One Direction members have reunited alongside music mogul Simon Cowell as they attended the funeral of bandmate Liam Payne.
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One Direction stars join mourners at Payne’s funeral
The ‘silent killer’ that might wake you up at night – 4 symptoms to watch out for
A COMMON lung condition could be the reason you’re waking up at night.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is a common lung disease that causes restricted airflow and breathing problems.
It’s often described as a ‘silent killer’ because most patients are asymptomatic in the early stages.
The condition affects an estimated 380,000 people in Ireland.
COPD is a group of conditions that cause long-term breathing difficulties.
It includes emphysema, where the air sacs in the lungs are damaged, and chronic bronchitis, which is long-term inflammation of the airways.
The HSE says COPD mainly affects middle-aged or older adults who smoke or used to smoke.
Symptoms can take years to appear, often showing in your late 40s or 50s.
The most common signs of COPD include shortness of breath, which may wake you during the night or appear during exercise.
Another symptom includes a persistent chesty cough with phlegm that doesn’t go away.
Frequent chest infections, especially during the winter, or persistent wheezing, which can make breathing feel more difficult are also common symptoms.
If untreated, these issues often worsen over time, making daily activities harder.
Flare-ups, where symptoms suddenly get worse, are common and can occur multiple times a year.
The condition is often confused with other illnesses like asthma, anaemia, and heart failure.
A breathing test can help diagnose COPD and determine the severity.
The main cause of COPD is smoking, including passive smoking, but it can sometimes occur in people who have never smoked.
While tobacco is the main cause, other risk factors include exposure to second-hand smoke, inhalation of dusts, chemicals and fumes and existing conditions such as chronic asthma.
The damage to the lungs caused by COPD is permanent, and there’s currently no cure.
While COPD is not curable, it is treatable, allowing people to have the best possible quality of life.
And treatments like stopping smoking, using inhalers, and pulmonary rehabilitation can help manage the condition.
The sooner treatment begins, the less chance there is of severe lung damage.
COPD can vary in severity, with some people able to manage it well, while others experience a significant decline in quality of life.
Avoiding smoking is the best way to reduce your risk of developing COPD.
If you have symptoms, particularly if you’re over 35 and smoke or used to smoke, it’s important to seek medical advice early.
COPD & ME: TOP FIVE TIPS
- Try to undertake regular physical activity and join an exercise class provided by your local COPD Support Ireland group.
- Know what is usual for you and monitor your symptoms for early warning signs of a flare-up. Be familiar with your COPD self-management plan which will let you know what to do when you are feeling unwell.
- The main cause of COPD is tobacco smoking. If you smoke, there are supports that can help you to stop — check out quit.ie, freephone 1800 201 203, or text QUIT to 50100.
- Keep up-to-date with your flu, pneumococcal and Covid-19 vaccines.
- Look after your mental health. Be aware of unhelpful thinking and focus on things that you can control. Ask your GP about counselling and a potential referral to counselling in primary care in one of 240 centres across Ireland.
I’m A Celeb in huge shake up as fans say show’s ‘gone soft’ on celebs
VIEWERS of I’m A Celebrity have been left angry and confused after the famous contestants were allowed their luxury items just days into the show.
Bemused fans watched as the campmates received their items from home so soon after entering the jungle.
I’m A Celebrity‘s Danny Jones and Coronation Street’s Alan Halsall joined forces and successfully won the campmates’ luxury items – but failed to get Jane Moore’s or Barry McGuigan’s.
Livid viewers vented their rage on social media and protested they hadn’t done enough to deserve it and it was too premature.
One fan wrote on X: “Luxury items already? It’s too bl***y soon.”
A second agreed: “Luxury items? They’ve JUST entered the jungle! WTF! Some of them haven’t even showered yet and they’re getting stuff from home LOL.”
A third moaned: “Luxury items on day 3. This used to be a real tv show.”
“Why are they getting luxury items on day 2? Seems a bit ridiculous!” questioned a fourth.
“Luxury items??? It’s b****y day 3!!!” raged another.
“It’s only been 2 days and they can get their luxury items? Bring back national service,” quipped a disgruntled viewer.
When the pair arrived at the Jungle Delivery Centre, they were told that they were working to try and win everyone’s luxury items.
Alan said: “Eight out of 10 is so good, we smashed it, really happy with that. But also two out of 10, we didn’t get and it’s hard, that!”
Danny added: “It is hard, but I think Jane and Barry will understand.”
“I think they’ll understand, they’ll know we did our best and we just didn’t know the answer on the day unfortunately,” Alan explained.
Elsewhere Tulisa opened up on her sexuality and revealed she has been celibate for three years.
“I’m not really a dater,” Tulisa revealed. “Even though I’ve been on there, I’ve never gone on an actual date with anyone on there. I’m proper guarded.”
Revealing her sexuality, she continued: “I feel like I’m demisexual.
“I need to have a really close emotional bond with someone.”
I'm A Celeb luxury items
Campmates received the following items - and enraged viewers
Alan: agolf putter
GK: a dressing gown
Coleen: a personalised photo pillow
Danny: a lilo
Tulisa: an inflatable chair
Dean: moisturiser
Melvin: a personalised pillow with his girlfriend and Carol Vorderman on
Oti: three plays of her favourite tune It’s My Life by Bon Jovi
Heartbroken wife of popular dad, 40, who died climbing Mount Kilimanjaro ‘blown away’ by amazing gesture to chef abroad
A SCHOOL is being built in Sierra Leone in memory of a Limerick chef who died while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
The heartbroken widow of James O’Connor, who died from severe altitude illness last December on his 40th birthday, described the project today as surreal and and beautiful.
Grace said a family friend who is involved in the Schools Health Foundation in Sierra Leone contacted her to say a decision was made to build the school for 300 children in memory of James.
She told PJ Coogan open Cork’s 96FM Opinion Line: “I was so blown away by this. The thought of our little son going over there for the opening of that. It is so surreal, beautiful and such an honour.
“It is going to be schooling 300 children. A whole system will be set up. It is not just building a school. It will be maintained.
“I think through the experience of the loss of James I got to see life so differently. There are amazing people out there who do amazing things. This charity is one of them. I am honoured that his legacy will be way over in Sierra Leone.”
James from Whitechurch in Co Cork, was 100m away from the summit when he collapsed and died on December 4.
And Grace told how her husband and their eldest son shared a birthday.
She said: “It was his 40th and Christopher’s 16th birthday. I had taken that day off work as James was away and I wanted to bring the kids out for dinner. So we had a lovely day out. It was just a normal day.
“I was in Next shopping and I got a phone call from James’s friend Alan who had done the trek with him. I heard his voice and I thought they had done it as they were meant to be at the summit.
“James wanted to be at the summit for his 40th. This was a goal he had and I was happy to support him in it.
“Alan said ‘Grace I don’t know how to tell you this. Jimmy is dead’. He told me first he had a heart attack.
I couldn’t believe it. I fell to my knees. My little girl was with me. It was so surreal. It still is some days.”
Grace said James was very active, fit and healthy.
She explained: “You have to get all of these checks done before you go. He was super fit. He was always out running. He used to get up at 5am.
‘HE WAS AT HIS HEALTHIEST & HAPPIEST’
“I am from Limerick. We live in Limerick. He would hit the road for Cork (where he worked at Tony’s Bistro).
“He would hit the gym before work. And then go in, do a full day’s work and drive home. On his day off he would get up, have his run done and wake me up with a cup of coffee before I’d get out of bed.
“He even got me out running a few times. He felt great. He was at his healthiest and happiness. Basically (he died) of altitude sickness. It affected his lungs and he was unlucky. That is it.
“The majority of people are fine. You couldn’t have predicted it. It (climbing Kilimanjaro) is not a dangerous thing to do. There is no way he would have even attempted to do it if he thought he was in any danger.”
THOUSANDS RAISED
Grace said that she has kept herself busy in the months since James died.
She continues to live in Dooradoyle in Limerick with the couple’s children Chris, Lilly and James.
Close to €39,000 was raised via a GoFundMe page set up to pay for the repatriation of his body back to Ireland.
James is survived by his wife and children, his siblings Jonathan, Lorraine, Caitriona, Michelle and Jordan.
His family say that James died “peacefully, while watching the sunrise on his birthday on Mount Kilimanjaro.”
The James O’Connor primary school in Sierra Leone is set to open next April. His eldest son Chris will be at the official opening.
Donations can be made to the James O’Connor primary school project with a note in the comments to the effect of “James O’Connor school” or on the FUNDRAISER FOR THE JAMES O’CONNOR PRIMARY SCHOOL website.
Woman who went viral for stripping naked and streaking during Grey Cup slapped with stadium BAN
THE woman who went starkers at the CFL Grey Cup final has been slapped with a stadium ban, it’s been claimed.
A yet-to-be-identified lady shocked stadiumgoers at BC Place by streaking in the Toronto Argonaut’s championship win over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
After initially taking a tumble, the brunette casually walked around the pitch and even waved to fans before being escorted away by security.
Vancouver Police promptly arrested the lady, who was later taken to the hospital “for treatment related to drug and/or alcohol consumption”.
The VPD have opted NOT to press any charges against the daring damsel.
But according to TMZ, the woman has been BANNED from BC Place.
They claim the lady “will not be allowed back at the venue”.
Footage of the woman’s naked stroll spread like wildfire on social media and received a slew of comments.
On baffled fan wrote on X: “Nobody cared enough to chase her down lol.”
A second said: “They gave shorty all the time in the world lol.”
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A third added: “The one person that can get away with not being tackled.”
Another said: “Not the worst way to find out the Grey Cup is on.”
The Argonauts didn’t let the nudist’s interruption stop them from winning their 19th Grey Cup title.
They ran out 41-24, with quarterback Nick Arbuckle being the star of the show.
I had a holiday romance in Dubai but her strict mum told police – now I face 20 YEARS in hellhole jail, says Brit teen
AN 18-year-old Brit is facing 20 years in jail after striking up a holiday romance with a teenager in Dubai.
Marcus Fakana, from Tottenham, north London, was detained by police after the 17-year-old girl’s “strict” mother told cops.
He was held in a gruelling UAE prison for three days and could now be jailed for up to two decades.
Marcus said he and the girl had a “wonderful time” together after meeting on holiday in August and planned to continue their romance back in London.
In Dubai, if a person aged 18 or over has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having a sexual relationship with a minor.
The relationship would be legal in the UK.
Marcus said after the girl, who has since turned 18, left to return to the UK he “couldn’t wait to see her again” when he got home.
But he told British-based aid organisation Detained in Dubai: “Then suddenly, police knocked on our hotel door.
“They said they were taking me in for questioning but wouldn’t tell me why. I couldn’t imagine what for.
“I was frightened and my parents were terrified.”
He was then detained for three days at Al Barsha Police Station.
Marcus said the girl had been “secretive” with her family when they saw each other.
He said: ” We really liked each other but she was secretive with her family because they were strict.
“My parents knew about our relationship but she couldn’t tell hers.
“She had to meet me without telling them it was to see a boy.”
But Marcus later found out that the girl’s mother had seen messages and pictures on her daughter’s phone.
The mum then shared them with Dubai police when back in the UK.
Radha Stirling, CEO of Detained in Dubai, said: “He was told his girlfriend’s mother had reported the relationship to authorities in Dubai after she had arrived back in London.
“This is clearly a very strict mother to involve police in a private matter that is completely legal in the country where she lives and where the children have grown up.
“Perhaps she wasn’t aware that she triggered the possibility of a young man of only 18 spending the next 20 years in prison.”
Marcus – who had gone to Dubai for a short holiday on August 26 with his parents – is still stuck there.
Law on tourists having sex outside marriage in Dubai
DUBAI recently implemented changes that now allowing tourists to have sex outside of marriage - as long as both are over 18.
But if either person’s spouse or parent/ guardian files a criminal complaint, both parties of an extra-marital consensual relationship could be jailed for six months or longer.
If someone aged 18 or over has a sexual relationship with a person under 18, they can be prosecuted for having sexual relations with a minor.
In Dubai, a child is defined as a person under 18 years of age.
If both people are under 18 they can both be prosecuted.
Punishment in this case, however, is likely to be limited to a caution, parental supervision, judicial supervision, professional training or psychiatric treatment, according to the UK’s Foreign Office.
Public displays of affection are also frowned upon. You can be arrested for kissing in the UAE.
He added: “I’m living in Airbnb’s that are costing my family £2,000 per month.
“They had to go home to work. They earn a humble living, my mother is a cleaner and my dad works in a warehouse.
“They saved up for this one off holiday and they have now used all of their savings.
“The police demanded 10,000 AED (£2,100) for bail which I’ve been told is not normal and the costs are mounting.
“I’m here all alone. I pray this nightmare will be over and I’ll be home for Christmas.”
Marcus, his family and human rights advocate Radha are now calling on the UK government for help.
Radha added: “Dubai police have the power to drop the case against Marcus and let him come home.
“This is not something we want to do to young people and we ask Mr Lammy MP to convey this message to his counterparts in the UAE.”
Watch Live: Laken Riley murder trial Day 4
The murder trial for the suspect accused of killing Georgia nursing student Laken Riley is underway in Athens, Georgia. Suspect Jose Ibarra, an undocumented migrant from Venezuela, waived his right to a trial by jury and is facing life in prison if convicted.
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The 80+ best Christmas gift ideas for women who already have everything
The ultimate list of options for your leading lady.
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