‘I hear the same question from farmers, shopkeepers and families across rural Wales. ‘Why does government never listen when the countryside speaks?’

Victoria Bond is director of Country Land and Business Association Cymru

I hear the same question from farmers, shopkeepers and families across rural Wales. “Why does government never listen when the countryside speaks?”

It’s not shouted or waved on placards. More often, it is asked with a tired patience. The kind that comes after years of raising the same concerns and watching them get ignored.

Across rural Wales, that patience is beginning to wear thin.

There is a growing sense that the great promise of devolution has somehow passed the countryside by. That the project meant to bring power closer has instead left many communities feeling just as distant from it as before.

Power changed its address. The countryside still feels just as far away from it.

More than half of rural Welsh voters believe devolution has made things worse for the countryside. Not better. Worse.

And this is not a complaint confined to one corner of politics. The sentiment cuts across party lines. Even among Labour voters, 44 percent say the same.

That should make politicians stop and listen for a moment. Because the debate in Wales is moving firmly in the other direction. Welsh Labour is pressing for more powers for the Senedd. In England, the same party is championing a wider programme of regional devolution.

Yet in the only nation where Labour has governed under devolution since the beginning, a large part of the countryside is asking a much simpler question.

What, exactly, has it delivered for us?

For too many communities the answer feels uncomfortably thin.

Decisions about farming are made by people who rarely set foot on a working farm. Planning systems move at a pace that suffocates rural enterprise. Policies arrive wrapped in good intentions but often written with an urban imagination of how life works.

Meanwhile, the countryside is treated less like a working economy and more like a backdrop. A landscape to admire. Somewhere picturesque to visit at the weekend. Beautiful, yes. Important, apparently. But rarely understood.

That misunderstanding has real consequences.

Rural Wales produces food, sustains small businesses, attracts visitors from across the world and cares for landscapes that define the nation itself. Around a third of the population live outside the main towns and cities.

Yet, productivity in rural Wales now sits roughly 35% below that of urban areas. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here

Behind that number is a story that people in the countryside know all too well. Businesses that want to grow and cannot. Young people who leave because opportunity lives somewhere else. Communities that feel their ambition is quietly discounted before it is even heard.

Talk to people across rural Wales and you hear something very different from the polite pastoral image often projected onto the countryside.

You hear ambition.

You hear farmers talking about innovation and food security. Business owners talking about building enterprises that keep wealth in their communities. Young families talking about the future they want to build where they already live.

What you rarely hear from government is a vision that matches that ambition.

That is where the real test of devolution now lies. Not in constitutional debates about who holds which powers, but in whether those powers are used to unlock the potential of the whole country.

There is a clear place to start. As Wales heads towards the May Senedd election, we are calling for a rural economic strategy that finally treats the countryside as a serious part of the Welsh economy.

The priorities are straightforward. Let rural businesses build and expand without years trapped in planning. Give farmers long-term certainty so they can invest with confidence. Back tourism as the year-round industry it already is.

The countryside is not asking for sympathy, it’s asking to be heard. Increasingly, we’re asking how much longer we’ll have to wait.

We’ve found where to shop the exact ‘sensational’ Rixo midi dress loved by Holly Willoughby, with all sizes still available

Holly Willoughby recently launched an Instagram series titled “Stories from my wardrobe”, where she highlights one of her favourite brands and all the pieces she loves from said brand. Her latest post is focused on Rixo, the female-founded UK label known for vintage-inspired pieces full of colour and print.

And we’ve found where to shop for one of Holly’s favourite midi dresses that is still in stock in all sizes. The exact piece is the Maura printed satin midi dress, priced at £295, and available in sizes 6 to 20 on the Net-a-Porter site.

Cut from jacquard and featuring bold butterfly patterns throughout, this gorgeous halterneck dress is perfect for maximalist fashion lovers and is a real statement wardrobe buy.

READ MORE: Marks & Spencer’s £60 alternative to Sézane’s sold-out £245 trench coat is back in stock

READ MORE: Stacey Solomon has this exact £22 Amazon Essentials cardigan in ‘every colour’

The vintage-style dress also features tie detailing at the halterneck, which helps create a gorgeous, flowing movement when worn. Whether you’re heading to a summer wedding, spring garden party or milestone birthday, this silky midi will have you standing out from the crowd, in the best possible way.

To tie in with the vibrant red shade, Holly teamed her dress with a pair of red heels, which appear to be the Prada Suede Triple-Strap Wavy Sandals, available from second-hand sites for £259.

If you’re after similar buys without the hefty price tag, the Red Halter Neck Marceline Midi Dress from Nobody’s Child is currently on sale for £128 down from £160. This softly textured chiffon dress features a similar halterneck design as the Rixo one, but without the butterfly print, making it ideal for those who prefer a subtler look. It also features a flattering fitted waist that creates a figure-hugging silhouette.

Alternatively, the V Neck Slip Midi Dress in Red Polka Dot from Abercrombie & Fitch, priced at £72, is the perfect choice for those looking to hop on the popular polka dot trend. With its adjustable straps and shirred back, it’s as comfortable as it is stylish.

Donald Trump told reporters on board Air Force One on March 15 that his relationship with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is “extraordinary”. Netanyahu has been rather less effusive, saying in recent days that their relationship is one of “dialogue, shared concepts, consultation and joint work”.

These comments come as reports are circulating of rifts between the two leaders over the war in Iran, which Trump has rejected as “fake news”. The reported tensions underline not only Trump and Netanyahu’s very different war aims but also the character differences that have shaped their relationship.

Writing in the Sunday Times on March 15, the UK’s former ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, pointed out that both men are similar in “some respects”. Like Trump, Netanyahu is a “populist making his country more divided with crude fearmongering; a huge character who sucks oxygen from the entire political scene.”

However, there are some key differences. While Trump had five deferments to avoid serving in the Vietnam war, for example, Netanyahu distinguished himself in the Israeli armed forces. This included serving five years in the elite Sayeret Matkal unit from 1967 to 1972.

Such different backgrounds count especially as Trump and Netanyahu work together in the military confrontation with Iran. Trump has often been cavalier and brags about US military strength, whereas Netanyahu is far more measured. Trump is also regularly talking to journalists, while Netanyahu has been sparing in his interactions with the media.

At the same time, the war with Iran has a very different meaning for Israel and the US. Netanyahu has made the Iranian threat to Israel the most consistent theme of his political career. Since 2019, when it became clear that Iran was enriching uranium over the 3.5% to 5% level needed for peaceful purposes (it now has over 440 tonnes of uranium enriched to over 60%), Netanyahu has seen the threat to Israel as existential.

Trump’s grounds for launching the war have shifted, from wanting to destroy Iran’s military capabilities to toppling the regime in Tehran. But Netanyahu has consistently remained focused on removing what he sees as the threefold threat from Iran: its nuclear weapons programme, ballistic missile capacity and ability to support regional proxy groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.

Trump knows the war is unpopular at home and among his allies and is creating instability in the world economy. Oil prices climbed to over US$100 (£75) a barrel on March 16 after Trump said the US had “totally demolished” most of Kharg Island, Iran’s most vital oil export hub. Facing midterm elections in October, he is likely to want to see the conflict end relatively soon.

Netanyahu, on the other hand, will not want to end the war without imposing a decisive defeat on Iran that ends the country’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes at the very least. Like Trump, he faces an election in October and will want to present himself not as the leader whose watch saw the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks in 2023, but as the victor of the war with Iran.

Ending the war

How Trump and Netanyahu manage these differences will determine both the course of the war and its duration. We do know that while the two leaders frequently pay effusive compliments to each other in public, they have a rather more fractious personal relationship.

Six months ago, Trump strong-armed Netanyahu to accept his 20-point plan for a Gaza ceasefire. This involved Netanyahu making a humiliating phone call to the Qataris to apologise for an Israeli attack on Hamas leadership in Doha. The White House even published a picture of the US president and the Israeli prime minister making the call.

And while routinely praising Trump for his support for Israel, Netanyahu appears to be wary of their relationship. In his 2022 autobiography, Bibi: My Story, Netanyahu complained that Trump was slow to act on the Israeli government’s agenda in his first term as US president. He also described his relationship with Trump as “bumpy”.

Trump’s second term has been a rather mixed experience for Netanyahu. On the one hand, he convinced the US to bomb the Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 and since February 2026 to collaborate in a major war against Iran. But on the other hand, he (like everyone else) is having to deal Trump’s capricious and unpredictable behaviour.

The war in Iran is now in a difficult phase. Israel and the US have an overwhelming firepower advantage over Iran and have eliminated numerous high-ranking Iranian leadership figures, most recently killing security chief and de facto leader of the country Ali Larijani. Despite these serious blows, the regime is still functioning and maintains significant military capacity.

For Israel, a new development in the war is coordinated Iranian-Hezbollah missile attacks. This demonstrates the very different pressures that the US and Israeli leaderships are under. Israelis are now in their third year of war. The US will be feeling the effects of the war in terms of higher gas prices and a spike in inflation, but the lives of Americans are not punctuated by air raid sirens and military service.

These differences will play out as Trump and Netanyahu envisage the war’s end. There are reports that the US administration is talking to Iran already about ending the conflict as the war enters its third week. Netanyahu will worry where these diplomatic moves might lead.

Trump and Netanyahu may have started a war together, but they are going to have difficulty ending it together.

Ann Rodger struck a resident on the body at Argyll House Nursing Home, Kilmarnock, on October 2, 2024 and was later convicted for assault at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.

A care worker has been struck off for assaulting a nursing home resident with a slipper.

Ann Rodger struck a resident on the body at Argyll House Nursing Home, Kilmarnock, on October 2, 2024.

Rodger was convicted for assault on October 9, 2025 at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court.

The victim was living with dementia at the time of the incident.

Now Rodger has been struck off the register after the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) looked into the case and deemed her fitness to practise “impaired.”

In their notice of decision the SSSC told Rodger: “Social care workers are expected not to abuse, neglect or harm people who use services. They are expected not to place themselves or others at unnecessary risk. Social care workers are also expected not to behave in a way, inside or outside of work, which would call into question their suitability to work in the social care profession.

“You (Rodger) have been convicted of an assault of an elderly resident in your care by striking her on the body with a slipper. This behaviour amounts to physical abuse and risk of harm to a vulnerable resident.

“Your conviction calls into question your suitability to work in the social care profession.”

Although “no injury” to the victim was libelled in the conviction, the SSSC took the view that Rodger’s behaviour would cause a “clear risk of harm” to a vulnerable person living in a care home with dementia.

“She relied on you for kind and compassionate care,” the report says. “You behaved in a violent manner towards her. We have serious concerns that you do not hold the right values to be a social care worker.”

Rodger, it was revealed, did have a “good previous history” and she “engaged” with the SSSC investigation.

But she did not show “any insight or remorse” for her actions.

“We cannot be reassured that similar behaviour would not happen again in the future. There is a clear need to protect the public given the seriousness of the conviction. There is a need to maintain public confidence to find your fitness to practise impaired,” the SSSC said.

The regulator added: “The SSSC considers a removal order is the most appropriate sanction as it is both necessary and justified in the public interest and to maintain the continuing trust and confidence in the social service profession and the SSSC as the regulator of the profession.”

The phrase “eye stroke” has recently appeared in news reports about a very rare side-effect of weight-loss injections. It’s not a formal medical diagnosis, but a shorthand used to describe a condition in which reduced blood flow damages the optic nerve and causes sudden vision loss.

The phrase might be misleading. Unlike a conventional stroke – which can cause someone to lose the ability to move their limbs or speak – an eye stroke can be harder to recognise at first. Vision can be lost entirely or partially, in one or both eyes, with no numbness or paralysis.

The word “stroke” is used because, as with the more familiar condition, the underlying cause is a loss of blood supply that leads to cell death and tissue damage. The correct medical term for an eye stroke is non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (Naion).

The recent connection between Naion and weight-loss treatments has made headlines following a large study examining semaglutide, the active ingredient in several popular weight-loss drugs.

Researchers analyse more than 30 million side-effects reported to the US Food and Drug Administration and found that 31,774 involved semaglutide. One drug in particular stood out: Wegovy was found to have a far stronger association with Naion than other semaglutide-based treatments.

The study suggested the risk of eye stroke from Wegovy was almost five times greater than from Ozempic, despite Wegovy being linked to fewer overall reported side-effects.

Understanding why semaglutide might reduce blood flow to the eye requires a little background. Semaglutide is a synthetic version of a naturally occurring hormone called GLP-1, which helps regulate blood sugar. It does this by stimulating insulin production, reducing the release of a sugar-raising hormone called glucagon, and slowing digestion.

Semaglutide has been used to treat type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity. Wegovy is administered by injection at a higher maximum dose than Ozempic, another injectable medication. Injected drugs enter the bloodstream faster and in greater concentrations than tablets – and notably, no link was found between Naion and Rybelsus, the tablet form of semaglutide.

The speed at which Wegovy causes weight loss – faster than other treatments – may itself be part of the explanation. The human body is a finely balanced system in which no single organ or process works in isolation. The autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary functions like heart rate and digestion, relies on a careful balance of hormones to keep things in check. When an external drug significantly alters how those hormones behave, it can affect the rest of the body in unexpected ways.

The relatively high doses used with Wegovy may cause blood pressure to fluctuate beyond normal ranges. A notable drop in blood pressure reduces the rate at which blood flows through the body, and the eye is particularly vulnerable to this. The retina is served by some of the tiniest blood vessels anywhere in the body, and it depends on those small vessels for its oxygen supply. Any significant change in blood pressure can seriously disrupt this delicate circulation.

Men face a much higher risk than women

This does not, however, fully explain why a drug that is broadly beneficial for heart health and blood sugar control might have such a specific harmful effect on eyesight. Nor does it explain another surprising finding from the study: men taking these weight-loss treatments appeared to face three times the risk of vision loss compared to women.

The study did not provide enough detail about the differences between male and female participants. For instance, whether more severely obese men than women were included. In addition, large-scale data of this kind does not always capture the finer details needed to fully understand cause and effect.

It is important to keep all this in perspective: while a link between semaglutide and vision loss has been identified, this side-effect remains rare.

More research is needed to establish safe dosage levels and to understand whether certain factors – such as sex, age, weight, or existing health conditions – make some people more vulnerable than others. Semaglutide is being prescribed for a growing range of conditions and increasingly to younger patients. To ensure that these treatments do not lead to life-changing sight loss, properly designed clinical trials that assess the level of risk are essential.

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk told the Guardian: “Patient safety is our top priority, and we take any reports about adverse events from the use of our medicines very seriously. We work closely with authorities and regulatory bodies from around the world to continuously monitor the safety profile of our products.”

The EU patient leaflets for Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus had been updated to include Naion, they added, but “based on the totality of evidence, we concluded that the data did not suggest a reasonable possibility of a causal relationship between semaglutide and Naion and Novo Nordisk believes that the benefit-risk profile of semaglutide remains favourable”.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Russia both allege a projectile struck the grounds of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the Islamic Republic, raising the specter of a radiological incident as Tehran’s war with Israel and the United States rages.

Neither Iran nor Russia say there was any release of nuclear material in the incident on Tuesday evening, but it again underlines a longtime worry of Iran’s neighbors — that the power plant on the shores of the Persian Gulf could be hit by either an attack or an earthquake.

Here’s what to know about the incident, the plant itself and Iran’s wider nuclear program, which remains a reason U.S. President Donald Trump points to for starting the war alongside Israel against Iran on Feb. 28.

Reports of a projectile striking there

Russia’s state-run Tass news agency quoted Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev late Tuesday as claiming “a strike hit the area adjacent to the metrology service building located at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant site, in close proximity to the operating power unit.” Russian technicians from Rosatom operate the plant, using Russian-made, low-enriched uranium.

“There were no casualties among Rosatom State Corporation personnel,” Likhachev said. “The radiation situation at the site is normal.”

About 480 Russian nationals remain at the plant, Likhachev said, and authorities are preparing for another round of evacuations from there.

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran later issued a statement saying “no financial, technical, or human damage occurred and no part of the plant was harmed.” Iran blamed the incident on the United States and Israel, Tass later reported.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has had its inspections of Iran restricted over years of tensions over Tehran’s program after Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, issued a carefully worded statement early Wednesday.

“The IAEA has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening,” the United Nations agency said, using an acronym for nuclear power plant. “No damage to the plant or injuries to staff reported.”

No other independent expert has seen the damage. Neither Iran nor Russia published images of the damage. Moscow has made claims about nuclear sites during its war on Ukraine that turned out not to be true, while Iran has been trying to use both force and coercive diplomacy to pressure its neighbors to in turn push the U.S. to halt the war.

It remains unclear what the “projectile” that hit the complex was. The U.S. military’s Central Command, which is in charge of forces launching airstrikes across southern Iran, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shrapnel from missile interceptions and other air defense fire also have caused damage in the region since the war started. Bushehr, some 750 kilometers (465 miles) south of Iran’s capital, Tehran, is home to an Iranian navy base and a dual-use, civilian-military airport with air defense systems protecting the area.

Bushehr a long sought project by Iran

Iran’s Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi announced plans in the 1970s to build 23 nuclear reactors while also having full control of the nuclear fuel cycle — opening the door to being able to build atomic weapons. That rattled U.S. officials, who imposed limits on American companies from selling to Iran. German firm Kraftwerk Union began construction of the Bushehr plant in 1975 as part of $4.8 billion deal for four reactors.

But the 1979 Islamic Revolution halted the project. Iraq repeatedly bombed the site during its eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, seeking to stop Tehran’s program.

Russia ultimately signed onto the project, which saw the power plant connected to the Iranian grid in 2011, running a pressurized-water reactor that generates up to 1,000 megawatts of electricity, which can power hundreds of thousands of homes and other businesses and industries. But it contributes only 1% to 2% of Iran’s power.

Iran has been trying to expand Bushehr to multiple reactors. In 2019, it began a project that ultimately plans to add two additional reactors to the site, each adding another 1,000 megawatts apiece. A satellite image from December from Planet Labs PBC showed the construction still ongoing at the site, with cranes over both sites.

The reactor currently running at Bushehr uses uranium from Russia enriched to 4.5%, a low level needed for power generation in such plants.

Bushehr was untouched in 12-day war in June

Bushehr, as a running, civilian nuclear power plant, was left untouched during the 12-day war in June between Israel and Iran. During that war, the U.S. bombed three Iranian nuclear enrichment sites, destroying centrifuges and likely trapping Tehran’s stockpile of highly enriched, 60% uranium underground. In the time since, Iran has blocked IAEA inspectors from visit those sites.

A possible strike on a nuclear power plant could see a leak of radiation into the environment. That’s been a major concern in the years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Nuclear plants in Ukraine, built when the country was part of the Soviet Union, have come under attack and found themselves on the front lines of that war.

Such a leak into the Persian Gulf would be an existential crisis for the Gulf Arab states, which rely on desalination plants on the gulf for their water supplies.

___

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Trump administration national security officials facing back-to-back congressional hearings starting Wednesday are expected to be pressed on the war in Iran, including a deadly strike on a school, as well as the FBI’s capacity to prevent terror attacks inside the United States.

The annual worldwide threats hearings involving the government’s senior-most intelligence officials are taking place at a time of scrutiny over the U.S. military campaign in the Middle East and heightened concerns about terrorism in the homeland following recent attacks at a Michigan synagogue and Virginia university.

The testimony before the House and Senate intelligence committees is expected to center on the war and in particular the revelation that outdated intelligence likely led to the U.S. firing a missile that hit an elementary school in Iran and killed over 165 people. The outdated targeting data was reported to have come from the Defense Intelligence Agency, whose director, Lt. Gen. James H. Adams, is among those set to testify. The White House says the strike is still under investigation.

The hearings, which begin Wednesday in the Senate and continue Thursday in the House, are also likely to delve into internal administration debate over the war given the resignation this week of Joe Kent as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Kent said Tuesday that he could not “in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war and that he did not agree that Iran posed an imminent threat to the U.S.

Hours later, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, whose office oversaw Kent’s work and who is expected at the hearings this week, wrote in a carefully worded social media post that it was up to Trump to decide whether Iran posed a threat. She did not mention her own views of the strikes.

Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe may also be questioned over recent intelligence assessments about Iran, including one that showed U.S. strikes are unlikely to result in a regime change in Tehran, and another that cast doubt on claims Iran was preparing to strike first.

The hearings are also likely to focus on Kash Patel’s leadership of the FBI. It will be his first public appearance on Capitol Hill since video surfaced last month showing him partying with members of the U.S. men’s hockey team following their gold medal win at the Winter Olympics.

He has fired dozens of agents in his first year on the job, raising concerns about an exodus of national security experience at a time when the U.S. is confronting an elevated terrorism threat.

This month alone, a gunman wearing clothes with an Iranian flag design and the words “Property of Allah” killed two people at a Texas bar; two men who authorities say were inspired by the Islamic State were arrested on charges of bringing homemade powerful explosives to a protest outside the New York City mayoral mansion; a man with a past terrorism conviction opened fire inside an Old Dominion University classroom in Virginia; and a Lebanese-born man in Michigan drove his car into a synagogue.

The FBI has said that it is working around the clock to protect the country.

Celtic goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel may have played his “last football game” with surgery required on his shoulder but he is eager to “fight” to regain fitness.

The Denmark international, 39, last played on 22 February and will have the first of two operations later this month. He will miss his country’s World Cup play-off semi-final against North Macedonia on 26 March.

The former Leicester City keeper is out of contract at the end of the season and faces up to a year of recovery.

“I could’ve potentially played my last football game,” Schmeichel told CBS Sports Golazo.

“I’ve been a footballer since the day I was born. It’s devastating. It’s very, very hard to wrap my head around at the moment.

“I got the message [on Tuesday] that it could potentially be the end of my career. By the time I could get back fit I could be plus 40.

“I’m going to give it everything I can to see if I can get back. It would be probably one of the greatest feats of my career if I could ever get back from an injury like this. I’m going to fight, I’m going to try everything I can. I’m going to do the rehab.”

On a sweltering summer day in 2011, Maya Silver was hiking through Colorado’s remote Unaweep Canyon when her then-boyfriend started to grow frustrated with her pace. The sun was blazing overhead, the terrain was difficult, and she couldn’t keep up. Without a word, he stormed ahead — and then vanished from sight. Silver, an inexperienced hiker at the time, spent the next two hours alone, lost and spiraling with fears of rattlesnake bites, heatstroke, and the suffocating isolation of the canyon.

“After one hour, you start spiralling in your head,” she says. “I worried that I might never get off the trail and find him, that he had left me completely, or I would take a wrong turn and trip and fall.”

Silver experienced what has more recently been dubbed “alpine divorce,” a new dating term that describes the physical abandonment of a significant other, intentionally or unintentionally, in the mountains. Online, women have recounted experiences like Silver’s: being guided by a more experienced male partner on hikes, only to be left stranded — and with the unsettling sense that their partner does not have their best interests at heart. Some women say in their online testimonies that their experience of alpine divorce was an early sign of their partner’s emotional or physical abuse. While there are no statistics available to illustrate its scale yet, the uproar online suggests it is surprisingly common: one Reddit post on the topic has more than 1000 comments from women sharing similar experiences.

The term “alpine divorce” dates back to a 1893 short story by Scottish-Canadian author Robert Barr, in which a man plots to push his wife off a mountain. While fictional, the story taps into a long-standing fear of betrayal in remote, high-risk environments. The term went mainstream last month, after Austrian climber Thomas Plamberger was found guilty of gross negligent manslaughter for leaving his girlfriend to freeze to death during a hike on Grossglockner, Austria’s highest mountain at 14,461ft (3,798 meters), in 2025. The judge ruled that Plamberger was responsible for Gurtner, noting that his mountaineering skills were “galaxies” beyond hers and criticizing him for failing to assess her abilities. (Plamberger has denied criminal wrongdoing and is appealing.) During the trial, his ex-girlfriend Andrea Bergener testified that he had left her alone on a night hike on Grossglockner years earlier — though, in her case, she had fortunately managed to descend the mountain safely on her own.

open image in gallery

open image in gallery

Silver, now an experienced climber and editor of Climbing Magazine, was later reunited with her boyfriend after her two arduous hours of survival and was furious with him. They broke up a few months later. But Silver still wonders what could have happened if she had not safely found her way back. “Things could have gone south,” she tells me. “You can see so many instances where this could have become a really big search and rescue situation, or it could have been fatal.”

The most common — and less extreme — form of alpine divorce occurs when one partner walks ahead during a hike, leaving the other alone after a minor argument. Minaa B, a New York-based social worker and relationship expert, describes it as a form of abandonment trauma. Being left behind on a hike can trigger a powerful fight-or-flight response, flooding the nervous system with fear and leaving a person disoriented and panicked. “It can be very dysregulating to the nervous system for somebody to be abandoned in either an unfamiliar environment or even an unsafe environment,” says Minaa B. Not having access to resources, like a working cell phone or a blanket, can add to the severity of the situation, too. “You might feel fear. You might feel extreme stress in that moment,” she says. “There’s a threat to your safety that’s happening.”

The relationship expert compares alpine divorce to ghosting — the sudden, unexplained cutoff of communication in a romantic relationship, often used to avoid confrontation. “People who struggle with emotional maturity and direct communication can find it easier to abandon someone versus having a very clear conversation about wanting to end the relationship,” says Minaa B. “This is an extreme form of ghosting, except it’s not happening in the digital space. It’s happening in real life to people.”

open image in gallery

Alpine divorces are usually the result of a communication breakdown, says Dr. Jessica Carbino, a relationship expert and former sociologist for Bumble and Tinder. “It represents someone’s capacity to control their impulses,” she explains. “People who would engage in this type of behavior are having a challenge regulating their stress and becoming panicked or very anxious. And they then engage in these incredibly impulsive behaviors, like leaving somebody on a mountain, abandoning them and walking away.”

Power dynamics play a big role, too. The image of a man abandoning a woman, leaving her vulnerable, taps into traditional gender roles that assume the man leads and the woman follows. “Men historically have the power to determine the grounds for all interactions,” says Carbino. “By walking away from a conversation, you are taking the power back. You are denying the opportunity for interaction, and that certainly has a gender element to it.”

When a partner abandons you in a remote setting, it’s a profound breach of trust that’s hard to repair. According to Minaa B, it may signal that your needs aren’t a priority — and could be a sign it’s time to walk away. “That experience can trickle into how you perceive the relationship, the fact that your partner did abandon you in this way,” she adds. “And I think the question for that person experiencing that is, ‘What does this mean about trust?’”

As a regular alpinist with nearly 20 years of experience, Silver now knows what it takes to be prepared for a difficult hike. She hopes that less-experienced climbers, and women in particular, are not put off by these stories circulating online, but that they take extra caution when embarking on dates in more isolated locations.

“If you have any apprehension or lack of experience, do the research, ask the hard questions, don’t accept the answers point-blank [from your partner or date],” says Silver. If in doubt, pick somewhere familiar, busy and within cell reception service. “If you have any inkling that something isn’t right, suggest something much more mellow, go to the climbing gym instead. Or, choose a hiking route that you’ve done before.” It’s a sad reality, but one that all women should be aware of.

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

Members of North Yorkshire Council’s executive voted on Tuesday (March 17) to adopt a masterplan framework for Maltkiln, which would be built around Cattal railway station, near Harrogate.

The framework will be used to shape the development of the new community, which, as well as housing, includes primary schools, shops, and health and sports facilities.

Councillor Mark Crane, executive member for open to business, told the committee that work was progressing on the scheme.

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“This is a high-level document that’s in front of us today. A lot more work needs doing on it, but we are getting towards the stage where hopefully in the next year or two we’ll see spades in the ground and the start of a new settlement which will be very accessible because of the train line, with the bus service we’re hoping will be there as well.

“(It will have) buildings that are of a high standard and require a lot less heating than older buildings would do. It’s a positive story, although what you will always find is everybody supports new settlements as long as they’re nowhere near them.”

A map of the proposed development

Councillor Carl Les, leader of the authority, added: “We’ve been talking about this for a long, long time since we inherited it from Harrogate (Borough Council).

“I think the really worrying thing is that to meet our housing targets, we need a Maltkiln every year.”

The framework was approved despite concerns from some local councillors.

Ahead of the meeting, Councillor Arnold Warneken, member for the Ouseburn division, urged the executive to delay adopting the framework until further consultation work had taken place with local communities.