Graduated driving licences are being introduced in Northern Ireland next month

More than 23,000 people have been killed or seriously injured in crashes involving a driver aged 17 to 24 in the past five years, police have warned.

Analysis of figures from the Department of Transport between 2021 and 2025 show that the accidents included 7,500 crashes where the driver was in that age bracket, 4,000 who were passengers being driven by a young driver, and 11,600 other road users including pedestrians and people in other cars.

Around a fifth of all road accidents that end with death or serious injury involve young drivers, defined as those age 17 to 24.

The data also suggest that young drivers are more likely to be involved in single vehicle crashes that lead to death or serious injury.

Nearly a third of motorists in that age bracket who were involved in collisions that saw someone killed or seriously injured (KSI) were in single vehicle accidents, compared to 23% of all drivers.

Weekends and evenings are thought to be high risk times, with more KSI young driver accidents happening on Saturdays, the National Police Chiefs’ Council said.

Rural roads were more dangerous than urban, with twice as many crashes of this kind taking place on country roads, and young people in rural areas twice as likely to be involved in such an accident – 87 per 100,000 people compared with 43 per 100,000 in urban areas.

Police are encouraging parents to continue to supervise their children’s driving in the months after they pass their test, as part of a wider national scheme called Operation Spotlight, timed to coincide with the return to school and university, darker nights and worsening weather.

Graduated driving licences are being introduced in Northern Ireland next month – including a six-month wait between getting a provisional licence and taking a practical test, restrictions on carrying passengers at night and displaying an R plate for two years – but the rest of the UK has no such plans.

Similar schemes in countries including Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland and parts of the US have reduced the number of crashes involving young drivers by between five and 40% depending on the rules in place.

Chief Superintendent Marc Clothier, Deputy National Coordinator in the National Roads Policing Coordination Centre, said: “Young drivers are disproportionately represented in serious and fatal collisions, despite driving substantially fewer miles than the average driver.

“Inexperience and the inability to assess risk are two of the most impactful factors in young driver safety on the roads and every decision taken when driving a vehicle has an impact so this is where parents and peers can be influential.

“Collectively we can support young people to use vehicles and the roads safely, maintaining their independence, helping them to develop their skills and ultimately reducing the risk of harm.”

Concerns were raised over the summer about social media posts appearing to celebrate reckless driving, including extreme speeds and driving the wrong way down major roads.

But Commander Kyle Gordon, National Coordinator at the National Roads Policing Coordination Centre, said the danger of young drivers is not a new phenomenon, and that the proportion of KSIs involving young drivers has dropped in the past 20 years as social media has emerged and expanded.

He said: “Let’s not kid ourselves, this is not a new phenomenon.

“Long before any of us had smartphones in our pockets, long before any of us knew what an Instagram post was, insurance companies absolutely understood just how dangerous young people could be on the road in the wrong circumstances.

“Young people, for all sorts of reasons, some that are nothing to do with themselves, just their biology and their makeup, are just more dangerous on the road until they understand that risk.”

He said Britons “for many years have been complacent around road harm”, even though the statistics show that the equivalent of one person every four minutes is hurt on UK roads.

“If this was any other area of public health policy, there would be a massive outcry, we would be being asked to do much, much more,” he said.

Dr Stephanie Alger, whose son Etienne was killed at the age of 18 when his car came off the road down an embankment in Derbyshire in June 2020, said it is important to remember that “behind every number is a tragic story”.

She had been concerned that her son was too young to drive at 17, and may take additional risks because he had Asperger’s, but also wanted him to be able to socialise.

He was driving in Dove Holes in Derbyshire at 66mph in wet weather and unknowingly had a nail in his tyre at the time of the crash.

The three passengers in the car survived, but Etienne, who preferred to be called Justin, suffered a catastrophic brain injury when the car hit a stone wall.

She and her husband had the haunting experience of sitting with her son for two hours after he was taken off life support before he died.

“I thought it was a bit like in the films where you take someone off life support and they die within five minutes,” she said.

But in fact the family had to endure “two hours of him sort of gasping for air, and asking the doctors to give him more morphine, which of course they’re not allowed to do, to end his life more quickly”.

“It was just horrendous to watch, and and he died, and we went home without our son,” she said.

The couple have set up a charity, Just.Bathe, which provides toiletry kits to allow parents to bathe their child one final time as they lie in hospital.

Behavioural scientist Dr Elizabeth Box, who has helped develop advice for parents with the charity IAM RoadSmart said: “Passing the driving test is an important milestone, but it isn’t the point at which learning ends.

“The first months of independent driving are a particularly important period, as young drivers are still developing the experience and judgment that help them recognise and manage risk.

“Parents and guardians can play an important role during this transition by helping young drivers manage their exposure to risk while that experience develops.

“In many countries, graduated driver licensing systems take a staged approach to driving independently, limiting exposure to higher-risk situations such as driving late at night or carrying young passengers while novice drivers gain experience.

“While we don’t currently have this kind of system in Great Britain, families can adopt some of the same principles themselves, agreeing rules about when young people drive and how many passengers they carry, and gradually increasing independence as their experience develops.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Our first road safety strategy in more than a decade is tackling the root causes of deaths and injuries on our roads, and we are consulting on minimum learning periods, lowering the alcohol limit for novice drivers, and cracking down on drug driving.”

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Six contestants from Southeast Asia are likely to miss this year’s Miss Universe after a dispute between the pageant’s two ownership groups put their eligibility in doubt.

On 18 September, JKN Universe LLC, the company that owns the Miss Universe brand, said contestants from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, and Singapore wouldn’t be eligible to compete at the 75th Miss Universe in Puerto Rico in November.

In a statement, it said Miss Universe Eastern Pte Ltd, a company run by Thai businessman Nawat Itsaragrisil, had no authority to grant or transfer rights to the Miss Universe brand.

It said the franchise agreements for the six countries had been made without a valid licensing agreement with JKN Universe and were therefore “unauthorised” and “void” from the outset.

The announcement was rejected by MU East, responsible for the pageant’s eastern territories, which said it had “not reviewed or approved” the statement and that it did not represent the agreed position of Miss Universe’s two owners.

MU East claimed that it had the contractual right to send “six duly selected and eligible delegates” from Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, and Singapore whose participation “shouldn’t be blocked, delayed or affected” by the disagreement between the two sides.

It also rejected JKN Universe’s attempt to invalidate the franchise agreements. “MU East does not accept that valid agreements made under its territorial rights can be cancelled through a one-sided public statement,” it said.

This puts the contestants in an extraordinary position: one side of the organisation claims they cannot compete while the other says their places are protected by its agreements with the national franchise holders.

Itsaragrisil was appointed chief executive of MU East on 31 July and was described as taking charge of a team representing 95 countries.

He said he would work with national directors, delegates and commercial partners across the eastern region.

Speaking at a press conference on 18 September, he backed the six contestants and said they would travel to Puerto Rico despite JKN Universe’s announcement.

“I am not going, but the contestants are definitely going,” Itsaragrisil said, according to The Nation.

Of the six affected countries, only Thailand has chosen its representative so far, with Tharina Botes crowned Miss Universe Thailand in August. Malaysia and Vietnam are due to pick their contestants next month.

At last year’s competition in Bangkok, several contestants walked out of a pre-pageant event after Itsaragrisil publicly reprimanded Miss Mexico Fátima Bosch over her participation in promotional activities.

Itsaragrisil called Bosch a “dumb head” during the exchange and asked security to remove her from the event.

The confrontation led to several contestants, including then-Miss Universe Victoria Kjær Theilvig of Denmark, to leave in support of Bosch.

Miss Universe president Raúl Rocha later condemned Itsaragrisil’s behaviour and said his involvement in the 2025 competition would be “restricted”.

Itsaragrisil apologised, saying in Thai: “If someone doesn’t feel well, if someone feels uncomfortable, if anyone was affected, I apologise to everyone. I already spoke and apologised to the rest of the girls in the room, about seventy-five girls.”

Cleaning influencer Chantel Mila has shared a homemade spray recipe which she says helps repel spiders and dust mites.

As autumn arrives, numerous troublesome household pests reach their busiest periods. While rats and mice are fairly obvious, there are two offenders that often go unnoticed – spiders and dust mites.

Although most British spiders are harmless, dust mites, which belong to the arachnid family, can cause greater problems.

Dust mites may seem like a minor issue, given they’re only 0.3mm in size, but they could actually be responsible for why you’re feeling under the weather.

If you’ve been suffering from coughing, congestion, and sneezing, your home could be hosting these unwanted seasonal guests. What you believed was hay fever could actually be something entirely different.

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While these pests live in homes throughout the year, their populations surge during this season. Autumn marks spider mating season, and dust mite numbers multiply during this time as homes grow warmer and more humid when people begin switching the heating on.

Though maintaining a clean and tidy home can help deter spiders and dust mites, it’s not always the most efficient approach.

Posting on their TikTok page @mama_mila_, cleaner Chantel Mila has revealed her preferred technique for “repelling” spiders and dust mites from bedrooms.

She captioned the video: “Say goodbye to spiders and dust mites in your bedroom. This mix is my go-to to leave your room bug-free and smelling amazing.”

Chantel explained that all you require is one cup of water, half a cup of white vinegar and a few drops of either peppermint or lavender oil.

White vinegar is a highly adaptable natural cleanser and an effective repellent against spiders and dust mites. Its sharp, acidic odour drives them away and discourages them from coming back.

The most potent ingredient is the essential oil. Peppermint and lavender are fragrances that can completely overwhelm spiders and dust mites.

It leaves spiders feeling disorientated and impair their ability to locate other insects to feed on, making them far less inclined to remain in your home.

Peppermint oil is rich in menthol and menthone – two compounds that dust mites simply cannot tolerate. These natural substances are harmful to dust mites, so they will avoid any bedding or furniture that has been treated with it.

How to deter spiders and dust mites in autumn

Begin by taking a spray bottle and filling it with one cup of water, half a cup of vinegar and several drops of peppermint or lavender oil.

While the ingredients are combining in the bottle, vacuum your mattress before applying the solution generously. Chantel pointed out, “This powerful mix can be used on your mattress, bedhead and bedsides to repel spiders and dust mites.”

Spray the solution liberally around doorways, windows, darker corners and along the skirting boards throughout your home. Reapply every few weeks or so, and you’ll maintain a reliable barrier that helps keep dust and unwanted pests well away.

Presley Gerber‘s ex-girlfriend Charlotte D’Alessio shared an emotional tribute to the late star after his shock death at 27 on Sunday. 

The 28-year-old Canadian model, who dated Presley for around two years from 2018, posted a series of intimate photos of the pair, writing that they shared a ‘pure love’ and that she was ‘very angry’ about his death.

Presley, the only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford, 60, and millionaire businessman Rande Gerber, 64, died at a rehab facility in Los Angeles. His death is being investigated as a suspected overdose. 

D’Alessio reflected on their time together as she shared a photo of them embracing on a dock, with the model pictured in a bikini alongside Presley. 

‘Shared a pure love with you & for that I thank & honor your life. You deserved more time. You deserved more life. Very angry ab this,’ she wrote on the photo.

On another black and white photo of them hugging she wrote: ‘Love you Pres. always. Up there, down here. don’t ever doubt that. we all love you so much. I hope you can feel it.’ 

The Canadian model posted a series of intimate photos of the pair, writing that they shared a ‘pure love’ and that she was ‘very angry’ about his death

She also included what appeared to be a photo from a costume party, showing the pair posing together while holding prop guns. 

In another slide, Presley was pictured lounging on a bed with a rolled-up cigarette in his mouth while petting a small white dog.

She also uploaded a nostalgic clip of Presley taking a scenic walk toward the ocean, with the white dog trotting close behind him.

‘I will always remember you this way,’ she wrote over the video.

The duo reportedly met through Presley’s sister, Kaia Gerber, 25, in December of 2017.  

Aside from his romance with D’Alessio, Presley had also been linked to reality TV star Lexi Wood back in 2022 and model Cayley King in 2017.

On Sunday, it was announced that Presley died in a rehab facility following a years-long struggle with drugs, panic attacks and his mental health. 

A Santa Monica Police Department spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Mail on Monday that emergency services were called to a luxury rehab Presley had been staying in on Sunday morning – before he was pronounced dead at the scene.

On another black and white photo of them hugging she wrote: ‘Love you Pres. always. Up there, down here. don’t ever doubt that. we all love you so much. I hope you can feel it’

In another slide, Presley – the only son of supermodel Cindy Crawford, 60, and millionaire businessman Rande Gerber, 64 – was pictured lounging on a bed with a rolled-up cigarette 

She also uploaded a nostalgic clip of Presley taking a scenic walk toward the ocean, with a white dog trotting close behind him. ‘I will always remember you this way,’ she wrote 

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‘On September 20, 2026, at approximately 9.35am, Santa Monica Police Department officers responded to a report of a possible overdose in the 1000 block of Berkeley Street. Upon arrival, officers located an adult male who was deceased,’ the statement read. 

‘SMPD detectives are investigating the death as a suspected overdose. At this time, there is no indication of foul play. The investigation remains ongoing.’

People reports dispatch recordings show a call went out at 9.35am on Sunday for a ‘cardiac arrest’ at the unnamed facility.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has not determined the official cause of death yet but the autopsy was completed as of Monday morning and Presley’s body was ready for release.

Per TMZ, Presley had been staying in a separate house on the grounds of the LA rehab, and had roommates. It was also claimed Presley had only checked into the rehab on Saturday night, hours before his death.

The Daily Mail has reached out to representatives for the Gerber family and has yet to hear back.

The medical examiner’s office told People on Monday: ‘Death was pronounced at 09.45 hours on September 20, 2026, by responding paramedics.’

The model had been open about his decade-long struggle with drug addiction and mental health struggles.

Earlier this year, he posted about having a ‘Pre-ibogaine flood dose’ at a Mexican treatment clinic, a single, high-dose administration of the naturally occurring psychoactive substance ibogaine.

Ibogaine is derived from an African shrub and is reported to help withdrawal symptoms. The high dose is designed to induce a profound ‘reset.’

Presley’s parents and his sister Kaia praised him for his ‘courage’ in response to his post about starting the treatment in March.

Presley dated D’Alessio for around two years from 2018; The pair pictured at a at the Harper’s BAZAAR event in New York in 2018 

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The duo reportedly met through Presley’s sister, Kaia Gerber, 25, in December of 2017; Presley and D’Alessio pictured at Craig’s Restaurant in Los Angeles in 2018

Crawford commented: ‘You are a warrior! Walked thru the fire to find yourself! So proud!’ while Kaia added: ‘That’s my brother I am so damn proud.’

And Rande wrote: ‘I’m so proud of you and your courage. Facing what’s hard takes real strength and watching you find your way back to yourself is everything. I love you so much.’

Ibogaine is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the US but it is legal or permitted on prescription in countries such as Canada and Brazil while it is used in specialized clinics in Mexico.

Presley praised the Beond Ibogaine clinic in Cancun – where treatment starts at $12,500 for a ten-day program – for its ‘incredible, caring, kind and on-their-s*** team.’

Presley said in a video caption: ‘I was absolutely terrified, and I knew I would be again if I ever had to face something like this (helps to not go into the situations you do that get ya there but that’s life sometimes.)

‘My mantras were love yourself and lis gotta be the last time for this reason. letting go of control didn’t come easy, but I trusted there was something bigger than me guiding it.’

‘I knew why i was there. I faced what I had been running from, and somewhere in all of it, i started finding my way back to myself… We shall see… Praying it’s the last time I have to come back.

‘Next time I’d like to choose And absolutely can’t forget the incredible caring kind and on-their-s*** team. Helps a lot haha. And I made some dope ass friends there #iboga #ibogaine #rewireyourbrain #loveyourself #mentalhealth.’

Beond Ibogaine commented on the post at the time, writing: ‘Thank you for sharing this so openly. We know how much courage that moment takes, and we’re really proud of you for facing it with so much honesty and heart. It was an honor to support you.’

On Sunday, it was announced that Presley died in a rehab facility following a years-long struggle with drugs, panic attacks and his mental health; Seen in January

Kaia recently said her brother’s troubles made her want to be the ‘easy’ child for their parents; pictured in May with her family

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Beond Ibogaine’s website states that ‘Ingesting a large enough dose induces a temporary psychedelic experience that can last several hours, normally with no significant side-effects.’

Despite its ban, public figures including singer Melissa Etheridge, who lost her 21-year-old son Beckett to a fentanyl overdose in 2020, and Khloe Kardashian’s ex-husband Lamar Odom have endorsed Ibogaine’s benefits.

Last November, Presley revealed he had taken a step back from social media to ‘take care of my own mental health for a bit.’

One month later, he opened up about his personal life in a candid social media video. He started sharing ‘Mental Health Mondays’ videos on his Instagram. In one, he listed the medication he takes for ‘night terrors’ and ‘panic attacks.’

‘I feel like honesty is the best policy,’ he began.

He also said his use of medication had been ‘fluctuating up and down depending on what’s been going on in my life.’

‘Unfortunately, I’ve had a lot of loss in many different forms recently, so that is not an excuse, but it’s the reason why I am where I’m at now,’ he shared.

He did not go into detail about the ‘loss’ he referenced but went on to explain that he would experience panic attacks that were ‘really, really bad.’

In one particularly bleak admission, he confessed he no longer even knew precisely how much of one medication he had been taking.

‘Who f***ing knows anymore,’ he said.

Earlier this year, he posted about having a ‘Pre-ibogaine flood dose’ at a Mexican treatment clinic, a single, high-dose administration of the naturally occurring psychoactive substance ibogaine

Presley had been open about his decade-long struggle with drug addiction and mental health struggles; Seen with his parents in 2024

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The tragedy cuts short the life of a model who had seemingly been destined to follow his famous mother into fashion from an early age.

A spokesman for Crawford told the Daily Mail on Sunday: ‘The family is asking for privacy during this very difficult and painful time.’

Presley started modeling at age 15 and was featured in campaigns for fashion labels such as Dolce & Gabbana and Calvin Klein.

Presley was signed to IMG models and appeared in a 2018 Pepsi ad with his mother.

He also struggled with mental health at a young age and was arrested for driving under the influence in 2019.

Presley had also talked about the lack of ‘direction’ he has from doctors when it comes to his medication.

He spoke openly about feeling lost as he attempted to navigate his mental health problems – even revealing that he had seen 15 psychiatrists.

The model complained that doctors had given him an overwhelming array of medications but too little guidance about how to manage them.

His death comes just weeks after his younger sister Kaia opened up about the enormous toll her brother’s struggles had taken on their famous family – admitting the turmoil had effectively ‘leveled everyone.’

‘When something like that happens in a family, it kind of levels everyone,’ she told Vogue.

Kaia also revealed last month that watching her brother battle his problems led her to cast herself as the family’s ‘easy’ child and someone who did not want to add another burden for their parents.

She explained: ‘I think that’s also why I started to self-​identify as the easy one and never wanted to ask for help. Because it felt like too much to have two children who were needing.’

But she also praised her brother’s willingness to strip away the secrecy surrounding his struggles.

Last November, Presley shared how he had taken a ‘step back’ to take care of himself

She described his honesty and openness as ‘refreshing,’ contrasting it with the intensely private way their parents had traditionally handled family life.

Presley was open about his mental health struggles, noting how he had issues from ‘a very young age’ – and labeled it as ‘the ultimate pandemic.’

During an appearance on the Studio 22 podcast in 2023, Presley had shared: ‘It is such a big part of my life. It’s a 24/7 job, and there’s so much to it.’

Even while struggling himself, Presley said he hoped his experiences might ultimately allow him to help others facing their own battles.

‘Having struggled with mental health, depression and some other things that come along with that, I think that whether I help one person or a hundred people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that’s all I need to do,’ he said.

Scroll through TikTok and you’ll find videos of China’s “cyberpunk” megacities – with their vertiginous skyscrapers, dazzling drone light shows and high-speed trains – racking up millions of views. Since the country scrapped its visa requirement for UK passport holders in February, China is having a moment with British travellers – and the social media trend known as “chinamaxxing” is partly fuelling the boom.

Amid this surge in interest, one city is getting the panda’s share of the spotlight: Chengdu, the country’s fourth-largest city and the capital of Sichuan province. According to internal data provided by travel booking platform Trip.com, UK searches for the destination increased 133 per cent year on year. Before its TikTok virality, Chengdu was mostly associated with tongue-numbing Sichuan peppercorns. But there’s plenty more to love about this laidback city, as I quickly came to discover during my visit.

My first morning in Chengdu was spent at Heming Tea House, a 1920s open-air pavilion in People’s Park, the city’s green lung. Today, it remains popular as ever with locals and tourists alike.

I had barely settled into my bamboo armchair when a waiter in cheongsam (a traditional Chinese long robe) appeared at my table, brandishing a copper teapot with the longest spout I had ever seen. In a few swift moves, he tossed it over his head, twirling it in wide circles like a nunchuck, before dispensing liquid into a tiny gai wan (lidded bowl).

These kung-fu-like gestures are part of chan cha, a traditional pouring ritual recognised by Unesco as an Intangible Cultural Heritage. It was made clear that I could hang around for as long as I wanted: in Chengdu, it’s customary to savour tea and people-watch for hours, thanks to unlimited refills.

One reason for this unhurriedness is that locals like to have their ears cleaned while sipping tea, also known as cai’er. The chime of metal tongs was a constant soundtrack as practitioners roamed around offering their services. This ancient practice originated in Sichuan and involves extracting earwax with an assortment of tools, including goose feathers and minuscule tongs, and is said to be deeply relaxing – like having an itch scratched.

It was too early in the day for me to contend with the thought of a metal object entering my ear canal, but thankfully, another form of entertainment beckoned. For a reasonable 40 yuan (£4.50) surcharge, I finished my tea over a live performance of Sichuan opera. The undisputed highlight of this theatrical tradition is bian lian, or face-changing, where performers swipe between colourful silk masks in milliseconds with a dramatic snap of a fan. Watching bian lian at a tea house was the quintessential Chengdu’er experience, and I was giddy to be doing as the Romans do.

Read more: I’ve just returned from Shanghai – here’s why you should visit China now

All this action left me famished, so I beelined to Yu Zi Bu, a “fly restaurant” – Sichuanese slang for family-run eateries that might look a bit unkempt, but serve excellent food. Happily, no flies were present on my visit, and I tucked into a moreish bowl of tian shui mian, a bowl of thick, udon-like noodles drenched in a rich sesame and chilli sauce.

Tian shui mian was recommended to me as a spice novice, as it’s considered extremely mild by locals. Yet I quickly discovered that “not spicy” is still very much so when you find yourself in the spice capital of China. My tongue went completely numb – and a mouth-watering sweetness, followed by an intense savouriness then took over, leaving me craving more.

To make sense of this intoxicating flavour profile, I consulted Jing Gao, a Chengdu-born chef and founder of chilli sauce brand Fly by Jing. “Sichuan spice is often described as mala, which means ‘numbing’ and ‘hot’ in Mandarin,” she explained. “Erjingtiao, the signature peppers used in Sichuan cooking, is where the ‘numb’ comes from. It has a gentle, lingering heat rather than an aggressive burn, rounded off by a floral, citrusy fragrance.”

With its position in the Sichuan Basin, Chengdu boasts a mild climate and fertile soil – ideal conditions for those fiery chillies to thrive. It also provides an ideal natural habitat for China’s most beloved export: the giant panda. There are six panda research centres in Sichuan, two of which are easily accessible from Chengdu.

At the sprawling Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, over 200 pandas receive the full celebrity treatment. This facility is at the forefront of conservation efforts, providing its chubby inhabitants with lush bamboo forests and state-of-the-art nurseries for its tiny cubs. Devoted fans queue from as early as 6am just to catch a glimpse of Hua Hua, the base’s most famous resident. Thanks to an endearingly spherical, rice-ball-like physique, the six-year-old has become a social media celebrity in China, spawning a collection of merch ranging from lollipops to smartphone cases.

Read more: What it’s like to stay in a traditional hanok in Seoul

Daunted by the two-hour-plus wait to see Hua Hua, I found it equally rewarding to stroll around the enclosures of her less famous peers; these spaces were less crowded and you can really get a sense of a panda’s – rather enviable – life of leisure. Watching them nap for 10 hours a day, clumsily tumble across the grass and tussle with each other gave me such a boost of serotonin.

Even if you can’t make it to a research centre, panda sightings are virtually guaranteed in Chengdu. The adorable animal motif can be seen around town, from taxis to trashcans. The coolest homage, however, can be found atop a luxury shopping centre. In a smart bid to boost visitor numbers, Chengdu IFS Mall installed a colossal panda sculpture on its roof in 2014. From street level, onlookers are treated to the comical sight of its backside dangling over the edge of the building. The strategy clearly paid off; I spotted throngs of tourists taking selfies with the iconic panda bum.

Another landmark is the Tower of Life, an installation of six huge bamboo-shaped pillars and one of Chengdu’s quintessential cyberpunk photo spots. After sunset, the pillars cycle through neon-lit rainbow colours while spewing water, sending crowds dodging the sudden mist. It’s a futuristic marvel to behold and translates incredibly on camera. I also recommend heading to Jiaozi Ring Bridge, which faces the Tianfu Twin Towers, a set of skyscrapers with massive LED façades. Each night, they illuminate the skyline with light shows, frequently projecting – what else? – cartoons of pandas.

Read more: The crowd-free alternatives to Goa for an Indian beach break

My hotel, Upper House Chengdu, was a very convenient base for exploring the city; it’s just a 10-minute walk from IFS Mall and Chunxi Road, the main pedestrian shopping street, which has direct shuttle buses to the panda research centres. It also captures Chengdu’s knack for mixing old and new. The lobby occupies a restored Qing-dynasty courtyard residence, once the office of a translator, with rows of red lanterns strung through century-old plane trees, while bedrooms are housed in new-build brick-and-glass buildings with bamboo motifs printed on the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The hotel’s attention to local heritage continues at Mi Xun Spa and Teahouse, another restored Qing-dynasty home, where bamboo strips from Qingcheng Mountain are incorporated into massages, and a collection of rare Sichuan teas – including the fragrant Mengding Huangya, a yellow bud tea purported to support digestive health – are served.

By the end of my trip, it was Chengdu’s easygoing atmosphere that stayed with me most. Wandering through the residential neighbourhood of Yulin, I saw people pulling up plastic chairs on the pavement to drink takeaway bubble tea, while groups of aunties played mahjong by the roadside. Vintage shops and coffee shops occupy former garages in residential compounds, and I could hear woks clattering in ground-floor kitchens as I thumbed through thrifted football jerseys. Gao puts it perfectly: “Chengdu has a very live-and-let-live quality, there’s less pressure to perform busyness [compared to Chinese cities like Shanghai and Beijing].”

Perhaps the best way to describe it is with a word I heard repeatedly during my time here: básì, the Sichuanese expression for a state of comfort and contentment. After a few days here, I understood exactly what this meant.

Venus Wong travelled to China with support from The Set Collection

Venus’ tips for visiting China

How to get there

Air China operates direct flights from London Gatwick to Chengdu Tianfu Airport three times a week. Flight time is around 12 hours.

Where to stay

Double rooms at Upper House Chengdu start at £285 per night. The city centre hotel offers three restaurants, a bar, a spa with a subterranean pool, and an impressive lobby restored from a heritage building.

For more affordable stays, look into homegrown budget hotel chains such as Ji Hotel, Atour and Hotel Joya, with numerous locations scattered across the city. Ji Hotel Chunxi Road Taikoo Li is just a short stroll from IFS Mall. Rates start from £43. Requesting a non-smoking room is highly recommended, as smoking indoors (especially at budget hotels) is still widely socially accepted.

Read more: This hotel shows off the beauty of China’s Minshan mountains

Corin and Tricia Dalby from Bolton are backing the Every Hospice Matters campaign, which calls for sustainable funding for hospice care to become a national priority.

The petition has already gathered more than 95,400 signatures, gaining more than 30,000 in the past week alone.

Mr Dalby, who runs the social enterprise Box Power CIC with his wife Tricia, said: “We are now so close.

“More than 95,400 people have taken the time to read this petition and make up their own minds, and tens of thousands have shared it with others.

“My hope is simply that people across Bolton will read it too and decide for themselves whether they want to add their name.

“If enough people do, we could go to Downing Street with 100,000 voices behind us.”

Support has come from MPs, peers, and families who have shared personal stories of how hospice care, or the lack of it, has affected their lives.

Some described loved ones spending their final days in hospital wards due to unavailable hospice beds, while others spoke about the comfort and care provided when hospice support was accessible.

Mr Dalby said: “This isn’t really about a number on a screen.

“Behind every signature is a person who has stopped, read what is happening and decided it matters to them.

“Bolton has always been a town that rallies around its hospices and its most vulnerable people.

“I’d love to see whether, together, we can help close that final gap.”

The petition remains open for signatures.

It can be viewed at https://www.change.org/Everyhospicematters.

Dolly Parton‘s nephew and longtime security chief Bryan Seaver has been dismissed from his position overseeing her properties, less than a month after the death of the music icon at 80.

Seaver on Wednesday received a notice reviewed by TMZ that he and his security organizations – which provided protection for Parton’s Nashville home, museum and a warehouse – were being replaced by another company.

Insiders told the outlet that they believed Parton’s manager Danny Nozell and Pinnacle Bank were responsible for the decision to terminate him and his employees.

A new security team was deployed to the locations previously overseen by Seaver’s companies on Wednesday after the termination notice was issued.

Sources close to Seaver said he and his associates had been ‘dismayed by the unexpected and, so far, unexplained actions’ carried out in the wake of Parton’s  August 25 passing.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Bryan Seaver, Danny Nozell and representatives for Pinnacle Bank for further comment on the story.

Dolly Parton’s nephew and longtime security chief Bryan Seaver has been dismissed from his position overseeing her properties, less than a month after the death of the music icon at 80 

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‘We remain unshakably resolved to fulfill her final directive to protect her family, and we refuse to be intimidated by those whose actions we believe are being taken in bad faith,’ Seaver’s camp told TMZ.

His camp told the outlet they believed the actions had been taken ‘with the intent to profit from the life of someone who willingly gave so much.’

According to the outlet, the notice issued to Seaver indicated that the DP Dean Trust had been overseeing Parton’s business and properties in the wake of her passing.

Seaver retains a personal interest in her trust moving forward, according to the report.

Seaver, whose mother Cassie is Parton’s sister, had been appointed by the late Jolene singer to reveal her death in a public statement.

Following Dolly’s August 25 passing following a battle with cancer, Seaver had been seen in a clip in which he revealed the sad news.

‘Dolly has lived in the light, and is in the arms of Jesus, surely met by [late husband] Carl, her parents, and countless others who have watched her and longed for her to meet them in the heavens,’ Seaver said in the emotional clip.

In the clip, Seaver noted that his father Larry had held the security position before him.

Seaver on Wednesday received a notice reviewed by TMZ that he and his security organizations – which provided protection for Parton’s Nashville home, museum and a warehouse – were being replaced by another company; Seaver seen accompanying Parton to a Jimmy Kimmel Live appearance in 2016 

Sources close to Seaver said he and his associates had been ‘dismayed by the unexpected and, so far, unexplained actions’ carried out in the wake of Parton’s August 25 passing; he’s seen above with the singer in 2017 in NYC

Parton pictured at the ACM Awards in Las Vegas in March of 2022 

Seaver is pictured as a child with Parton in a photo he posted on Instagram

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He said that he had been her security head for the past ‘two decades,’ and had been working for her over the past four decades.

‘I first went on the road with Dolly as a kid, getting a taste of the road life in the early 1980s,’ Seaver said. ‘Dolly opened doors not just for me, but for her entire family to reach the potential we didn’t even know was possible.

‘Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians and dreamers from every walk of life and across every continent. By her example, we believed that anything was possible.’

He added, ‘She never saw a door she couldn’t open, and the doors she opened made and changed history. My family and I have shared a lifetime of beautiful memories with Dolly, but so have you.’

Parton has been well-remembered in the near month since her passing, which included an expansive tribute at the Primetime Emmy Awards last week which featured Reba McEntire and Sally Field.

Nashville International Airport will be renamed in Parton’s memory following a vote from the Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners weeks back.

Operation Warm Welcome is the cosy name for the British effort to help thousands of terrified Afghans after they won sanctuary in the UK following the Taliban takeover of their country five years ago.

We were told that those rescued during a dramatic airlift included interpreters and other loyal Afghans who, for 20 years, had worked for British forces first dispatched to fight the ‘War on Terror’ after the 9/11 attacks.

By 2021 that mission was over. The West’s battle against the Taliban was lost when the Americans abruptly pulled out. In Britain, people from all walks of life prepared to do their bit for the newly arrived Afghans who were hosted over two years in 82 hotels as they waited for free houses.

Many volunteers would have read about their plight through the Daily Mail’s award-winning Betrayal Of The Brave campaign, which focused exclusively on those courageous Afghans who had helped British forces.

Yet now a shocking picture is emerging about Operation Warm Welcome. It is a dismal portrait of gross Whitehall profligacy, naivety, carelessness and even blatant cheating, which has not only cost the British taxpayer billions of pounds and will continue to burden us financially for decades to come, but has also made it more difficult for those Afghans who helped Britain in Kabul to claim asylum legitimately.

Our investigation has revealed that many of the incoming Afghans were not vetted properly during the hectic evacuation from their country or upon their arrival in the UK.

The Daily Mail has learned that, far from all being loyal interpreters, countless numbers had no connection to the British Armed Forces but invented a back-story or paid local officials a going rate of $5,000 (£3,700) to get a place on the flights. Then, courtesy of the Government’s Operation Warm Welcome, an umbrella title for the various Afghan resettlement schemes, they were allowed to start a new life here.

Astonishingly, some of the rescued Afghans, presumed to be arriving for the first time, already had homes in Britain. They were resettled (and given second houses) after cannily rushing to Afghanistan before the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban. There, we are told by our sources, they coolly collected up family members before the entire clan was flown to Britain in the airlift.

A hotel manager, Jamie Rossiter, has sensationally estimated that just two families among the 160 he got to know personally over two years at his Buckinghamshire hotel had ‘provable’ links to British forces. He made it his job to befriend and talk to his Afghan guests after they arrived in 2021.

‘That low number is based on what they told me. They said they were painters and decorators . . . photocopier repair men, or in random jobs [unconnected to the British operation in Afghanistan],’ he has revealed in an explosive video interview with social commentator and former charity worker Nick Buckley, which is now online and has been watched by thousands.

Jamie, 48, who reported his concerns to the Home Office at the time, adds: ‘We were told [by the Government] they were translators, guides, people that had worked with the British forces . . . so we were quite happy to welcome them. It took a little time for my staff to come to terms with the idea that most of these people didn’t need help and were often richer than them.’

During our own investigation, we have spoken to members of the British Afghan community and those who worked in hotels scattered across the Midlands and southern Britain that took in the newcomers. They have pointed to gaping holes in Operation Warm Welcome, which one hotel manager described ‘like a gold rush from start to finish’.

Everyone involved seemed to be thinking ‘how can we make money out of this’, from taxi drivers taking Afghans to appointments who were then reimbursed by the Government to local councils that received special grants to settle the new arrivals, and the guests themselves.

We have been given a window into the ugly side of Operation Warm Welcome. One whistleblower revealed that some Afghan wives were kept in purdah by their husbands from the moment they arrived.

‘They stayed in their rooms, were not allowed to share communal areas or eat in the hotel restaurant with their menfolk in line with customs they imported from their homeland. Some of the women I never saw at all during their entire stay. They even took their meals in the bedrooms,’ an informant told us. Racism reared its head, too. We have learned that Indian heritage cleaners were upset when Afghans at one hotel told the management that they only wanted a ‘white woman’ tending their rooms. In another case, Afghans demanded the sacking of the entire hotel security team because they were Pakistani – ‘an ethnicity they looked down on,’ said a whistleblower.

Police were called to some hotels to investigate incidents of sickening domestic abuse against wives by husbands, while ‘feral’ teenagers ran amok as their Afghan fathers shrugged their shoulders, telling staff, police and child social workers: ‘There is nothing we can do to control them because we cannot hit our children in your country.’

We have heard reports of bored Afghan men whiling away time by buying porn videos, alcohol and gambling scratch cards in breach of their Islamic faith. Others used free taxi rides to the JobCentre, where they were meant to be searching for work, to peel off to the nearby shopping mall.

Social commentator and former charity worker Nick Buckley revealed in an interview that many Afghans were unconnected to the operation in Afghanistan

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‘They abused British generosity. After a while, the penny dropped at the Home Office and free taxi rides for guests were restricted in most hotels,’ said an Afghan interpreter whom we contacted after being told he had regularly visited the guests to help them with English. Upon arrival, all the Afghans were granted indefinite leave to remain, which allowed them from day one to claim benefits and to work. Local JobCentre staff were sent into the hotels to help them seek tax-paying employment.

‘They preferred the black market, taking shifts as taxi drivers or for food delivery firms. At my hotel, a black van would pick them up in the morning and return them in the evening,’ said one manager, who was surprised to open his front door and find one of his guests, working as a food courier, handing him the takeaway meal that he had just ordered.

To add insult to injury, the Daily Mail has been told that some Afghan families routinely rejected offers of a free house from the Home Office because they ‘didn’t fancy’ the area it was in or because they could save up benefit payments by staying put in the hotel for as long as possible.

One family is believed to have squirrelled away £30,000 in one year from the benefits on offer, which included Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Personal Independence Payment for any resettled Afghans suffering from mental health issues.

‘They also turned down rural homes, hoping to get a house in a city centre near the mosque, the halal shops, their own communities. Some gamed the system by flatly refusing private houses and choosing social housing in the hope they would get the “right to buy” the property at a subsidised price further down the line,’ said our informants.

An extraordinary story told by Jamie Rossiter on the video concerns an Afghan man who is thought to have lived in Britain before the airlift.

He turned his nose up at a free Home Office house in Manchester for himself, his wife and children who were with him at Jamie’s hotel in Buckinghamshire. It transpired he already had a first wife with children living on the south coast. ‘This man didn’t want to shuttle between his two families because of the long journey.’

It is all a far cry from the image portrayed by the Government of the time. It described those ‘called forward’ for evacuation as ‘the Afghans who stood side by side with us in conflict’.

The then Prime Minister Boris Johnson added later, with a flourish: ‘We will never forget the brave sacrifices made by Afghans who chose to work with us, at great risk to themselves. We owe them a huge debt.’

A Home Office factsheet called ‘Warm Welcome in Action’ was released in late 2021, which said £200million had already been committed to help Afghans rebuild their lives, find work, pursue education and integrate in local areas. This money included extra funding for the NHS, schools and local councils during what the Government described as ‘one of the UK’s most ambitious resettlement schemes ever’.

The vexing question of how many rescued Afghans really had links to our British forces remains shrouded in mystery

It all seemed to be running like clockwork. Yet it was the charity volunteers, who had sprang into action when the Afghans first arrived, running fundraisers and cricket matches, whom Mr Rossiter says became disillusioned first.

‘It warmed my heart that so many neighbours living close to my hotel turned up with bags of toiletries and new kids’ toys for our guests,’ he says in the video.

‘Our local charity got frustrated when the Afghans were taken to special warehouses to choose clothes and things. They took all the bundles of clothes and then threw them around my hotel and out of the windows. I had to call the charity, which ended up having to get someone with a van to come to pick up what had been given to them.’

The vexing question of how many rescued Afghans really had links to our British forces remains shrouded in mystery. At the peak of military operations, between 2011 and 2012, there were, according to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), ‘roughly’ 630 local interpreters employed to assist 9,500 servicemen based in the country.

During the entire two-decade conflict, 7,000 local citizens were hired by the British, half as front-line interpreters and the rest as drivers, cooks or administrative staff who were at risk when the Taliban took over.

However, last year, Luke Pollard, Labour’s Minister for the Armed Forces, admitted to the House of Commons that it was ‘not possible’ to provide a tally of those who had been employed by the British during their Afghanistan operations.

This provoked a rebuke from Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, now shadow minister for Defence Procurement, who said that the Afghan resettlement schemes were open to exploitation by ‘criminal, terrorist or hostile’ state actors.

He remarked that if the MoD was uncertain which of the thousands of rescued people worked for the British then it ‘presumably also does not know who they are or what they were doing in Afghanistan [before their arrival here]’.

There was a further bombshell when the Daily Mail successfully exposed a High Court super-injunction hiding a further – this time secret – airlift of Afghans to Britain. This followed an accidental leak in 2022 of a MoD email containing the names of those still applying to come here to escape the Taliban.

A year later, when part of the list appeared on the internet, the then Conservative government was granted the ban, which barred anyone from revealing even its existence or face imprisonment.

The super-injunction was lifted under pressure from the media in July 2025 by which time 900 principal applicants with 3,600 family members on the list had been brought into the UK undercover, at an extra cost of £850million.

This means the total number of resettled Afghans is now approaching 36,000, with the vast majority able to claim state benefits and free or subsidised housing for the rest of their lives.

Some were even given a leg up by a senior figure inside the civil service. The Daily Mail has discovered that two families put on the resettlement flights and given houses worth £850,000 combined in East Sussex were helped by a relative who works for the Home Office in Scotland.

Little wonder that the suspicions linger. ‘One older couple came in and immediately got a state pension and were given a bungalow,’ a hotel whistleblower told us this week. ‘It is very unlikely the husband, given his age, worked for the British forces. They are never going to give anything back to Britain.’

With that, he gave a desperate sigh about Operation Warm Welcome. ‘I think that the trusting British public have been played like a fiddle,’ he said.

Mr Burnham told journalists: “As I have said, politicians say things throughout their career, but now the important thing is to focus on the moment you are in, and I did say to the president in our first phone call, I said, ‘Mr President, Manchester isn’t some town’, I said, ‘This is Manchester’.

A 29-year-old man armed with a shotgun opened fire on a police officer stationed outside an Ontario synagogue during Yom Kippur, triggering a shootout involving as many as 30 shots, the province’s police watchdog said Monday.

The gunfire left the man with life-threatening injuries and seriously wounded a veteran of the Belleville Police Service, whose condition had stabilized as he recovered in intensive care.

Kristy Denette, a spokesperson for the Special Investigations Unit, said nearby vehicles and homes were riddled with bullet holes. There was no forensic confirmation Monday as to whether the synagogue itself was hit.

Denette said the scene appeared to stretch about half a block from the Sons of Jacob Synagogue.

“It would have been quite, quite the scene indeed,” Denette said.

The Special Investigations Unit said preliminary evidence showed the man arrived in a truck around 7 p.m. on Sunday and fired at an officer outside the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville, about 110 miles east of Toronto. The officer returned fire before a second officer arrived and also fired.

Belleville police Deputy Chief Sheri Meeks identified the alleged shooter as Sean Ward, of the nearby city of Quinte West, and the officer as Const. Jeff Smith, a 13-year veteran of the force.

About two dozen people were inside the synagogue when gunfire erupted. One of them, Douglas Lobel, said it lasted two or three minutes and “seemed like an eternity.”

Lobel said a police officer eventually entered the synagogue and asked whether anyone had been hurt. No one inside was injured. “This officer was a hero who saved our lives,” Lobel said. “If this officer wasn’t there, I don’t know what could have happened.”

Police have not established a motive or said whether the Sons of Jacob Synagogue or the Jewish community was targeted. The SIU is investigating the actions of the officers, while Belleville police are conducting a parallel criminal investigation that will examine the man’s actions and possible motive.

Meeks said the wounded officer faced “a significant road to recovery.”

Meeks acknowledged the shooting’s impact on Belleville’s Jewish community, particularly because it happened outside the synagogue during Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.

“Antisemitism, hate and violence have no place in our community,” Meeks said. “Every person deserves to feel safe when attending a place of worship.”

The synagogue canceled its remaining Yom Kippur services following the shooting.

Police increased patrols and their presence around places of worship but said there was no ongoing threat to public safety.

Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis said it was too soon to say whether the shooting was a hate crime but said “the circumstances are where it happened, when it happened” and that it “points towards that.”

“We have a tight-knit Jewish community. We don’t tolerate this in our city or across the country,” Ellis said. “Everyone has the right to feel safe.”

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney condemned the shooting in a social media post, saying, “Jewish people must be able to worship safely” and “live free, open, proud Jewish lives.” He said the federal government would support law enforcement in ensuring the perpetrator is held accountable.

The shooting comes months after Carney warned that Canada was failing its Jewish community amid a surge in antisemitism. Carney cited shootings at Jewish schools, firebombings of synagogues and attacks on community centers and Jewish-owned businesses.