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Westlife’s Mark Feehily health as he misses 25th anniversary celebrations

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As part of their 25th anniversary celebrations, Shane Filan, Nicky Bryne, and Kian Egan are scheduled to play at the Royal Albert Hall on Monday and Tuesday night.

Westlife will perform two massive concerts at the Royal Albert Hall this week to mark a significant anniversary.

The London gigs will mark 25 years of the band, coinciding with the release of four brand new songs and the launch of an upcoming world tour. While Shane Filan, Nicky Bryne and Kian Egan will be flying the flag for the Irish boyband, it’s been confirmed Mark Feehily will be unable to perform live with the group.

The 45-year-old has dealt with a number of health issues in recent years, which all started with a 2022 diagnosis of pneumonia. Fans of the vocal powerhouse will be thrilled to know that Mark will be a part of the celebrations in voice, even though he may not be making the trip.

Mark’s distinct vocals can be heard on new track Chariot, penned by songwriting maestro Ed Sheeran, as well as several tracks on the band’s new album.

Mark’s absence from the upcoming shows was made public in June as part of a lengthy conversation about their anniversary plans. Mark will not be able to join the celebrations, the band said in a statement. When he is ready and able, we hope he will be able to return to the stage. He continues to express his gratitude and love to you all.

The four of us are still in shock that 25 years have passed. You have consistently shown us us that we are still in love and loyal to them wherever we go. We are so blessed to have you all with us, and we look forward to sharing a happy birthday with you! Happy 25th Birthday to all of us! Love, Kian, Mark, Nicky, and Shane X.

Mark expresses his own opinion on the illness.

Just before his first ever tour of America, Mark announced a temporary break from Westlife last year.

Taking to Instagram at the time, he wrote: ‘Hello and much love to you all! It’s Mark here.. Most of you are aware that I have had some health challenges over the past while.

“I had surgery three years ago, and it actually all started.” I was rushed to A&amp, E within a few days of having this surgery because I was in severe pain.

‘I eventually ended that awful day in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) where I was informed that due to a complication with the surgery, I had developed severe ‘Sepsis’, a life-threatening infection that would require immediate emergency surgery to rectify the problem and basically save my life.’

I spent the next few months in the hospital, he continued. It occurred during a lockdown. I was prevented from visiting my fiance and my then-total 10-month-old daughter for months due to strict Covid restrictions.

It was physically and mentally very difficult, and the ICU stay was very painful.

I got sick in Newcastle in the middle of 2021 before a concert, and was later told I had pneumonia. I regret not seeing the rest of the concerts that December because I was told I had to return home right away to recover.

I received a recommendation from a doctor who advised me that I needed more surgery, which I completed in May 2022, making it impossible for me to see The Wild Dreams tour.

Three months after having that surgery, I made an effort to carry on for you guys and go back on tour, but it turned out to be too much due to the physical demands of the concerts and the long trips.

I had a “very large” incisional hernia, and I was told to have it fixed by a doctor. I had no other choice because this would be my fourth major operation since the beginning of everything.

I had a “very large” incisional hernia, and I was told to have it fixed by a doctor. I had no other choice because this would be my fourth major operation since the beginning of everything.

He continued, “It is with the highest level of regret that I must now temporarily stand down from all Westlife touring until a time ote: that I have had the chance to fully recover from the turbulent journey I have been through as an individual.”

Believe me, you’re right, things could change! Thank you so much for your assistance and understanding of my health over the past few years.

What the band did in response

Bandmate Shane fans would be thrilled to hear Mark on their new songs, including Chariot, which were released on Friday despite the vocal powerhouse’s absence on the road.

Shane thanked Irish media for their update on Mark in an interview with RTE News, saying: “He’s unable to join the tour unfortunately as he’s mentioned already, but being on the new song is very important.

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‘He’s still a member of this band obviously and he’s sounding great on the new songs. We’ve got four new songs and an album coming out after Christmas…

David and Victoria Beckham’s new neighbour owns brand Kylie Jenner loves

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The masterminds behind Bondi Sands self-tanning, Melanie Adams and Victoria and David Beckham, will soon be rubbing shoulders with them, which Kylie Jenner adores.

Tom Bevan and Ed Burnett, Daniel Bird’s assistant celebrity and entertainment editor,

David and Victoria Beckham’s new Cotswolds neighbours revealed as business owner loved by Kylie Jenner. Posh and Becks new neighbours bought the plot of land next to them for a staggering £16.5 million.

The celebrity couple have lived at their Cotswolds mansion near Chipping Norton since 2016, buying the pad for £6,150,000. Their countryside estate is close to Soho Farmhouse, an exclusive celebrity club which boasts visitors such as Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Tom Cruise.

However, fresh land registry records now indicate that Blair Raymond James and his opulent wife Melanie Adams have sold a 15-acre parcel of land near the Beckhams’ own home for an eye-watering sum. Prior to moving to the UK in 1986, Blair, who was born in a small rural town close to Melbourne, co-founded and sold Bondi Sands, the world’s most popular self-tanner, for $ 450,000 (Aus) in 2023.

Celebrity clients who love the brand include Kylie, Olivia Attwood and Charlotte Crosby. His struggles saw him overcome being almost penniless, and he lost both parents by the age of 23. Despite this, he has become a self-made multi-millionaire and is now director of Growth Bomb, a ‘miracle’ hair company he created during the pandemic.

The business has already sold more than one million products in the first five years of establishment of the brand. Official documents confirm that the land acquisition agreement was reached on September 13th, 2024, to complete the Beckham’s acquisition and establish a relationship with the new neighbors.

No buildings on the land have been constructed as of yet, according to drone images taken last week, with no plans for the site at the present time. It’s just over 15 acres, including a walled garden that has fallen, but it’s right next to Chez Beckham, according to an insider.

Can you justify having such a neighbor? The Beckhams’ claim that the land was transferred from Great Tew Properties Ltd. to the Beckhams when they purchased their home in December 2016 is mentioned in the Land Registry’s deeds for Mr. James.

The transferor made restrictive covenants that have since been modified. Additionally, the recently purchased land, which is now owned by Mr. James and his wife, was sold to Imperium Trust Company in 2021, according to the deeds.

The barn conversion that the Beckhams’ own home underwent extensive renovations and is situated on two acres of land. A glasshouse, a sizable pond, an underground wine cellar, and an Astroturf football pitch are just a few of the amenities.

The 14,270 square foot property, which has been housed there since 1820, has nine bedrooms, four bathrooms, a movie theater, and even a gym. In one courtyard of the E-shaped house is a 12 x 7 meter pool, and in the other is a seating area covered in wood pergolas.

Great Tew Properties Limited made no comment on the transaction. Following the revelation that the Beckhams had a new planning dispute with neighbors over a proposed new access road to their property, rumors about their new neighbors have surfaced.

One neighbor has already voiced her objection, but their representatives insist that vehicles be avoided entering the nearby celebrity hotspot Soho Farmhouse. West Oxfordshire District Council will make a decision at a later time.

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Björn Andrésen’s life as ‘most beautiful boy in the world’ dies aged 70

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Swedish musician and actor Björn Andrésen.

Björn Andrésen, who was best known for his breakout role in Death in Venice as 14-year-old Tadzio, passed away at the age of 70.

Although his daughter Robine Román paid tribute to her father in a touching post, the cause of death has not been revealed.

On Instagram, the Swedish caption’s English translation reads: “Be still. No more harsh words. There’s not much of me left. Don’t cry over me.

There is no longer any fire to extinguish here. I no longer understand what constitutes and is not.

The Stockholm-based actor also appeared in Midsommar, a 2019 folk horror film, in addition.

READ MORE: Tony Adams’ life from rarely-seen wife to Crossroads role after star’s tragic deathREAD MORE: Björn Andrésen dead: Swedish actor who starred in Death in Venice dies aged 70

His father has not been identified, and his mother committed suicide when he was just ten years old. His family history is complicated.

His maternal grandparents encouraged him to pursue acting and modeling, and his grandmother encouraged him.

For his role in Death in Venice, he won widespread recognition, and film historian Lawrence J. Quirk suggested that some images of the young star could be taken out of the frame and hung on the walls of the Louvre or the Vatican.

Following the Cannes Film Festival a year after the premiere of Death in Venice, Andrésen was hailed in international headlines as “the most beautiful boy in the world”.

Andrésen, however, refused to play off his good looks in any roles.

Instead, he spent a lot of time in Japan, becoming a model and cultural icon.

He performed with the Sven Erics dance band as well as an actor.

He was the subject of a documentary titled “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World,” which explored his experiences following Venice’s death in 2021.

One of his final roles was in Agatha Christie’s film Hjerson as Oscar, which he starred in the same year.

Elvin, a father-of-two who was married to poet Susanna Roman, passed away from sudden infant death syndrome at the age of nine months old.

He claimed that he believed he would meet his son again in the afterlife even though he had experienced deep depression following his son’s death.

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Road out of el-Fasher: Ransom, violence and the price of survival in Sudan

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He was devastated when he learned that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group had seized the western city of El-Fasher after most of its two and a half years of fighting with Sudan’s army.

Speaking to Al Jazeera over the phone on Sunday, the activist’s voice broke as he spoke of his fear for the civilians still trapped there and of not knowing if he would ever be able to return to his city.

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“It feels like we’ve lost everything”, the 31-year-old said from the nearby town of Tawila. “I just keep thinking about the people who are still there, the families, the children,” he said.

After declaring its ownership of El-Fasher’s final garrison in the city, belonging to the Sixth Armoured Division, on Sunday, the RSF announced its takeover of the city.

It had besieged the capital of North Darfur state for 18 months, attacking people and blocking all aid from entering, engineering a famine that has taken hold for months.

Escape

Mouawia left El-Fasher in early October, cart and walking the roughly 60 kilometers (37 miles) to Tawila, fearing RSF retaliation.

As the RSF’s attacks became more vicious, he had made the decision to leave after realizing that he would no longer be able to assist civilians in the city.

Mouawia, a media graduate, had been injured a few weeks earlier on his way to a clinic he and a group of other volunteers were operating in the western sector of the city.

As they were walking, a shell exploded nearby, causing him to fall to the ground and suffer internal injuries.

He and a companion made the agonizing descent to a doctor’s assistant who could give first aid at a neighbor’s home after a terrifying trek to escape the firefight.

A trip to a hospital confirmed that Mouawia’s wounds had shrapnel in them, but they could not be removed, given the overcrowding and severe lack of resources in the hospital. Mouawia’s stomach is still covered in the shrapnel, which has now recovered.

Everything was altered by the injury. Unable to continue volunteering and with the daily bombardment closing in, he decided to leave el-Fasher through a “safe corridor” for fleeing civilians that the RSF had announced.

He and a second volunteer set out with a small cart, some cash, and their identity documents after they officially presented their clinic to the Ministry of Health.

He said, “We left quietly and prayed to be safe. But as they moved through the “safe corridor”, they realised it was anything but.

Local displacement camps like Zamzam, whose residents are depicted fleeing to the Tawila camps on April 14, 2025, as the RSF took Zamzam [Marwan Mohamed/EPA]

Ransom, humiliation

The corridor looped northwest despite Tawila being to the southwest because the RSF had erected enormous sand berms around the city during its siege, leaving just one direction open.

The two men intended to sleep somewhere before continuing their journey, but instead they made the first stop at Garni, which is about 16 kilometers (10 miles) away.

RSF fighters stopped them at a checkpoint and accused them of being soldiers dressed as civilians as they traveled to the outskirts of Garni, which can take up to five hours on foot.

The fighters shouted racial slurs and demanded to know the positions of Sudanese army forces, refusing to listen when Mouawia and his companion showed their passports and explained they were volunteers.

They were detained after being interrogated for hours before being stopped again moments later at a different checkpoint where a fighter discovered Mouawia’s bag with newly printed Sudanese government currency. Any fighter who had an army or its allies in Sudanese slang was snarled as “This is flangi money.”

“Eat it”, the soldier ordered, slapping Mouawia and forcing him to swallow a wad of bills.

Mouawia recalls that he instructed him to turn over everything. The soldiers let them pass after stealing the rest of their phones and cash.

Farther along, two RSF fighters on motorbikes stopped them, accusing them again of being fleeing soldiers.

They allowed them to continue their search for a mosque close to Garni, where they slept until dawn before setting off on their two-day journey to Tawila, finding nothing when they searched them.

The road between Garni and Jughmer, which is about 11 kilometers (7 miles) west, was further obstructed by an RSF four-by-four.

A soldier noticed the scar on Mouawia’s stomach and shouted: “He’s a soldier! I said, “”!

They were dragged from a cart, interrogated, and threatened at gunpoint before being finally released, shaken but still alive.

Hours later, the vehicle returned, the fighters demanding 10 billion Sudanese pounds ($3, 500) – an impossible ransom.

Mouawia recalled saying, “I don’t have 10 billion if you kill me.”

After heated exchanges, the fighters ordered them to call relatives for money and threatened to kill them, and later reduced the amount demanded to 2.5 billion Sudanese pounds ($860).

Desperate, Mouawia contacted a friend in Khartoum, who managed to transfer 1 billion Sudanese pounds, and another volunteer sent 1.5 billion, completing the ransom through a Starlink RSF station located near the checkpoint.

According to Mouawia, one of the fighters allegedly chose to keep some of the money for himself, yelling that he shouldn’t tell his friend in Khartoum about the first billion.

The fighters fled as they feigned kindness, saying, “We’ll return your money if you want,” giving him a WhatsApp number “for protection,” and driving away.

Tawila, North Darfur
A displaced woman prepares food on April 16, 2025, as she shelters in the town of Tawila in North Darfur, Sudan, after RSF attacks on the Zamzam displacement camp]Reuters]

Survival

By that point, exhaustion was already present. The two men slept next to their cart for the night in the small Arida Djangay village.

The next morning, they resumed their journey, only to encounter a new RSF ploy to take money from people on the road: convoys of RSF vehicles demanding “transport fees”.

He claimed that they initially promised to take us for free, but later demanded $1,000,000 [per person]$0.50] from them.

On the way down to Tawila, about 45 minutes away, soldiers stopped their cart at the Silik camp in Korma, west of Garni, and extorted “ticket money” from people to transfer them to RSF vehicles.

When an elderly man protested that he was already at his destination, the soldiers demanded payment anyway.

Mouawia claimed that “people were furious.” He and his companion pleaded for calm, bringing back their earlier assurances of a safe passage, but to no avail.

Eventually, they secured more money to pay off the fighters from friends who sent mobile transfers.

He claimed that “we paid only to survive.”

Finally, a kind-hearted driver agreed to pay 130, 000 pounds ($0.04) via bank transfer to take them to Tawila.

“After everything, I just thanked God we made it alive”, Mouawia said softly.

He finally got some rest after spending time with Tawila, but he now wonders how he will continue.

He said, “We kept going knowing that someone had to keep hope alive even in a place like El-Fasher.”

‘ Everything stopped ‘

El-Fasher, a once bustling city, collapsed on April 15, 2023 as a result of a war. Within days, hospitals and streets were deserted, and people were trapped between bombardment and siege.

“Everything stopped”, Mouawia recalled, going on to detail how he and a group of young residents – doctors, engineers and students – decided to help by reopening a clinic in their neighbourhood.

They had finished cleaning it up and reopening it within a week, relying solely on local donations and shared meals to continue their work.

Regardless of our political beliefs or ideologies, we co-operated, according to Mouawia.

The unity carried them through air raids and shortages. They treated frightened women who had been shot, pregnant women, and displaced families who had just arrived at their door. Their initiative continued to exist despite the bombings even after the end of 2024 when it reached community kitchens and other forms of support.

In May, as the RSF intensified its siege on el-Fasher and launched drone strikes on community kitchens, the volunteers switched to delivering food house to house instead.

He claimed that the meals we prepared for displaced families were their only meals of the day.

Their bravery kept the neighbourhoods together for almost two years, but by the middle of this year, the siege had grown even more severe. The RSF occupied key areas, blocked supply routes and turned hospitals into military zones.

People like Mouawia saw no other choice but to leave as the volunteers themselves turned into targets.

Paul McCartney ‘had no idea’ about future after The Beatles exit in ‘very difficult’ time

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After the Beatles split in 1970, Sir Paul McCartney admitted he didn’t know what to do with himself.

The legendary Beatles quartet, which included Sir Paul McCartney, formed a quarter of the group in the 1960s that was a global success. Each member was forced to chart their own course as The Beatles publicly disbanded in April 1970.

Sir Paul retreated to Scotland before launching Wings a year later – a group that would go on to shift 22 million albums in its own right.

Wings: the Story of a Band on the Run, a new book, provides a close examination of Paul’s experiences right after The Beatles’ demise.

The 83-year-old revealed that the band’s initial years proved challenging because they had ruled his life for such a long time and left him unsure of what would come next.

It was very difficult for me to leave the Beatles, or to have them leave me, Paul said. It was my life’s job. Soo, when it came to a stop, it said, “What do we do now?”

I actually had no idea. Either don’t play music and think about other things, or play music and figure out how to do that.

Paul had reached extraordinary heights with the Beatles, but with Wings, he was able to maintain that acclaim.

Additionally, Paul’s appeal lasted well into the 2000s and continues to do so through the 2020s, with his Grammy-winning Record of the Year performance. Paul McCartney’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) to isolate John Lennon’s voice from a 1978 home demo for the 2023 single “Now and Then” has added another accolade to The Beatles’ long list.

Despite the song becoming the first AI-assisted track to win a Grammy, Paul has voiced his concerns about the technology, urging people not to let it exploit artists.

Paul reacted to AI creating a “Wild West” that did not adequately protect artists in a conversation with BBC’s Laura Kuensberg.

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He said, “You get young guys, girls, coming up, and they write a beautiful song without owning it. They are not involved in it at all. And anyone who wants can just steal it.

The money is actually traveling somewhere, according to the statement. Why shouldn’t the person who sat down and wrote “Origin” be paid?