The Press was on the streets following York Ice Trail 2026 and spoke to some of them – both York residents and some who’ve come from across the country – about why they’ve made the journey to the city to experience the 36 sculptures and some of the new features in this year’s showcase.

Almost all the people we spoke to said the breadth of the event across the city gives them an opportunity to see more of York and take in the architecture and sites of places where they might not visit.

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More than 30 frosty sculptures returning to York Ice Trail

And some of the York residents said the same thing – the event gave them more time to look at parts of the city that aren’t on their normal shopping or commuting routes.

In Walmgate, all the way from Derby were the Mee family, who were making a return to York for the first time in years, just for this event.

The Mee family – Jessica, Matthew, Dominic and Felicity were visiting York from Derby – their first trip in years to the city – just for the Ice Trail (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Dominic Mee said he was thrilled to have seen the hammer sculpture in Parliament Street and Felicity had enjoyed the neighbouring one in Merchant Adventurer’s Hall.

Matthew Mee said the event is a good chance to look at the city’s history.

The Jones family from Anlaby near Hull were definitely making a day of it from Parliament Street – home of “The Ice Village” – dad Martin said a local park run had been chalked off the list and the family intended to look around the city record stores as well as take in the Ice Trail.

The Jones family were also planning a day out in York buying records, and had just come from a local park run (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Martin said: “But we’ve come especially for this, we’re going around every one of them, with some lunch after this morning’s effort – there’s something for everyone.

“Ava here has been before and took us around every one of the sculptures, and it’s going to be great for Poppy too.”

The crowds were two or three deep around St Sampson’s Square when the expert sculptors from Icebox began to carve a creation of a cathedral.

The Bassett family including Hazel from Riccall, with grandsons Freddie and Hugo (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Hazel Bassett was in town from Riccall with her grandsons Freddie, 6, and Hugo, 3.

Hazel said: “We do them all every year.

“I think the fun comes with just seeing different parts of the city which we don’t really appreciate.

“My husband is an architect, and you can sometimes bypass some of the incredible buildings here when you come in for other things.

“The children were really excited, even coming in on the bus, they’ve really been looking forward to seeing the different sculptures.

“We’ve seen about seven or eight so far and Freddie is taking part in a school project with his Kung Fu Panda to show his classmates at Thorpe Willoughby Community Primary School what he’s been doing this weekend.”

Liz Smith, a lifelong York resident, said she’s been a regular at the Ice Trail along with her daughter (Image: Kevin Glenton)

In Museum Gardens at one of the three “Photo Opportunity” sculptures, stood waiting in line was Liz Smith, a lifelong York resident, from Leeman Road.

Liz used to come each year with her daughter who’s now 18, but this time round she was with her partner.

Liz said: “It’s lovely to see bits of York you don’t really see on your way round.

“I think it’s a big draw for York and judging by the crowds, it’s very popular.”

Just arrived on the bus from Malton were father and son Dwayne Young and his eight-year-old son Bailey.

Dwayne and Bailey Young were planning to make a day of it with this being the eight-year-old’s first Ice Trail (Image: Kevin Glenton)

Bailey said he was looking forward to visiting everything and really liked all of the sculptures they’d ticked off so far, especially number four – “All Aboard for Railway Stories” and dad Dwayne said they planned to tick them off in order of the trail map.

He said: “We come to York quite often because it’s a special place anyway, but this is his first one and we’re both looking forward to it.”

Image and performance-enhancing drugs (IPEDs), such as steroids and human growth hormone, can harm the heart – and it isn’t just elite bodybuilders who are at risk.

With a growing number of everyday gym-goers taking these drugs to improve their fitness or enhance their appearance, what was once a niche issue in competitive sports is quickly becoming a wider public health concern.

For decades, bodybuilders and athletes have used IPEDs including anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, peptides and selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), to increase muscle size, boost strength and improve physical appearance.

But in recent years, the number of regular gym-goers using IPEDs has become a growing concern. Estimates from 2014 suggested around 3% of regular gym-goers globally used IPEDs. These figures are now more than ten years old and probably underestimate current use.

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Although the demand to have an unrealistic, idealised body has existed for generations, social media has amplified these pressures. Social media has also made it easier to access IPEDs. These factors might help to explain why people who use apps such as TikTok and Instagram are more likely to use anabolic steroids.

But while social media may be normalising the use of IPEDs to achieve the perfect physique and peak fitness, it’s important gym-goers know about the serious costs these drugs can have on heart health.

Research from Italy shows that competitive male bodybuilders who use IPEDs have a ten-times higher risk of sudden cardiac death compared with athletes who don’t use performance-enhancing drugs.

Studies have shown that female athletes who use IPEDs also have a higher risk of sudden cardiac death compared to non-users – though their risk is slightly (7%) lower compared to men.

These deaths are linked to a range of heart conditions caused or worsened by IPED use. These include cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle), myocardial fibrosis (scarring of the heart), abnormal thickening of the heart wall, early-onset coronary artery disease, heart rhythm disturbances and stroke.

Research shows anabolic steroids can alter cell signalling pathways involved in heart growth and remodelling, disrupt hormonal regulation and increase blood pressure. Steroids can also cause adverse changes in lipid (fat) levels that cause plaques (fatty deposits) to form in the arteries.

Together, these changes weaken the heart and make it less efficient at supplying the body with blood. Even in people who appear fit, this hidden damage can leave the heart more vulnerable to failure, rhythm problems and sudden cardiac events.

These findings are deeply concerning – not just for elite bodybuilders, but for regular gym users who may be taking unregulated drugs with little awareness of the risks.

Heart changes

At Liverpool John Moores University, we have spent the past six years studying heart health in people who use IPEDs. Our research looked at around 100 users, most in their early 30s, ranging from elite bodybuilders to recreational gym users. These users were then compared against non-users.

We used electrocardiography (ECG), which records the heart’s electrical activity, and echocardiography, an ultrasound scan of the heart. These tools allowed us to assess all four chambers of the heart and detect early signs of heart problems that may not yet be causing symptoms.

We found that IPED users had a larger and heavier left ventricle (the main pumping chamber of the heart). This was due to having a bigger cavity and thicker heart muscle. Notably, these differences in heart shape and structure still existed, even after accounting for increased body size.

Importantly, these changes are linked to reduced heart function. Using advanced imaging techniques, we were then able to show subtle but significant impairments in how the left ventricle contracted and relaxed.

Our research has also identified increased stiffness of the left atrium (the chamber that receives blood from the lungs). This feature is often only seen in the early stages of heart disease.

Similar harmful effects are also seen on the right side of the heart, which plays a key role in pumping blood to the lungs – showing that IPED use affects all chambers of the heart.

Most of the participants in our studies had used a median weekly dose of 1108mg for around seven years – a dose consistent with the typical doses used by the bodybuilding community. The higher the dose and the longer these drugs are used are linked with more negative changes in the heart.

The next step of our research is to examine how a typical four to five month drug “cycle” – a period where users progressively increase the dose and number of substances they use to reach a peak in physique or dose – affects heart structure and function. We especially want to know how it affects the way the heart responds during exercise.

We also plan to look at female IPED users, a group that has largely been overlooked in previous research.

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Reducing risk starts with stopping IPED use – or avoiding them to begin with. While this is the most effective way to reduce risk, harm-reduction approaches such as reducing dose, avoiding black-market drugs, addressing psychological drivers of use, and regular heart screening may help limit damage and encourage safer choices.

However, we still know very little about whether heart damage improves after cessation, particularly after years of use. To address this, our research group plans to follow a group of users for the next ten to 20 years.

With more than one million IPED users in the UK, this is rapidly becoming a significant public health issue. Raising awareness of the harms of IPED use is critical.

A award winning rapper had revealed that his storage unit, containing a collection of valuables 12 years in the making, was robbed just weeks before he was hoping to win big at this year’s BRITs

An award-winning UK rapper has lost his 12-year shoe collection after his storage unit was robbed. Central Cee, who is one of the highest charting UK rappers in America, posted to his Instagram to reveal the tragic news.

The 27-year-old shared a pic of the storage unit, littered with empty boxes and wrote over the top: “My [shoe emoji] storage got robbed the other day. 12 years of collecting crep.”

The music star’s collection is thought to be worth thousands. Central Cee wrote: “Had my first Nike ID Air Force 1 in there that I deetsed from Alboraaq in 2015 [tears emoji].”

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According to VICE, ‘deetsing’ is a slang term that refers to using using other people’s credit card information on sketchy websites, such as Alboraaq, to buy items.

Despite his loss, Central Cee did not seem to bear the robbers any ill will. The rapper finished his statement with: “But everything is written.” He jokingly added that someone should “buy my shoe” when the robbers eventually put it online.

Central Cee is regarded as one of the top figures in the UK rap scene after rising to prominence in 2020. He has made history in the genre as his single Sprinter, released in 2023, held the record for being the longest running number one rap song in the UK, holding the position for 10 weeks.

The London born rapper has been nominated for nine BRIT awards since 2022, including one for Best Hip Hop/Grime/Rap act this year, in 2024, 2023 and 2022. He has also been nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the 2023 Ivor Novello Awards and Best Hip Hop at the MTV Europe Music Awards.

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He has won six MOBO awards, which are an annual British awards ceremony celebrating “music of Black origin”, on of which was Song of the Year for Sprinter in 2023. That same year, he appeared on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for European entertainers.

Before he even released his first full-length album, Central Cee was understood to have raked in £7million, and his fortune is thought to have risen much higher.

In April, he will head to America for one of the country’s biggest festivals, Coachella. The festival’s three headliners set to close the night over the weekend are Sabrina Carpenter (Friday), Justin Bieber (Saturday) and Karol G (Sunday).

Central Cee will join them and is one of a host of British talent taking over the festival. Little Simz, Disclosure, Wet Leg, Lambrini Girls, FKA Twigs and CMAT are among the names that have also found their way onto the poster.

Last year’s music festival saw incredible performances from Lady Gaga, Post Malone and Green Day as headliners, with a surprising appearance from rapper Travis Scott, who performed at a special after-hours for the ‘designs the desert’ slot.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump plans to convene the first meeting of his Board of Peace this month in Washington to raise money for the reconstruction of Gaza.

The meeting, proposed for Feb. 19, would include both world leaders who accepted Trump’s invitation in January to join the board as well as members of an executive committee for Gaza that will oversee the specifics of the territory’s governance, security and redevelopment, two Trump administration officials said Saturday.

It was not immediately clear how many leaders would accept the Republican president’s invitation, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting has not yet been formally announced and details of its agenda were still being determined.

One official said the administration expected “robust” participation.

A copy of the invitation that was sent late Friday to invited participants and obtained by The Associated Press, says the meeting will be held at the U.S. Institute of Peace, now known as the Donald J. Trump U.S. Institute of Peace, pending an ongoing legal battle with the former leadership of the nonprofit think tank. The administration seized the facility last year and fired almost all the institute’s staff.

Trump’s new board was first seen as a mechanism focused on ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. But it has taken shape with his ambition for a far broader mandate of resolving global crises and appears to be the latest U.S. effort to sidestep the United Nations as Trump aims to reset the post-World War II international order.

Many of America’s top allies in Europe and elsewhere have declined to join what they suspect may be an attempt to rival the Security Council.

Many Burnley fans have now seen enough. Late in the first half, substitute Jacob Bruun Larsen tried to fire up fans behind the goal while warming up. Instead they responded with a chant of ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’. Moments later, they followed it with ‘We want Parker out’.

Prime minister Keir Starmer has been accused of hypocrisy after the UK reduced its funding to the UN’s World Food Programme by a third.

The Labour leader had pledged to prioritise the “fight against hunger” and vowed to tackle “suffering and starvation” at a G20 summit in Brazil upon entering government.

But Britain has since cut funding to the WFP from $610m (£448m) in 2024 to $435m (£319m) last year.

Michael Bates, a peer and former Conservative aid minister, has hit out at the decision as he said cases of starvation are rising “exponentially”.

“If this was just a UK story it would be bad enough, but we are seeing it is a French story, it is a German story and a US story,” he told The Guardian.

“All these countries are cutting. There will be a time lag but this will cost lives. We have a responsibility to protect these lives.”

Last year the government hosted a two-day conference on starvation and malnutrition in Afghanistan. As of last year, nearly 23 million Afghans require aid, including 12 million lacking food. The World Food Programme has shut 298 relief sites across the country.

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Mr Bates called the decision to cut aid while calling for action “hypocritical”.

A UK government spokesperson told the publication that the UK remains the fifth largest donor to the WFP.

Prime minister Starmer made the decision to cut international aid to 0.3 per cent of GDP as he vowed to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent amid concerns over the country’s war-readiness. Rachel Reeves announced the decision last year, despite the party having previously promised to restore the figure to 0.7 per cent of GDP.

In December 2025, foreign ministers and charities hit out at the UK leader for cutting aid while funneling funds into initiatives to crack down on illegal immigration from Bangladesh.

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Flora Alexander, the International Rescue Committee (IRC)’s UK executive director, said at the time: “With the aid budget at its lowest in decades, every pound must go where it saves lives and tackles the root causes of crisis.

“That means prioritising fragile and conflict-affected states, where needs are greatest and where smart investment can help reduce the pressures that force people to leave their homes.”

The United Nations has warned that 55 million people are to face a hunger crisis in central and West Africa.

Four countries – Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger – account for 77 per cent of that the food insecurity, with some 15,000 people in Nigeria currently at risk of food “catastrophe,” or famine-level hunger, for the first time in nearly a decade, according to reports.

This article has been produced as part of The Independent’s Rethinking Global Aid project

A drone attack in Sudan has killed 24 people, including eight children, according to a doctors’ group.

The Sudan Doctors Network said the strike was carried out by the paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on a vehicle carrying displaced families on Saturday.

Among the dead were two infants, and several others were wounded.

It happened close to the city of Rahad, in North Kordofan province, which suffers from a severe medical supplies shortage.

The vehicle had been carrying the displaced families who had fled fighting in the Dubeiker area.

It comes a day after a World Food Program aid convoy was targeted, killing one and wounding several others.

‘Take immediate action’

The doctors’ group urged the international community and rights organisations to “take immediate action to protect civilians and hold the RSF leadership directly accountable for these violations”.

There was no immediate comment from the RSF, which has been at war against the Sudanese military for control of the country for around three years.

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A power struggle between the two led to open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, in 2023.

It has since left at least 40,000 people dead, according to the UN, with more than 14 million forced to flee their homes.

The crisis has fuelled disease outbreaks and pushed parts of the country into famine.

North Yorkshire Police said it happened in the Co-op car park in Carlton, near Selby, around 5.15pm on Wednesday, January 28.

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Teen arrested after serious crash close to centre of North Yorkshire town

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Officers said the crash was captured on CCTV and police provided an image of a woman the force would like to speak to, as it believes she may have information which could assist its enquiries.

A police spokesperson said: “The crash involved a grey Land Rover Defender type vehicle with a private numberplate which collided with a parked green Mini Cooper and then drove off.

“There was significant damage caused to the Mini.

“If you have any information, or you are pictured in the image, or you are the driver of the Land Rover please make contact via 101 asking for PC1223 Colin Irvine or via email colin.irvine@northyorkshire.police.uk quoting reference 12260017153.”

Saburi Olayinka Adeniji ha sadly died

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The family of a non-league footballer who was admitted to hospital with a serious brain stem injury tragically missed the chance to say goodbye. A GoFundMe had been launched to get his wife and daughter to the UK quickly before he passed away.

Kings Park Rangers player Saburi Olayinka Adeniji died on Friday, February 6, his club has confirmed. The devastating news was announced by the club on social media on Saturday, February 7, and was later reported by the Daily Star.

Adeniji’s wife and four-year-old daughter travelled from Nigeria to the UK but sadly arrived a day after his death. Kings Park Rangers have since launched a GoFundMe campaign to help bring his family to the UK so they can say their final goodbyes.

The club said: “It is with great sadness that we must announce our number 17 Saburi Adeniji ‘Ola’ passed away yesterday morning.

“He fought so hard to still be here for when his family arrived. His wife and daughter unfortunately arrived this morning, a day late.

“He will always be a King. He will always be loved. As a friend, as a dad as a husband, as a brother and as a son. R.I.P Saburi Adeniji.”