Iranian TV host’s live broadcast was interrupted by an Israeli bombing, and Israeli social media users made up videos that imitated her clothes and reaction to the attack that went viral. Some people criticized the videos as “despicable” displays of war crimes.
A former ITV journalist was charged with “punching and throwing chips” at her boyfriend in a row. She has now appeared in court. During a “disagreement” at Oulton Broad North railway station, Victoria Mayo, 41, entered a not-guilty plea of assault on Edward Royall.
Victoria told the court that her boyfriend had called the police about the incident when she appeared at Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court. He was said to have had his hair pulled during the “altercation” that allegedly took place on February 22.
Rob New, the lawyer representing Victoria, claimed that her boyfriend had informed the court that he would represent the defense at her trial and that he had asked the magistrates to drop the assault charge. He added that the couple “consisted” with this behavior, and he questioned whether it should be brought before the courts.
He questioned whether this behavior constitutes an assault because the couple’s relationship has been consented. The issue is whether a crime has actually occurred because Miss Mayo’s partner will testify for the defense at the trial. According to legend, there was a disagreement at the train station when she allegedly threw things and chips at him.
The alleged attack was documented on CCTV, according to prosecutor John Cooper, and the video would be played at the trial. The video showed her trying to “pull his hair, punch him, and throw chips at him,” according to the statement. During the trial, images of the alleged injuries are also anticipated to be displayed.
Additionally, it was claimed that Edward allegedly called the police “right away” after the incident. However, Victoria’s attorney claimed that the police had arrived at the scene and were already “in the area” for “a different matter.”
During the trial, prosecutor John Cooper requested that Edward’s phone call with the police be audible.
Chairman of the bench Paul Hinson released Victoria on unconditional bail and she is due to attend the trial at Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court on September 12, reports Eastern Daily Press.
After previously working for the ITV, BBC, and Global Radio, Victoria now runs her own PR firm. She formally stated her plan by saying, “Hi, I’m Victoria the founder of InspireMe PR! I’ve worked for ITV, BBC, and Global Radio for 16 years, and I’m aware that great PR is all about establishing trust and visibility wherever your target audience is.
“And today,” you ask? Press and social media must both be involved. A successful PR strategy doesn’t just result in you appearing in magazines or on TV; it also results in consistent, credible, and trustworthy content across social media.
The annual Royal Ascot is in full swing, with celebrities and royals alike showcasing their sartorial prowess at the prestigious horse racing event. Zara Tindall, a regular attendee of race days, has already made quite the impression with her stylish ensembles.
Zara was seen sporting a powder-blue midi dress, which was perfectly complemented by a chic satin clutch bag with contrasting apricot hue. Even with a royal budget, Zara’s choice of accessory is surprisingly affordable for a designer piece, with the Anya Hindmarch Bespoke Maud Tassel Clutch costing £485.
READ MORE: Royal Ascot’s newest aviator sunglasses, by Zara Tindall, are still on sale.
Kate Middleton introduces the Wimbledon tennis whites trend with a surprisingly affordable clutch bag.
Although it might not be a cheap purchase, Zara’s Maud Tassel Clutch is a prime example of a timeless, elegant piece that could become a wardrobe staple, arguably making it a wise investment. Anya Hindmarch’s creations are meticulously made, passed down through generations, and meticulously preserved for multiple lifetimes.
A classic clasp clutch completes the satin pouch, which has a traditional, round silhouette. Although Zara chose to carry it under her arm, it also has a detachable chain strap, giving you the option of wearing it crossbody or over your shoulder. It has a luxurious sheen thanks to the expertly woven satin material.
The full customization options are Zara’s Maud Tassel Clutch’s real showpiece. You can make it more personal by adding your initials to the outside, or choose to have your handwritten or stylish message embossed inside. You can also choose to have personalised drawings and monograms.
Offering a palette of 10 vibrant colours, Zara has chosen the apricot shade to pair perfectly with her baby blue midi dress. With enough room to snugly fit an iPhone 11, this deceptively spacious clutch is ideal for special occasions.
On the other hand, Jimmy Choo’s Emmie Ballet Pink Patent Clutch Bag, retailing at £675, is crafted from patent leather and boasts a timeless rectangular silhouette. For those watching their pennies, LK Bennett – a favourite brand of fellow Royal Kate Middleton – has cut the price of its Lainey Pink Crinkle Satin Clutch from £199 to a more affordable £99.
However, Zara’s Anya Hindmarsh Bespoke Maud Tassel Clutch is the best option if you’re looking for something truly special and extraordinary. Keep in mind that choosing personalization will increase the cost (which will vary depending on the level of personalization) and will shorten the delivery time, according to OK!
Former Hollyoaks star Gemma Atkinson has shared her horror as her beloved puppy rushed into emergency surgery
She revealed how she had to rush back from London after her new puppy Benji was taken in for an emergency operation. The radio presenter had been working when she received a call no dog owner wants to hear: “We need to operate.”
Vets had to rush in the case that her Goldendoodle pup had swallowed a dummy treat, which caused a serious blockage in his intestine. Gemma, 39, left everything behind and made her way home.
She revealed the frightened Benji had eaten a dummy teat, which had blocked his intestine, to her fans on Instagram.
Scary, but apparently very common for puppies to consume obscene things. He’s at home, getting plenty of rest, and even getting cuddles. When I heard the phrase “we need to operate,” I left London early to head home.
She continued, “Thank you to Claire and the @WomensHealthuk team for your understanding. She wrote, “I know it wasn’t ideal, but I had to get home,” followed by two red heart emojis. Then Gemma said, “You worry yourself sick when they get sick. Thank you for your excellent care and compassion for Ramsbottom, as well as for Medivets’.
Although puppies are known for chewing on anything in sight, these kinds of accidents didn’t help Gemma and her family feel safe.
It’s not the first time she’s dealt with a health scare involving her dogs. In 2024, she and her fiancé, Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Márquez, sadly lost both of their pets Norman and Ollie – within months of each other.
Norman had been a significant member of their family’s life, despite his ongoing cruciate ligament issues. Gemma also shared the heartbreaking news about Ollie’s passing in December. She captioned her heartbreaking Instagram post, “Sleep well, beautiful Ollie.” the most lovable, affectionate, and compassionate soul. We both knew after Norman that you had to wait a long because you two were inseparable, and I am aware of how much you must have missed him. For 14 years, two dogs have been faithful, loving, and accompanies. How fortunate am I to have had that.
Before Gorka, Mia, and Tio, it was just us, and we spent many a weekend snuggling up next to each other after a long day of exploring. And when our family expanded, you unrestrainedly expressed your affection and devotion to one another.
“I know you’re both running free in long grass or on a beach chasing the tide care free, pain free, and happy, but I know you’re losing you both so close together is a lot. That’s what I’m currently finding comfort in. I’ll keep you in my heart forever. Ollie and Norman. My two favorite boys “Reunited”
Gemma has always been honest about how much her dogs’ deaths have affected her and regularly shared updates with fans.
The Hits Radio presenter is well known for her love of animals and often gives fans a glimpse of life at home with Gorka and their two young children; Mia, five, and Thiago, who turns two next month. Outside of her radio work, Gemma shot to fame as Lisa Hunter on Hollyoaks, before going on to appear in Casualty, Emmerdale, and a standout stint on Strictly Come Dancing in 2017.
She’s also a qualified personal trainer, wellness advocate, and author of The Ultimate Body Plan, where she shares advice on fitness, food, and mindset. Her health and beauty brand Lil’ Gems launched to great success and reflects her passion for holistic wellness. Earlier in her career, Gemma also worked as a lingerie model, but stepped away from that world at 23 to focus on acting, fitness, and eventually broadcasting.
Gemma enjoys life with their growing family, which includes a lively pup who will undoubtedly keep them on their toes, while juggling her career and motherhood.
According to a joint statement from the two nations and the US Department of State, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have signed a provisional agreement aimed at bringing an end to the conflict in eastern DRC.
Following “three days of constructive dialogue regarding political, security, and economic interests,” the statement said, the development occurred late on Wednesday in Washington, DC.
Disarmament, non-state armed group integration, and the return of refugees and internally displaced people are among the issues that the draft agreement addresses.
Armed groups fighting for access to natural resources have been rife in Eastern DRC for decades. The largest city of Goma, the mineral-rich area’s largest city, was taken over by the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group in January. The group seized Bukavu, a strategic town, a few weeks later. Rwanda denies supporting the rebels.
Since the conflict started to escalate earlier this year, thousands of people have been killed in the area and hundreds of thousands have fled.
A number of conflict-related parties have been accused of violating human rights.
Amnesty International accused M23 of torturing and killing civilians in a report that was released in May.
According to Amnesty, “These acts may amount to war crimes because they violate international humanitarian law.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk claimed on Monday that rebels, DRC troops, and allies have all committed human rights violations.
Turk urged all parties to “commit to a ceasefire, resume negotiations, and respect international humanitarian and human rights law.”
The US hopes to put an end to the conflict and allow Western investors to invest billions of dollars in eastern DRC, which has large cobalt, copper, gold, and lithium reserves.
The “win-win” scenario, according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, includes the two objectives of peace and investment.
US envoy to Africa, Massad Boulos, traveled to Rwanda and the DRC in April as part of the diplomatic mission. He urged Kigali to stop supporting the M23 rebels during his visit.
Since 2021, the African nations have reached at least six truces, but none have been lasting.
In March, Angola resigned from its mediatorship, and the US and Qatar are currently leading efforts to bring about peace in the eastern DRC.
As Israel and Iran carry out strikes against each other for a seventh straight day, the region is anxiously bracing for a potentially wider conflict. But question marks remain over the two sides’ ability to finance a sustained war effort.
On Friday, Israel killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists and damaged some of its nuclear sites. It has since damaged parts of Iran’s fossil fuel sector. In response, Iran has launched missile attacks at government buildings and metropolitan areas in Israel.
As of Thursday, the Israeli attacks have killed 240 people while Iranian strikes have killed at least 24 people.
But the conflict is also costing both nations billions of dollars and could choke their economic growth and trigger concerns over long-term fiscal planning.
Israel’s prolonged military operations in Gaza since October 2023 and the recent escalation with Iran have plunged the country into the most expensive period of conflict in its history.
According to a January report by the Israeli business newspaper Calcalist, the cumulative cost of the Gaza war alone had reached 250 billion shekels ($67.5bn) by the end of 2024.
A June 15 report by the Israeli news outlet Ynet News, quoting a former financial adviser to the Israeli military’s chief of staff, estimated that the first two days of fighting with Iran alone cost Israel 5.5 billion shekels (roughly $1.45bn). At that rate, a prolonged conflict with Iran could see Israel surpass the end-2024 Gaza war expenses within seven weeks.
Even before the current escalation with Iran, Israel had dramatically increased its defence budget amid its multiple regional conflicts and the war on Gaza. From 60 billion shekels ($17bn) in 2023, it grew to 99 billion ($28bn) in 2024. Projections for 2025 suggest it could reach 118 billion shekels ($34bn).
The Ministry of Finance set a deficit ceiling of 4.9 percent of Israel’s gross domestic product (GDP) for this fiscal year, equating to 105 billion shekels ($27.6bn). Higher military spending would put that to the test.
Despite a recent increase in projected tax revenues – from 517 billion to 539 billion shekels ($148bn to $154bn) – Israel’s 2025 growth forecast has been revised down from 4.3 to 3.6 percent.
According to the business survey company CofaceBDI, roughly 60,000 Israeli companies closed in 2024 due to manpower shortages, logistics disruptions and subdued business sentiment. In addition, tourist arrivals continue to fall short of pre-October 2023 levels.
Those trends could be aggravated in the event of a full-fledged war with Iran.
S&P Global Ratings issued a stark warning about the vulnerability of the Israeli economy on Tuesday.
The agency stated that a continued Israeli war campaign, particularly if met with a sustained and strategic Iranian response, could lead to a downgrade of Israel’s credit rating from A to A-. Were that to happen, it would likely raise borrowing costs and soften investor confidence in the Israeli economy.
In recent days, Iran’s oil exports appear to have fallen dramatically. Total Iranian crude and condensate oil exports are forecast to reach 102,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the week ending on Sunday. That’s less than half the 242,000 bpd it was averaging in exports this year, according to data from the analytics firm Kpler.
Critically, exports from Kharg Island, from which Iran exports more than 90 percent of its oil, appear to have completely halted since Friday. No tankers were anchored at Kharg Island on Monday, according to LSEG satellite ship tracking data.
In 2025, Iran has produced an average of 3.4 million bpd of crude, according to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), with China appearing to be the main foreign buyer. Most of the oil Iran produces is for domestic consumption.
On Saturday, Iran partially suspended gas production at the South Pars gasfield in the Gulf after it was hit by Israeli missiles. South Pars, which Iran shares with Qatar, is the world’s biggest gasfield. It produces about 80 percent of Iran’s total gas output.
For now, the extent of the damage to the South Pars field is unknown. In addition, Israel has targeted the Shahr Rey refinery outside Tehran as well as fuel depots around the capital. The full impact of these strikes on production is unknown.
Iran has faced economic sanctions from the US after the Islamic Revolution and the US embassy hostage crisis in 1979 and then over its nuclear programme.
In a bid to pressure Tehran to agree to a deal on its nuclear programme, the administration of then-US President Barack Obama coaxed multiple major economies around the world to cut down or stop their oil purchases from Iran, using a wave of additional sanctions.
Those sanctions were relaxed after Iran struck the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal in 2015 with the US, Russia, China, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The following year, Iran exported 2.8 million bpd of petroleum products.
But US President Donald Trump reimposed the sanctions in 2018 during his first term as president and added more, again pressuring most other nations to stop buying Iranian crude. The result, according to the EIA, was that Tehran generated only $50bn in oil export revenue in 2022 and 2023, which amounts to roughly 200,000 bpd of crude exports, less than 10 percent of 2016 levels.
The upshot is that sanctions have gutted Iran’s foreign exchange earnings.
Iran has staved off economic collapse in part thanks to China, the main buyer of its oil and one of the few nations still trading with Tehran.
Still, the loss of revenue because of the sanctions has deprived the country of long-term economic development and has hit Tehran’s ability to fix dilapidated infrastructure.
President Masoud Pezeshkian has repeatedly highlighted the severity of the economic situation facing the country, stating that Tehran’s situation is more challenging than during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.
In March, he openly criticised the latest round of US sanctions targeting tankers carrying Iranian oil.
Iran also faces a string of other constraints – energy and water shortages, a collapsing currency and military setbacks among its regional allies – all amplified by the sanctions.
A lack of investment, declining natural gas production and inefficient irrigation are all leading to power blackouts and water shortages.
Meanwhile, the rial, Iran’s currency, has shed more than 90 percent of its value against the dollar since the sanctions were reimposed in 2018, according to foreign exchange websites.
And while the official inflation rate hovers around 40 percent, some Iranian experts said it is actually running at more than 50 percent. “Precise numbers are hard to come by,” said Hamzeh Al Gaaod, an economic analyst at TS Lombard, a political research firm.
“But what we can say is that years of sanctions have triggered inflationary pressure, including through devaluations of the rial. In turn, that makes goods imports from abroad more expensive,” Al Gaaod told Al Jazeera.
In January, the Tasnim news agency quoted the head of Iran’s Institute of Labor and Social Welfare, Ebrahim Sadeghifar, as saying 22 to 27 percent of Iranians were now below the poverty line.
Unemployment is running at 9.2 percent. However, Iran’s Supreme Assembly of Workers’ Representatives, which represents labour interests, estimated the true figure of people without access to subsistence-level work is far higher.
According to Al Gaaod, Tehran has a “relatively small budget for military purposes”. He estimated that anywhere from 3 to 5 percent of Iran’s GDP is spent on defence, which amounts to roughly $12bn.
Tehran does have $33bn in foreign exchange reserves it could theoretically draw on. But Al Gaaod said: “This is where Iran is on the backfoot. To use reserves for short-term military conflict would cripple them over the longer term.”