NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione spoke out in court Friday against the prospect of back-to-back trials over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, telling a judge: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”
Mangione, 27, made the remarks as court officers escorted him out of the courtroom after a judge scheduled his state murder trial to begin June 8, three months before jury selection in his federal case.
Judge Gregory Carro, matter-of-fact in his decision after a lengthy discussion with prosecutors and defense lawyers at the bench, said the state trial could be delayed until Sept 8 if an appeal delays the federal trial.
Mangione’s lawyers objected to the June trial date, telling Carro that at that time, they’ll be consumed with preparing for the federal trial, which involves allegations that Mangione stalked Thompson before killing him.
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“Mr. Mangione is being put in an untenable situation,” defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said. “This is a tug-of-war between two different prosecution offices.”
“The defense will not be ready on June 8,” she added.
“Be ready,” Carro replied.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges, both of which carry the possibility of life in prison. Last week, the judge in the federal case ruled that prosecutors can’t seek the death penalty.
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Wearing a tan jail suit, Mangione sat quietly at the defense table until his outburst at the end of the hearing.
Jury selection in the federal case is set for Sept. 8, followed by opening statements and testimony on Oct. 13.
As the trial calendar began to take shape, Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann sent a letter to Carro asking him to begin the New York trial on July 1. The prosecutor argued that the state’s interests “would be unfairly prejudiced by an unnecessary delay” until after the federal trial.
When Mangione was arrested, federal prosecutors said anticipated that the state trial would go first. Seidemann told Carro on Friday that Thompson’s family has also expressed a desire to see the state trial happen first.
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“It appears the federal government has reneged on its agreement to let the state, which has done most of the work in this case, go first,” Carro said Friday.
Scheduling the state trial first could help Manhattan prosecutors avoid double jeopardy issues. Under New York law, the district attorney’s office could be barred from trying Mangione if his federal trial happens first.
The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. The cases involve different charges but the same alleged course of conduct.
Mangione isn’t due in court again in the state case until May, when Carro is expected to rule on a defense request to exclude certain evidence that prosecutors say connects Mangione to the killing.
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Those items include a 9 mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which they say he described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
Last week, Garnett ruled that prosecutors can use those items at that trial.
Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to a midtown Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
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Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
Tom Cruise and David Beckham were once close friends, when both lived in California but things have changed of late
As spectators settle down for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics, many will be watching to see if Tom Cruise graces their screens.
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The Hollywood icon is an ambassador for the forthcoming summer games, scheduled for Los Angeles in 2028, and there have been rumours of an appearance in Milan. Cruise has been in attendance at plenty of sporting events as a fan in the past.
The 63 year old actor has been photographed at NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL fixtures across the United States, many of those involving Los Angeles teams, while he routinely visits the UK and has become a familiar face in the Wimbledon stands. Previously, he was accompanied by former England skipper David Beckham at several of these sporting occasions.
However, the bond between the pair appears far less close now than when the pair lived a stone’s throw from one another in California. According to Hello!, an already close relationship grew even closer following the footballer and wife Victoria’s move to Los Angeles in 2007.
“I was on the phone to him for about an hour last night and the night before,” Beckham said in January 2007. “I asked for his advice because he’s a very wise man and a very good friend of mine. He couldn’t speak any higher about LA. It’s a big help to us to have friends in LA when we arrive.”
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In Grant Wahl’s book ‘The Beckham Experiment’, Beckham revealed he and Victoria named their third child Cruz as a tribute to their friend. The British pair had also attended Cruise’s wedding to Katie Holmes in 2006, with the families maintaining their friendship in California and the Hollywood star turning up at Galaxy fixtures in Major League Soccer to support his friend.
Beckham and Cruise also established Midnight Boys Bike Club in 2010. The duo were reportedly riding matching F131 Hellcat Combat motorcycles at the time, whilst they were said to have welcomed other celebrities including Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt into their exclusive circle.
“He’d call at 11 at night, and we’d just hang, no problems, just riding our bikes,” Beckham later told GQ whilst discussing his experiences with Cruise. Yet, there has reportedly been a falling out between the former mates in the years since.
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Claims in the United States, referencing anonymous sources, indicated Cruise’s association with the Church of Scientology played a role in the deterioration of his relationship with the Beckhams. Circumstances seemed to have shifted by 2024, when Victoria extended an invitation to the Top Gun actor for her 50th birthday party, although the extent to which the relationship has been revived are unclear and Cruise’s behaviour at that party turned some heads.
According to Victoria’s former Spice Girls bandmate Mel B, a dance from Cruise at the party was hardly what those in attendance expected. “We were at Victoria’s 50th birthday and her son, Cruz, started singing Mama on the guitar and David (Beckham) was like pushing us all up,” Mel B said. “All five of us were singing and then Tom Cruise made a circle and he did that dance from that movie, for some reason.
“We were all like dancing away and he goes ‘Come on, man! Come on!’ He starts getting together this circle. So he goes in the circle first – Tom Cruise! – and starts doing all this…,” she said whilst mimicking Tom’s movements. Mel added: “I went ‘Oh my God!’ and that’s why I left the circle. It was the weirdest dance.”
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Cruise maintains a residence in California and has been participating in preparations for the summer games arriving in the Golden State. He executed a stunt during the closing ceremony of the Paris games in 2024 as part of a handover before the next summer edition.
There has been plenty of speculation he will be in Italy for Friday’s opening ceremony, with Snoop Dogg and other American celebrities having already travelled to Europe. However, Deadline reports that his attendance remains uncertain after he was seen around Los Angeles on Wednesday – less than 48 hours before the ceremony.
Watch Winter Olympics 2026 live on discovery+
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The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games is running from February 6-22 and fans can enjoy more than 850 hours of action live on discovery+ via Prime Video.
Throughout the games, the £3.99 discovery+ Entertainment subscription will provide access to TNT Sports 2, the home of 24/7 Olympic coverage.
IT’S rumbled on for 17 long years, but the war between Katie Price and Peter Andre is finally over.
However, yesterday’s bombshell statement, in which the pair vowed to stop badmouthing one another after a string of bitter public spats, was a hard-won truce, according to insiders.
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The war between Katie Price and her ex Peter Andre is finally overCredit: GettyPrice has been refusing to listen to singer Peter’s attempts to make peaceCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The Sun was told Katie has spent months refusing to agree to Peter’s desperate attempts to make peace.
But their messy divorce just four years later left the pair struggling to ever see eye-to-eye.
Peter, who is now remarried to Emily MacDonagh, a practicing NHS doctor with whom he shares three children, chose not to speak out against Katie.
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She, however regularly, pummelled him in public.
But it was events late last summer that culminated in an explosion of tensions between them.
Edited clips from their Noughties ITV reality show, Katie & Peter, started to go viral on TikTok, in which he hurled insults at the former glamour model.
Katie, 47, and Peter, 52, tied the knot in 2005 after meeting on I’m A CelebCredit: PA:Press AssociationModel Katie and Peter are snapped with their family in 2009Credit: Refer to Source
The Sun understands it left Peter highly distressed, with a source explaining: “The footage was so misleading.
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“It was out of context and painted him in a bad light. It was awful because it created a false narrative.”
Those close to Katie, however, said she felt “vindicated” that the videos were being shared publicly again.
Unfortunately, there are many more lies and baseless accusations I have yet to address
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Peter Andre
Amid the chaos, Katie went on to detonate a bomb — and publicly berated Peter, blaming him and his management team for her being cut out of her daughter’s ITV reality TV series, The Princess Diaries.
Speaking on her podcast last August, Katie alleged Peter’s management team, The Can Group — which used to represent her and had also signed Princess to their books — was coming between her and the teen.
Katie said of Peter’s manager: “I’ve always said, over my dead body would I ever want her to manage my kids because she doesn’t like me, and Pete and me don’t talk.
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“I am very, very, very upset that Princess has signed with them when she was 16.
The Statement
Katie Price and Peter Andre have decided to close the door on the past and move forward into a new chapter with positivity and respect.
We are both focused on creating a calm and supportive environment for our children.
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We have reached a mutual agreement, both legally and personally confirming that neither of us will speak negatively about the other going forward.
This decision reflects a shared commitment to our family and stability.
We want to stand united for our children. We are hoping this is a start of a positive relationship.
We ask for understanding and support from both the media and the public as we move ahead
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“I wasn’t asked to look at any contracts, so I don’t know what Princess has signed because it’s all to do with that side.”
She added: “I want the best for Junior and Princess, always, and I will never get in the way of it.
“But what hurts my feelings — and it does upset me — is when your kids grow up, you go to their assemblies, you go to their Christmas things.
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“You go to their awards, you know, you go to their football matches or their gymnastics, you’re involved in everything they do. And knowing that what my career has been, Princess is taking that same path — trying to do the same as what I’ve done — which I absolutely love and adore of Princess, but I had not been allowed to go on any photoshoot.
‘Hugely painful’
“No signings or Superdrug openings or anything like that. Why? Because I’m not allowed and I’m not welcome.”
The Can Group said at the time they had “never stopped anyone seeing their families”.
But Katie’s words evoked such fury in Peter that, days later, he hit back with a measured but metaphorical bomb, blowing wide open their feud which had, largely, played out behind closed doors for years.
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Multiple attempts to draw a line in the sand were made, but Katie just pied them all off
Source
In a statement, he said: “For sixteen years, I have stayed silent in the face of repeated lies from my ex-wife and her family, out of respect for my children and loved ones.
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“But staying silent has been incredibly frustrating. That ends today. The latest comments about my children’s welfare and living arrangements compel me to set the record straight.
“For well-documented reasons, and for their safety, Junior and Princess came into my care in 2018 and remained with me until they reached adulthood.
“In 2019, the family courts issued a legally-binding order to enforce this arrangement. I have never made this public before, out of respect for my children.
“In 2011 and 2015, publicly documented court cases found my ex-wife had made false claims. She was ordered to pay substantial damages and legal costs, and to apologise to me and my management.
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“The same falsehoods are being repeated today.
“Unfortunately, there are many more lies and baseless accusations I have yet to address.
“Those will now be dealt with in the coming months.”
As their public war of words played out, insiders said Peter’s team wanted to push for peace for the sake of their children.
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Katie however, would not play ball.
A source added: “Multiple attempts to draw a line in the sand were made, but Katie just pied them all off.
“They asked her to sign off on a statement last year and she point-blank refused to be a part of it. It was hugely painful for Peter. He just wants what is best for his children.
“He had to speak out publicly and he did it in a way which was factual and honest.
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“In 17 years, he never wanted to be drawn into a public row and he wanted it to be resolved.”
‘Incredibly headstrong’
Recent events in Katie’s life have made her re-think, friends close to her confirmed.
Those close to Katie said they had hoped she would end their union after learning of the allegations against Andrews by his former partners in this newspaper.
Another ex, Alana Percival, told Katie to “run for the hills” after he proposed to the former glamour model in the same place and in the same way as he had popped the question to her weeks earlier.
Alana said: “Lee is a liar, a narcissist and I think he’s a manipulator.
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Katie’s life has always been incredibly hectic
Source
“Once I tried to leave him, he told me had a heart condition and was living on borrowed time.
“Lee doesn’t know what’s fact and what’s fiction. It’s worrying, because I think he believes his own lies.”
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Andrews denied all the claims made against him, and Katie has sided with him — despite warnings from those close to her.
She returned to the UK following their quickie wedding in Dubai and, pals said, spent time with both Junior and Princess.
It was apparently this time alone with the children, as well as the chance to consider her future, that made her agree to the deal with Peter.
A source said: “Katie is incredibly headstrong, but she loves her children to their bones.
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“Everything that happened with Lee was a whirlwind for Princess and Junior, and add that on to everything happening behind the scenes with Peter and it was a mess. Making peace with Pete, even if just for the children, was the right thing to do.”
Katie’s decision to bury the hatchet has, according to pals, given her family some cause to celebrate.
Their concerns now turn back to Andrews — and Katie’s relationship with him.
A source said: “Katie’s life has always been incredibly hectic.
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“She makes decisions with her heart on her sleeve.
“Katie has assured her family they have nothing to worry about. But her returning to Dubai has given them a sense of dread.
“And they have every right to be concerned.”
Katie is fresh off the back of a whirlwind marriage to Lee AndrewsCredit: BackGridGlamour model Katie in 1996Credit: GettyLookalike daughter Princess stuns in snap from last yearCredit: Instagram
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the House Oversight Committee on Friday requested records related to firms partially owned by the husband of Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar, taking the extraordinary step of scrutinizing the spouse of a sitting House member.
Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, released a letter to Timothy Mynett, a former Democratic political consultant who is married to Omar, requesting records related to a pair of companies that had a substantial jump in value between 2023 and 2024, according to financial disclosures filed by the congresswoman.
Comer’s request marked a highly unusual move by the chair of a committee with a history of taking on politically-charged investigations, but almost always focused on government officials outside of Congress. The House Ethics Committee, which is comprised of an equal number of Democrats and Republicans and tries to stay away from political fights, typically handles allegations involving lawmakers and their family members.
Yet since her 2018 election as one of the first Muslim women in the House, Omar has received nearly-nonstop attacks from the right. She has dismissed allegations around her finances as “misleading” and based on conspiracy theories.
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A spokesperson for Omar, Jackie Rogers, said in a statement that Comer’s letter was “a political stunt” and part of a campaign “meant to fundraise, not real oversight.”
“This is an attempt to orchestrate a smear campaign against the congresswoman, and it is disgusting that our tax dollars are being used to malign her,” Rogers added.
Comer has also displayed a willingness to push the traditional parameters of the Oversight panel. In a separate investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, he is enforcing subpoenas for depositions from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, marking the first time a former president will be forced to appear before Congress.
In the letter to Mynett on Friday, Comer said, “There are serious public concerns about how your businesses increased so dramatically in value only a year after reporting very limited assets.”
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There is no evidence of wrongdoing by Omar, but President Donald Trump also said last month that the Department of Justice is looking into her finances.
In response to the president, Omar said on social media that “your support is collapsing and you’re panicking,” adding that “Years of ‘investigations’ have found nothing.”
The scrutiny of Omar’s finances comes from a required financial disclosure statement she filed in May last year. She reported then that two firms tied to her husband, a winery called eStCru and an investment firm called Rose Lake Capital, had risen in value by at least $5.9 million dollars. Lawmakers report assets within ranges of dollar figures, so it was not clear exactly how much the firms had risen in value or what ownership stake Mynett had in them.
Omar has also pointed out that her husband’s reported income from the winery was between $5,000 and $15,000 and none from Rose Lake Capital.
Former AC Milan and Sweden footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic opens the 2026 Winter Olympic Games for the BBC, as he explains what it takes to become “a champion in Milan.”
Follow the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics across the BBC from Friday, 6 February.
All lines were blocked after the vehicle hit the bridge
Trains were disrupted after a vehicle hit a railway bridge. Trains running between Cambridge and Kennett were expected to be disrupted until 7pm on Friday (February 6).
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This is because a vehicle has hit a railway bridge at Dullingham. On the National Rail website it said: “A vehicle striking a bridge at Dullingham means all lines are blocked.
“As a result, trains may be cancelled or revised. Disruption is expected until 7pm.”
Those who have purchased tickets will be able to travel on trains earlier or later if their service is cancelled.
Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of the Transylvania Open as Emma Raducanu takes on Oleksandra Oliynykova for a place in the final. The British No 1, still pursuing a second career final following her US Open triumph in 2021, has not dropped a set this week en route to the last four in Romania, the country of her father’s birth.
Raducanu, who is the top seed at a tournament for the fifth time in her career, has come through in straight sets against Greet Minnen, Kaja Juvan and Maja Chwalinska. It has been a much-needed response from the 23-year-old following her disappointing exit in the second round of the Australian Open last month, which led to her parting ways with coach Francis Roig.
Speaking after her 6-0, 6-4 victory in the previous round, Raducanu, delivering some of her on-court interview in Romanian, said: “I’m very happy with my performance. I played a great match from the beginning and I was pleased I could get off to that start. Of course, there’s always moments of adversity to overcome and I did that pretty well in the second set.”
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But this afternoon’s match, which will be Raducanu’s first semi-final since reaching the last four at the Washington Open in July, may be the Briton’s toughest test yet, with Oliynykova claiming her first top-50 win against Chinese fourth seed Wang Xinyu to reach this stage.
The world No 91 has this week earned the moniker “Bat Girl”, having taken her tattoos to another level by stencilling gothic-looking miniature bats on her face for the tournament, honouring Transylvania’s association with the creature.
At stake for the winner this afternoon is a showdown with either third seed and world No 36 Sorana Cirstea of Romania or Daria Snigur of Ukraine.
Some of us remember having more energy in our 20s. We could work late, sleep badly, have a night out, recover quickly and still feel capable the next day. By our 40s, that ease has often gone. Fatigue feels harder to shake. It’s tempting to assume this is simply the ageing process – a one‑way decline.
The truth is that the 40s are often the most exhausting decade, not because we are old, but because several small biological changes converge at exactly the same time that life’s demands often peak. Crucially, and optimistically, there is no reason to assume that energy must continue to decline in the same way into our 60s.
Energetic 20s
In early adulthood, multiple systems peak together.
Muscle mass is at its highest, even without deliberate training. As a metabolically active tissue, muscle helps regulate blood sugar and reduces the effort required for everyday tasks. Research shows that skeletal muscle is metabolically active even at rest and contributes substantially to basal metabolic rate (the energy your body uses just to keep you alive when you’re at rest). When you have more muscle, everything costs less energy.
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At the cellular level, mitochondria – the structures that convert food into usable energy – are more numerous and more efficient. They produce energy with less waste and less inflammatory byproduct.
Sleep, too, is deeper. Even when sleep is shortened, the brain produces more slow‑wave sleep, the phase most strongly linked to physical restoration.
Hormonal rhythms are also more stable. Cortisol, often described as the body’s stress hormone, melatonin, growth hormone and sex hormones follow predictable daily patterns, making energy more reliable across the day.
Put simply, energy in your 20s is abundant and forgiving. You can mistreat it and still get away with it.
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Exhausting 40s
By midlife, none of these systems has collapsed, but small shifts start to matter.
Muscle mass begins to decline from the late 30s onwards unless you exercise to maintain it. This in itself is a top tip – do strength training. The loss of muscle is gradual, but its effects are not. Less muscle means everyday movement costs more energy, even if you don’t consciously notice it.
Mitochondria still produce energy, but less efficiently. In your 20s, poor sleep or stress could be buffered. In your 40s, inefficiency is exposed. Recovery becomes more “expensive”.
Sleep also changes. Many people still get enough hours, but sleep fragments. Less deep sleep means less repair. Fatigue feels cumulative rather than episodic.
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Hormones don’t disappear in midlife – they fluctuate, particularly in women. Variability, not deficiency, disrupts temperature regulation, sleep timing and energy rhythms. The body copes better with low levels than with unpredictable ones.
Then there is the brain. Midlife is a period of maximum cognitive and emotional load: leadership, responsibility, vigilance and caring roles. The prefrontal cortex – responsible for planning, making decisions and inhibition – works harder for the same output. Mental multitasking drains energy as effectively as physical labour.
This is why the 40s feel so punishing. Biological efficiency is beginning to shift at exactly the moment when demand is highest.
Midlife is often a time of maximum cognitive load. Krakenimages/Shutterstock.com
Hopeful 60s
Later life is often imagined as a continuation of midlife decline; however, many people report something different.
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Hormonal systems often stabilise after periods of transition. Life roles may simplify. Cognitive load can reduce. Experience replaces constant active decision‑making.
Sleep doesn’t automatically worsen with age. When stress is lower and routines are protected, sleep efficiency can improve – even if total sleep time is shorter.
Crucially, muscle and mitochondria still adapt surprisingly well into later life. Strength training in people in their 60s, 70s and beyond can restore strength, improve metabolic health and increase subjective energy within months.
This doesn’t mean later life brings boundless energy, but it often brings something else: predictability.
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Good news?
Across adulthood, energy shifts in character rather than simply declining. The mistake we make is assuming that feeling tired in midlife reflects a personal failing, or that it marks the start of an unavoidable decline. Anatomically, it is neither.
Midlife fatigue is best understood as a mismatch between biology and demand: small shifts in efficiency occurring at precisely the point when cognitive, emotional and practical loads are at their highest.
The hopeful message is not that we can reclaim our 20-year-old selves. Rather, it is that energy in later life remains highly modifiable, and that the exhaustion so characteristic of the 40s is not the endpoint of the story. Fatigue at this stage is not a warning of inevitable decline; it is a signal that the rules have changed.
Durham Police were called at about 9.40am this morning following reports that shots were fired at a house on Featherstone Drive, in Newton Hall.
The two occupants of the house were uninjured and have been safeguarded by officers.
An investigation into the incident is now underway.
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Detective Chief Inspector Neil Fuller, who is leading the investigation, said: “We understand that this incident will have caused a great deal of concern and alarm in the local community.
“From our enquiries conducted so far, we believe this was a targeted attack. There will be increased neighbourhood policing patrols in the area to provide reassurance to local residents.
“I would urge anyone who has any information about this incident to please report it, either directly to the police or anonymously to Crimestoppers.
“We’d also be keen to speak to anyone who may have dashcam footage from the Featherstone Drive area at the time of the incident.”
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Anyone with information is asked to contact the force on 101 quoting incident number 58 of February 6. Durham Police can also be contacted online at www.durham.police.uk.
Information can also be passed on anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.
SIR DAVID BECKHAM’S free-kick record could be at risk with an England star tipped to make his long-awaited return to first-team football.
James Ward-Prowse‘s free-kick for Burnley U21s has shown he’s still a set-piece specialist.
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Ward-Prowse scored from a set-piece in the 32nd minute when Burnley U21 played Wigan U21.James Ward-Prowse was snubbed by West Ham boss Nuno Espirito SantoCredit: Alamy
The 31-year-old though has been starved of opportunities to show it.
“I think we’ve seen it over many, many years – in and around the edge of the box, his delivery from wide areas, corners as well, it’s an absolutely huge, huge threat.
“His quality in and around the edge of the box, to get a ball up and down at speed, to beat keepers.
“It’s probably world-class really in terms of the set-piece.
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“Hopefully he can break that record with us because it would mean one has gone in!”
In the video from the U21s game, Ward-Prowse angled himself perfectly and locked his eyes on the target.
He fired the ball with his right foot over the wall to beat the goalkeeper to the near post.
Three years after his £30million move to West Ham from Southampton, it almost seemed as if his talent was going to go to waste.
Friez & Burgz, which has built a strong following for its quick and affordable smash burgers, has become a favourite for foodies after launching four years ago.
The company, run by Alex Lucas, is renovating its store in Chester-le-Street after the building was completely stripped back to bare walls.
The new venue, at 54 Front Street, will be the latest addition to its growing portfolio, which already includes sites in South Shields, Byker, Forest Hall, Whitley Bay and its most recent opening on Newcastle’s Percy Street, opposite the Haymarket.
Founder Alex Lucas, 27, from Newcastle said progress will be shared online for their followers.
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Originally from the Ukraine, Alex said he is excited to open a new venue in the County Durham town.
He said: “We do everything ourselves, from taking the building back to nothing to getting it ready to open, it’s all our own people and contractors we’ve worked with since the beginning.
Owner Alex Lucas from Friez & Burgz (Image: Friez & Burgz)
“We’ve just opened our fifth shop in Newcastle, and this will be our sixth location.
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“Everything was removed and rebuilt from scratch. It’s a really good location on Front Street and we’re excited to bring something new there.”
The unit was previously occupied by Greggs, which has since moved to a larger premises across the road.
Friez & Burgz (Image: Friez & Burgz)
Work is expected to take around ten weeks, although Alex said the final opening date is yet to be confirmed.
The popular burger chain launched four years ago, with its first shop opening in South Shields.
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The owner, who moved to the UK 15 years ago, said the idea came from his experience working in the restaurant industry and noticing how expensive burgers had become.
He said: “We wanted to be the best from day one, but also very reasonably priced.
Friez & Burgz (Image: Friez & Burgz)
“When we worked out the food costs, we realised we could offer really good quality burgers without charging what everyone else was charging.”
Despite the rising costs of food, Alex said the business has tried to keep prices low.
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The 27-year-old said: “Everything has gone up, but we still try to keep good value for customers, especially with how difficult things are for people right now.”
Alex said the main selling point for the business is the speed the burgers are served, taking on average seven minutes.
He said: “All the burgers are smashed fresh, the buns are baked daily, and we aim to have food ready in around seven minutes.
Friez & Burgz (Image: Friez & Burgz)
“It’s quick, it’s high quality, and it works really well for people who want something fast but still made properly.”
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Rather than expanding purely for growth, Alex said opening new locations is about creating job opportunities for staff who have been part of the journey since the beginning.
He said: “The biggest reason for opening more shops is to give our team a chance to grow and to give hardworking people opportunities.
“People who work hard and are passionate deserve the opportunity to run something and I want to provide the space for them to do that.”
An official opening date will be announced in the coming months.
