“The whole experience has been very traumatic for all involved. It was a case of sliding doors, right place, right time.”
A paediatric nurse has been recognised for her outstanding bravery after helping to save the lives of a family of five young children last summer.
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The extraordinary sea rescue took place on the July 13 2025 at Rossglass beach in Co Down. Although the tide was initially out, it began to turn as the children, who are all siblings, went for a swim.
The Newcastle Coastguard team was called to the beach near Downpatrick at around 9.30pm after reports that the five children – Catherine, Cecilia, Mary, Maria and their brother Francis Smyth from Ballynoe – had been caught out by the rising tide.
After two initial responders from the Coastguard team arrived at the beach, they found the children had been brought ashore by two off-duty nurses who spotted that the children were in danger and went into the sea to bring them to safety.
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Veronica Sloan, together with friend and fellow Belfast sea swimmer Sinéad Deane, acted immediately. Wading into the water, they first reached Francis, Maria, and Cecilia, sending them safely back to their mother.
Veronica, carrying her phone in a waterproof bag, called 999 from knee-deep in the sea, triggering a rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Sinéad swam out to Mary and Catherine, who were treading water, and got the children back to shore with Veronica. Both ladies helped keep them safe and provided essential care until Coastguard and emergency service teams arrived.
Both Veronica and Sinéad were recently awarded Honorary Testimonials from the Royal Humane Society for their courageous actions and also received Certificates of Recognition from the Coastguard and the Royal Lifesaving Society.
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A special letter from the President of Ireland, Catherine Connolly, was also gifted to the pair.
Veronica, Ards Hospital’s Community Children’s Deputy Sister said she and Sinéad’s experience was very much a case of “right place, right time.”
Veronica said: “The whole experience has been very traumatic for all involved. It was a case of sliding doors, right place, right time. Myself and Sinéad’s nursing skills played a big part that night in keeping the children safe until help arrived.
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“I feel very proud to have been presented an extremely special certificate by my mother Mary, herself a nurse of 48 years. I feel very overwhelmed and honoured to have been presented with these acknowledgements especially from the Chief of the Coastguard of Scotland and Northern Ireland and the President of Ireland.”
South Eastern Trust Executive Director of Nursing David Robinson said: “I’m so proud of Veronica. There is no doubt that her courage and quick thinking – and that of her friend Sinéad too – helped save the lives of five children. They both deserve to be honoured for their incredible bravery last year.”
The UK State Pension is worth up to £241.30 per week but must be claimed when you reach State Pension age — or you could face a payment delay
Linda Howard Money and Consumer Writer
04:00, 14 May 2026
The State Pension age began a gradual increase from 66 to 67 in April, with the transition scheduled to be finalised for all men and women throughout the UK by 2028. The proposed adjustment to the official retirement age has been in law since 2014, with a subsequent rise from 67 to 68 planned for implementation by the mid-2040s.
The most recent figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal the State Pension currently delivers regular financial assistance to 13.2 million elderly people nationwide, including more than one million pensioners residing in Scotland. This benefit is accessible to those who have attained the UK Government’s qualifying retirement age and have contributed at least 10 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions.
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Individuals nearing the official retirement age this year may be unaware that the State Pension is classified as a contributory benefit and is not disbursed automatically by the DWP. The benefit must be applied for, otherwise pensioners risk experiencing a delay in receiving their initial payment of up to £241.30 per week, or £965.20 for each four-week payment cycle.
The funds are not distributed automatically when someone reaches State Pension age, as certain individuals opt to postpone submitting a claim in order to continue working and accumulate more towards their pension fund, particularly if they have not contributed the complete requirement of 35 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions, or were ‘contracted out’.
DWP guidance explains: “You do not get your State Pension automatically – you have to claim it. You should get a letter no later than two months before you reach State Pension age, telling you what to do.”
It then clarifies you can either claim your State Pension or delay (defer) claiming it. It states: “If you want to defer, you do not have to do anything. Your pension will automatically be deferred until you claim it.”
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This means that unless you respond to the letter confirming your wish to begin receiving your State Pension, no payments will be made, as the DWP will treat any lack of response as an intention to defer, reports the Daily Record.
Postponing your State Pension could boost your weekly payments once you do decide to claim, provided you defer for a minimum of nine weeks. Your State Pension grows by the equivalent of 1% for every nine weeks you defer, amounting to just under 5.8 per cent for every 52 weeks.
The additional sum is paid alongside your regular State Pension payment. However, it is worth noting that any extra payments resulting from deferral may be subject to taxation — further details are available on GOV.UK.
It is also worth bearing in mind that deferred State Pensions rise annually in line with the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate, rather than the highest measure of the Triple Lock policy.
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Your initial payment will arrive within five weeks of reaching State Pension age, with full payments following every four weeks thereafter. You may receive a partial payment before your first complete one. The letter will outline what to expect.
You can also opt to receive your State Pension payments weekly or fortnightly, which will reduce the waiting time for the first payment. The day your State Pension is paid depends on your National Insurance number.
Jamie Varley, 37, is on trial over the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey on July 27, 2023 (Picture: PA)
A baby allegedly sexually abused and murdered by his adopted dad had a bite mark on his bottom weeks before he died, a court heard.
Jamie Varley, 37, is on trial over the death of 13-month-old Preston Davey on July 27, 2023.
Preston had been placed with Varley and his partner, John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, at their home in Blackpool aged nine months with a view to him being formally adopted.
But jurors at Preston Crown Court have been told the toddler was routinely ill-treated, sexually abused and physically assaulted, suffering dozens of injuries in the final four months of his life.
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On Wednesday, Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour was shown several photos and videos of the toddler found on the couple’s phones.
In one image taken on June 12, 2023, Preston was standing naked in a garden paddling pool.
Asked to comment on a darker shade of skin on his right buttock, Dr Armour said: ‘It is my view, sir, it most likely represents a human bite mark.’
She said having looked at the photo, the mark on his body was a round, circular bruise, turning slightly purple and around 3.5cm in diameter.
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Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, asked Dr Armour why she though it was a bite mark.
‘The size, configuration, which means the shape, are all consistent with a human bite mark,’ she said.
Dr Armour was also asked her opinion on a series of seven photos recovered from Varley’s phone of Preston in his cot, along with two toy teddy bears, taken four days before his death.
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The images span a period of three minutes and 12 seconds, during which time Preston’s head and arms remain ‘slumped’ over the top horizontal bar of his cot with his neck resting on the bar.
His body is apparently partially suspended, his legs in a ‘frog-like’ position and the child seemingly asleep or unconscious.
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Varley, at the time a high school teacher, is accused of Preston’s murder
John McGowan-Fazakerley, 32, is accused of allowing the death of the child, with both accused of sexual abuse
‘This is very unsafe and in my view dangerous,’ Dr Armour said.
Mr Wright continued: ‘What is the risk here presented?’
Dr Armour said: ‘Partial suspension, ultimately leading to death, he’s got his neck in contact with that cot railing.
‘That’s going to inhibit your ability to breathe.’
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In one photo, Preston’s head is in a slightly different position with fluid coming from his mouth.
Dr Armour continued: ‘Preston’s tongue is protruding, its blue and also his lips appear blue, consistent with a lack of oxygen in the blood.’
Mr Wright said: ‘In terms of a child in that position for that length of time, how safe or otherwise is such a position?’
Dr Armour said: ‘This is a very prolonged period of time for a child to be in such an unsafe position.’
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Jamie Varley is accused of the murder and sexual assault of 13-month-old Preston Davey (Picture: Lancashire Police/PA)
Four days later, at around 6.20pm on July 27, 2023, the defendants rushed Preston unconscious from their home to Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Medics worked for nearly an hour to resuscitate the child but could not save him.
Varley said he had left the child alone in the bath for three or four minutes before he returned and the baby was partially submerged.
Dr Armour, who carried out the post-mortem examination at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, said people who drown often swallow water but she found no water in Preston’s stomach.
She added: ‘It is my position that drowning can be reasonably excluded as the cause of death in this case.’
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Dr Armour concluded the cause of death was an upper airway obstruction, leading to Preston’s collapse by a deliberate act of smothering, or an object or objects inserted into his mouth.
Court artist drawing of Jamie Varley (left) in the dock at Preston Crown Court where he is accused of murder (Picture: Elizabeth Cook/PA)
The post-mortem examination also found external and internal injuries including bruises to Preston’s forehead, throat, mouth, bladder, bottom and bleeding in the lungs.
These were mostly ‘non-accidental’, she said, and could not be explained by the attempts by medics to save his life during resuscitation on hospital admission.
Many of the external injuries Dr Armour described as ‘fingertip’ bruises, consistent with gripping, prodding, poking and pinching, she said.
Preston also had severe bruising to the back of his throat which Dr Armour described as one of the ‘most unusual’ injuries she had never come across in her 39-year career as a consultant forensic pathologist.
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‘This is an extensive bruise,’ she said.
Dr Armour said the underlying cause is ‘difficult to ascertain’.
Smothering ‘either by a hand or a soft object’ could be the cause, she said, but that ‘would be unusual’.
She added: ‘That leaves the other cause, in my view – the insertion of an object into the mouth occluding the airways.’
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Dr Armour told jurors there were no injuries to Preston’s teeth, tongue, palette or cheeks, indicating the object did not have any ‘sharp edges’.
Asked if the injury was consistent with a sexual assault, she replied: ‘I cannot exclude that, sir.’
Dr Armour said the injuries to Preston’s throat, along with other serious injuries found on his body, were ‘very recent’.
Asked how close to death they were inflicted, she added: ‘I think I have said a matter of hours.’
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Varley denies murder, manslaughter, two counts of assault by penetration, five counts of cruelty to a child, grievous bodily harm, sexual assault of a child, 13 counts of taking indecent photos or videos of a child, one of distributing an indecent photo of a child, to his co-accused, and one of making an indecent photo.
McGowan-Fazakerley denies allowing the death of a child, three counts of child cruelty and one count of the sexual assault of a child.
We’ve all popped in to a Home Bargains for an essential item or two, and ended up leaving with a hanging basket, solar lights or a rug that we didn’t know we needed.
Now, residents will soon be able to call in for ‘bits’ as work is underway to transform the space.
Homebase closed their doors here after a major restructure and its collapse into administration in late 2024, leaving the store space available for Home Bargains to take over.
The former Homebase store (Image: Google Maps)
The new store is set to open on August 1 and will be a significant addition to the town, especially since the current Home Bargains stores in Gateshead are relatively small.
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Currently, these smaller branches are located in Gateshead High Street at The Precinct and in Blaydon.
Unlike these smaller stores, the new Team Valley Home Bargains store will be much bigger, giving people more options when shopping.
Once open, the new store will provide competition to other big names in Retail World, such as Smyths Toys, TK Maxx, M&S Simply Food, Asda Living, and Dunelm.
This development is anticipated to bolster the local shopping scene, with locals on social media calling the opening “another boost for local shopping”.
Here’s what the stars have in store for your day (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
The Sun and Mercury are in an alignment known as a Cazimi in practical Taurus. This allows you to wade through complex details.
Sagittarius, Scorpio and Libra, communication and creativity are on your side today. Finding solutions to sticky issues is easy, so tune into that.
Today is prime time for planning, scheming and big goals. Keep your sights set ahead of you, not behind, and all will be well.
Ahead, you’ll find all star signs’ horoscopes for today: Thursday May 14, 2026.
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Aries
March 21 to April 20
The Sun and communicator Mercury have forged an alliance in the practical Taurus, that’s helping you to decipher and plan anything to do with resources or everyday finances with an extra crispness and acumen. Indeed, with the planet of opportunity, Jupiter, still in touch with both, this can also be a time when positive family news can arrive.
Your natural appreciation for continuity has been challenged in recent years by the restless Uranus, which has pushed you to be more experimental. And even if not everything has worked out, you’ve probably enjoyed experimenting. Today is another one that gives you an opportunity to showcase your unique talents and do so with added confidence.
Your guide planet Mercury’s closeness to the Sun in a thoughtful part of your situation, which could see you have some powerful inner realisations or decipher key events from your past. But their link together to the expansive Jupiter suggests a hunch around a business idea could prove to be lucky – if you trust your instincts and act boldly and decisively, Gemini.
You can enjoy lots of bright and breezy chats today, particularly within your group, considering an idea that you can all work on together. Then again, someone could give you valuable input on a future hope. With everyone pitching in like this, it can cheer you to know that your circle is supportive. Past connections that disappointed can start to fade away.
If you are thinking about or talking about retraining, learning new skills, or applying for another job, your mind can be super agile, but also focused on what the practical benefits may be. Mind with Jupiter, the planet much to do with faith, in an instinctive part of your situation, whatever the logic tells you, do be open to listening to your hunches too, Leo.
Whilst you may find yourself especially restless today, you can also find yourself super curious, and that’s not a bad combination. It’s just that often your preference has traditionally been for regular structures and routines in your everyday world, but currently exploring fresh horizons and new people just seems so much more stimulating – how good is that!
Cosmic messages for Cosmic messages for Virgo today
Libra
September 24 to October 23
Being one of the three air zodiac signs, you have a natural appreciation of communication and thinking carefully about situations. Some may feel that you overanalyse, but today you are going to have a fabulous opportunity to get beneath the surface. Excellent if you’re researching, seeking extra value, or even enjoying watching a TV programme on forensics.
You can be very candid in your observations of people, but what others can really appreciate about you today is the time you take to listen carefully to what they have to say. With your listening skills so sharp, this can help you to perceptively tune into their situation, even if you don’t necessarily make a comment. Planning a joint travel jaunt? Things can shape up nicely.
If you’re wanting to get to grip on your personal paperwork or catch up on the domestic chores, today can see you determined to be precise and productive in all you do. Much as your nature can find such demands a little dull, you can just take on these tasks with a great deal of application, and once you have completed all you set out to do, feel quietly content.
Encounters today can be warm, friendly, and amusing. Your dry wit is one of your great qualities and rarely gets talked about in the astrology archetypes of your sign, but it should be. Also, if there is someone that you’re getting to know that you really like, things can just flow very nicely between you. Even if this is not outright flirty, it can still be rather lovely.
If you have a home office, as many people do these days, today is an excellent opportunity to think about whether it’s working as effectively as it might. If it’s squeezed in a corner and has to compete with other domestic demands. It might be worth considering if moving things around would create a little bit more of a quiet cocoon and the chance to concentrate better.
There is little doubt that you can be one of the most intuitive of the zodiac signs, but today your mind can be as sharp as a pin, able to dextrously whirl different concepts around with ease, but also amuse people with your sharp observations and playfulness. With the weekend racing up, and a bubbly New Moon, this can see you keen to arrange fun social possibilities.
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Hydrangeas are a popular flower but few people know you can change the colour of them.
Vita Molyneux Travel reporter
03:32, 14 May 2026
Hydrangeas are a beloved choice for British gardens. Their enormous, luxurious blooms deliver a spectacular splash of colour, and they’re comparatively straightforward to maintain.
They’re also amongst the select few garden plants capable of changing colour over time. Many gardeners purchase these shrubs assuming their hue is permanent, but specific varieties can transform as time passes. With the appropriate soil conditions, hydrangeas can shift from pink to blue or even purple. This occurs when the soil becomes more acidic, making aluminium more accessible to the plant, which can influence the pigment of the petals.
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Jo McGarry, from Caragh Nurseries, said: “Many people are surprised to learn that hydrangea colour is directly linked to soil pH. In acidic soil, the blooms turn blue, while alkaline soil encourages pink petals. Purple shades appear when the soil is close to neutral.
“Only certain hydrangeas respond this way, particularly macrophylla and serrata varieties. White hydrangeas generally stay white regardless of soil conditions.”
If you’re hoping to alter the colour of your hydrangeas, it’s reasonably straightforward to achieve. However, some traditional techniques ought to be avoided, reports the Express.
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One approach gardeners have attempted to modify their hydrangeas’ colour is by placing a rusty nail into the soil underneath their shrubs.
Jo said: “Burying rusty nails in the soil to turn hydrangeas blue is something gardeners have talked about for years, but it isn’t the safest or most effective option.
“Sharp metal hidden in borders can become a hazard for people and wildlife. They also provide too little soluble iron to impact petal colour.”
Instead, there are more secure alternatives to transform your garden.
Jo said: “Using ericaceous compost, coffee grounds, or aluminium sulphate is a much better approach for gardeners wanting blue hydrangeas. These methods gently increase soil acidity without creating unnecessary risks in the garden.
“For pink hydrangeas, the soil needs to be more alkaline. Adding garden lime can help raise the pH and reduce aluminium uptake. This encourages pink blooms to develop.
“A fertiliser with higher phosphorus levels can also help limit aluminium absorption and support stronger pink colouring.”
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It typically requires at least one growing season before visible colour changes emerge.
Jo said: “Testing your soil pH first is always worthwhile because overcorrecting can stress the plant and affect nutrient uptake. Small gradual changes tend to give the healthiest and most consistent results.”
In our research in the British Library’s medieval collections, we have identified a previously unnoticed document that provides fresh insights into the survivors of the outbreak of plague known as the Black Death (1346–53).
The document – a scrap of parchment inserted into an account of the Ramsey Abbey manor of Warboys in Huntingdonshire – records how much time peasants were absent from work when struck down by the plague. It also reveals the names of those who survived and how long their employers believed recovery could take.
In our recent paper with Barney Sloane we shed new light on a group of 22 tenants who probably contracted plague, languished on their sickbeds for several weeks, and then recovered.
As one of the deadliest pandemics in recorded history, it has been estimated that between a third and two-thirds of the population of medieval Europe died during the Black Death.
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The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1562) shows the social upheaval that followed the plague. Museo del Prado
Given the sheer scale, many historians have focused on discovering details about those who died. Yet this has left the histories of those who contracted plague and recovered largely untold.
Despite the deadliness of the disease, it was possible to recover from plague, and medieval chroniclers mention the possibility – however unlikely – of survival. For example, Geoffrey le Baker, a clerk of Swinbrook in Oxfordshire, wrote in the following decade that he thought recovery depended on people’s symptoms:
People who one day had been full of happiness, on the next were found dead. Some were tormented by boils which broke out suddenly in various parts of the body, and were so hard and dry that when they were lanced hardly any liquid flowed out. Many of these people escaped, by lancing the boils or by long suffering. Other victims had little black pustules scattered over the skin of the whole body. Of these people very few, indeed hardly any, recovered life and health.
But who recovered? Why did so many succumb to the disease when others survived? And just how long was this “long suffering”? Unfortunately, there is remarkably little documentary evidence because most medieval sources record information about mortality rather than ill health.
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Unique list of plague survivors
A unique inclusion in the account of the manor of Warboys details a group of people who fell ill between the end of April and the start of August 1349. The monks of Ramsey Abbey wrote a list of their tenants who had fallen sufficiently sick that they could not work on the lord’s lands and detailed the length of time that they were absent.
The newly discovered list of plague survivors, from the British Library Collection: Add. Roll 39811. Author provided (no reuse)
People were clearly affected differently by their experience of plague.
The quickest recovery was that of Henry Broun who missed just a single week of work. By contrast, John Derworth and Agnes Mold had much more protracted illnesses and were both absent for nine weeks.
The average length of illness was between three and four weeks, with three-quarters of people returning to work in under a month. The speed of their recoveries is all the more surprising given that they were entitled to up to a year and a day of sick leave from work.
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This list of survivors includes a preponderance of tenants who occupied larger holdings on the manor. It has long been debated by historians and archaeologists whether the plague killed indiscriminately, with no regard to status, sex or age, or whether the poor and elderly were more vulnerable.
The survival of so many wealthier tenants could indicate that their higher living standards enabled them to recover more readily than their poorer neighbours, perhaps because they were able to stave off secondary infections and complications. We should not read any significance into the fact that 19 out of the 22 people were men: this reflects the gender bias of manorial landholding rather than any sex-selectivity of plague.
Although 22 people may not seem like many, in a regular year during the 1340s, only two or three absences were recorded during the summer months. It, therefore, represents a tenfold increase in regular illnesses on the manor. Put another way, these sick tenants were absent for 91 weeks’ worth of labour services during just a 13-week period.
Our understanding of the impact of the Black Death has been influenced by the appalling scale of death. Yet it is only when we add those who fell ill and recovered back into the picture that we can truly understand the seismic shock the pandemic had on society. The dead, dying and sick must have considerably outnumbered the living in villages and cities across Europe.
The consequences of this can be seen in medieval accounts and chronicles, one of which records that “there was so great a shortage of servants and labourers that there was no one who knew what needed to be done”. As a result of this combination of high mortality, unprecedented illness and abysmal weather, the two harvests of 1349 and 1350 have been described as the worst experienced in medieval England, worse even than those that caused the great famine of 1315-17.
This archival discovery allows us to write the history of sickness and recovery back into the Black Death, demonstrating that recovery was possible even during one of the worst pandemics in recorded history.
This new evidence reveals the remarkable resilience of medieval peasants. Many of them lay languishing on their sickbeds, exhibiting buboes (the painful, swollen and inflamed lymph nodes on the groin and neck that were typical of the Black Death), vomiting blood and wracked by fevers and not only survived but returned to work in just a few short weeks.
A cleaning expert shared that yellow toilet bowl stains are caused by much more than just limescale – and how to remove them in 60 minutes
Shania King-Soyza and Ellen Jenne Senior U35 Spare Time Writer
01:26, 14 May 2026
Persistent yellow stains in your toilet bowl can make even a spotless bathroom look grubby, but tackling them doesn’t have to mean reaching for harsh chemicals or splashing out on pricey products. With just two common household items, you can break down stubborn build-up and restore your toilet to its former glory in as little as 60 minutes.
A cleaning expert writing for the Martha Stewart website has revealed that vinegar and bicarbonate of soda are genuinely all you need. However, you may well be using these items in the wrong way.
The expert went on to explain exactly how to clean your toilet bowl so those yellow stains disappear — and what’s actually causing them in the first place. It turns out it’s not simply limescale.
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More than limescale
Yellow toilet bowl stains are primarily caused by mineral deposits from hard or well water, including calcium, magnesium, and iron, which form a hardened, rock-like layer over time.
That said, urine can also play a part. The acid in urine can react with minerals from hard water to create particularly stubborn deposits. The longer stains are left untreated, the harder and darker they become — and if left unchecked, they can even lead to blockages, reports the Express.
Clorox in-house scientist Mary Gagliardi admitted to the Martha Stewart blog that: “Uric acid (present in varying concentrations in urine) can react with hard water minerals to form uric salts with low solubility that deposit on surfaces, resulting in yellow stains.”
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How to clean
Before you get started, you’ll need white vinegar, baking soda, rubber gloves, paper towels, and a toilet brush. The first step is to lower the water level.
To do this, simply flush the toilet; for a more significant drop, switch off the water supply behind the toilet and flush once more to drain the bowl further.
Next, coat the stained areas with vinegar. For marks above the waterline, you’ll need to use vinegar-soaked paper towels. Leave this to soak for a minimum of 30 minutes — for more stubborn stains, leave it for up to an hour or even overnight.
Add one cup of baking soda to produce a fizzing reaction, leave it to sit for 15 minutes, then scrub thoroughly. Finally, turn your water supply back on and flush to rinse everything away.
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Why you need to clean weekly
Cleaning expert Marisol Rivera recommends cleaning your toilet bowl once a week and giving all areas a thorough going-over. Rivera shared: “The jet holes under the rim of the bowl become clogged with mineral deposits over time.
“This causes the water flow to become uneven. The build-up will concentrate in specific areas of the bowl as a result.”
Dozens of firefighters were called to the massive blaze
09:11, 13 May 2026Updated 14:28, 13 May 2026
Firefighters were called to a huge blaze at a former school in a town close to the Cambridgeshire border with smokes being seen in the county. The fire broke out on Tuesday (May 12) at the former Parkway Middle School in Haverhill at around 8.20pm.
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Crews from Woodbridge, Orford, Haverhill, Wickhambrook, and Bury St Edmunds attended with 12 fire engines used. Other crews from Sudbury, Mildenhall, Newmarket, Clare, and Long Melford were also called to the scene later in the evening.
Huge clouds of smoke could be seen for miles including in Linton. Residents in Haverhill were advised to “keep all windows and doors shut” and not to travel towards the scene unless it was essential.
Fire crews remained at the scene throughout the night and worked to control the fire while the building was collapsing. As of this morning, several fire engines were still at the scene to extinguish the blaze.
To get more news and top stories delivered directly to your phone, join our new WhatsApp community.Click this linkto receive your daily dose of CambridgeshireLive content.
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“Both the State and Murdaugh’s defense skillfully presented their cases to the jury as the trial court deftly presided over this complicated and high-profile matter,” the justices wrote. “However, their efforts were in vain because Colleton County Clerk of Court Rebecca Hill placed her fingers on the scales of justice, thereby denying Murdaugh his right to a fair trial by an impartial jury.”
BEIJING (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday kicked off a summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that is expected to be long on pageantry and symbolism but unlikely to feature major breakthroughs on key issues like trade, U.S. relations with Taiwan or the war in Iran.
After landing in Beijing to an elaborate welcome ceremony Wednesday night, Trump was greeted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping the following morning at the Great Hall of the People, an imposing building on Tiananmen Square that houses China’s legislature.
The pair shook hands to start and briefly chatted, with Trump patting Xi on the arm before they posed for pictures.
Cannons then boomed a welcome salute for Trump and a band played the Star-Spangled Banner. Following instruction from a goose stepping, sword carrying member of the military, Xi and Trump went to inspect a military honor guard.
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Tiananmen was cleared for the event, with no movement in the plaza save for officials and press, as well as military personnel who paraded in after Trump arrived. The hall featured giant, red-carpeted steps and huge expanses of marble, where soldiers hung large American and Chinese flags.
Hundreds of primary school children wearing bright colors offered a welcome routine, jumping up and down as the girls waved flowers and the boys hoisted American and Chinese flags as the two leaders walked past them.
Trump and Xi were then heading into a bilateral meeting before the Republican U.S. president visits the Temple of Heaven, a religious complex dating to the 15th century that symbolizes the relationship between heaven and earth. Trump and Xi will also attend a state banquet.
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The White House has insisted that Trump wouldn’t be making the trip without an eye toward securing results before he leaves — suggesting there could be announcements coming on trade, including a Chinese commitment to buy U.S. soybeans, beef and aircraft. Trump administration officials also want to work toward establishing a Board of Trade with China to address commercial differences between the countries.
But neither side has yet offered concrete details on what might come out of the three-day visit at a time when Beijing’s close economic ties to Iran could complicate matters.
The U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran has led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, stranding oil and natural gas tankers and causing energy prices to spike, threatening global economic growth.
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Spending so much time with Xi — especially against splendiferous backdrops — will afford ample time for Trump to discuss a series of thorny topics. Those include Iran and trade, but also Taiwan and a possible three-way nuclear arms deal featuring Washington, Beijing and Russia.
“Neither side will make much progress on the two major foreign policy issues,” predicted Jim Lewis, a tech policy fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis. “Trump will press the Chinese to help him on Iran. They’ll be unwilling. The Chinese will press Trump to make concessions on Taiwan. We’ll see what we get out of that.”
Back in Washington, the politics of the war got more complicated. Senate Republicans on Wednesday again blocked Democratic legislation to halt hostilities in Iran — but Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski bucked her party, becoming the third Republican in the chamber to vote against continuing the war.
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China is the largest purchaser of Iranian oil, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity that Trump will make the case for Beijing to exert its influence on Iran, noting that administration officials will underscore that “economies are melting down because of this crisis” which means consumers are “buying less Chinese product.”
“So it’s in their interest to resolve this,” Rubio said of Chinese officials. “We hope to convince them to play a more active role in getting Iran to walk away from what they’re doing now and trying to do now in the Persian Gulf.”
That contradicted Trump, who has downplayed suggestions that he will press Xi to do more to pressure Iran to open the strait. The president also says pressure on the U.S. economy won’t compromise U.S. demands as he negotiates with Iran in the midst of a fragile ceasefire. Asked as he left the White House if the financial stability of ordinary Americans factors into Iranian negotiations, Trump responded, “Not even a little bit.”
“I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation. I think about one thing: We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said, before going on to suggest that “every American understands” such a position.
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Mixed messaging was also evident on inflation and the war, however, as Vice President JD Vance denied Trump’s own words that the U.S. economy wasn’t a major factor in seeking a resolution with Tehran.
“I don’t think the president said that,” Vance said after being asked about Trump’s comments. “I think that’s a misrepresentation of what the president said.”
Trade and Taiwan discussions also could be intense
Looming large is the status of Taiwan, given that China is displeased with U.S. plans to sell weapons to the self-governing island that the Chinese government claims as part of its territory.
The Trump administration has approved an $11 billion weapons package for Taiwan, but has yet to begin fulfilling it. Trump has also demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan — an approach that’s raising questions about whether he might be open to dialing back support for the island democracy.
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Taiwan is the world’s leading chipmaker, producing components essential to the development of artificial intelligence. Trump has sought to bolster trade deals with Taiwan that can stimulate chip production in the U.S.
Trump personally called Nvidia’s Jensen Huang to invite him to hop on Air Force One during a refueling stop in Alaska on the way to Beijing — one of a large group of CEOs from the tech, defense, finance and agriculture sectors who are part of the delegation. Other officials on the visit include Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as Trump’s son Eric and Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law.
Also in China is Elon Musk, the SpaceX chief who once led Trump’s effort to slash federal jobs and cut back the size of government.
The U.S. and China reached a trade truce last year that calmed each side’s threats to impose steep tariffs on the other. The White House says there have been ongoing discussions and mutual interest in extending the agreement, though it is unclear whether any such announcement could come during Trump’s visit.
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Trump has said he will ask Xi to give U.S. firms greater access to the Chinese market, urging his Chinese counterpart to “‘open up’ China so that these brilliant people can work their magic.” He’s also seeking to extend a deal that allows China to continue exporting rare earth minerals to the U.S., prompting China to hold off on limiting the global supply in response to Trump’s threatened tariffs.
Top American officials have also said Trump will raise the idea of the U.S., China and Russia signing a pact setting limits on the nuclear weapons each nation keeps in its arsenal — an idea Beijing has previously viewed skeptically.
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Associated Press writer Seung Min Kim in Washington contributed to this report.
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