immediate recall to prison. I am just pleased he has been monitored so closely as his behaviour whatever it was could have escalated.”

READ MORE: Christian convert accused of Scot’s suitcase murder ‘turned his back on religion’ before her death

READ MORE: Green trans MSP facing calls to have whip removed after rape ‘spectrum’ remarks

Barlow was given 11 life sentences in 1988 for raping 11 women and an additional 56 years for other offences. In 2010, and then again in 2017, he received two more life sentences after rapes he committed in 1981 and 1982 which were linked to him through advances in DNA technology. As he had already surpassed his original 20-year tariff imposed in 1988 just another two years were added to his sentence in each case.

He was dubbed ‘The Coronation Street rapist’ as most of the victims were attacked in their own terraced homes in the north of England, the majority living in Greater Manchester. Two of the attacks took place in the street. He also struck in Cheshire, Staffordshire, Lancashire, and South Yorkshire in the early 1980s, and then again from August 1987 until January 1988 when he was arrested.

Barlow was sought by police in the 1980s over 11 of the rapes. During the hunt for him he evaded police at Leeds railway station and went on to shoot at two officers when he was finally arrested in Bebington, Merseyside. The officers were not injured and Longmire was later convicted of their attempted murder.

Ensure our latest stories always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.

?

Select your team for football news tailored to you

Sturgeon also told Dale that she only discovered Murrell was due to plead guilty a week before he appeared in court on 25 May.

It later emerged he had been negotiating his plea for months, a fact which she said “hit me like a tonne of bricks”.

Sturgeon said: “He was still lying to me right up until the day he pled guilty.”

The former first minister added: “He was very isolated over that period, he very rarely left the house, he wasn’t communicative, I was a bit worried about his well-being and his mental health.

“And then, now I think: ‘What a mug, why were you worried about him?’ He didn’t worry about me. He didn’t worry at all about what he was doing.

“What he has subjected me to is beyond anything I could ever have comprehended.

“I don’t understand why he did it, he had no need to do it, I don’t think I will ever understand his motivations.

“But whatever that motivation was, he could not have stopped and ever thought about me.

“But I was, until recently, still worrying about him.”

Sturgeon – who had stepped down as first minister in March 2023 – was arrested In June 2023 but was later told that she was no longer under investigation.

The former first minister announced her separation from Murrell last year.

Crowds packed into the Market Square on Saturday for a full day of free entertainment and live music as well as the annual Pride march.

Shops and businesses along the route joined in the fun with dancing and confetti cannons.

And on the main stage there were performances from Gina Tonic, Nikki, Anarchy & Scarlett, and Tess Tickle & The Dragettes, with the acts greeted by roaring applause.

Temperatures soared into the high twenties, adding to the vibrant atmosphere as the crowd gathered in the sun-drenched square.

The weekend celebration continues on Sunday at Hopetown, with performances by Honeylight, Josh Atkinson, Jade Mia Broadhead, and Stebee.

On Monday, pubs and bars across the town centre will host Pride events from 6pm, including camp karaoke at the Red Lion and themed parties at The Hummingbird featuring tributes to Zara Larsson and Sabrina Carpenter.

Lola McEvoy, Labour MP for Darlington, is supporting the events.

She said: “Darlington Pride is an important demonstration of joy and inclusivity at a time where intolerance is still too common.

“Today was exactly that, so much glitter and colour to say ‘we’re here, we belong and we’re proud of who we are.’

“For me, Pride is for everyone but especially for those who aren’t out, it’s an event that says our town welcomes you, will celebrate you and you can live your truth here.

“Well done to everyone involved but especially to those who stepped in to fill the funding gap left by sponsors who withdrew their support.”

“The unions and many of the town’s best businesses stepped up to show that we’re a town where everyone can be themselves. That’s something we should all be proud of.”