Lily said: 'Mum I love you. I'm sorry. Goodbye.' And then she collapsed in my arms: After unimaginable grief, mum Aicha tells how a tiny error on the last night of her family holiday turned deadly
She packed thoughtfully and meticulously for their five-day stay: baked beans, mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, chocolate, biscuits, cake, soya milk and yoghurts – so Lily would not need to rely on restaurant food.
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The Independent
19 minutes ago
- The Independent
Why Canada isn't the trouble-free alternative to America you think it is
Canada is having a moment this summer with bookings by European holidaymakers reportedly surging by 32 per cent – and almost all of this increase comes at the expense of the United States. Travellers are avoiding the US because of its newly hostile environment, a steady stream of visitors reporting arbitrary, despotic US border officials, and even, this past week, a possible requirement for visitors to the US to pay a deposit to enter its borders. Canadians call their country's soaring popularity the Trump Bump. Canada is often seen as an idealistic antidote to this American era: a safe, welcoming destination with spectacular scenery, no xenophobia, no guns, universal friendliness and politeness, a sensible government, and no thorny visa or ESTA requirements. All of this is true, as my partner and I, as well as others, discovered last month – apart from the visa bit. Because what most people don't know – and flight booking sites and airlines mostly hide – is that Canada has a rigid Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) regime. And that if you don't have an eTA, which is a visa in all but name, your airline will turn you away at the airport, no exceptions. The Canadian eTA has existed since 2016, but wasn't enforced strongly at the start. The eTA is often issued online in a couple of minutes, much like the Australian version, which became the first in 1996. The Canadian immigration department says eTAs can take up to 72 hours to be issued. But for no given reason and with no way of speeding up your application, it can, in reality, take several days. Facts we weren't aware of when, in May, we booked a well-priced flight on Expedia to Calgary, flying Delta Air Lines via Minneapolis. It was only when we checked in the maximum 24 hours before the flight, that Delta warned us we needed to get the £4 eTA. We applied. My partner received hers within two minutes. Mine still hadn't come the next morning when we left for Heathrow. But having flown into Canada in 2018 without an eTA and driven in just last year without one, I assumed it was not mission-critical. However, Delta refused to let me board. They can be fined €9,000 for every passenger they carry not correctly documented to their destination, they explained – I didn't even have the option to leave the flight at Minneapolis (I have a US visa) and make my own way for the final leg. We went home despondent and with no option but to buy two new tickets. The cheap ones we had were non-transferable. My eTA arrived after 35 hours from the Canadian immigration department, with no reason given for the delay. I spoke with Expedia, who said visas and eTAs are not their responsibility, and that their small print warns that travellers to check for visa requirements themselves. It does indeed, if you can find it in the small print – but Expedia link you to a visa shop that charges £180 per person for the eTA – triple the rate of even other opportunistic commercial visa sites and 46 times the £3.93 charged by the official Canadian government eTA site. Since we fell foul of the eTA trap, we have, without trying hard, found two families merely from our small group of friends affected by it. The ex- Times journalist Michael Crozier, from north London, got caught out having also not been warned by his airline. He and his wife applied for the eTA at Spokane International Airport in the US. They were flying to Vancouver. Hers came in 20 minutes, but his took five hours – so they missed the flight. 'We booked the flight three months in advance, and it really wouldn't have been hard for the airline to warn people clearly that some will need this visa,' Crozier told me. 'We had no idea about it. The onus should be on the airlines and booking sites. What reason could they have for not flagging it up?' Simon Hewitt, from Hampton, almost lost his family holiday because he knew nothing about the eTA requirement. The Hewitts were booked to fly to Calgary earlier this week. He bought the tickets weeks ahead, but got no warning, again, from Expedia or from the airline, that an eTA was needed. Simon is the marketing manager for a large German company, well-travelled, and famously ultra-organised. After our disaster, I had warned him to apply. The family still had two weeks to get the documentation. His wife's and teenage kids' eTAs came within minutes, but his took 10 days. As the days went by, Hewitt tried to contact the Canadian immigration department. 'It was like a labyrinth,' he says. When I asked Expedia, Air Canada and British Airways why they don't simply flag up clearly that your flight to Canada cannot go ahead if you don't have an eTA, all predictably and wordily took the 'it's in the small print' approach. Expedia – who defended recommending a company that charges £180 per person to obtain the visa on your behalf as an 'optional, additional service' – showed that deep within its terms and conditions, they do link to the official Canadian government application site. I asked the government body, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, if they were having difficulties due to the influx of applications for eTAs this year. 'Most applicants get their eTA approval (via email) within minutes,' they replied. 'However, some applications need more time to be processed. For example, some applicants must submit official documents that take several days to obtain from the appropriate authorities in their country. To avoid travel delays, applicants should get their eTA before booking their flight to Canada.' I asked an experienced Canadian immigration barrister, Will Tao of Heron Law Offices near Vancouver, if he was hearing stories of chaos from within the immigration service. 'The system has always been mostly automated,' Tao says, 'I think they must have expanded the number of rules and flags, to triage more humans in the interventions and take into account their power of cancellation, which was expanded in January. But only the department can possibly confirm this.' 'They used to advertise eTAs as taking no more than 7 minutes. Go figure!' the lawyer adds. The strangest thing about the Canadian eTA, meanwhile, is that while it is supposedly to maintain their borders, it doesn't apply to land and sea entries to the country. The rationale, Tao says, is in the original proposal for the eTA, which says, 'It is not anticipated that travellers will switch their mode of transport to avoid the $7 fee.' Right. Regardless, a lesson. And one to remember: for all travellers in the coming year, the eTA issue is going to expand far beyond Canada. Australia and New Zealand have an eTA, but their systems are easy, efficient and quick. A new eTA system in Britain is up and running, but by all accounts, is running smoothly. From next year, British travellers will require an eTA to go into the EU. Canada has a relatively efficient bureaucracy. With the likes of many EU countries, the same can't be said.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Georgia Love reveals what's 'stolen her heart' as she enjoys intimate dance with her holiday partner... less than a week after ex Lee Elliott moved out of the house
Georgia Love has opened up about the very surprising thing that has stolen her heart, just days after her ex Lee Elliott moved out of their house in Melbourne. The 35-year-old former reality TV star recently shared a series of photos from her tropical getaway in picturesque Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. In one charming snapshot, Georgia beamed in a summery ensemble while posing along a scenic walkway adorned with vibrant umbrellas. Meanwhile, a clip showed Georgia dancing very close with her friend Abir Ahmed at a local bar. Georgia looked to be having the time of her life as she swayed alongside her travel companion, clearly relishing the moment. In her caption, Georgia expressed her enchantment with the holiday hotspot, stating, 'Puerto Plata has absolutely stolen my heart.' Georgia's stunning holiday follows reports she has been leaning on her nearest and dearest for support, following her recent split from her husband Lee Elliott. On Sunday, the 35-year-old revealed she has even replaced a photo of herself and Lee in her home with a picture of her male best friend. The Bachelorette star took to her Instagram to reveal her new home setup, which included a photo with her friend Abir Ahmed. The image showed the pair warmly embracing and smiling for the camera at her real-life bachelorette party in 2021. It comes after Georgia's ex Lee sparked rumours he has been enjoying a romance with Carrie Bickmore. According to Woman's Day, the radio host and the former Bachelorette star have been spending a lot of time together at Carrie's home in recent weeks. The publication claims the pair were introduced by mutual friends and the relationship is 'heating up quickly'. 'They've been trying hard to keep things under wraps. But there's definitely something romantic going on. They're a beautiful couple!' a source told the magazine. Georgia looked to be having the time of her life as she swayed alongside her travel companion, clearly relishing the moment Georgia's stunning holiday follows reports she has been leaning on her nearest and dearest for support following her recent split from her husband Lee Elliott. Pictured together in 2023 Daily Mail reached out to Carrie Bickmore and Lee Elliott for comment. Lee and Georgia, who first met on the 2016 season of The Bachelorette, announced their separation with identical posts to Instagram in May. 'After nine wonderful years together, including four as husband and wife, [we] have made the incredibly difficult decision to lovingly part ways,' they wrote. 'Our relationship has been so special and we will always cherish the memories, love, and laughter we've shared. 'There is no drama, no bad blood. Just two people who have grown in different directions while still holding deep respect and care for each other. 'We remain friends and we'd really appreciate our privacy as we navigate this next stage. Thank you.' Georgia and Lee had fuelled split rumours for some time, having not been seen together for four months and no longer wearing their wedding rings. Carrie, meanwhile, has long been linked to her Carrie & Tommy radio show co-star, Tommy Little. While they have never confirmed that they are a couple, fans continue to speculate about the true nature of their relationship.
Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Molly-Mae Hague soaks up the sun on family holiday in Turkey with Tommy Fury and their daughter Bambi after facing backlash for saying she 'hasn't done one fun thing all summer'
Molly-Mae Hague looked in good spirits as she enjoyed a family holiday to Turkey with her partner Tommy Fury and their daughter Bambi on Wednesday. The former Love Island star, 26, has been soaking up the sun in the resort city of Antalya after recently spending time in St. Tropez. Taking to her Instagram Stories, Molly-Mae shared a photo of herself in a black bikini top and cream linen trousers as she cradled two-year-old Bambi in her arms. The influencer also posted a video of boxer Tommy, also 26, as he pushed Bambi along on an inflatable unicorn in the pool. Molly-Mae captioned the clip: 'If we can't come by unicorn then we aren't coming x'. Another photo saw Tommy posing with Bambi outside their hotel with Molly-Mae writing: 'We don't want to leave!' The star also posted an adorable photo of her daughter in a pair of round sunglasses and a hat, captioning it 'YOU' with a heart. It comes after Molly-Mae was accused of 'always moaning' in recent weeks after complaining she'd 'not done one fun thing all summer' despite jetting off to multiple destinations. Prior to her current trip, she travelled business class to one of the most luxurious hotels in the UAE, the five-star Jumeirah Al Naseem, where rooms cost £14K a night. To date, the millionaire Love Island star has spent the warmer months enjoying first class trips to Dubai, Paris, Saint Tropez and Wimbledon 's Centre Court, where she was greeted like Hollywood royalty after being invited by tournament sponsor Evian. If that wasn't enough time away from home, that month Molly-Mae also visited private members' club Soho Farmhouse in the Cotswolds. Molly-Mae treated herself to a couple of nights in one of the cabins, where members can enjoy spa facilities, country bike rides and tennis. In May, she flew on a private jet to Disneyland Paris to celebrate her 26th birthday alongside Tommy, their daughter and some of her best friends. She shared pictures from inside the jet alongside photos complete with birthday cake, balloons and plenty of Minnie Mouse ears. Come June, Molly-Mae told her YouTube followers she was jetting off yet again. First to Germany for two nights for a 'secret project' and then on to the South of France to shoot the summer campaign for her clothing brand Maebe. Basking in the sunshine at a luxury villa in St Tropez, the influencer shared various snaps of herself lounging on sunbeds and dining at luxury restaurants. Later that month, Molly-Mae was whisked back to the Cotswolds for a 'surprise staycation'. She also faced criticism after complaining about a recent £86,000 motorhome holiday. Molly-Mae's sister Zoe Rae has also come under fire for her 'tone deaf' posts of late after revealing she had fled Bali for Dubai after just 48 hours because it didn't live up to her expectations. In her latest YouTube video, Molly-Mae claimed that she 'didn't care' about the uproar but has been left 'scared' about discussing anything 'controversial' She also spent time on a work trip in St Tropez Her vlog also saw her struggling with the difficulties of motherhood and sharing an update on her relationship with Tommy. Filming herself in the driving seat and Bambi in the back she said: 'I'm trying so so hard to stay positive but, I feel like I need to keep my camera running all day so you can see like every single thing, [Bambi] is a huge problem, [She] screams [I] can't even get like socks and shoes on'. 'I don't care who tells me I am out of touch with reality or all this stuff thats going on on T ikTok at the minute, I don't care i'm not going to not talk about it'. She later went on: 'I feel like I don't want to talk about anything controversial anymore because in the last video I said some things I probably could have worded better and even with all the motherhood things I am talking about at the minute, it's just a lot'. 'Debunking that whole thing about me feeling like I shouldn't talk about what is going on in the day because I am scared about what people will think and what they have to say about it'. Moving on to Tommy, with whom she rekindled her romance earlier this year, she explained why he hadn't featured in her Vlogs despite them being back together. 'I've see so many comments saying "[My sister] Zoe is more the dad" I only vlog when I am not with Tommy, I am with Tommy literally 80% of the week and he is with Bambi majority of the week,' 'But I Vlog when we are here and he is at his because it's just something that I am not ready to like open up with yet and like flinging the camera around like when we're a family'. Before adding:'I just think like we're not there yet and still figuring out life and living situations. I'm not ready to vlog like we used to'. Last week fans blasted the TV personality for 'always moaning' after after she said she'd 'not done one fun thing all summer' despite jetting off to multiple destinations. She said: 'I don't care who tells me I am out of touch with reality or all this stuff thats going on on TikTok at the minute, I don't care i'm not going to not talk about it' She said in her vlog: 'I said to a friend the other day, that I'm going to make it to the end of summer having not done one fun thing.' She then spoke to her sister and said: 'Zoe, I haven't socialised once. I'm going to get to the end of this summer having not done one social fun thing. 'I haven't a life. That's not good is it. Summer will end and I've not done one fun social thing.' It left some fans open-mouthed as they called out how she failed to acknowledge the three holidays she's already been on this year. Some comments read: 'She's a millionaire, she can literally wake up tomorrow and do whatever the hell she wants', 'Wimbledon, lunches, Spain, Dubai, France, Centre Parcs... let's normalise that', 'This was so jarring because she can casually spend 6k in Dior on an outfit to log to Wimbledon then complains she has no time for herself', 'Why does she always want us to feel sorry for her?' The mum-of-one - in this year alone - has been on no expense-spared trips to Dubai, Budapest and even Disneyland in 2025. Back in March she and Tommy took baby Bambi on a family holiday to the United Arab Emirates, marking a reunion holiday for the clan. Just a month later Tommy had treated Molly to a European trip as the pair enjoyed downtime in Budapest. During their break, they stayed at The Pullman, a five-star hotel where prices start from at least £500 per night. Meanwhile, in May the doting parents took Bambi to Disneyland Paris where they enjoyed a lavish stay at the park's resort. It comes after her candid complaints about a recent £86,000 motorhome holiday her family went on - after Tommy said their daughter Bambi shouldn't be spoilt with five star trips. The family were travelling on a swanky Elddis Avalon 255 motorhome. Yet Molly-Mae revealed the trip had been struck with delays, leaving Bambi 'overtired and overstimulated'. She explained: 'Tommy has bought a motorhome and we spent our first weekend in the motorhome this weekend. Obviously, being us, we went in feet first and decided to go to the Isle of Man. She said in her vlog: 'I said to a friend the other day, that I'm going to make it to the end of summer having not done one fun thing. 'Tommy's family were spending the weekend in the Isle of Man. I was feeling spontaneous so we literally booked the ferry to the Isle of Man an hour before we needed to leave. 'We'd never used the motorhome before, we needed to pack it up, sort Bambi, I just had this wave of 'you only live once, have a bit of fun. 'Bambi doesn't need to be so perfectly routine every day, she's not a newborn anymore. 'I've got so stuck in my ways with the fact that her routine is her routine and I don't really steer away from it. 'I'm not gonna feel bad for that because that is what works for me and that is what works for Bambi and Tommy, so that's fine.' She then added of when things started to go wrong: 'So anyway, booked the ferry, packed the motorhome up and nearly didn't make the ferry but that's another story and then there was a two hour delay. 'This ferry, which was already gonna get us in at 11:30pm, which was already severely triggering me because Bambi goes to bed at 7pm, was not fine. It was giving me a prime example as to why the routine works for us. 'It was one of those moments where strangers come up to you and are like 'can I help? Is there anything I can do?' 'She was screaming that much for four hours straight. The boat basically had a malfunction and it wouldn't move for like two hours so we had a huge delay. 'She was so, so, so overtired and overstimulated - Bambi is so routine, she is the opposite of flexible.' And when they arrived things continued to go downhill, as she said: 'We managed to get to the Isle of Man at 1:30am in the morning. 'We didn't know where we were, what we were doing, we were going to a different campsite to Tommy's family. It was just a lot. 'We had to make our bed out of this sofa, I was like 'I'm really out of my depth, I'm struggling. The next day, Bambi was so tired, she was just screaming, literally screaming, so, so unhappy. Meanwhile her sister Zoe came under fire for complaining about a recent trip too. Molly-Mae's influencer sister was recently mocked by fans for leaving Bali after just 48 hours because it didn't live up to her expectations. Instead she and her husband Danny made a last minute decision to fly to Dubai instead after Zoe, 28, took to social media to admit 'something wasn't quite right'. The fitness influencer had planned the trip to Indonesia with her husband Danny to celebrate their first wedding anniversary. And despite staying in a huge sea view room at the Radisson Blu, a five-star hotel, they decided to leave early and jet to Dubai instead. Zoe explained that Bali looks better on social media than in real life, as influencers make it look luxurious, despite it being a developing country. In a YouTube video, Zoe told the camera: 'Since landing in Bali, something for us wasn't quite right. 'We came here with high expectations because we had seen on social media that everyone was having such a lovely time. Lovely places to eat and beaches, and lovely gyms and coffee shops. 'But I don't think the reality of Bali is shown much at all, and I do think it is down to a lot of influencers posting the more luxury side of things.' She added: 'Before joining the army, I spent five months travelling South East Asia. I did Thailand, Vietnam, China, Hong Kong, I did a lot and spent time in these countries. But there is something very different about Bali. 'We got told Uluwatu where we are now is one of the best places to go, so if this is one of the better places, I'm not sure where the other places are like. 'I wasn't going to sit down and say anything, but people want to know.' Danny then joined the video and said: 'You either go on holiday to travel and experience culture or you want to go away and relax.' Zoe continued: 'Yeah, and we could have got a flight tomorrow as today is our anniversary, but time is precious and we just want to get out, and why delay it. 'We missed the mark, maybe we didn't do our own research, maybe it is our own fault. I did a lot of research though. 'I think it is just personal preference, and our preference was that this isn't for us, and we are making the executive decision to go enjoy our anniversary somewhere we know that we love and can relax and can drink the water.'
