Whether you are a WWE champion, a Hollywood actor or the biggest musician in the world – hair thinning can happen to anyone.

Hair transplants have long been commonplace for men of any age who were experiencing hair loss. 

Approximately 6.5million men in the UK and over 40 per cent of men in the US experience pattern hair loss.

However, being in the public eye can put added stress onto male celebrities whose appearances are always on camera.

John Cena, Elton John and Matthew McConaughey are among the British and American celebrities who have proudly admitted to suffering with hair loss.

These A-lists, of all ages, have been open about their experiences to help eliminate the stigma surrounding the ‘life-changing’ procedure. 

John Cena 

17-time WWE world champ John Cena shared details about undergoing his second FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) hair transplant nearly two years after the ‘life-changing’ first round

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John debuted his bald head ahead of his second hair transplant last month

17-time WWE world champ John Cena shared details about undergoing his second FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) hair transplant nearly two years after the ‘life-changing’ first round. 

It all began in November 2024 when the 49-year-old retired wrestler went under the knife for ’13 and a half hours’ at the Anderson Center for Hair in Atlanta, Georgia after online trolls called him ‘bald’.

‘The objective is to get more hair, and this was the best way to do it, talking with Ken Anderson, my doctor over there. I love the guy. He’s totally changed my life,’ John told People.

‘I went back to him like, “Man, you did great. I have this one small, small, small spot. Can you do it?” He’s like, “I can. My best results are — if you’re bold enough to shave your head, I can keep the follicles.”‘

The Little Brother star officially returned to the Anderson Center on June 29 with a newly shaved head for another eight-hour FUE procedure.

‘I’m rocking this hair thing with the promise that it’s working,’ John noted. ‘I have full trust and faith in him with this process.’

The Massachusetts-born muscleman has also received PRP and exosome treatments on top of his daily regimen entailing red-light therapy, minoxidil, finasteride, vitamins as well as specialized shampoo and conditioner.

‘I hate the fact that if there wasn’t so much shame around it, I’d have gotten it done 10 years ago,’ Cena told People in 2024.

‘I thought I was alone, but seven or eight out of 10 [men] suffer from thinning or baldness.’

AJ McLean

The American singer, 48, detailed his struggle with balding in a previous interview after getting a hair transplant several years back (pictured left in 2020 and right in 2024)

Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean was famous for his bleach blonde hair and colourful buzz cuts before losing his hair.

The American singer, 48, detailed his struggle with balding in a previous interview after getting a hair transplant several years back.

‘Losing my hair is something that I have personally struggled with for a long time,’ he told Allure in 2021

‘I ended up going to the straight Pitbull look where it’s just bald, and since then I’ve had hair surgery.

‘I did it right before I got married, which will have been 10 years ago in December. I had gotten to that place where I was shaving my head all the time because it was easier to maintain and it happened to look good with my tattoos. 

‘But once I had [the surgery] done, I posted pictures on my socials. I wasn’t ashamed because I totally accept whatever anybody wants to do to make themselves feel better, to boost their self-confidence.’

Wayne Rooney 

Wayne Rooney struggled with hair loss in his late teens and into his early twenties (left – pictured in 2010) and underwent the first of two hair transplants in 2011 (right – pictured in 2011, left in 2026)

Perhaps the most high-profile hair transplant of recent times was England and Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney.

The former attacker, 40, noticed hair loss from his late teens and had receded significantly by the time he was 25.

In 2011, he confirmed he had undergone a procedure as he released a statement on X: ‘Just to confirm to all my followers I have had a hair transplant. I was going bald at 25 why not. I’m delighted with the result.’

It was a success as his hair appeared to grow significantly, but he had to have another procedure in 2013 after he was slowly balding once again.

But, the second transplant left him with thicker hair once more – something that is still evident with the now DC United boss.

Jimmy Carr 

Comedian Jimmy, 53, emerged from lockdown with a whole new look after undergoing a radical transformation (pictured left in 2006, right in 2022) 

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Comedian Jimmy, 53, emerged from lockdown with a whole new look after undergoing a radical transformation. 

The TV favourite admitted he’s had ‘a bit of work done’ to look younger, including ‘a bit of Botox’ and getting a new set of teeth.

Speaking on the Just For Laughs, Jimmy said: ‘I’ve had a lot of work done. I got my teeth knocked out and put back in.

‘And then I had a hair transplant in the lockdown, which I didn’t particularly need, but what else are you going to do in lockdown?’

Discussing his decision to undergo Botox, he said: ‘I was seeing a guy, getting a bit of Botox, and I was chatting to him and he said, ”Oh I do Simon Cowell’,’ and I went, ”Yeah I think I better leave”. ”What have you done… he looks like a melted candle”.’ 

Robbie Williams 

Robbie Williams, 52, had a hair transplant in 2013 and wanted to have another one in 2020 but was told his locks were too thin (pictured left in 2013)

Take That star Robbie Williams, 52, had a hair transplant in 2013 and wanted to have another one in 2020 but was told his locks were too thin at that point for it to work.

Speaking to The Sun, the singer said he then turned to injections to stimulate hair growth but those also failed to produce the desired results.

He said: ‘I am losing my hair. When a light shines on the top of it, it becomes like a baby’s bum.

‘I went to go and have a thatch, but the guy goes, “Bad news, your hair is so thin we cannot harvest it from there. It will do nothing”.

‘So I had these injections. They were an absolute fortune, two vials of this stuff. It cost the same price as my grandma’s house.’

Robbie said he was told his hair would grow back much thicker but  seven months after the procedure, he had seen no difference.

The hitmaker said his hair transplant procedure in 2013 was a success before his hair started thinning again in recent years.

He joked that when he is performing on stage with a screen behind him, he will look at it and see a man with ‘a double chin and no hair’.

Elton John 

Sir Elton John, 79, spoke about how he had to have two hair transplants after he was left with a receding hairline in the seventies (left in 1977, right 2020) 

Back in 2019, Sir Elton John, 79, spoke about how he had to have two hair transplants in the Daily Mail, after he was left with a receding hairline in the late seventies due to hair dye. 

He wrote: ‘Some people are blessed with the kind of face that looks good with a bald head. I am not one of those people. Without hair, I bear a disturbing resemblance to the cartoon character Shrek.

‘My hair started thinning a little in the early Seventies, but a bad dye job in New York suddenly caused the stuff to stage a mass walkout. By 1976, there was hardly anything left on top. I hated how I looked. 

‘But salvation was apparently at hand: I was directed to a man called Pierre Putot in Paris, supposedly a great pioneer in the art of hair transplants.

‘Undergo a simple procedure, I was told, and I’d be leaving his clinic a changed man.

‘It didn’t quite work out like that. For one thing, it wasn’t a simple procedure at all. It went on for five hours.

‘I had it done twice, and both times it hurt like hell.’

 James Nesbitt

James Nesbitt, 61, has had multiple hair transplants over the years and credits the procedure for his longevity in the industry (left in 2005, right in June last year) 

James Nesbitt, 61, has had multiple hair transplants over the years and credits the procedure for his longevity in the industry. 

‘In terms of the range of leading roles I’ve had since then it’s probably helped,’ he previously told Radio Times in 2017. 

‘It’s not cheap!’ he admitted. ‘Probably 20 grand. I went public with it. I was very happy to be open about it.

‘I just thought, “Come on, somebody is going to say it before I say it.” It was something I struggled with. And that was probably the vanity in me.’

James says these days there’s pressure among actors to maintain their youthful looks.

‘I think it’s such a shame that young men are thinking that,’ he said. ‘There always used to be the sense that age adds character.

‘You look at Samuel Beckett when he was older, Richard Harris, but I think with younger men it seems to be a big pressure.’

Matthew McConaughey

Although he hasn’t exactly undergone a transplant, Matthew McConaughey has been using an all-natural topical ointment daily for the past 20 years in order to maintain his lengthy locks (pictured left in 2025, right in 2005)

Although he hasn’t exactly undergone a transplant, Matthew McConaughey has been using an all-natural topical ointment daily for the past 20 years in order to maintain his lengthy locks.

The actor, 56, said that he began noticing he was losing his hair dating back in the late 1990s, recalling how he discovered a ‘baseball-sized bald spot’ on the top of his head. 

‘I got a picture [from a] turn of the millennium party in 2000 in Jamaica, I was looking down laughing and there was a baseball-sized bald spot on the top of my head,’ the actor said. 

He also says his hair loss was visible in several movies that he made at the time, including the hit 2001 romantic comedy The Wedding Planner, in which he starred alongside Jennifer Lopez. 

‘You can go back and look at things like The Wedding Planner and those things. I mean, you’ll see, I was losing hair,’ he said.

In his 2020 book Greenlights, the Lone Star State native said that his hair loss became so bad, he decided to shave his head in late 2000 in an attempt to hide his thinning locks, explaining to LADBible: ‘I had a silver dollar back here. So I shaved it off because I’d read, you know, hey, get a fresh start, shave it off.’

The actor then joked: ‘I even heard the stuff like, “Do it on a full moon.”‘

After shaving his head, Matthew decided to try and stimulate the growth of his hair, revealing that he began applying the topical ointment Regenix to his scalp ‘once a day for ten minutes’.

The on-screen star insisted that he has never used any other treatment or drug to try and grow his hair, noting that he believes his luscious locks are the result of his commitment to using the topical ointment so consistently.

‘I was fully committed to it – no Propecia [a prescription drug used to treat hair loss in men], no nothing, it was just manual labor,’ said McConaughey, who won an Oscar for Best Actor in 2014 for Dallas Buyers Club.

While wildfire numbers in England and Wales remain below the 788 recorded by the same point last year, fire chiefs warned “continued dry conditions, combined with warmer temperatures and harvesting activity in many rural areas”, were creating conditions in which fires can start and spread rapidly.

Kim Kardashian looked somber as she joined the rest of her mourning family at her late grandmother Mary Jo Campbell’s celebration of life over the weekend.

Campbell, who is the mother of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner, passed away on July 16 at the age of 91. 

A death certificate later revealed that Campbell died of acute cardiopulmonary arrest after a months-long battle with metastatic lung cancer, as per Us Weekly.

Days after Campbell was cremated, the Kardashian-Jenner clan flew from Los Angeles to La Valencia Hotel in La Jolla, California to honor her life and legacy on Sunday, July 26.

Adding to an already emotional day, it also marked what would’ve been Campbell’s 92nd birthday.

Kim was seen making her way around the hotel with her and her ex-husband Kanye West‘s youngest son Psalm by her side.

Kim was seen making her way around La Valencia Hotel with her and her ex-husband Kanye West’s youngest son Psalm by her side

The 45-year-old SKIMS founder dressed in a low-cut white gown for the gathering while keeping her eyes hidden behind a pair of Balenciaga sunglasses.

She walked with one hand pressed against Psalm’s back as they greeted fellow mourners at the hotel’s valet.

The seven-year-old matched his famous mom in a nearly all-white outfit that included a short sleeve button-up shirt, baggy pants and tan Timberland boots.

Kris was photographed on a hotel deck seemingly giving instructions to employees during the celebration of life.

The 70-year-old was dressed in a jeweled white jacket and pants.

Like her daughter Kim, Kris opted to wear sunglasses for much of the afternoon event on Sunday.

Also present were Kris’s other daughters Kourtney, 47, and Khloe, 42.

Kourtney, who wore a black bell-sleeve dress and heels, was joined by her husband Travis Barker, 50, and her two eldest children: son Mason Disick, 16, and daughter Penelope Disick, 14.

She shares Mason, Penelope and son Reign, 11, with ex-boyfriend Scott Disick, 43, who was also on hand to celebrate Campbell’s life in La Jolla. 

The 45-year-old SKIMS founder dressed in a low-cut white gown for the gathering 

Kris was photographed on a hotel deck seemingly giving instructions to employees during the celebration of life

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Khloe Kardashian was in attendance in a black polka dot dress

Khloe was joined by her BFF Malika Haqq (L) and her ex Tristan Thompson (R)

Kourtney Kardashian arrived in a black bell-sleeve dress and heels

Kourtney was supported by her husband Travis Barker, 50 

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Kourtney’s ex Scott Disick was seen arriving at the ‘private event’ with their 16-year-old son Mason

Kim strolled around with a cup of ice cream in one hand

Not pictured was Kourtney and Barker’s two-year-old son Rocky, who will turn three in November. 

Khloe was supported by her longtime BFF Malika Haqq, 43, and her ex-boyfriend and baby daddy Tristan Thompson, 35, with whom she shares daughter True, eight, and son Tatum, three.

The Good American founder was seen strolling around the hotel with niece Penelope while wearing a sleeveless polka dot dress and nude sandal heels. 

Kris’s daughters Kendall, 30, and Kylie, 28, were also in attendance with their actor boyfriends Jacob Elordi, 29, and Timothee Chalamet, 30, respectively, but avoided being photographed at Sunday’s event.

Other notable attendees included Kris’s 28-year-old niece Natalie Zettel, who is the daughter of her late sister Karen Houghton, and reality TV star Kyle Richards, 57.

According to TMZ, Campbell’s celebration of life was held in the bar area of La Valencia Hotel and lasted a total of three hours.

The outlet revealed that a live band performed some of Kris’s late mother’s favorite jazz songs and that floral arrangements decorated the bar in an homage to Campbell’s love of flowers.

It was also said that guests were given ‘Celebration of Life memory books’ as they left the intimate gathering.

The 45-year-old SKIMS founder kept her eyes hidden behind a pair of Balenciaga sunglasses

She walked with one hand pressed against Psalm’s back as they greeted fellow mourners at the hotel’s valet

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Kim’s seven-year-old son matched her in a nearly all-white outfit that included a short sleeve button-up shirt, baggy pants and tan Timberland boots

Kim was joined by several bodyguards as she made her way around the hotel

Kim’s other three children were not photographed at the memorial on Sunday

Kris was dressed in a jeweled white jacket and pants

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Like her daughter Kim, the 70-year-old opted to wear sunglasses for much of the afternoon event on Sunday.

Other attendees included Kris’s 28-year-old niece Natalie Zettel, who is the daughter of her late sister Karen Houghton

Reality TV star Kyle Richards was also there to pay her respects

Scott Disick was clad in a black suit 

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Tristan Thompson stuck by Khloe’s pal Malika Haqq

The basketball star was also seen strolling the venue with a blonde guest

Malika Haqq shared a hug with Kourtney’s daughter Penelope

Mary Jo is buried next to her late husband Harry Shannon, who died in 2003, and her late daughter Karen Houghton, who died in 2024, at El Camino Memorial Park

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Kim and the rest of her family did not stay in the La Jolla area for long as they were all seen heading back home to Los Angeles on private jets just hours later.

The All’s Fair star changed out of her gown and into a pair of pink sweats as she boarded the aircraft with son Psalm and her daughter Chicago, eight. 

Kendall and Elordi, who have been romantically linked since early 2026, put on a cozy display as they arrived on the tarmac in an SUV.

Kendall was dressed in a tank top and shorts while Elordi towered over her in a white T-shirt and khaki pants.

Kylie’s private jet was also photographed touching down at a Los Angeles airport.

The Kylie Cosmetics founder emerged from the plane wearing black capri pants, a white tank top and a grey sweatshirt. 

Following closely behind Kylie as she climbed down off the plane was her daughter Stormi, eight, and son Aire, four, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Travis Scott, 35.

Campbell’s cause of death was revealed on Tuesday just two days after her celebration of life.

Kim and the rest of her family did not stay in the La Jolla area for long as they were all seen heading back home to Los Angeles on private jets just hours later

The All’s Fair star changed out of her gown and into a pair of pink sweats

She boarded the aircraft with son Psalm and her daughter Chicago, eight

Kim’s eldest kids – daughter North, 13, and son Saint, 10 – were not pictured with their mom and siblings 

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Kendall and Elordi, who have been romantically linked since early 2026, put on a cozy display as they arrived on the tarmac in an SUV

Kendall was dressed in a tank top and shorts

Elordi towered over Kendall and the airport staff in a white T-shirt and kaki pants

Kylie’s private jet was photographed arriving at a Los Angeles airport

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The Kylie Cosmetics founder emerged from the plane wearing black capri pants, a white tank top and a grey sweatshirt

Following closely behind Kylie as she climbed down off the plane was her daughter Stormi, eight, and son Aire, four, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Travis Scott, 35

The beloved Kardashian family member died from acute cardiopulmonary arrest, per a death certificate obtained by Us Weekly. 

Other conditions leading to her death included acute respiratory failure and metastatic lung cancer, which she had lived with ‘for months,’ according to the document.

Campbell died at a Los Angeles hospital on July 16 and was cremated last Thursday. No autopsy was performed after her death.

Campbell became a celebrity in her own right as a frequent guest on her family’s reality show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians.

The show starred her daughter and her grandchildren, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian, Rob Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner.

Kris announced the loss earlier this month with a touching tribute on Instagram.

‘Today, we said goodbye to my beautiful Mommy MJ,’ she posted. ‘There are no words that could ever capture what she has meant to me or the heartbreak of having to say goodbye.

‘My mom was the heart of our family. She taught me everything that truly matters… to love your family fiercely, to be kind, to show up for the people you love, and to never take a single moment together for granted.

‘She taught us that family is everything. She showed us how to love unconditionally and how to find joy in the little moments. She showed me how to face life’s challenges with resilience and faith.

Campbell, who is the mother of Kardashian matriarch Kris Jenner , passed away on July 16 at the age of 91

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‘Mom, thank you for every sacrifice you made, every piece of wisdom you shared, and every moment you loved us so completely. I will miss our daily talks, your smile, your laughter…

‘Our hearts are broken, but we find comfort knowing that love like yours never truly leaves us. Your love will live on in our family, in our traditions, in every moment we are together, and in every life you touched. When I look at my kids and my grandkids, I will forever see pieces of you in all of us.

‘There is not a part of me that isn’t shaped by you. And if I have done anything right in this world, it’s because I spent my life trying to live in a way that would make you proud.

‘Every memory, every moment, every blessing, it was all because of you, and I will forever thank God every single day for making you my mommy. My heart is broken into a million pieces… thank you for giving me the greatest childhood and oh what a beautiful blessed life… I love you forever Mommy. Thank you for giving us everything.’

Campbell’s family shot to worldwide fame with Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which also propelled her into the spotlight.

She was a guest at exclusive parties, was photographed by the paparazzi, competed on Celebrity Family Feud, appeared in a KKW Beauty shoot, and, of course, made multiple cameos on her relatives’ Instagram accounts.

She was one of two witnesses at Kourtney’s wedding to Travis Barker at the Santa Barbara courthouse in 2022, which was documented in the couple’s special, Til Death Do Us Part Kourtney & Travis.

A death certificate later revealed that Campbell died of acute cardiopulmonary arrest after a months-long battle with metastatic lung cancer, as per Us Weekly

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Campbell made frequent appearances on her family’s reality show over the years

The spotlight was not something Campbell completely shied away from earlier in her life.

Years before the Kardashians became household names, Campbell pursued a career as a model in her early years, according to People.

As an adult, however, she embraced a quieter life hundreds of miles away from glamorous Hollywood.

In 1980, she opened Shannon & Company, a children’s clothing boutique in the San Diego neighborhood of La Jolla – a store she ran for years before it eventually closed.

It was frequented by the Kardashian siblings when they were children and a place where Kris even worked when she was a teenager, according to People.

‘They grew up playing in the store,’ Campbell told The Daily Beast in 2012. ‘I recall Kim sitting on this very floor and counting money. She would sing, “Counting is the game, and money is my name,” or “Money is my name and counting is the game.” Something like that.’

‘[The store] keeps me going. If I didn’t have the store, I would probably spend more time up [in Calabasas with family]. I want to keep my little house as my haven, because then you have some place to run to,’ she said.

It is a life that has not been without upheaval.

Campbell overcame two battles with cancer during her life, surviving both breast and colon cancer.

In 2024, her daughter Karen Houghton died ‘unexpectedly’ – with a death certificate stating she passed from cardiac arrest and sudden cardiac arrhythmia, with Type 2 diabetes listed as a secondary underlying cause.

Campbell was also married three times during her life. A marriage she had with her high school sweetheart ended after just two months.

She then wed Robert Houghton, with whom she had daughters Kris and Karen.

Campbell and Houghton ultimately split when Kris was seven.

She walked down the aisle again with Harry Shannon, a marriage which lasted 40 years until his death in 2003.

It is a love life that bears a striking similarity to her granddaughter Kim, who has also been married three times.

The US was able to thwart an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan Tuesday night as they worked with Saudi Arabia to strike bases in Iraq used by Tehran-backed militias.

The US-Saudi attack on the base in Northern Iraq left eight members of the Iran-backed militia dead, according to the Iraqi armed group’s command.  

The attacks were the first military moves between the two nations since President Trump paused strikes to give diplomacy a chance.

Trump had met earlier in the day with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

The Iraqi bases were used by Iranian militias to launch attacks in recent days, CENTCOM said.   

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces called the attacks a ‘highly dangerous escalation.’

The strike came after US forces said missiles from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps were intercepted in Jordan.

The attack in Jordan took place at approximately 5:45pm ET on US forces based in the Middle East, US Central Command confirmed.  

‘All Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted. US forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness,’ CENTCOM said in a statement. 

The US also warned that further attacks on American troops or Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure risked additional action. 

The attack took place at approximately 5:45pm ET on US forces based in the Middle East, US Central Command confirmed 

The US and Iran had experienced a brief period of calm, during which neither announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the Strait of Hormuz. 

The Persian Gulf waterway is a narrow chokepoint through which 20 percent of the world’s oil normally flows.

Iran effectively closed the strait when the war began by firing at freighters and tankers off its coast or threatening, too.

Following the signing of an interim ceasefire deal in June, a battle for control over the strait has erupted. 

Iran demanded that ships use a route near its coastline and said it can potentially charge fees. 

Ships were increasingly navigating a southern route along the coast of Oman under a US overwatch operation when Iran attacked some vessels.

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Earlier Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said that it shot down drones fired by Iran-backed militias in Iraq for a second day, while Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have forced a Saudi oil tanker to turn around as part of their self-styled blockade of the kingdom.

The attacks ended a period of calm between the United States and Iran, neither of which had announced attacks for days following weeks of escalation over the Strait of Hormuz.

The Saudi Defense Ministry said in a statement that air defenses intercepted and destroyed several drones that had attempted to target petroleum facilities in the nation’s eastern region. 

It said the attacks were ‘once again launched from Iraqi territory and carried out by Iran-affiliated terrorist militias.’

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered security agencies to investigate after the Saudis alleged a similar attack on Monday. 

The Iraqi military said in a statement that Iraq is committed to ‘preventing Iraqi territory from being used as a route or launching point for any attack targeting brotherly or friendly countries.’

This screen grab taken from video footage released on July 20, 2026 by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC)’s Sepah News shows what they say a missile being launched from an undisclosed location towards US targets in the Gulf

The Iraqi militias have denied any role in the drone attacks. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups, called the Saudi claims ‘fabrications’ and implied that Monday’s attacks were carried out by the Houthis, who had themselves claimed to have attacked Saudi oil facilities.

Iran and the US paused their fighting over the weekend, though tensions remain high even as officials said mediators achieved progress in getting the two sides back to negotiations.

Tehran said Tuesday that US strikes during an earlier period of escalation destroyed an airport and a marine control tower, and caused damage to 12 bridges and two tunnels, among other infrastructure.

The US military said at the time that it had struck numerous military targets in response to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Iran retaliated with missile and drone attacks on Arab countries hosting US forces.

The attack comes the same day Netanyahu launched a charm offensive on President Donald Trump, working top Cabinet members in a place of worship as anxiety grows that Israel could move to widen the war with Iran. 

Netanyahu turned the somber funeral for the late Senator Lindsey Graham at Washington National Cathedral into a backdrop for diplomatic networking.

He rubbed shoulders with Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and was also seen speaking closely with Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and his wife. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched a charm offensive in Washington on Tuesday, working the room with top Trump Cabinet members following a critical White House meeting with President Donald Trump , even as anxiety grows among Republicans that Israel could drag the US into an expanding war with Iran 

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He was also spotted among senior Trump aides and administration heavyweights including Stephen Miller, Steve Witkoff, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, HHS Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, and Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin.

Netanyahu said he had an ‘excellent’ meeting with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, their first sitdown since launching a joint war against Iran that offered Netanyahu a chance to smooth out strains in their relationship.

The closed-door meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half and was ‘positive and productive,’ White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. 

The White House did not immediately offer more details.

It comes as both leaders face growing pressures at home. 

Netanyahu is up for reelection and is embattled in part because of his deteriorating relationship with Trump. 

Trump is under pressure to end an unpopular war that has wreaked economic havoc and driven prices higher ahead of midterm elections this November.

An Israeli official briefed on the meeting said Netanyahu made it clear to Trump and his Cabinet that if Iran were to attack Israel, they would respond, but that beyond that, they would trust the judgment of the president regarding next steps. 

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of a private meeting.

Despite signs of tension between the two before the meeting, Netanyahu was effusive afterward in a post on Instagram, noting that the meeting included Trump’s ‘entire senior team.’

The US’ ability to intercept Iran’s incoming strikes has become an increasingly salient issue as lawmakers, members of the military and experts raise concerns over the nation’s diminishing stockpiles of missile interceptors. 

The Center for Strategic and International Studies released an analysis Monday that said the nation’s shrunken inventories of Patriot and THAAD interceptors may force the U.S. and its Middle Eastern allies to take more risks to conserve those air defenses.

For example, the Washington think tank said American forces may launch fewer missiles against incoming Iranian drones and missiles, raising the chance of one getting through. 

The Pentagon, however, pushed back against concerns that its capabilities have diminished.

‘America’s military is the most powerful in the world and has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the President’s choosing,’ Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement Tuesday.

Lunch box snacks just aren’t as good now.

If you ever brought a lunchbox to school, you’ll remember the excitement of opening it to see what surprise your mum had packed for you. Every day, school kids would open their lunchboxes and compare what their parents had packed for them. From Fruit Winders and Um Bongo to Dairylea Lunchables and jam sandwiches, it was always fun to see what your mates got and swap snacks.

Today’s lunchbox snacks are noticeably healthier, with high-sugar and artificially coloured foods firmly off the menu.

Even some of the most recognisable snacks from our childhoods on supermarket shelves today aren’t the same as they were when we were kids, with cereal bars, granola bars and even crisps now replaced by lower-sugar, high-protein alternatives.

While this is a positive shift, it’s hard not to feel nostalgic for the garish packaging, wild flavours, and sugar-loaded snacks of the past.

With that nostalgia in mind, here are 11 discontinued lunchbox snacks every cool kid coveted in the 80s, 90s and 00s:

The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys 6 Choccy Cupcakes

The Fabulous Bakin’ Boys brand started in 1997, originating from a business that had been baking muffins and cakes in Witney, Oxfordshire, since 1989 under the name BakeHouse Cakes.

The brand’s signature Choccy Cupcakes were plain sponge cakes topped with a generous layer of milk chocolate, sold in multipacks of six or eight.

They were ideal for lunchboxes because the cakes were individually wrapped, which meant they didn’t get soggy when a stray juice carton leaked.

Sadly, these cupcakes disappeared from shelves in 2017 when the Witney factory closed.

Cartoonies

Cartoonies were bite-sized round biscuits filled with molten milk chocolate and stamped with animal faces.

The product, made by Burton’s Biscuits, was introduced in the mid-80s and was originally called ‘Cartoon Buttons’ and featured Disney characters.

However, they were later rebranded with non-Disney animal characters after Nestle acquired exclusive food-market rights to Disney characters.

Hugely popular throughout the 90s and 00s, they were a lunchbox staple for many kids.

After Burton’s Biscuits was bought out in 2013, Cartoonies vanished from UK shops — though you might still find them online from speciality importers.

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Mars Delight

Introduced in 2004, Mars Delight was a thin, crispy chocolate bar featuring layers of wafer, caramel cream, and cocoa cream, all coated in milk chocolate. Anyone who had one in their lunchbox in the 00s was lucky!

Its slim size made it perfect for lunchboxes, and its unique texture and flavour garnered a devoted following.

Despite its popularity, Mars Delight was discontinued in 2008, reportedly due to low sales.

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Tudor Crisps

Tudor Crisps were a northern institution, made by Tudor Food Products in Sunderland since 1947 and widely enjoyed across the North East and Scotland.

Known for their adventurous flavours such as Pickled Onion, Beef Barbecue, and Hot Dog & Ketchup, Tudor stood out on shelves.

Tudor Food Products was bought by Smiths Crisps in 1961, which was then bought by PepsiCo, the parent company of Walkers, in 1989.

The brand was finally discontinued in 2003 as PepsiCo focused on Walkers.

Um Bongo

Um Bongo is a tropical fruit juice drink that was launched in 1983 by Nestle under the Libby’s brand. The famous drink was known for its iconic 80s and 90s TV adverts, which included the catchphrase, “Um Bongo, Um Bongo, they drink it in the Congo”.

In the early 2000s, changing regulations and concerns about sugar content led to a major formula change, replacing the original blend with a simplified “100% juice” recipe containing only banana, orange, and pineapple.

The original drink also featured apple, lemon, passion fruit, mandarin, apricot, guava, and mango. By 2007, the packaging had also shifted away from referencing the Congo Basin.

Um Bongo has disappeared and returned to shelves several times, but a version is still available today — though it’s likely not quite like the one you remember.

Today, Um Bongo can be purchased from Iceland, Home Bargains and Costco, although it likely won’t taste quite the same as the original 80s formula.

Smoky Bacon flavour of Strings & Things Cheestrings

Cheestrings arrived in the UK and Ireland in 1996 with the tagline “Real A-peelable Cheese” and the quirky Mr Strings mascot. Alongside classic cheddar, adventurous flavours like Twister, Pizza, and Smoky Bacon once existed.

According to the Irish Times, in 2007, the brand quietly discontinued its smoky bacon and pizza flavours.

Today, Cheesestrings are available in three flavours: Pizza, Twisted and Original.

Kwenchy Kups

These classic 185ml fruit-flavoured juice drinks, made by Calypso, were a staple in school lunchboxes throughout the 90s and 00s. Packaged in small plastic pots with foil lids and accompanied by a plastic straw, Kwenchy Kups came in flavours like cola, raspberry, blackcurrant, and orange.

Their bright colours and sweet taste made them a lunchtime favourite among kids. Though they’ve quietly disappeared from mainstream shelves, their memory lives on for anyone who enjoyed them growing up.

McVitie’s Taxi Bars

Taxi Bars featured layers of wafer, caramel, and chocolate cream, all wrapped in chocolate and a distinctive orange, yellow, and blue wrapper.

Originally launched in the 80s under another brand, they eventually became a McVitie’s staple and were sold in multipacks, perfect for packed lunches.

Sadly, the chocolate bar was discontinued in 2015.

Jacob’s Oddities

Launched in 2011, Jacob’s Oddities were quirky crackers shaped like bones, fish, and spaceships, available in cheese, salt and vinegar, and ready salted flavours.

The snack was on shelves for six years before it was axed by its parent company, Pladis, in 2017.

Echo Bars

Fox’s Echo Bars were a favourite chocolate biscuit in the 00s, featuring a crunchy base, aerated white chocolate, and a milk chocolate coating. Kids loved eating them layer by layer during lunch.

Launched in 2000 and briefly available in mint flavour too, Echo Bars disappeared in 2008.

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Walkers BBQ Rib Crisps

While Walkers now has a ‘BBQ Sauce’ flavour available, nothing can quite beat the nostalgic smoky goodness of ‘BBQ Rib’ flavour. The flavour was first introduced in the 00s and came in black packets.

Sadly, the crisps were phased out in the 2010s.

In December 2023, limited-edition packets of the crisps were spotted in B&M aisles, but they have since disappeared once again. Walkers also released a vegan ‘BBQ Pork Ribs’ limited edition flavour in 2024.

At least two people have been killed following an explosion at a shopping mall during Tuesday’s 6.8-magnitude earthquake in southern Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture.

Rescuers working at the scene overnight had taken eight people out of the Aeon Mall Kumamoto shopping centre, and two women in their 20s were confirmed dead.

Another person was reported to be in cardiopulmonary arrest and five others were injured, but in stable condition.

Power was knocked out to thousands of homes on Tuesday, while around 300,000 people were instructed to go to evacuation centres.

Around 180 people are reportedly being treated for injuries following the disaster.

The earthquake caused powerful shaking and a tsunami warning was issued for Kyushu’s south-western coastlines, though it was later lifted.

Prime minister Sanae Takaichi said officials were evaluating reports of collapsed buildings, fires, damaged roads and bridges, and power outages.

Public broadcaster NHK showed burning and collapsed buildings, large cracks in roads, including an elevated highway, and a derailed freight train.

Mobile phone services were disrupted in some areas and around 48,300 homes lost electricity.

At least 13 people dead in earthquake as search continues for missing

Japan’s prime minister Sanae Takaichi said 13 people have died after a powerful earthquake and subsequent tremors rocked the Kyushu region.

Kyodo News said a hospital in the city of Yatsushiro took in about 40 people with injuries and about 50 others were taken to a hospital in Kumamoto city.

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“There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,” Takaichi said. “We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.”

Takaichi offered her condolences to the victims and sympathy to their relatives, while urging those affected by the quake to take care of themselves under the hot weather.

Shweta Sharma29 July 2026 03:52

Japanese mall explosion caught on car dashcam

Harriette Boucher29 July 2026 03:00

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ICYMI: Around 3,600 military personnel dispatched to Kumamoto

Around 3,600 military personnel were sent to Kumamoto yesterday to help emergency service efforts, which continued through the night.

It comes as workers urgently try to rescue the dozens of people who thought to be trapped in the Aeon Mall shopping centre in Kashima Town.

Prime minister Sanae Takaichi said: “The government will work tirelessly through the night to swiftly assess the overall damage situation and carry out emergency disaster response measures, starting with the rescue and lifesaving of those affected.

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“At the same time, we will ensure the reliable delivery of essential supplies such as food and water, as well as simple air conditioners and power vehicles for heatstroke prevention, utilising push-type support where appropriate, and strive to secure a safe and suitable evacuation environment.”

Harriette Boucher29 July 2026 02:00

Where a magnitude 6.8 earthquake struck Japan

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Harriette Boucher29 July 2026 01:00

Is it safe to travel to Japan? Latest advice after deadly earthquake disrupts flights and trains

As of Tuesday afternoon, the FCDO has warned travellers: “A large earthquake struck Kumamoto Prefecture on 28 July 2026. There are reports of disruption to air and rail services.

“Train lines in Kyushu have been suspended and flights to and from Kumamoto airport have been disrupted. Earthquake aftershocks may also continue.”

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General FCDO safety advice for Japan warns that the country sits “in a major earthquake zone”.

Travellers are told to “take note of instructions in hotel rooms and at train stations and follow the advice of local authorities” in the event of a disaster.

Per FlightRadar24, hundreds of flights to and from Japan are currently delayed following the earthquake, including at Kumamoto airport and Fukuoka airport on the island of Kyushu.

Harriette Boucher29 July 2026 00:00

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Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 23:00

Two women dead following Aeon Mall explosion

The explosion at Aeon shopping centre has killed at least two people, according to local media.

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Japanese broadcaster NHK reported that two women in their 20s died, while five others were injured in the disaster.

This follows an earlier report from Kumamoto City’s Disaster Management Division, which said that 10 people were missing.

Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 22:28

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Kumamoto residents urged to avoid tap water

Residents of Kumamoto has been told not to drink the tap water.

The government said cloudy water had been seen in parts of the city and it was inspecting water supply facilities.

Electricity was cut to about 48,300 households in Kumamoto Prefecture following the powerful earthquake, according to Kyushu Electric Power.

Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 22:07

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A history of Japan’s largest quakes

Japan was rocked by a powerful 6.8 earthquake today, which is thought to have killed several people.

Residents in Kumamoto said the shake reminded them of the 2016 disaster that left 278 people dead across the prefecture and surrounding areas.

Around 20 per cent of the world’s earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater take place in Japan and up to 2,000 quakes are felt by people each year.

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These are some of the largest earthquakes that have struck Japan in the last 15 years:

• On March 16, 2022, a magnitude-7.4 earthquake jolted the coast off Fukushima again, leaving three dead, more than 200 injured and ​reviving memories of the quake and tsunami that crippled the ​Pacific coast ⁠region just over a decade earlier.

• On February 13, 2021, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Fukushima in eastern Japan, injuring dozens of people and ​triggering widespread power outages ​in Greater Tokyo.

• On September 6, 2018, a 6.7-magnitude earthquake ‌paralysed ⁠Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, killing more than 40 people, triggering landslides and knocking out power to its 5.3 million residents.

• On June 18, ​2018, a magnitude-6.1 earthquake in Osaka, Japan’s second-biggest metropolis, killed four people, injured hundreds ​more and halted factory lines in an industrial area.

• On ​April 16, 2016, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck Kumamoto, the scene of Tuesday’s temblor, killing more than 270 people, including some caught in landslides and heavy rain in the aftermath.

• On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami ⁠struck northeast Japan, killing nearly 20,000 people and causing a meltdown at the ​Fukushima nuclear power plant, leading to the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 22:00

Aeon Mall mall explosion thought to be triggered by gas leak

The explosion at Aeon Mall shopping centre is believed to have been triggered by a gas leak at the building, according to Japan’s NHK national television.

Tuesday’s earthquake collapsed the second floor of the Aeon Mall shopping centre and has trapped an unknown number of people there.

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Emergency services have pulled four people out with injuries, while 10 others were unaccounted for, the Kumamoto prefectural emergency response team said.

It said the extent of the damage was still being investigated as the search and rescue effort continued.

Harriette Boucher28 July 2026 21:42

Dominick Anthony Occhicone has been put to death in the same day as another inmate, nearly four decades after carrying out a brutal double murder at an ex-girlfriend’s home

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A Florida man has become the oldest person to be executed in the US state’s history after receiving a lethal injection at the age of 80.

Dominick Anthony Occhicone was put to death for the 1986 double murder of Raymond and Martha Artzner, the parents of his ex-girlfriend, Anita Gerrety.

He becomes the state’s 12th person to be put to death for 2026, and the second in one calendar day in Florida.

His death comes nearly four decades following his brutal crime. At around 3am on June 10, 1986, Occhicone knocked on the door of his ex’s parents’ Pasco County home. As per court records, he wished to rekindle their relationship. He left when Anita threatened to call the sheriff.

He returned an hour later and this time, he came with lethal intent. Anita’s father Raymond tried to call the sheriff’s office, but the phone line had been cut at the junction box, prosecutors said.

Occhicone then shot Anita’s father Raymond in the face. As per the Herald-Tribune, Occhicone then broke through a locked door and chased his ex through the house, but she was able to get outside with her daughter, she later testified.

She heard gunshots ring out behind her and her mother, Martha Artzner, was later found dead.

Raymond Artzner lived long enough to tell deputies who shot him but died at the hospital, prosecutors said. Occhicone did not deny the evidence later in court, but argued the shootings were not premeditated. He was not believed by a jury of his peers, and has been on death row ever since.

But now, 40 years after the brutal revenge slaying of his ex’s parents, Occhicone’s execution has finally gone ahead after forward after the Florida Supreme Court unanimously rejected all of his final appeals earlier on in the week.

Occhicone therefore became the oldest person executed in modern history in Florida and the second-oldest put to death in the US after the 2018 execution of Walter Moody, who was executed at age 83.

Occhicone’s death came six hours after the execution of 68-year-old James Duckett at noon.

Duckett, a former policeman died by lethal injection for the rape and murder of 11-year-old Teresa McAbee while he was working as an cop in central Florida in 1987. He was 11th inmate to be executed by the state in 2026. When asked, he declined to make a final statement and instead chose to respond with “no sir” when asked.

Four minutes later, he was shaken by a prison warden who also shouted Duckett’s name and found to be unresponsive. He was confirmed dead shortly thereafter on Tuesday in the wake of a lethal injection cocktail of three drugs at Florida state prison near Starke.

The double executions day is Florida’s first since 1964, when Blake Emmett and Dawson Sie were both executed in the electric chair. The last time any state carried out two executions in one day was back in 2017, when Arkansas held back-to-back executions.

Florida’s Republican governor Ron DeSantis has made his state’s death chamber the busiest in the US as the end of his final term approaches. DeSantis has previously said too many families have waited too long to see justice, hence the uptick in lethal injections. Nationwide, the death penalty had been on the decline for more than 20 years. That number has now tracked back upwards behind the increased pace set in Florida. Since 2025, Florida has carried out nearly half the state executions across the US.

The user was desperate to know: Are birds ‘secretly professional rappers who co-wrote most of Jay Z’s albums’?

‘I could try to find the bird and interview it,’ they explained, ‘but I think that might be hard because it’s clearly a celebrity.’

Another wondered how they could ‘truly’ transform into a nine-tailed fox, a spirit in ancient Japanese mythology. A third wanted to be called ‘crude’ things which we can’t really publish here.

The above were just three of the hundreds of conversations between real people and the AI chatbot Claude that could be discovered on Google.

Reddit users unearthed the raft of chats on Saturday by using a site-specific term on search engines that limits what results pop up.

Some 755 messages could be searched online across dozens of search results pages, according to a repository on the coding platform GitHub.

The chat logs Metro saw were eye-opening, to say the least. One conversation involved Claude fact-checking someone who thought that climate change, caused by humans burning fossil fuels, does not exist.

A user asked Claude to help them invent a new word – they landed on ‘transtill’ – while another asked to play cards with the bot (Claude won).

In a nearly 20,000-word-long chat, a person asked Claude if it is ‘situationally aware’, later telling the algorithm that they ‘feel bad’ for it.

As of Tuesday evening, a test search by Metro on Google, Yahoo, Bing, DuckDuckGo and Brave returned no results with the trick.

Does this mean all Claude chats are public?

No, neither are private conversations being leaked or hacked.

Instead, Claude lets users ‘share’ some parts of all of a conversation, which gives them a unique URL.

‘Once a chat has been shared, anyone with the link can view the chat snapshot,’ Claude says.

‘The chat snapshot includes all messages that were sent prior to sharing the chat, including any artifacts.’

A box at the top of every conversation will say that it is a ‘copy of a chat between Claude’ and the first name of the user.

Claude users can go to Settings > Privacy > Shared chats to keep their conversations private.

Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude chatbot, told Metro that shareable links to chats are ‘not guessable or discoverable’.

‘We give people control over sharing their Claude conversations publicly, and in keeping with our privacy principles, we do not share chat directories or sitemaps with search engines like Google,’ the company added.

If users post these links on a forum or social media platform, however, Google’s web crawlers, which index websites, may have caught them.

A link sent privately to someone stays out of search.

Inside each chat log’s code is a tiny message that tells search engines to leave them alone, called a robots.txt file.

But as Google’s developer guide, says, this file isn’t a sure-fire way to keep a web page buried; instead, it recommends sites try ‘noindex’.

When Metro peeked inside some of the previously Google-able Claude chat logs, they did not contain this tag.

Google said: ‘Neither Google nor any other search engine controls what pages are made public on the web, and these pages were indexed across many search engines.

‘We give site owners clear controls to decide whether pages can be crawled or indexed, and we always respect those directives.’

An almost identical issue with ChatGPT happened last year, when 4,500 ‘shared’ ChatGPT chat logs were found to be accessible if Googled.

Owner OpenAI tightened its data control policies in response, so search engines could not pick up the shareable links as easily.

Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot within the social media platform X, also saw some 300,000 chat logs viewable with a quick Google search.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

MORE: Tech boss whose company was hacked by rogue OpenAI bot warns ‘game has changed’

MORE: Music platform hit with 90,000 AI-generated tracks every day – can you spot them?

MORE: The clever new tech that could make AI look stupid

The couple had been arguing over what was in the boxes just a day after the wife gave birth following a pregnancy she denied – the couple have three living children

A man has found the remains of five babies stuffed into cardboard boxes.

The horrific discoveries were made at a house in France’s Provence region on Monday, July 29. The man and his wife cannot be named for legal reasons.

The couple had been arguing over what was in the boxes just a day after giving birth following a pregnancy she denied. This was the the third time she had denied being pregnant, according to media reports.

The woman began suffering from abdominal pains and went to hospital while her husband stayed behind.

According to reports from the Daily Mail, a source said the man “looked inside the cardboard boxes they had been arguing over – that’s when he found the five dead babies”.

The source said they were all “decomposing, and had been around for quite a while”.

The husband notified police who are now investigating the incident.

The couple have three living children, aged eight, twelve and the newborn.

Medical examinations will determine the exact nature of the remains, as well as the circumstances and date of their deaths, with the first forensic examinations, including autopsies carried out today (Wednesday, July 29).

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No arrests have been made connection with the case.

The case has drawn parallels to several other newborn murder cases in the country.

In March, a French court jailed a 44-year-old woman for 25 years over the deaths of two of her newborn babies, who police found in the family freezer.

In 2018, a court sentenced a woman to eight years in prison for drowning five of her new-born babies and freezing their bodies.

In 2015, a 45-year-old nursing assistant from northern France confessed to killing her eight newborns at birth and hiding their bodies. The murders were committed between 1989 and 2006, by suffocating eight of her children shortly after giving birth.

Behind the scenes of BBC Breakfast in recent days, there have been plenty of smiles.

Mainly on the faces of the programme’s editor Richard Frediani and his ‘boys’ club’ – since they learned that long-time presenter Naga Munchetty, who earned a salary of £364,999 in her role, was to leave after 17 years on the sofa.

For Frediani, who was temporarily suspended last year following allegations of bullying, had finally won the war against Naga.

In the end, sources tell me, it was an ultimatum for BBC bosses between keeping the presenter or her editor, nicknamed ‘Fredi’.

Their feud, which began when Frediani joined the breakfast programme in 2019, worsened after Naga was seen to be standing up for lower-ranking staff as she watched them being belittled and ‘trampled over’ by Team Frediani.

But while the editor was reportedly widely despised by his junior troop, he was ‘well in’ with the top brass.

Indeed, it was announced yesterday that Naga, 51, is moving to Radio 5 Live where she will host the breakfast show for five days a week. Frediani remains in post.

It has not been an easy few years for the BBC Breakfast show, which Naga co-hosted with Charlie Stayt. Naga’s departure follows an internal investigation in 2025 into her behaviour, also concerning complaints of bullying, over a three-year period. 

She was accused of bullying a female colleague and making a ‘wildly unprofessional’ off-air sex joke that left a co-worker ‘humiliated’. Following the investigation, Naga remained in her job at the BBC.

Meanwhile, in 2020 I first revealed that less than a year into his reign as editor, Frediani had been accused of bullying his staff.

For years since I have heard from staff complaining about his alleged behaviour and, in June 2025, it was said that he had taken an extended period of leave after an internal review of bullying and misconduct allegations was opened.

While Naga was cleared, the sight of her boss also returning to the show after his own investigation – in which at least one complaint was upheld – was, I’m told, ‘untenable’ for her.

‘It was a war zone at Breakfast and Naga lost her battle with the man in charge, her own boss, who didn’t seem to like being taken on,’ one BBC insider told me, shortly after the news of her new role was made public by the Radio Five Live press office.

‘[Naga] was a far more interesting story than Fredi – he didn’t make headlines, she did. Reams of headlines appeared making her out to be a total monster – but “scapegoat” is probably more accurate.

‘At the end of the day, there wasn’t a smoking gun to sack Naga but it’s for the best she doesn’t host Breakfast any more, it was all getting very tricky for everyone involved.

‘What absolutely hasn’t gone unnoticed among Naga’s gang is that the woman has gone, the man is still in situ. Classic. We’ve had Jermaine Jenas texting women filthy, sexual messages, MasterChef’s Gregg Wallace treated junior staff abhorrently and Wynne Evans used the vilest sexual terms in the workplace, yet look at the abuse Naga got.’

Naga has her critics and in the past 18 months since reports of her alleged behaviour have come to light, I’ve heard a mixed bag of insider reports, writes Katie Hind

Of course, Naga has her critics and in the past 18 months since reports of her alleged behaviour have come to light, I’ve heard a mixed bag of insider reports.

Last year, when her co-star Sally Nugent showed off her ‘glow-up’ which became something of a national talking point, it was claimed that Naga made a nasty comment about her sidekick’s new look.

‘We’re meant to be serious journalists, not trying to look like we’re presenting This Morning,’ she supposedly told Sally.

And then there was Geri Halliwell-Horner, the former Spice Girl who found herself on the receiving end of Naga’s acidic tongue during a live interview in which the host pointed her finger at the singer. The BBC later apologised.

Then came ‘toast-gate’ when Naga reportedly reprimanded a BBC Breakfast intern for incorrectly spreading Marmite on her toast and also complained that it ‘needed to be a little bit burnt, but not too much’.

‘A lot of what Naga does is in jest, some of it isn’t,’ says my BBC source. ‘The perception, frankly, is that she is nasty but a lot of this is her manner and often for show.

‘She will take no s***, that was part of the problem.’

BBC insiders describe Naga’s new job, which will begin in January next year, as ‘a great one’.

They also point out that she will be hosting it alone, and, unlike Breakfast on television, it will be five days a week instead of three. Nor will she host the show on a Saturday as she did on BBC Breakfast.

BBC insiders describe Naga’s new job, which begins in January next year, as ‘a great one’. They also point out that she will be hosting it alone, and it will be five days a week instead of three

Naga may also be able to host some shows from London rather than be in Salford full-time, meaning that she will be closer to her home in Dulwich, south-east London.

However, in a statement released yesterday, Naga carefully worded her comments about her exit, giving no mention of her fallout with her former editor.

She said: ‘It has been a privilege to be part of the BBC Breakfast TV team for the past 17 years, working alongside an incredibly talented and hard-working group of journalists who are not only outstanding colleagues but also great friends.

‘Presenting a flagship programme on 5 Live is an opportunity that was simply too good to pass up. It will take a huge amount of work and require 100 per cent of my focus and energy, and I’m really looking forward to throwing myself into the role.’

Later in the day, she shared the news on BBC Radio 5 Live where she told the channel’s listeners that she was ‘very excited’ to join the flagship show. ‘Change is as good as a rest,’ she giggled but, again, she kept schtum on the chaos behind the scenes at Breakfast.

There has been no word from Frediani over her departure but John McAndrew, the BBC’s director of live and daily news, paid tribute to Naga, writing that she will be ‘hugely missed by the millions of viewers who’ve welcomed her into their homes each week’.

So far there has been no word from Charlie Stayt, Naga’s long-serving co-anchor who has often been on the end of her snarling eye rolls and sarcastic comments.

There is no suggestion yet that he is likely to follow Naga off the red Breakfast sofa.

‘He tried his best not to get involved in it all, he’s basically Switzerland – neutral,’ a source told me.

‘He is beloved by the rank and file but has not many allies in the creepy mid-management class but he loved Naga really and enjoyed the sport of hosting with her. Even he will miss her.’