
Brunei ruler returns home after hospital admission in Malaysia
The sultan, 78, returned to Brunei with his consort Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha, after meeting Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, the office said in a statement on Tuesday night.
The Sultan was admitted to the National Heart Institute for fatigue during a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders last week in Kuala Lumpur. He was discharged at the weekend and had remained in Malaysia to rest.
"He is in good condition and the recovery process has gone smoothly after being discharged from the National Heart Institute recently," Anwar said in a post on X.
The sultan holds multiple roles in the small Southeast Asian nation, serving as Brunei's prime minister, armed forces commander, finance minister, foreign minister and defence minister.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
17 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Israeli plan to displace 1m Palestinians spreads fear in Gaza
Palestinians were gripped by fear and anxiety on Sunday after the Israeli military said it was preparing for the forcible displacement of 1 million people from Gaza City. The announcement came days after Israel said it intended to launch a new offensive to seize control of the enclave's largest urban centre, in a plan that raised international alarm, and ahead of the IDF's latest attacks in the Palestinian territory which Gaza's health officials said had killed at least 40 people on Saturday including a baby in a tent and people seeking aid. 'Based on the directives of the political leadership, and as part of the Israel Defense Forces' preparations to transfer civilians from combat zones to the southern Gaza Strip for their safety, starting tomorrow (Sunday), the provision of tents and shelter equipment for Gaza residents will resume,' read a statement by the Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Palestinian Territories (COGAT). 'The equipment will be transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing by the United Nations and international relief organizations, after undergoing thorough inspection by the Land Crossings Authority of the Ministry of Defense,' it added. Meanwhile, new recordings broadcast by an Israeli TV station showed the Israeli general who headed military intelligence on 7 October 2023 saying that 50 Palestinians 'must die' for every person killed that day, and 'it does not matter now if they are children'. The channel said the undated conversations were recorded 'in recent months'. And in the US the state department announced that it would stop issuing visas to children from Gaza in desperate need of medical care after an online pressure campaign from Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer close to Donald Trump who has described herself as 'a proud Islamophobe'. Following Israel's announcement, Palestinians in Gaza – displaced repeatedly, forced to live in tent camps or amid the ruins of their homes, stricken by hunger and deprived of medical supplies – are bracing for another humanitarian disaster as a new offensive would force them toward the south of the territory and an uncertain future. 'We are already destroyed and exhausted, physically and psychologically, from repeated displacement, from the lack of food and water,' Akram Shlabia, 85, told the Guardian from the Shuja'iyya neighbourhood of Gaza City. 'And now they want us to go to the south! Into nothingness, into the unknown, into a place without shelter or the basic means of life, even safety.' 'We will face many problems in displacement,' said Mazen Hasaneh, 40, from al-Tuffah neighbourhood, who has been displaced six times during the war. 'First, securing a way to transport the necessary items like a tent and other basics, and of course many drivers will exploit people's desperation and raise prices, while people have no money to pay. 'The second problem is finding a place to set up the tent and settle, along with the difficulty of finding and providing water and food. Everything about displacement is suffering, especially in our current conditions.' Some families have already begun moving south to secure shelter in anticipation of possible evacuation, while others are contacting relatives to ask about available space should the relocation plan proceed. Yet many say they will remain in Gaza City, declaring they would rather stay than face the hardships of displacement. 'If the plan is carried out, I will look for a safe place for myself and my children within Gaza, and I will not consider moving to the south of the Strip,' said Asma Al-Barawi, 34, from al-Tuffah, the mother of seven children. 'I didn't leave the first time, and I won't leave this time. The experiences and suffering I heard from the displaced who went south were harsh and unbearable.' 'I lost everything because of this war,' she added. 'I lost two of my brothers, two of my maternal aunts with their families, my cousin, and my father-in-law. And, I lost my new home, which I only left with some clothes.' In recent days, heavy explosions have echoed from areas east of Gaza, where Israeli forces have intensified operations, including artillery barrages and the start of an incursion on the outskirts of the Sabra neighbourhood. On Saturday a baby girl and her parents were killed when an Israeli airstrike hit a tent in al-Muwasi, previously designated a humanitarian zone by Israel, in southern Gaza, Nasser hospital officials and witnesses said. 'Two and a half months old, what has she done?' a neighbour, Fathi Shubeir, asked. 'They are civilians in an area designated safe.' Israel's military said it could not comment on the strike without more details. Al-Muwasi is now one of the most heavily populated areas in Gaza after Israel pushed people into the desolate area. But the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said last week that Israel planned to widen its coming military offensive to include the area, along with Gaza City and 'central camps' – an apparent reference to the built-up Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps in central Gaza. According to the civil defence agency, at least 13 of the Palestinians killed on Saturday were shot by troops as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites in the north and the south. There were also another 11 malnutrition-related deaths in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Saturday, including at least one child. That brought malnutrition-related deaths due to the Israeli blockade on aid to 251. Meanwhile in Israel police blasted crowds with water cannons and made dozens of arrests on Sunday as thousands of protesters in Jerusalem demanded a deal to free hostages in Gaza. The demonstrators aimed to shut down the country with a one-day strike that blocked roads and closed businesses. Groups representing families of hostages organised the demonstrations as frustration grows in Israel over plans for the new military offensive, which many fear could further endanger the remaining hostages, about 20 of whom are believed to still be alive. 'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages,' protesters chanted in one of the largest and fiercest protests in 22 months of war. Protesters gathered at dozens of places including outside politicians' homes, military headquarters and on major highways. They blocked lanes and lit bonfires. Police said they arrested 38 people. Israel's military offensive has killed at least 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, most of them civilians. The figure does not include the thousands believed to be buried under rubble or the thousands killed indirectly as a consequence of the war.


The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Vegas teachers are getting lapband surgery paid for if they don't put weight back on
Las Vegas teachers can undergo weight loss surgery completely covered — as long as they keep the weight off. Over 50 teachers in the Clark County School District, which includes Las Vegas, have gotten bariatric surgery through their health insurance plan, which will reimburse the $5,000 cost of the surgery if they can keep the weight off for five years, Fox 5 Vegas reported. Educators facing health challenges due to morbid obesity can opt for the surgery, also known as lapband surgery. Each year they keep the weight off, they will receive $1,000 back from their insurer, Teachers Health Trust. 'This used to be tight on me. These are 48'. I used to wear 50' and now I'm down to a 36,' special education teacher and coach Dean Goldhammer said. Goldhammer had bariatric surgery 18 months ago and said it completely changed his life. 'Going from 319 pounds to today 205 pounds, and hopefully 175 pounds by next year… It's the best thing I did in my life,' he said. 'I play pickleball. Tennis every single day, I go to the gym... Before, when I was heavy, I kind of like I hid out in my own house by myself.' While Goldhammer is a lifelong tennis player, he started gaining weight after an ankle surgery. 'I've had a hip replacement because of my weight… they told me if I don't lose weight, my knees were going to have to be replaced and my other hip,' he said. Goldhammer knew he had to take action after receiving a grave warning from his doctor. 'My doctor, I think I had him on his last day of his career, he was 80 years old. He says, 'You're younger than I am by 20 years, but your insides are a lot older than me because of the weight you're carrying. You're not going to be here very long.' And that's when I said, 'I got to do something,'' Goldhammer said. Teachers Health Trust says the program, now in its second year, is unique to Clark County, but has already changed countless lives. 'I've received emails and phone calls from members saying, 'Hey, it's really impacted not just myself, but my family. I'm able to do activities with my kids and with my grandkids that I wasn't able to do before the surgery,'' the company's Chief Operating Officer, Rory Wright, said.


Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Mother-to-be thought her extreme morning sickness was down to her pregnancy - only to receive devastating cancer diagnosis
A mother-to-be has revealed how she thought her extreme morning sickness was just another symptom of pregnancy - but it was actually the sign of a devastating cancer diagnosis to come. Sophia Yasin, from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, was delighted to discover that she was expecting a child shortly after buying a house with her husband, Lewis Osborne, 29, in June 2024. The 29-year-old had suspected that such life-changing news would come with its health drawbacks, and chalked up being sick every couple of hours to what she suspected were 'really bad symptoms' of morning sickness. Ms Yasin would also struggle to sleep with night sweats and persistent itching driving her crazy at bedtime - but she was assured that these were all a 'normal' part of an admittedly gruelling pregnancy. However, when the mother-to-be collapsed while working at just 14 weeks pregnant, Ms Yasin was quickly rushed to hospital for tests. Doctors initially thought she had pneumonia, but scans and a biopsy revealed a tumour had been growing over her heart, with further tests uncovering she a rare type of cancer in her blood, pre-mediastinal B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The diagnosis meant Ms Yasin had to make the devastating decision to terminate her pregnancy at just 15 weeks in. 'Everyone told me [the symptoms] were very normal in the first trimester and should ease up,' she said. Recalling the day she 'blacked out' in work, Ms Yasin said that it was only because she was pregnant - and being prioritised for testing - that the cancer in her blood was uncovered. While she was receiving treatment in hospital, the mother-to-be suspected that something was wrong, but she was caught off-guard when a woman on the ward handed her a Macmillan Cancer Support card. 'I burst out crying. I thought 'what has she given me this for?',' Ms Yasin continued, before telling how doctors broke the news about her diagnosis to her. 'I remember saying 'what does this mean for the baby?' - I remember being numb.' Her diagnosis was confirmed on September 12 last year and medics had to act quickly to slow down the rapidly-growing mass over her heart - which was nearly the same size as her organ. Ms Yasin said doctors gave her and Mr Osborne 'a few hours to decide' whether she wanted to continue her pregnancy, which would risk her unborn baby developing the mass and complications, or to terminate it. They decided not to continue with the pregnancy and Ms Yasin went through the process of an induced abortion of their 'beautiful and tiny little girl', who they named Kainaat Pearl. Doctors were so concerned about the pace of the growth that Ms Yasin was hooked up to a drip to begin the process of chemotherapy during her abortion. She and her husband still hope to try for another baby but have been advised to wait for two years due to the risk of her cancer returning 'I went into fight or flight mode,' she said. 'I was grieving a baby but trying to have treatment. I lost a lot in a short period of time.' 'I went from looking at prams and cots to looking at wigs. I lost my hair, my baby and my old life.' Ma Yasin went into remission in January 2025 after going through six subsequent rounds of chemotherapy, and is now commemorating her diagnosis date with a 7km walk with friends and family to raise funds for Lymphoma Action. She said: 'Every step will be taking it for the baby and everyone we've lost.' She and her husband still hope to try for another baby but have been advised to wait for two years due to the risk of the cancer returning.