The health of Norway’s King Harald deteriorated over the weekend while in hospital, the royal household has said.

Harald, 89, Europe’s oldest current head of state, was hospitalised on Monday and treated for anaemia.

In a statement on Sunday, the palace said: ‘His Majesty the King’s health deteriorated over the weekend. 

‘The King is receiving antibiotics for a bacterial infection in his blood, and has responded to this treatment.’ 

The statement added that the monarch’s condition was stable.

It comes after King Harald was rushed to hospital with haemolytic anaemia, a disorder which sees red blood cells destroyed at an abnormally fast rate and leads to fatigue, paleness and breathing difficulties.

The head of state was admitted to hospital in Oslo and will be on sick leave for the next two weeks, it was reported on Monday. 

The palace said in a statement: ‘The King has been treated with cortisone for the blood disease haemolytic anaemia in recent weeks. 

Queen Sonja and Harald in 2018

The King pictured in Oslo in March 

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‘This has led to fluid accumulation in the body that requires treatment in hospital.

‘The King is on sick leave for two weeks. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is Regent during this period. 

‘We will return to the consequences this will have for the Royal House’s official programme.’

Harald visited the hospital only days ago for a ‘planned check-up and follow-up with a doctor’.

And in February the 89-year-old was rushed to hospital while spending time with his wife, Norwegian Queen Sonja, 89, in Tenerife. 

The monarch’s condition at the time was said to have been ‘satisfactory’ after he received treatment for an infection and dehydration at Hospital Universitario Hospiten Sur.

It came just two years after he suffered a similar problem while on holiday in Malaysia. That ordeal resulted in him having a pacemaker fitted.

The monarch has, however, insisted that he will never abdicate from his position due to poor health, arguing that he took a lifelong oath before ascending to the throne in 1991.

Harald has been suffering from haemolytic anaemia, a disorder which sees red blood cells destroyed at an abnormally fast rate and leads to fatigue, paleness and breathing difficulties

‘I stick by what I’ve always said, that I swore an oath to the Storting (Norwegian Parliament) and it is for life,’ he said previously.

Harald has presided over a difficult few months for the Norwegian royal family amid a scandal involving his daughter-in-law, Crown Princess Mette-Marit’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Mette-Marit faced intense scrutiny when a tranche from the Epstein Files revealed she stayed at the paedophile financier’s Palm Beach mansion in 2013 – after his conviction for soliciting sex from girls as young as 14.

One email suggested she was still in contact with Epstein just months before his death.

Mette-Marit, 53, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis in 2018, later issued a grovelling apology in which she claimed the emails ‘do not represent the person who I want to be’.

Harald defended his daughter-in-law during a public appearance that month in which he insisted: ‘We must remember that the Crown Princess has not done anything illegal.

‘Unlike some others in Norway, she broke the connection very early. So I think we should give her credit for that.’

It came in the same week that Queen Sonja was rushed to Oslo’s National Hospital after experiencing ‘heart problems’.

At the time, a statement from the Norwegian Royal House read: ‘Her Majesty the Queen was admitted to the National Hospital today due to heart problems.

‘The Queen has heart fibrillation and heart failure, and has been hospitalised for a few days for examinations and observation.’

Sonja was later discharged and said to have been in ‘much better form’. The 89-year-old had a pacemaker fitted last year after experiencing cardiac fibrillation – a rapid and irregular heartbeat.

Harald became Norway’s Crown Prince in 1957 after the death of his grandfather. He married Sonja in 1968 before becoming the monarch 23 years later when his father, King Olav, passed away.

They are hunting the person responsible for a series of incidents on Wednesday and Thursday when vehicles in the town were searched and items taken.

A spokesman for the police said: “As part of our ongoing investigation, officers have recovered several items which we believe may have been taken from vehicles affected during these incidents. However, the items recovered do not appear to belong to any of the victims who have come forward to date.

“We are therefore making a further appeal to members of the community to check their vehicles again, even if they have not previously identified anything missing.

“In some cases, victims may not immediately realise that items have been removed, particularly if they are not used on a regular basis.

If, upon checking your vehicle, you discover that anything is missing, please report it to North Yorkshire Police as soon as possible.”

Police thanked Tadcaster residents for their support in their investigations and those victims which have already reported items missing from their vehicles.

Reports to the police can be made via the North Yorkshire Police website or by calling  North Yorkshire Police on 101.

Police ask that victims provide as much detail as possible regarding the missing item or items, including any identifying features, as this may assist officers in linking property to its rightful owner.

The collision took place on Russell Street, Bolton just before 6pm, a residential street near the entrance to Queens Park.

(Image: Public)

One car was left overturned as a result, and several other cars parked on the street were left with damage.

A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said: “Just before 6pm this evening (Sunday 23rd August), two fire engines from Bolton Central fire station were called to reports of a road traffic collision involving three vehicles on Russell Street, Bolton.

“Crews arrived quickly at the scene.

(Image: Phil Taylor)

“Firefighters used a hearth kit to make the vehicles safe, and treated a man at the scene, who was then taken to hospital by colleagues from North West Ambulance Service.

“Firefighters were in attendance for around thirty minutes.”

People from across the globe have been in touch with the Cat Action Trust

A missing cat has been reunited with his tearful owner nearly a year after disappearing, after turning up 86 miles from home living alongside a feral cat colony.

Ginge, a friendly ginger tom from Sunderland, was spotted in Garforth, Leeds, by animal volunteer Lucy Roche, who immediately suspected he was no ordinary stray. The Cat Action Trust 1977 branch leader safely caught the cat and took him to a vet, where a routine microchip check revealed the incredible truth: Ginge belonged to a family in Tyne and Wear, the Mirror reports.

Ms Roche said the owner was in a “flood of tears when she called to tell her he had been found and could not believe her missing pet was coming home.”

Volunteers at the colony regularly provided food and drink for Ginge when he first appeared at the facility a few weeks earlier.

“I was stroking him and I thought he’s so friendly he could be somebody’s cat”, Lucy said. Eventually, she was able to catch Ginge in a humane trap before taking him to the vets, where his microchip led them to his owner. The long-lost pet then spent the night at Lucy’s home as his family travelled to collect him.

“He was snuggled up next to me and was flat out snoozing because he was so tired. I don’t think he’s had a good night’s sleep in ages”, Lucy added.

An emotional video uploaded to social media shows the moment Ginge’s owner, Beth, is reunited with the feline the next day, going on to attract attention from around the world. Lucy continued: “We’ve had people from America, New Zealand saying what a wonderful story it is. The support has been overwhelming.”

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She said Ginge’s story also showed the importance of having cats microchipped, as it was the only reason the charity had been able to trace his family. Microchipping became a legal requirement for pet cats in England in 2024.

Cat Action Trust 1977 volunteers visit feral colonies across Leeds to provide food, water and warm shelters, while also arranging veterinary care and neutering where needed. Cats can also be rehomed if the area they are living in is considered unsafe, either with new owners or in rural settings such as farms.

Lucy said the Leeds branch, which is run entirely by volunteers, was receiving “non-stop calls for help” every day. She added: “So many cats are getting abandoned, lost or injured. We just want to make life better for all cats.”

PC Matthew Blades dedicated his life to protecting others with ‘courage, dedication and selflessness’, his wife said

A heartbreaking tribute has been paid to a police officer killed in the line of duty after a devastating crash on the A66. The widow of PC Matthew Blades has described him as her “beloved husband”, “best friend” and the “most devoted father” to their two young sons.

PC Blades, 37, died in the collision in the early hours of Saturday (August 22) after a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way along the dual carriageway crashed into a marked Cleveland Police armed response vehicle.

Fellow officer Pc Tom Clough died in the incident as well when their vehicle was hit by the car carrying Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, and 23-year-olds Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak, who all lost their lives.

In an emotional tribute released by Cleveland Police on Sunday evening, his wife said no words could honour the officer, who she said was loved “beyond words” by family and friends and whose death had left “a space that can never be filled”.

She said: “No words will ever feel like the right words to honour our Matt, my beloved husband, my best friend, and the most devoted father to our two young boys.

“He was an adored son and brother, a perfect son-in-law, and the most fun uncle. He was loved beyond words by all his family and friends, and his loss has left a space that can never be filled.

Describing the father of two, she added that he had dedicated his life to protecting others with “courage, dedication and selflessness”, and that while he died serving the public, “his greatest legacy will always be the love he gave to his family”.

“He gave his life in the line of duty, protecting and serving others with courage, dedication and selflessness. The pain of losing him is beyond words, and our lives will never be the same. Neither will the love he gave us ever fade.

“Our children will grow up knowing what an incredible father he was and will always be, and I will carry his love, his memory and everything we shared with me always.

“He may have left this world committed to the duty he believed in, but his greatest legacy will always be the love he gave to his family.

“We would also like to express our deepest gratitude and heartfelt thanks to all of the emergency services and to our police family who have stood beside us through the most difficult time of our lives.

“The kindness, compassion, love and unwavering support we have received as a family has meant more to us than words could ever express. Every message, visit, gesture of support and every person who has stood alongside us will never be forgotten. Forever loved. Forever missed. Forever our superhero. Our Matt and Dad”

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By SOPHIA STANFORD, NEWS REPORTER

Published: 12:25 BST, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 23:55 BST, 23 August 2026

The funerals of Jeremy O’Brien and Jack Kennedy, two of the five teenage victims of the M9 crash in Co Kildare, are set to take place

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The funerals of two young victims of the devastating M9 motorway crash last weekend are set to be held this week.

Five teenage boys lost their lives after a high-powered BMW they were travelling in veered the wrong way along the M9, colliding head-on with a family en route to Dublin Airport in the early hours of Sunday, August 16.

The BMW is believed to have been travelling in excess of 120km/h when it struck the Hyundai near Junction 3 of the M9 in Co Kildare at approximately 3am that Sunday morning.

Four occupants of the Hyundai, sisters Niamh and Alma Kinsella and Ella Hendricken, along with a young boy, suffered catastrophic injuries in the collision and remain hospitalised.

Jeremy O’Brien, 18, from Carlow, Alex McCarthy, 16, from Carlow, Joey Carthy, 15, from Athy, Kildare, Jack Kennedy, 17, also from Athy, and Kamil Pustkowski, 17, from Limerick, all perished in the crash, reports the Irish Mirror.

Three of the teenagers have already been laid to rest, with 15 year old Joe Carthy becoming the first of the five to be buried earlier on Friday.

His funeral was held at St Michael’s Church in Athy just before 11.30am, while Alex McCarthy’s service took place in Askea, Carlow, on Friday afternoon.

A small gathering of mourners also assembled in Limerick on Friday to pay their final respects to Kamil Pustkowski, who lay in repose at a local funeral home prior to a cremation ceremony. The funeral mass for Jeremy ‘Bobbles’ O’Brien is scheduled for Monday at 11am at the Church of the Holy Family, Askea, with burial to follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Carlow.

Jack Kennedy’s funeral mass will be held on Tuesday at 11am at St. Michael’s Parish Church, Athy, ahead of a private cremation later that afternoon.

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In 1804, William Blake wrote in his poem Jerusalem of England’s “green and pleasant” land. This idealised vision of English pastoral has resonated through two centuries, fusing the character of the nation with its landscape – those “mountains green” and “pleasant pastures”.

Turned into a hymn by Sir Hubert Parry in 1916, Jerusalem is sung annually at the Last Night of the Proms. It has been adopted by various English sports as an unofficial anthem, including at the Commonwealth Games. It’s invoked regularly by politicians of all persuasions. The “green and pleasant land” has become a powerful emblem for England.

In my book, A History of England in 25 Poems, I’ve traced that “green and pleasant” ideal over a millennium of English writing, as it forges ideas of English identity.

But now, a scorching summer has left this green and pleasant land in flames and we’re warned that this is only the beginning. What could climate crisis mean for our self-image as a nation, and for the stories we tell about ourselves?

Shared experience over 1,300 years

The idea of England as the green and pleasant land doesn’t begin with Blake. It’s part of 1,300 years of tradition in poetry and prose that goes back at least to the writing of the English monk, author and scholar, the Venerable Bede in the eighth century. Bede describes Britain as “an island of the ocean”, filled with green – trees, crops, pasture – filigreed with rivers and springs, and stocked with natural resources.

Since then, English poetry has been steeped in imagery of England’s green.

The 13th-century round-song Sumer Is Icumen In celebrates the arrival of spring.

The seed grows
and the meadow blossoms
and the wood springs (into leaf) now
(Groweþ sed
and bloweþ med
and springþ þe wde nu)

The two-tone call of the cuckoo echoes through the song – a joyful expression of shared experience as the familiar green of seasonal renewal returns.

The climate crisis has a communications problem. How do we tell stories that move people – not just to fear the future, but to imagine and build a better one? This article is part of Climate Storytelling, a series exploring how arts and science can join forces to spark understanding, hope and action.

England’s green is there in the flower-carpeted arbour (a leafy, flower-filled garden) of the 14th-century poem Pearl, where a father lays his head to grieve for his lost daughter, possibly killed by the plague. The arbour is “shaded with plants bright and beautiful” (“schadowed þis worteȝ ful schyre and schene”). It’s the perfect English summer’s day, recognisable to any reader – at odds with the father’s desolation at the loss of his little child.

And there’s the famous springtime of Chaucer’s pilgrims, as they ride out through “April, with its sweet showers” (“Aprill with his shoures soote”) on their way to Canterbury in The Canterbury Tales. All the familiar signs of spring – rain, sunshine, flowers and crops flourishing – inspire these pilgrims to set out on their journey.

In the late 16th century, Shakespeare gives us another evocation of England in Richard II. Here, the dying John of Gaunt describes England as a “blessed plot” and an “other Eden” – an “other Eden” that is delightful and perfect. Yet it’s often forgotten today that Gaunt is actually warning that of losing this “dear, dear land” to rot and ruin.

In search of England

Later, poets celebrate the delightful parkland of great country estates. Ben Jonson’s To Penshurst, first published in 1611, sets the model for the “country house poem”, idealising the perfect pastoral of a country estate as a microcosm of England itself, with “garden flowers”, fertile woods and meadows, and contented, obedient inhabitants under their benevolent master.

In his prose, Edward Thomas wrestled with ideas of what England is or could be.
On the eve of the Great War, Thomas experiences an unexpected moment of stillness in a halt at Adlestrop railway station. In this quiet moment, he seems to get close to it, in the misty, elegiac song “of all the birds / Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire”. Thomas writes elsewhere that he finds England only in “the little things”: in trees, birdsong, nature, green.

This tradition of English pastoral continues right up to today. In the selection of 25 poems in my book, the last words go to contemporary poet Zaffar Kunial, in his poem The Groundsman from his 2022 collection, England’s Green. The Groundsman stands us at the edge of a cricket pitch, by its overgrown boundary in the height of summer. Grasses and wildflowers wave and tangle. A butterfly flutters. The poem sweeps through time and history in the names and stories of flora and fauna, as light as skimming your fingers through summer grasses. Through his green imagery, Kunial is in conversation with William Wordsworth, John Clare, Edmund Spenser – a pantheon of English pastoral through the centuries.

But our climate is changing. This summer’s heat is a harbinger of the new normal. Green fields are yellow and parched. Plants in the UK flower around a month earlier than they did hundreds of years ago, because of global heating. Those singing cuckoos are now on the red conservation list. We’re facing future ecosystem collapse – and it’s already happening now.

If the future of England’s green and pleasant land is precarious, then so might be the stories we tell about ourselves.

Are we ready to let go of a formative national mythology? A verdant, pleasant, temperate and moderate land. A land that begets people of mildness and clemency, not extremes. A green and generative earth that brings forth flourishing and fruitfulness. Will these old emblems still hold? Without our green and pleasant land, do we know who we are?

I hope we’ll save our green England before it’s too late. I want my children to listen to birdsong in spring woodland, just as others have done centuries before them. Today, “green and pleasant” still shapes how people think and talk about England, 1,300 years after Bede. But this is about more than political arguments. Politicians, conservationists, activists – and poets – all have a part to play in helping us write this new map for our country, in a world poised at an environmental turning point.

This article features references to books that have been included for editorial reasons, and may contain links to bookshop.org. If you click on one of the links and go on to buy something, The Conversation UK may earn a commission.

Rugby star Joe Marler will soon be seen on screen, and in Lycra, as one of the formidable athletes taking on the challengers of the BBC gameshow Gladiators – where he will be known as Mauler

Rugby star Joe Marler has revealed his one request following his surprise casting as one of the resident champions on the BBC gameshow Gladiators. The 36-year-old rugby ace has seen his star power rise since appearing as a contestant on the first season of The Celebrity Traitors which aired on the Beeb last year.

And now Joe is to become a more permanent prime time star as one of the intimidating athletes on Gladiators – taking on the mantle of Mauler; a pun on his last name. Gladiators originally ran from 1992 until 2000 on ITV and was revived by the BBC in 2024 with Bradley Walsh and his son Barney as hosts.

The show is due to return for a fourth season in early 2027 – with cameras expected to start rolling before the end of this year. While Joe’s involvement was revealed last month and now he has explained that he feels he needs a bit more time to get fighting fit before squeezing into his Lycra outfit – and asked for a less revealing look.

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He told The Sunday People’s Love Sunday magazine: “My kids love it, particularly my youngest boy. [I was at Soccer Aid with my family.] We walked past Nitro and he says, ‘Daddy, it’s Nitro!’

“He walked over like, ‘Hi, Nitro.’ And I’m like, ‘What? Who is this? You barely say hello to family members, but you’ve gone straight up to Nitro.’ So when the call came in to say, ‘We’d like you to be a Gladiator if you fancy it,’ it was a definite yes.”

The Rugby legend revealed he requested to be the first Gladiator to wear baggy clothes- which will contradict with the tight outfits Gladiators are known to wear and the show creators quickly shut him down.

He then added: “I’m going to need a little bit of time to get as close to Gladiator-ready as possible.”

His involvement was announced by the BBC earlier this month as they prepare to begin filming the 2027 season. A statement declared: “Trading the rugby pitch for the iconic Gladiators arena, Marler will join the epic Gladiators in battle, introducing fans and audiences alike to his new identity – Mauler.

“Mauler, the Gladiator, will make his debut across series 4, where he’ll go head-to-head with some of the Contenders in special appearances packed with power, personality and plenty of surprises.”

And the bulletin added: “Known for his uncompromising style of play and larger-than-life sense of humour, Joe has built a reputation as one of the UK’s most entertaining sporting personalities. Now, he’s taking on an entirely new challenge as he joins the ranks of the Gladiators, bringing his trademark physicality and competitive spirit to one of television’s toughest arenas.”

As well as being a star of rugby, Celebrity Traitors, and now Gladiators, Joe is also the host of a popular podcast titled Joe Marler Will See You Now. A recent guest was Prince Harry – which drew chuckles as the host and Prince discussed their daily grooming routines.

Joe, however, later revealed he suffered a backlash for inviting the Prince onto his podcast – which he co-hosts with comedian Jake Bhardwaj. He told The Mirror+: “We put some prep in but it crept up on us and I was nervous, thinking about the whole thing and also the polarising public opinion of it.

“Jake just said, ‘Calm down and think about what we want to achieve from having him as a guest.’ I knew I liked him. I was Team Harry, if there were teams or whatever.”

He added: “I knew that there would be some level of backlash to whatever question or whatever answer he gave.

“But I didn’t want that to stop me and Jake from being genuine and in the moment. I wanted him and us to be present and to have the experience. I didn’t want to overthink things or not ask a particular question because of how it might be received. But the level of vitriol that comes with him, the social media backlash… What is the matter with some people?”

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Published: 22:24 BST, 23 August 2026 | Updated: 22:59 BST, 23 August 2026

President Donald Trump‘s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has met with House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries.

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The meeting between the highest ranking House Democrat and top Trump confidant, first reported on by the New York Times, took place in Manhattan ‘in recent weeks.’

The pair reportedly discussed housing, immigration and the rising cost of living during the meeting, which was arranged through a mutual friend. 

Despite their political differences, Jeffries and Kushner have worked together before, helping advance the bipartisan First Step Act criminal justice reform law in 2018. 

The meeting comes ahead of the midterm elections, as Democrats seek to regain control of Congress and Jeffries positions himself as a potential House speaker, if he can maintain control of the incoming members of his party which are set to contain a number of socialist Democrat whom Jeffries and his aligned groups did not back in their respective primaries.

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A number of progressive candidates have beat out members of Jeffries’ caucus, unseating longtime Democratic lawmakers.

Three candidates backed by socialist New York mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries in June, among them Brad Lander, who once ran against Mamdani for mayor and who ousted Dan Goldman as the congressman sought a third term.

Adriano Espaillat, the 71-year-old chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, was toppled by Mamdani-backed Darializa Avila Chevalier.

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Trump’s son in law Jared Kusher has been serving as an unofficial adviser in the president’s second term 

House Minority Leader Hakeem could be asked to work with the Trump administration if Democrats regain control of  the House in November

In Colorado, 29-year-old Democratic socialist Melat Kiros unseated Diana DeGette after nearly 30 years in Congress.

Throughout the first two years of President Donald Trump’s second administration, Republicans have held a trifecta in Washington, controlling the White House, the Senate, and the House of Representatives.

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But now, Republicans face an uphill battle to keep their sweeping power as the midterm elections quickly approach.

An exclusive Daily Mail/JL Partners poll in July showed that voters said they’d vote for a Democratic candidate in the upcoming November midterm elections – by over nine points – a full point increase from a month earlier.

And even Trump himself has cast doubt on the GOP’s chance at success with concerns about whether conservative voters will show up to vote this fall – especially because he’s not on the ballot.

‘If I don’t run, will those people go out and vote, and that’s the one thing I can’t tell,’ Trump said recently.

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Despite this, Republicans are trouncing Democrats in fundraising, both nationally and in key battleground races. It’s an indication that control of Congress will be decided not by Washington insiders, but by the voters who turn out in battleground districts nationwide.