The loss of a loved one is a heavy weight and one that all of us will experience throughout our lives. The emotional toll alone can make day to day life incredibly difficult to cope with.

This is before we even consider the practical and financial elements of loss which, according to the loss experts at Empathy, fall disproportionately on women in the UK.

HuffPost UK spoke exclusively with Clare Dodd, UK General Manager at Empathy who shared: “When we talk about bereavement, the first thing people think of is the emotional devastation – how awful it must be to not have that person in your life anymore.

“But what often gets overlooked, and can be equally painful to deal with, is the practical avalanche that follows a death. And in the UK, that burden disproportionately falls on women.”

This is partially because Census data reveals women are significantly more likely to be widowed than men, and around three quarters of bereavement benefit claimants are female according to DWP data.

Dodd adds: “Beyond the statistics, we see a clear pattern amongst the people we work with: women are often the ones left navigating the administrative tasks of loss, while handling their own grief.

“And the to-do list can be lengthy – planning a funeral, contacting pension providers, closing bank accounts, organising the funeral, dealing with probate, all while holding the family together emotionally.”

Of course, this leads to a lot of stress on women. According to Empathy’s research, women are almost 40% more likely than men to suffer physical symptoms of stress, and 60% more likely to experience psychological symptoms post-loss.

Dodd adds: “We’re also seeing the ramifications of traditional gender stereotypes around finances play out in grief. Empathy’s research found that women are more likely to report being uninvolved in long-term household financial planning, such as managing advisers, pensions and insurance.”

This aligns with UK data showing 70% of people who manage household finances alone are men. Additionally, research from Canada Life also found nearly half of couples don’t know where their partner’s will is kept, highlighting how financial visibility gaps are widespread.

“So when a partner dies, some women are not just grieving; they’re also suddenly trying to understand pensions, investments or debts they may never have been fully included in, find the details for a financial adviser they’ve never met or figure out which insurer to contact,” says Dodd.

“That cognitive load is huge. Grief already affects memory, concentration and decision-making. Layer complex bureaucracy on top of that and it can become very difficult to cope.”

We wrote last year about how death admin becomes a secondary trauma for grieving people, and Dodd agrees, saying: ” Every bank, insurer and utility provider has its own process. People have to repeat the same painful information again and again, which makes it incredibly difficult to begin the healing journey.

“The way bereavement works from a policy perspective doesn’t make this any easier, which is a real shame. Outside of child bereavement, there is no guaranteed statutory paid leave for losing a spouse or partner in the UK.

“Many people get just a couple of compassionate days off work, and then they’re expected to return while still navigating funeral arrangements and legal processes, as well as the emotional implications of a loss that they may not have fully processed yet. A few days off simply doesn’t reflect the magnitude of what bereavement involves.”

I asked Dodd what we could do to support women when they’re dealing with this avalanche of admin. She said: “The people we work with often tell us they feel isolated but don’t know why, since a lot of family and friends might be checking in, bringing food or saying things like ‘let me know if you need anything.’

“For most people though, it feels too daunting to make a specific ask – and sometimes they don’t even know what to ask for. So the best support you can give to anyone navigating the admin of loss, regardless of gender, is to offer practical, bite-size support.

“Little things like researching the process for cancelling their loved one’s driver’s licence or sourcing the number for the right department at the bank can be hugely helpful”

She adds that while your loved one may be capable of managing all of this, they may not have the bandwidth to, saying: “Remember this is not about capability. It’s about capacity. Someone might be perfectly competent or independent, but grief shrinks your bandwidth. Reducing decision fatigue is a real form of care.”

It’s not a comfortable topic to address but Dodd says: “The single most protective thing couples can do is talk openly about money and logistics before anything happens. Both partners should know where key documents are kept, understand what accounts exist, and feel confident accessing them. Passwords and important contacts should be documented somewhere secure but accessible.

“It’s never nice to think about death, but keeping your will up to date is so crucial. Remember big life changes like getting married, divorced or having a child can invalidate previous wills or signal changes to intestacy if someone dies without a will.

“If there are big changes to your assets, for example purchasing a new or additional property, it’s also a great time to review both your will and your insurance cover.”

• Mind, open Monday to Friday, 9am-6pm on 0300 123 3393.
• Samaritans offers a listening service which is open 24 hours a day, on 116 123 (UK and ROI – this number is FREE to call and will not appear on your phone bill).
• CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) offer a helpline open 5pm-midnight, 365 days a year, on 0800 58 58 58, and a webchat service.
• The Mix is a free support service for people under 25. Call 0808 808 4994 or email help@themix.org.uk
• Rethink Mental Illness offers practical help through its advice line which can be reached on 0808 801 0525 (Monday to Friday 10am-4pm). More info can be found on rethink.org.

Ukraine will mark the fourth anniversary of Vladimir Putin’s barbaric invasion on Tuesday, February 24.

The date will serve as a cruel reminder of just how long this war has been raging, especially as the third round of trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US failed to make any significant progress last week.

Moscow’s refusals to give up its maximalist goals weigh down Donald Trump’s push for a speedy peace deal – though the US president continues to falsely blame Kyiv for the stagnant talks.

Earlier this week, he told reporters that it was going to be “very easy” to reach a deal.

But he warned: “Ukraine better come to the table, fast. That’s all I’m telling you. We are in a position, we want them to come.”

Desperate to secure an agreement and consolidate his supposed reputation as a “deal-maker”, Trump has time and time again promised a truce is on the horizon – all while Russian strikes continue to target Ukraine.

But, as Ukraine enters its fifth year of war, could the president be right, and an end is in sight?

HuffPost UK asked experts just how realistic Trump’s claims are – and if there are any alternatives to a formal peace agreement.

British officials are confident that Ukraine can hold its ground on the battlefield in the east, even after a challenging winter where Russia repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

That enables Kyiv to hold a firmer line in negotiations – like refusing to give into Putin and Trump’s demands that Ukraine gives up even more land.

But there are fears – particularly in Ukraine – that the talks themselves are just theatre to entertain Trump, with Kyiv delegates put under pressure to join.

Similarly, experts told HuffPost UK that it seems unlikely these negotiations will result in anything.

Professor Konstantin Sonin, from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy said he remains sceptical that Trump could secure a peace deal because “the basic, big things remain unchanged”.

He told HuffPost UK that Putin does not care about the cost of the war in terms of soldiers’ lives and material expenses, even though Russia is estimated to have suffered 1.2 million casualties since the conflict began.

While British officials have signalled that, beneath the surface, Russia’s economy is slowing down – with a fall in oil prices and a hike in VAT – that impact does not seem to have yet trickled through to the battlefield.

It’s suspected that Putin has not been informed about the reality of the public finances, or the eroding public support for the war.

But, at the same time, the Ukrainian army and state is nowhere near the state of collapse. In fact, its defence sector has been boosted over the last four years.

“A couple of more years of grinding warfare, in which the Russian army exchanges dozens of thousands of men for villages and townships in Eastern Ukraine, are totally possible,” Sonin, a Russian citizen and Kremlin critic, said.

“And then a new US president, a Republican or a Democrat, will be able to push Putin towards peace.”

Dr Simon Bennett, from the University of Leicester’s civil safety and security unit, also suggested it seemed pretty unlikely Trump’s efforts would result in a peace deal.

He said: “The upshot of this in 2026 is likely to be that Russia’s gains will come at an even greater cost, and, occasionally, will be partially reversed, albeit on a small scale in terms of square miles retaken by Ukraine.”

Bennett predicted Putin’s ongoing bid to control the whole of Ukraine’s eastern region, the Donbas, will likely mean the territory continues to be “the same bloody quagmire in 2026 as it was in 2025.”

Kurt Volker, who stepped down as Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine in 2019, claimed this week that the president has done a lot towards ending the war.

For instance, he has encouraged Ukraine to accept the idea of a ceasefire, and forced European allies to increase defence spending.

But speaking to the Centre for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) think tank, Volker said: “He still needs to get an end to the war. We need to be demanding a ceasefire and putting pressure on Russia to do that as soon as possible.”

The president’s annual State of the Union address is set to be on February 24 this year, the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

But experts do not expect him to use the opportunity to finally recognise the extent of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

As Bennett said, Trump is too “inconsistent” – and his approach to policy-making is a “crisis or war waiting to happen”.

The specialist also pointed out that “Putin has no intention of negotiating a peace deal” and claimed he is playing “demonstrably gullible” Trump.

Meanwhile, when asked if the US president could crack down on Russia in a bid to boost his ratings before the midterm elections in November, Sonin said: “There will be more pressure on Trump from the Congress Republicans, because both the US population and the elite have been consistently supportive of Ukraine through the years of war.

“So, I’d expect Trump to do small things against Putin.”

Kurt Volkner told CEPA that it could be possible to strike up a deal comparable to the one which stopped the war between North and South Korea.

That non-aggression pact has – for the most part – held for more than 70 years, even though neither side technically agreed to a sustainable peace.

Volkner said: “Someday, I do believe there will be a ceasefire. I don’t believe there will ever be a peace agreement.

“I don’t believe Vladimir Putin will ever accept that there is an independent and sovereign Ukraine.

“Again, of the West, of governments, of investors, businesses, needs to be one that assumes that we will have a strong, growing, prosperous democratic European Ukraine that is safe and worthy of investment and business growth, very much like South Korea, without a final peace agreement with Russia, that’s just going to be where we are.”

But Sonin disagreed with this idea.

He said that while the North-South Korea deal was “one of the most durable, effective peace agreements despite never being finally ‘settled’”, it’s clear from previous attempts that written agreements between Russia and Ukraine do not work.

He also pointed out that such an agreement relies on the US commitment to help South Korea if North Korea invades, and China’s commitment to help North Korea if South Korea invades.

Sonin said: “A ‘peace agreement without a peace agreement’ between Russia and Ukraine is totally possible, but it will require Polish, German, Swedish, Baltic, etc, troops on the ground in Ukraine and a firm US commitment to get involved immediately if a new conflict starts.”

Bennett also dismissed Volker’s argument, as Putin still wants to restore Ukraine into a satellite state for Moscow.

“Few western leaders mention the fact that Putin’s war aims have not changed, first, because it does not fit with the Trump-the-Peacemaker-Extraordinaire narrative and secondly, because, when it comes to dealing with Trump, most western leaders are spineless,” Bennett said.

It’s widely believed that, in the absence of a stronger response from Trump, only a firmer intervention from Europe can actually stop the war.

But Ukraine allies across the continent have so far refused to commit to sending troops unless they operate in a peace-keeping capacity, as they want to avoid direct conflict with Russia.

Sonin told HuffPost UK: “I think that European countries will have to get involved into the military defense of Ukraine – sending ground troops, drone operators, etc. Of course it is a heavy lift politically.

“However, for the elites in Poland or Germany or Czech Republic or Romania or Baltic countries a scenario of Russia-controlled Ukraine (with Ukrainian army under maybe influence of the Russian masters) should be so scary that even a political heavy lift might become reality.”

He warned that without such an intervention, “the only hope is an internal collapse of Putin’s regime”.

Similarly, Bennett said Europe must resolve the issue by sending arms to Ukraine urgently, while the Russian army is weak.

“The cost in blood and treasure will be great,” Bennett said. “But nowhere near as great as allowing Russia to regenerate its armed forces for a final push on western Europe in five to 10 years’ time.”

Bennett said he saw this year’s Munich Conference as a “watershed moment”, as US secretary of state Marco Rubio reiterated that the White House primarily sees the Ukraine conflict as a problem for Europe not for the US.

Similarly, Volker said: “Europe can do a lot and can do a lot more than it is currently doing. And as I said, I picked up in Munich a realisation among a lot of European leaders that they’re not doing enough, that they need to step in and fill a gap that the US is leaving. So there are there’s a lot they can do.”

“The US sees itself as more of an arbiter than a prime mover in respect of European security,” Bennett said, adding: “I shall put it bluntly: the only way to end this war is through war. Europe must take Russia down.”

With nothing within Russia threatening to slow Putin’s ongoing aggression, and Trump’s efforts still – for now – amounting to mainly showmanship, ending the war in 2026 seems like a pipe dream, unless Europe gets directly involved.

As Bennett said: “Our fate is in our hands, and no-one else’s.”

A posthumous interview with former Grey’s Anatomy star Eric Dane has been released on Netflix, following the actor’s death at the age of 53.

Eric is the second star to be featured in the streaming service’s Famous Last Words interview series, which see famous faces sit down for candid conversations intended to be released after they have died.

Netflix’s official synopsis for the interview reads: “In this emotional interview, the late actor and ALS advocate Eric Dane shared his final message for the world – knowing it would not air until his death.”

The 50-minute special ends with the actor delivering a final message to his two daughters, telling them: “I tried. I stumbled sometimes, but I tried.

“Overall we had a blast, didn’t we? I remember all the times we spent at the beach, the two of you, me and mum – in Santa Monica, Hawaii, Mexico. I see you now playing in the ocean for hours, my water babies. Those days, pun intended, were heaven.”

He goes on to share “four things I’ve learned” since being diagnosed with ALS in 2025, urging them to “live now, right now, in the present”, “fall in love”, whether that be with another person or another “passion” or “joy”, “choose your friends wisely” and “fight with every ounce of your being, and with dignity”.

Elsewhere in the interview, he also reflects on his 2025 ALS diagnosis, his past issues with addiction and his relationship with his wife, fellow actor Rebecca Gayheart, as seen in the below clip:

He ended the interview: “Billie and Georgia, you are my heart, you are my everything. Good night, I love you. Those are my last words.

While many will remember Eric for his performance as Mark “McSteamy” Sloan on Grey’s Anatomy, his other most notable on-screen work included the supernatural series Charmed, the teen drama Euphoria and the X-Men movie The Last Stand.

The first of Netflix’s Famous Last Words specials debuted on the platform in 2025, following the death of the primatologist Jane Goodall.

Ruth Langsford has reflected on her split from ex-husband Eamonn Holmes in a candid new interview.

The two TV personalities had been together for 27 years, and married for 14, when a spokesperson announced in 2024 that the “marriage is over” and the pair were “in the process of divorcing”.

In the years since, Ruth has remained mostly tight-lipped about the break-up, but has spoken about it more candidly to the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine.

Ruth began by saying that she and Eamonn had a “very happy marriage”, continuing: “Of course you question yourself, ‘did I miss something, was I not aware, was I too busy?’. But there’s no point playing the blame game.”

The Loose Women anchor admitted: “I just didn’t think I’d find myself here, and I wasn’t strong at the start. I was broken. Broken heart. Broken dreams.

“We all have an image of how we think our life and future is going to be. This wasn’t mine. I was devastated. We had gone from being a couple, traversing the usual ups and downs of a marriage, to an abrupt end. It was a huge shock.”

In the end, Ruth said she had to “give myself a good talking to” in order to stop herself “catastrophising”.

She recalled: “I was literally asking, ‘What’s going to become of me?’, like some sad, lonely woman in a Jane Austen novel.

“But then age and experience told me, ‘Ruth, you’re not going to die from this. I mean you are going to die, one day, but you’re not going to die from divorce’.”

Ruth initially took two months off her role on Loose Women in the wake of her divorce announcement, making only fleeting references to the split on the panel show in the period that followed.

Eamonn – who has since been linked with relationship counselor Katie Alexander – told viewers during his GB News show the day after the announcement was made: “I would like to thank you for your support for Ruth and I over the last few days as to the news of our separation.

“Your support for both of us is very much appreciated.”

Ruth and Eamonn share one son, Jack, who was born in 2002. Eamonn also has three grown-up children from his previous marriage to his first wife.

Check out Ruth Langsford’s Weekend magazine interview here.