There was a large emergency service presence on the street in Breightmet
A man is in hospital after being rescued from a fire at a flat in Bolton tonight.
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The blaze broke out in the kitchen of a ground-floor flat on Swineside Road in Breightmet this evening (Wednesday, September 9).
Four engines attended the scene just after 6pm, along with police and paramedics.
The street was taped off whilst crews tackled the blaze.
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A man was rescued from the property and taken to hospital by ambulance, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said.
His condition is not yet known.
A GMFRS spokespeson said: “Just after 6pm on Wednesday 9 September, fire crews were called to reports of a fire at a home on Swinside Road, Bolton.
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“Four fire engines from Bolton North, Bolton Central, Farnworth and Whitefield stations were quickly mobilised to the incident, which involved a fire in the kitchen of a ground-floor flat.
“Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reels to extinguish the fire.
A man was rescued from the property and has been taken to hospital by North West Ambulance Service. Fire crews were in attendance for about two hours.”
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Firefighters left the scene around 8pm, but a cordon was said to remain in place outside the property with police officers standing guard.
Neal Flanagan, right, a research scientist at Duke University, uses a tool to take a soil sample from a peatland as Curt Richardson, an ecology professor at Duke, observes Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
2026-09-09T13:02:44Z
BELHAVEN, N.C. (AP) — The birds are up with the sunrise — warblers, flycatchers, sparrows and towhees calling across the treetops. Deer browse on tender buds emerging from dense shrubs. Black bears scrounge for roots, insects and other edibles.
It’s an idyllic setting in North Carolina’s Inner Banks, where fields of cotton, soybeans and corn stretch for miles, country roads wend through stands of pines and thousands of bird watchers converge to witness the spring migration.
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But it’s what’s underground that has drawn scientists and investors to this 23-square-mile (60-square-kilometer) tract: spongy, dense peat up to 15 feet (5 meters) deep.
They’re here to save it.
A juvenile black bear walks through a clearing where peatlands are being restored Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Fifty miles (80 kilometers) of ditches dug decades ago for an abandoned farming venture drained much of the water from thousands of years of accumulated peat, leaving the site vulnerable to drought and wildfires, altering its native habitats — and allowing it to emit 130,000 tons of climate-warming carbon dioxide a year.
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“Our goal is for perpetuity to conserve these lands so they can’t become oil and gas fields, so they’re not mined for phosphorus or turned into parking lots and shopping centers,” said Tripp Wall, CEO of Colorado-based company Pantheon Regeneration. “They’re just these incredible systems that I feel are underappreciated here in the U.S. (that) for 10,000 to 15,000 years have been climatologically resilient until we screwed them up.”
Peatlands are a climate paradox. Though they account for just 3% of global land surface, they store one-third of the Earth’s carbon dioxide, more than all forests combined. But when degraded — primarily when farmers lower the water table to grow crops — destroyed or burned, they become part of the problem, releasing huge volumes of greenhouse gases, now about 6% of the annual global total from all sources.
And the type of peatlands found in North Carolina, and for hundreds of miles along the Eastern Seaboard, are among the most threatened in the world.
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Pantheon plans to reverse the damage by blocking off ditches to control the water table and significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Then it will cull invasive species and replant native grasses, flowers and other plants.
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The restoration is modeled after other projects by nonprofits and government agencies, including at the adjacent 175-square-mile (453-square-kilometer) Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge — one of the largest peatland restoration projects in the U.S. — which provides habitat for threatened and endangered species such as red wolves, yellow pitcher plants and Atlantic white cedar, and has become an important stopover for migrating birds such as Tundra swans.
A beaver swims in a creek at the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge, Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
But what sets apart Pantheon’s project is a plan to sell carbon credits to tech companies and other corporations that want to compensate for their own greenhouse gas emissions, then use the money to restore and preserve a million acres (1,562 square miles, or 4,047 square kilometers) of peatland from Virginia to northern Florida over the next decade.
Each property will be permanently conserved and rewilded — “big corridors, big birding habitats, big biodiversity hotspots that have an outsized impact on climate,” said Wall.
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Ancient ecosystems under threat
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Neal Flanagan, right, a research scientist at Duke University, uses a tool to take a soil sample from a peatland as Curt Richardson, an ecology professor at Duke, observes Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Neal Flanagan, right, a research scientist at Duke University, uses a tool to take a soil sample from a peatland as Curt Richardson, an ecology professor at Duke, observes Wednesday, May 6, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Neal Flanagan pushes a metal tube through roots and around buried logs until it sinks about a meter (3 feet). When he pulls it out, it’s packed with black soil.
Near the surface, it’s dry and full of dead fibers from plants like wood fern, blueberry and Lyonia. The middle is crumbly, moist and odorless, with bits of charcoal from long-ago fires. But the saturated bottom, 50% carbon, is the consistency of axle grease.
“This is the black gold,” said Flanagan’s colleague, Duke University ecologist Curtis Richardson, as ancient peat oozes from his closed fist. Its “magnitude and importance cannot be underestimated,” he added.
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When peatlands are intact, gases generated by decomposing plants are trapped in a waterlogged, oxygen-deprived environment, while surface vegetation absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, scientists say.
That makes ancient, intact peatlands a carbon vault up to 50 feet (15 meters) deep in some parts of the world. They also store about 10% of global fresh water, help control flooding and can help stem wildfires.
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But two-thirds of temperate peatlands — mostly in Europe and the U.S. — have been dewatered, while about 45% of tropical peatlands have been similarly disturbed, according to a 2025 study published by The Society for Conservation Biology.
Boreal peatlands, or those in colder climates in places like Canada and Russia, are about 90% intact, but face growing pressure from thawing permafrost and intense fires, both linked to climate change, as well as mining and critical minerals exploration.
At the same time, only 17% of global peatlands are officially protected, according to the study.
In the U.S., significant amounts of peat are also found in Alaska, Florida, parts of the Northeast and the northern Great Lakes, though the type of domed peatlands found in North Carolina exist only along the Eastern Seaboard. Called Pocosin peat, it formed from coastal pine forests and evergreen shrubs that decayed over millennia.
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In North Carolina alone, 11,000 miles (17,702 kilometers) of canals drain peatlands before the water empties into coastal estuaries, Richardson said.
Combined with climate change, that leaves them vulnerable to the greatest threat to peatlands globally: catastrophic fire.
Peatland fires can burn for months
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A fire-damaged tree stands in an area of peatland Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Belhaven, N.C. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
Blackened tree trunks rise above a marshy area, the only sign that a fire burned almost 2,000 acres (809 hectares) here four years ago, lowering the ground by a foot and a half (0.5 meters) in some places.
It could have been worse, but the North Carolina Forest Service and other agencies extinguished it fairly quickly — in about three weeks — pumping water from nearby lakes to prevent it from spreading into the wildlife refuge, which borders Pantheon’s property on three sides.
A 2008 fire that began during a drought burned for three months above ground and smoldered for another four underground, damaging more than a quarter of the refuge and lowering the ground by several feet in some areas, refuge manager Sarah Toner said. In areas where water-level restoration had begun, though, the fire burned less deeply.
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Saturated peatlands are nearly fireproof: Just the surface vegetation and a few inches of peat burn, which releases nutrients, regenerates seed banks and creates beneficial biochar. But when they’re dry, fire can burn underground for weeks or months — drying out and destroying even the saturated layers — emitting enormous volumes of carbon dioxide and destroying thousands of years of accumulation.
“We’ll lose 5, 6 feet of peat in a matter of weeks, which equates to millions of tons of carbon loss — ancient carbon loss that we simply can’t ever get back in human lifetimes,” Richardson said.
That’s why Pantheon is moving quickly to restore the North Carolina site, Wall said. Although the company hopes to also buy intact peatlands, its first priority is drained sites.
“There’s this urgency to start with what’s degraded now,” Wall said, “before it goes away.”
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Project aims to restore native biodiversity
Steve Apfelbaum steers his SUV down grassy, rutted lanes, then hops out to listen intently, occasionally peering through binoculars. He smiles when he hears prairie warblers, a bird whose population is declining.
“We heard hundreds of them today,” said Apfelbaum, a plant and animal ecologist conducting breeding and migratory bird surveys at the site. “What that tells me is that this ecosystem is really important” for the species’ migration.
He hears Nashville warblers that call from the tops of trees, but nest in cavities in the peat.
Peatlands are key to helping preserve bird populations, which are declining across all habitats, said Apfelbaum: “All sorts of cool birds will be back.”
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So will native reptiles, plants, fish and insects, said Vladimir Roosevelt, Pantheon’s operations director, who’s overseeing the restoration. The company already released a pair of red wolves a couple years ago that have since had pups.
Carbon credits, sometimes controversial, are central to the project
Carbon credits work like this: companies, governments or individuals seek to offset their carbon pollution by investing in projects, such as a peatland restoration, that capture carbon. Their effectiveness, however, has been questioned, as over the years some programs have been exposed as exaggerating how much carbon they were capturing or were simply fraudulent.
Pantheon says it’s aware of those concerns and guarantees high-quality, scientifically verified credits, based on Richardson’s decades of data on carbon loss at the site and ongoing measurements of groundwater levels and the use of sophisticated monitoring equipment, including a tower that measures how much gas is absorbed by and released from the site, as well as computer modeling and core sampling. Those results will be verified by an outside third party.
Investors including Microsoft are providing Pantheon the initial capital to acquire peatland, Wall said. Income from carbon credits — each credit represents a metric ton — will help fund future land purchases.
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The changes will be exciting, Apfelbaum said. But everything comes down to first rewetting and restoring the peat, a natural climate solution often overshadowed by other efforts, including reforestation — important, he said, but not as effective.
“We’ve all been bear-hugged and distracted by trees,” Apfelbaum said, “when it’s really soil and peat that hold the most carbon.”
___
The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
Here’s what the stars have in store for your day (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
As Venus moves staunchly into Scorpio, and Mercury into Libra, Uranus also begins its retrograde; much of the cosmos is spiced up.
Cancer, Leo and Virgo, intrigue is firmly on the cards today. The creative energy is flowing for you, so take this chance to do great things.
Don’t be ruffled by any changes, big or small. The panets are ready to shake things up, so let them.
Ahead, you’ll find all star signs’ horoscopes for today: Thursday September 10, 2026.
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Aries
March 21 to April 20
It’s all change in the heavens today, as Venus dives deep into Scorpio, and Mercury replacing her in the level-headed, Libra. And to add a bit more razzle dazzle to the day, rebellious Uranus begins its annual retrograde. This can see you sharpen up your listening skills, Aries, but also yearning for a deeper connection or to escape a bond you’re not enjoying.
Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications.
April 21 to May 21
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Your eye for detail will be strong over the next few weeks, great if you want to grapple with outstanding paperwork or chores. Yet with your ruler, Venus moving into your opposite sign, your appreciation of the key people in your world will increase. Solo? With your sector of partnerships emphasised, this can see you more open to a new connection – if one calls out.
With your guide planet Mercury emerging from one of the tenderest parts of your chart into one of the most vibrant, you’ll likely feel a desire to re-ignite your social life, and can feel a sense of fun return, and perhaps mischief too. However, with Uranus starting to retrace its steps in Gemini from now, you might review some decisions you have made since April.
A big shift occurs today, and after a busy period, Mercury, the cosmic planet of talk and thought, retreats into a sheltered area and sees you drawn towards quieter mode. However, with the charming Venus in the mood for more social interaction, how will this play out? Well, you can link the two by enjoying creative, home-based hobbies or by enjoying playing host.
You have been drawn to some interesting people in recent months, and as much as you may have enjoyed this, Uranus’s Retrograde can get you thinking more deeply about what you really want from your long-term future, and whether you have been deflected. With Venus arriving in the most homely of areas, time spent beautifying yours can also appeal.
One of the fantastic parts of having your ruler Mercury and the Sun in your sign is that it has enabled you to balance your drive and your thinking. With Mercury zipping into your sector of everyday finances, all the creative strands you have worked on can now be converted into something more tangible. Mind, if you have resisted change professionally, it may still come.
Cosmic messages for Cosmic messages for Virgo today
Libra
September 24 to October 23
With Mercury moving into your sign, as your ruler Venus moves out, your finances can take a welcome turn for the better. Why? Well, your thinking comes into the present and ideas that you’ve been developing on the back burner can start to gain traction. Most of all, if you believe you’re worthy of attracting better things, the greater the chance that you’ll get them.
Venus is the planet of relating and everyday money, which makes her role complex. However, recently she has been emphasising, if quietly, your connections to others. This may have led you to reconnect with an old friend or lover, or to end a tie that was making you unhappy. Today you can feel ready to step into your future. And you can also feel more alluring.
Uranus has been adding extra zest to relationships since April. This may have seen some sizzling connections, or a dull tie make way. This hasn’t only been in your love life, but if you have been thinking carefully about what to do with one intimate involvement, you’re set to reflect even deeper in the coming months. You may change your mind several times.
Routines have been hard to come by since Uranus made its way into Gemini in April. Even you, who like structures, may have found yours disrupted. Still, with Uranus retrograding from now, you can look to make sense of this, and particularly around your work. It’s an ideal time to consider a training course or using past experiences in a new, fresh setting.
Your analytical skills have been to the fore of late. This has given you an added perceptiveness, whether it has been weighing up people’s motives, or teasing out more value from your resources. However, with your modern ruler Uranus retracing his steps now, and Mercury hitting some fresh cosmic air, change calls out. Even your personal look is ripe for a refresh.
Do you stay or do you go? This could be where you live, where you work, or who you see. Unsettled energies may be in play, but equally, just breaking out of everyday routines could be just the pep you need, and with Venus moving into your sister water sign of Scorpio, a change of scene, specially somewhere that is different to your usual fare, can work wonders now.
Your daily Metro.co.uk horoscope is here every morning, seven days a week (yes, including weekends!). To check your forecast, head to our dedicated horoscopes page.
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This time around, Odegaard looks smooth as silk – and it is no co-incidence Arsenal look exactly the same.
“This what we need,” said Arteta. “Players with that mindset to decide the game, to play with that personality and keep taking risks. He is getting into those positions much more in recent games. It was an incredible goal.”
In Naples, Odegaard not only settled the game but set the tone, working tirelessly as the perfect of example of leadership as well as being the match winner.
“Arsenal have obviously looked good at the start of the season and he has been a big reason for that,” added Onuoha. “Some of his creativity, especially on the right-hand side, has been excellent.
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“He looks after the ball so well. He is always looking for that pass to be able to create opportunities and he even does the defensive work as well.”
Odegaard succeeded where other team-mates failed, Arsenal missing several clear-cut opportunities before he struck.
Arsenal‘s superiority was illustrated by having 26 shots, their most in a single Champions League match since records started being kept in 2003-04. It was also the most Napoli have faced in that time.
“Martin is contributing with goals that are impacting results which is what we want from our attacking players, being decisive,” said Arteta. “We should have done it in a different way because of the amount of chances we created.”
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The Champions League has proved elusive for Arsenal, with finals lost to Barcelona in 2006 and to PSG last season.
It remains their Holy Grail – but if Odegaard maintains his brilliant form then their chances of crossing a so far insurmountable barrier will increase hugely.
A GP has opened up about how a strong vaginal odour could signal a fairly common tampon error.
In an Instagram post, Dr Nada Hassan spoke of “the smell every GP recognises instantly” – the strong odour emitted from a retained tampon.
A retained tampon is pretty much what you’d expect it to be: a tampon which isn’t removed from the body and either gets stuck or seemingly gets forgotten about. Per the Women’s Health Practice, retained tampons are “fairly common”.
Dr Hassan noted that sometimes she can tell if a patient has a retained tampon as soon as they’ve walked into the consulting room.
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“It’s more common to forget it than people think. Tampons shrink down with moisture, they migrate higher than expected, and it’s genuinely easy to forget one is there,” she said.
“I’ve had to remove one (sometimes multiple) many a time from patients who had no idea it was in there.”
Malte Mueller via Getty Images/fStop
Retained tampons can leave a particularly grim odour.
According to NHS Inform, tampons can’t get lost inside the body. That said, sometimes the tampon can move high up in the vagina or become squashed sideways or the string can end up inside the vagina, too.
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Some people might forget they’ve got a tampon in and then insert another one or have sex, which can push the original further up. consigning it to ancient history.
The internet is full of horror stories from women who hadn’t noticed they’d retained tampons – some for months – and noticed unpleasant symptoms as a result, namely foul smells and grey or brown discharge.
Tampons should typically be changed every four to six hours. If they aren’t, there’s a risk of rare tampon-related toxic shock syndrome (TSS) developing, which can be fatal.
“The risk increases the longer a tampon is left in, and research has found it rises significantly after six or more hours, especially with overnight use,” said Dr Hassan.
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Toxic shock syndrome requires urgent treatment as it can prove life-threatening. Symptoms include: a high temperature; muscle aches; a raised skin rash that feels like sandpaper and flu-like symptoms. It can also trigger dizziness, confusion, swollen or peeling skin, and vomiting.
How to remove a retained tampon
If you think you might have a retained tampon, NHS Inform advises the following steps to try removing it at home:
Wash your hands.
Squat and bear down (like you would if you had to poo or give birth). This can help bring the tampon towards the vaginal opening, making it easier to remove.
Insert your finger into your vagina.
Move your finger around in a circle. You’ll probably be able to feel the tampon. Try to remove the tampon.
If you cant remove the tampon using one finger, try inserting two fingers into your vagina to grip the tampon instead.
If this doesn’t work, you notice sudden foul-smelling discharge or you think you might have a tampon that’s MIA, book in to see your GP who can help to locate and remove it.
And if you experience symptoms of TSS, call NHS 111.
As the new Telegraph Fantasy Football season approaches, the fantasy football experts at Fantasy Football Hub will continue to bring you the very best in fantasy football knowledge, tips and tools to help you rise up the ranks and win your mini-leagues.
To join the Hub and get access to all their great resources and expert tips you can take advantage of its 50% pre-season discount here.
Fantasy Football Hub TFF podcast regulars Fergi, Luke and Carl chat through strategies and the season ahead. Below are some of the key highlights:
As the new Telegraph Fantasy Football season approaches, the fantasy football experts at Fantasy Football Hub will continue to bring you the very best in fantasy football knowledge, tips and tools to help you rise up the ranks and win your mini-leagues.
To join the Hub and get access to all their great resources and expert tips you can take advantage of its 50% pre-season discount here.
Picking your team: getting the right balance
One of the trickiest parts of selecting your Telegraph Fantasy Football team is deciding how to distribute your transfer budget.
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Should you go big on an expensive strikeforce? Is devoting mega bucks to your backline in a quest for clean sheets the way to go? Are there any budget gems out there primed to take the Premier League by storm?
To help you decide on your transfer strategy, we have put together a team-by-team guide with three selections from each team for you to consider from the big hitting favourites, to the underpriced minnows.
The Gunners were the better side throughout but looked set to pay the price for some wasteful finishing as the score remained goalless with 15 minutes remaining.
But Martin Odegaard ensured Arsenal began their European campaign with three points, slotting home his fourth goal in five games.
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Keown sees no reason why Arsenal will not once again challenge to become European champions and says their ‘hunger and determination’ was there for all to see against Napoli.
The Gunners legend was impressed by Odegaard, Declan Rice and Piero Hincapie but felt Merino ‘missed an opportunity’ after a rare start ended in a 65th-minute substituion.
Martin Odegaard scored Arsenal’s winner in Naples (Picture: Getty)
Merino helped Spain win the World Cup over the summer but could still struggle for game-time this season given Arteta’s embarrassment of riches in the midfield positions.
‘I thought Mikel Merino coming back into midfield missed an opportunity tonight,’ Keown said on TNT Sports. ‘We missed him last season but I thought he was a little rusty on his first start for a while.
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‘But overall it’s looking good for Arsenal. The drive and determination and hunger is there.
Mikel Merino was subbed off by Mikel Arteta (Picture: Getty)
‘Those Napoli players will tell you that Arsenal are going to go all the way again this season because that will have been one of the most difficult games they would have been involved in.
‘Martin Odegaard is the icing on the cake. Shooting from outside the box, I can’t remember the last time he did that. He looks like the real deal.’
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Joe Cole also singled out Odegaard for praise after Arsenal beat Italian giants Napoli, describing his performance as ‘brilliant’.
Great play 😮💨
Martin Ødegaard rounds off a wonderful passing move for Arsenal 🔥
‘Martin Odegaard was brilliant all night,’ the former Chelsea and England star said. ‘He is back to his very, very best.
‘He is probably thinking even though they won the league last season, he didn’t have a good season personally. He looks like the player we admired 18 months ago, he was brilliant.
‘Everything runs through Martin Odegaard. He can stand still and find space. He is at the peak of his powers and it is beautiful to watch.
‘You can’t help but love watching him play his football.’
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Meanwhile, Arteta described his Arsenal captain as ‘decisive’ after the Gunners’ Champions League opener.
‘Martin is contributing with goals that are impacting results which is what we want from our attacking players,’ he said. ‘We want them to be decisive and certainly he was again today.’
Arsenal return to Premier League action on Saturday against Sunderland.
At about 2:20 p.m., the slide rolled out onto the tarmac from the right side of the Qatari-gifted aircraft, opposite the side typically used by Trump to board. Trump was seated nearby on Marine One at the time.
Military personnel accidentally triggered the slide, according to a person briefed on the incident.
The president told reporters that “they were doing a check on the slide,” which he said “takes about 15 minutes.” Asked by a reporter whether he’s sure that the aircraft is safe to fly, Trump replied: “Yeah, I am, or I wouldn’t be on it.”
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The slide was later deflated and transported away, and the jet then took off.
An emergency inflatable slide deployed from Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday as President Donald Trump waited to travel to the Republican midterm convention in Dallas (Getty Images)
The new Air Force One, a $400 million Boeing 747‑8, was gifted to Trump by Qatar’s royal family last year. After Pentagon-led modifications, the plane was rushed into presidential service this summer as a temporary replacement for the aging aircraft traditionally used to transport the president. Trump made his inaugural flight aboard the aircraft in July.
The president told reporters that ‘they were doing a check on the slide,’ which he said ‘takes about 15 minutes’ (AP)
In July, Trump switched aircraft while leaving a NATO summit in Turkey after U.S. officials received intelligence of a potential Iranian assassination threat. On July 8, Trump publicly boarded the older Air Force One rather than the new, Qatari-gifted jet he had flown in on.
According to The New York Times, the Secret Service urged the president not to use the new aircraft for the departure from Turkey, with sources telling the outlet that it lacked certain security features present on the older plane.
A White House spokesperson pushed back, telling the Times: “The new Air Force One is a state-of-the-art aircraft that has been fitted with high-level security protocols that ensure the safety of the president and his staff.”
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Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on September 9 (AFP/Getty)
After the July trip, Trump said that the $400 million aircraft would be taken out of service and “maxed out” with additional security upgrades.
However, a senior White House official told The Independent last week that Trump plans to use the Qatari-gifted jet for his trip to Ireland September 12.
“As the President has said, the slide was checked out to make sure everything works perfectly,” White House communications directorSteven Cheung said in a statement to reporters on Wednesday night.
“Air Force One is on its way to Dallas so he can deliver his much-anticipated speech to a raucous and sold-out crowd,” he said.
Spice Girls have posted a cryptic video amid months of reunion rumours as they send fans into a frenzy.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the pop group shared a short clip filled with clues as to what the announcement might be.
In the video, a newspaper could be seen on the steps of London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, which many fans will know as the location used for their Wannabe music video.
It was also the opening of their 1996 debut single that can be heard in the teaser.
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The newspaper’s name stamped at the top reads: ‘The Stage and Television Today.’
The publication once covered West End shows, theatre productions, touring companies, TV casting news and reviews.
Spice Girls have posted a cryptic video amid months of reunion rumours as they send fans into a frenzy
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Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, the pop group shared a short clip filled with clues (L-R Emma Bunton, Mel C, Victoria Adams, Geri Halliwell and Mel B in 1996)
The clip then jumps to a page in the paper, which says: ‘R U a Spice Girls fan with the ability to sing and dance?
‘R U a superfan, a collector, a music lover?
‘Spice Girls are a widely successful, global, choreographed, singing/dancing all female pop act with a record nine number ones in the UK & over 100 million global sales.’
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The article continues: ‘Thursday 10th September at 2 o’clock BST. No sheet music required but you will need a vinyl or a CD player.’
They captioned the cryptic post: ‘10.09.2026 | 2pm BST’
Fans flooded the comments with their theories ahead of the announcement on Thursday.
Some are convinced the group are reuniting, while others believe they’re just rereleasing one of their hits.
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In the video, a newspaper could be seen on the steps of London’s St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, which many fans will know as the location used for their Wannabe music video
The newspaper’s name stamped at the top reads: ‘The Stage and Television Today.’ The publication once covered West End shows, theatre productions, touring companies, TV casting news and reviews
The clip then jumps to a page in the paper, which says: ‘R U a Spice Girls fan with the ability to sing and dance?’
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Fans flooded the comments with their theories ahead of the announcement on Thursday
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They penned: ‘Every day, I pray for a re-release of the Spice Girl Impulse spray. Is this it,’
‘Read the paper, it’s a 30th anniversary re-release.’
‘If it’s a world tour, I’m selling my house to buy tix,’
‘Just go on tour. Thats what we want,’
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‘WHATS HAPPENING’,
‘Like what??? What is happening? I’m so excited and nervous at the same time.’
Mel B, Mel C, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell-Horner and Victoria Beckham have repeatedly spoken about wanting to mark the milestone somehow.
Back in March, the Spice Girls 30th Anniversary tour was axed, after the group failed to agree on plans for a comeback.
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All five bandmates had been in talks for a series of concerts to celebrate three decades since the release of their debut single Wannabe.
However, it was reported that the group couldn’t come to an agreement on a reunion, and so any plans had been ditched.
It comes weeks after it was reported that a Netflix project to celebrate the anniversary had also been cancelled, with sources claiming Geri in particular had been dragging her heels on whether to sign on.
Mel C herself confirmed that there was no reunion in the works, as she told The Smallzy Show on KIIS Radio: ‘No, there is no reunion. We are communicating all the time. We want to do something – who knows when.
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‘But I still feel very optimistic and I keep my fingers crossed that you will see the Spice Girls together at some point in the future.’
While Mel herself had hinted back in January that the band were still in talks to celebrate the Spice Girls 30th birthday, The Sun then reported that the plans have fallen apart.
The Daily Mail contacted a representative for The Spice Girls for comment.
Last April it was reported that Geri was back in touch with the band’s former manager Simon Fuller and flew to Miami to try and agree on a deal.
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In February, Victoria finally rejoined the Spice Girls on Instagram for a singalong after refusing to go on tour in 2019.
Amid the furore over her family fallout with eldest son Brooklyn, Victoria joined the group to sing at her London home – 30 years after the band first got together.
Meanwhile, Mel B said she is keen for the band to get back together and teased fans by ‘liking’ a comment about the prospect of a reunion.
While the women sang their harmony, Victoria’s son Cruz strummed away on the guitar, while his girlfriend Jackie Apostel sat at the table and the family’s personal chefs watched on through glass doors from the kitchen.
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Victoria has been dropping hints that she might do something with the band, uploading a clip of herself singing a live acoustic version of one of their biggest hits.
Mel C appeared on Good Morning America in November to promote her ninth album Sweat and was grilled if the Spice Girls would come back together.
Crossing her fingers, she said: ‘I remain optimistic. It’s our thirtieth anniversary next year. We toured in 2019, we did a few stadium shows in the UK and it was incredible.
‘We’re just so proud of the legacy that we have and we have fans now from new generations are just loving the Spice Girls so I would like to get back on stage with the girls.
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‘We’re talking and we’re seeing what opportunities are out there. The thing that stops us is we feel so precious about it, we want to make sure it’s the right thing and agree on the right thing.’
Mel also admitted she will always pine for another Spice Girls reunion, this time with Victoria included.
Geri Horner, Mel B , Mel C , Emma Bunton and Victoria Beckham had been in talks for a series of concerts, but couldn’t come to an agreement (Victoria, Mel C, Emma and Geri are pictured)
She said: ‘It was the most beautiful experience as a Spice Girl. I think because so much time had passed that we were all very present and really could appreciate what this thing meant to so many people.’
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‘It was such a joyous experience. We were just able to take it in for the first time and enjoy every minute. I feel emotional because I’d love to do it again.’
Reports emerged in 2024 that Geri has derailed a huge TV drama deal which would have netted each of the five members £1million each.
Sources had said that the ‘nightmare’ fallout between Geri and Mel B left the band unable to find a manager capable of ‘mediating’ to push projects over the line.
The feud began when Mel confessed she had a lesbian fling with Geri during the band’s 90s heyday on Piers Morgan’s chat show in 2019.
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Geri denied the affair took place, with Mel accused of dreaming it up to sell copies of her tell-all memoir, Brutally Honest.
Victoria had previously maintained that she would not join the band again, insisting her fashion career was her focus and reiterating that being in the Spice Girls was just a mere four years of her life.
Speaking to Andy Cohen on Sirius XM, last October, she said: ‘Before I was in the Spice Girls, I was so self-conscious, and they made me feel that I was good enough.
‘But being on stage, I realised as fun as it is, you know, it’s not ultimately what I want to do anymore.
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‘I don’t know if I could even still sing,’ she quipped. ‘I mean, I was never that great. It would be tempting. But could I take on a world tour? No I can’t. I have a job…
‘How good would the Spice Girls be at the Sphere? I love the idea of it.’
Victoria last performed with the band during the 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony and before that she joined the band on their 2007-08 world tour.
Geri left the band in 1998 in the middle of their world tour and on Mel B’s birthday.
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Geri’s departure from the band hit headlines across the world, and the group went on hiatus two years later.
The Spice Girls shot to fame in 1996 when their debut single Wannabe reached number one in 37 countries.
The girl group reached the top of the UK charts nine times and had two number one albums. When Geri left the band, she launched a solo career and enjoyed four number one singles in the UK.
The controversial ‘manosphere’ influencers will have to stay behind bars as they prepare to face a slew of sex crime allegations
Nick Lester and Adam Care
21:33, 09 Sep 2026Updated 21:33, 09 Sep 2026
Andrew and Tristan Tate must stay in jail as they fight their extradition to the UK to face rape and sex trafficking charges, a US judge has ruled.
The brothers’ defence team made a bid to secure their release on bail, but it was rejected by magistrate Lauren Louis.
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It means the controversial pair will remain behind bars in Miami during what could be a lengthy legal process aimed at securing their removal to Britain.
The judge said the Tates “have failed to meet their burden to demonstrate that they do not present a risk of flight or danger to the community, or that special circumstances warrant their release”.
She added: “Respondents have failed to demonstrate that special circumstances here warrant relief, whether their proposed special circumstances are considered singly or together.
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“Having failed to meet these three factors, respondents’ motion for release pending extradition proceedings is denied.”
The former professional kickboxers, who hold dual US and British citizenship, have been held in custody since their arrest in July.
They were detained after more charges were brought against them by UK prosecutors.
The brothers’ lawyer, Joe McBride, said in a statement that he “profoundly” disagreed with the decision to keep his clients in custody.
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He added: “They have not been convicted of a crime. They have not been ordered extradited.”
He went on: “The cruelty is simple. Britain gets 60 days to build its case while Andrew and Tristan rot in a federal jail. The process is the punishment.
“Andrew and Tristan lose their liberty first and challenge the evidence later. This is the cold machinery of extradition. Rules and deadlines move forward with deliberate indifference to the human lives caught inside them.
“By the time the merits are heard, more than 60 days of liberty may already be gone without a finding of guilt or a judgment of extradition. No later victory can give that time back.”
The Tates are deeply divisive figures, who have built a massive online following – mainly among young men and boys – to which they have been accused of promoting misogyny and toxic masculinity.
During a court hearing last month, the Tates maintained their innocence and argued their brash online personas were characters and not their true personalities.
They said their claims of wealth were largely exaggerated to bolster their social media presence and that luxury items such as the 50 million dollar yacht or 2.1 million dollar Aston Martin car seen in their videos did not belong to them.
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Their lawyers had previously argued their clients’ “extraordinary notoriety and recognisability” would make it very difficult for them to flee if freed pending extradition proceedings.
They also said the UK’s request was out of order because of an existing criminal case in Romania, which last week saw the brothers accused of additional trafficking and sex crime offences.
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In July, Andrew Tate, 39, was charged by the British authorities with seven further counts of rape, three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and 19 additional charges for offences relating to indecent images of a child and extreme pornography.
Tristan Tate, 38, was charged with one count of sexual assault, two counts of rape and three counts of arranging or facilitating trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The Crown Prosecution Service said the 38 additional charges, in addition to 21 existing charges, relate to alleged offences between July 2010 and August 2017.
The brothers have denied any wrongdoing.
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