Two people and three dogs rescued from derelict mill fire
Two people and three dogs have been rescued from a fire that broke out in a derelict mill.Four fire engines were called to Kittlingbourne Brow in Higher Walton, Preston, at about 01:00 BST, Lancashire Fire & Rescue said.Crews have been dampening down the fire on the first floor of the building.Kittlingbourne Brow remains closed and people have been asked to avoid the area.
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The National
41 minutes ago
- The National
'I spent 16 months in Gaza amid Israel's genocide. Here's what I saw'
'I was just looking, 'God, that is my family name'. And this, this is how I met my family, in the mortuary.' That happened on the day Dr Mohamed Alsakka arrived in Gaza in February 2024. With the region under constant bombardment by the Israeli military, such tragedies would come throughout his time in the region – but he refused to let them define it. READ MORE: BBC coverage of Israel's war on Gaza shows 'pattern of bias' – report An A&E consultant, Dr Mohamed had intended to volunteer in Gaza for two weeks – but what he saw on the ground compelled him to stay for 16 months and set up a charity focused on rebuilding. 'I know I did upset my NGO at the time, but I had no option,' he told the Sunday National. 'They said you have to leave. The IOF [Israel Occupational Forces], they're asking for your name in particular, why you're still there. 'I said, it's very simple. I'm of Palestinian background, I've got family here, and I can't leave them.' Dr Mohamed said that he saw a way to help the people of Gaza beyond his work as a medic, but it involved crossing lines that the large NGOs would not. So, he co-founded Rebuild Gaza 24 and began digging water wells. 'People want to stay at home, they don't want to leave, but the IOF, the first thing they do after the order of evacuation is cut the sources of water,' he said. 'This is where my duty, my work was concentrated, just digging water wells. 'Actually, it started with a challenge because the first water well I wanted to do, I was told I needed to get approval from the IOF. 'As a stubborn Palestinian, I just said, 'well, guess what, no one is allowed to tell me what to do in my land'.' He added: 'I can challenge all the NGOs: has anyone dug a water well? [No.] That's because the IOF wouldn't allow it. So, that's why I stayed.' READ MORE: Watch as journalist Peter Oborne calls out BBC double standards over Gaza Dr Mohamed, who works and lives in England, had to leave his wife and three children behind for his work in Gaza – but he said their support was 'beyond expectation', as it was from the wider UK public. He said that Rebuild Gaza was not intended to do things for the Palestinians, but to help them do things themselves. Over 16 months, he helped build an extensive network across Gaza that has dug some 18 wells – which the charity says can supply some 200,000 people. As the network developed, they also set up refugee camps, field hospitals, and even food supply chains. 'Gaza is very agricultural – just to give you an insight, most of the farms are in the eastern part of Gaza, obviously with the invasion and the destruction, many of these farms we've lost,' Dr Mohamed explained. 'But the team and myself, we managed to get hold of a couple of farmers who have their farms between the red zone and what they consider a humanitarian zone. These guys, when they knew what we were doing, they allowed us to buy off them directly. From the crops straight into the hands of Gaza's most vulnerable. Inside the most dangerous red zone where few can reach, but the need is greatest. Thank you to Dr Mohamed @rebuildgaza24 and the brave team risking everything to deliver. Please keep supporting every donation keeps… — RebuildGaza24 (@rebuildgaza24) June 17, 2025 'We literally just pick it up and deliver it to people. But the process itself, going and picking up these vegetables, is really very risky – I mean extremely risky – but the job has to be done.' That is no exaggeration. To cross a line laid down by the Israeli military is to risk death. On the day he left Gaza, Dr Mohamed said, three of Rebuild Gaza's team members were shot dead. But the team understands the risks involved in working during what international experts – and witnesses such as Dr Mohamed – do not hesitate to call a genocide. When we first spoke, the Rebuild Gaza co-founder said that he is a 'genocide survivor'. Asked about the term when we spoke for a second time, he said: 'What do you call this? 'They're killing kids, for god's sake, kids. Do you know how many families have been wiped out from the register? 'Do you know how many people, the number of amputations in Gaza? Do you know how many widows in Gaza? Do you know how many orphans in Gaza? It is beyond imagination. READ MORE: MPs call on UK Government to publish Gaza 'genocide' papers 'And this is still continuous. I was asked if I have PTSD, and I said, 'Look, we might need to find a new term'. PTSD is a post-traumatic stress disorder, but it's an ongoing process. It hasn't finished yet.' Listening to Dr Mohamed's experiences in Gaza is harrowing. Death is part of daily life under the Israeli occupation. He recalled one such example: 'I went and saw a friend of mine. Honestly, in the morning, I saw him, I was talking to him, we had a laugh, you know, talking about normal things. 'Then in the evening, his house was hit. My own friend – I know his name, his kids, you know – he was in two halves, his guts were dangling from the first floor to the ground floor, and his kids were burned.' The stories mount up. There are too many to recount. But for Dr Mohamed, one in particular stands out. 'I need to tell you this story about my three aunties,' he said. 'It's one of the most brutal, barbaric, horrible, disgusting ways of killing.' Dr Mohamed Alsakka, speaking to the Sunday National after returning to the UK from Gaza (Image: NQ) The three sisters – Maysoon, Arwa, and Rafida – had refused to leave their home in north Gaza three times, ignoring warnings from the Israeli military to evacuate. A neighbour who did as she was commanded was found just down the street with a bullet in her head, Dr Mohamed said. But then, the soldiers came for the sisters as well. 'We received a phone call at 6.30 in the morning from my auntie. She was crying her guts out and she said, naming her two sisters, she said 'they came and they killed Maysoon and Arwa. They're just lying next to me with bullets in the head, both of them'. 'We said, we're glad you're OK. She said, 'Well, I begged them to kill me, and they said, you're not even worth the bullet'. 'After – this was all live on the phone at 6:30 in the morning – she said, I can smell burning. She said, 'The house is on fire', and then we lost communication.' READ MORE: SNP councillor succeeds in bid to force Labour action on Israeli arms sales The three sisters' deaths were reported by the Swiss-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor in July 2024. The charity said it was 'investigating reports that the Israeli army forces committed extrajudicial killings and unlawful executions of numerous residents, the majority of whom were women'. For Dr Mohamed, the deaths serve as a demonstration of 'just how brutal this army is'. 'There's absolutely no heart, there's no differentiation between kids and adults, learning disabilities, anything. They just shoot and kill anyone in cold blood,' he said. 'The IOF. They just want to cut all sources of support, anything that will support people, they just kill it, slaughter it, as they have done for the water.' You can support Rebuild Gaza 24 through the charity website at
Daily Mail
4 hours ago
- Daily Mail
So many young women who've never smoked are getting lung cancer. Now scientists think they've found two shocking causes - and reveal what to look out for
It was the end of GCSEs, and Amy Clark was celebrating with friends when she tumbled off a fence she had been sitting on and landed badly on her back. The 16-year-old from Bristol was fine at first, but over the next two years she suffered intermittent back pain, which she put down to the fall.
Times
4 hours ago
- Times
Diary of a GCSE pupil with 27 exams: ‘I woke up screaming'
It's finally over. After almost 40 hours of exams spread over five weeks, I have officially left secondary school. Fingers crossed I will never sit another GCSE. Worse than sitting the exams themselves was the fear leading up to them. Like a lot of friends in my school year, I suffer badly from anxiety. It got so bad that in January, I convinced myself I couldn't do it. That's when Mum got help from Tej Samani, a performance coach, who helped me realise I was panicking because I felt so overwhelmed. It felt like my entire future was hanging in the balance. That it would all come down to my performance in 27 exams in ten subjects — each lasting a maximum of two hours and 15 minutes. Nine out of my ten GCSEs were 100 per cent exam based. Only food technology has 50 per cent coursework. Apparently over the past 15 years coursework has been phased out, which is the reason why I'm sitting so many. • My son had given up on GCSEs. Then he met the exam guru People say that exams are getting easier — but I bet they never had to sit 27 of them in just a few weeks. It was a more intense experience than I had prepared for. Sometimes I sat three exams in one day, which is quite a lot for a 15-year-old. (I don't turn 16 until mid-July.) Here is the diary I kept of my GCSE journey. My first exam is English literature paper one. It's one hour and 45 minutes, but I get 25% extra time because I was diagnosed with ADHD at the start of the year — so for me it's just over two hours. GCSEs are graded 1 (the lowest) to 9 (the highest), with 5 being a strong pass. Going into the exam at 8.40am, I feel quite stressed and think about how the result of this will determine where I go to sixth form — I need 5s in Maths and English to get into my first choice. But when I get into the exam hall and see the questions on Frankenstein and Macbeth I relax a little. Though I do struggle with the silence: the exam hall is unnervingly quiet which makes my anxiety worse. On Tuesday it's four hours of religious education and the first of my biology papers. It is a relief to begin counting down the number of exams. On Thursday my first maths exam begins at 8.40am. I need a high pass to get into the sixth form of my choice. I was worried this additional pressure would make me panic but I'm happy with how it went. I end the week with my first history paper: 'Medicine Through Time' — another two hours — but again, it goes really well. Mum said I could let my hair down a bit over the weekend so I'm seeing friends. My girlfriend lives in Warwickshire (we're in London) so we can't see each other much during exams, which I am finding tough. But once they're done we'll have the entire summer. A bit of a disaster over the weekend. I asked Mum whether my friend could stay over on Saturday night and we played on the Xbox until 4am. Mum heard us and was furious, so despite my late night I got up at 8.30am on Sunday to revise chemistry. On Sunday afternoon, I went to the library with friends to study. We went to the chicken shop on the high street. Big mistake! By the time I got home I was feeling really sick and Mum thought I must have food poisoning. I'm still feeling ill this morning so Mum calls the school to warn them. I sit my first chemistry exam with a bucket next to my desk. On Tuesday, English literature paper two could not have gone better, but things take another bad turn on Wednesday when I wake up screaming. I often have panic attacks through the night but thankfully, this was just a bad dream. Today I have French reading and listening, then later in the week a second RE exam on Judaism. • How to talk to your children about exams On Thursday, Physics paper one — the hardest so far — and English language paper one. In the afternoon I can chill out a bit. Halfway through now, and time for half-term. I wish coursework formed a bigger part of my GCSEs. Mum said there was a lot more when she was at school. It would be done in a classroom, spread over the whole year, meaning less depended on this 'sink or swim' moment. After 12 days without an exam it feels painful getting back into the rhythm. Maths paper two is much harder than the first one. I then have my final RE paper in the afternoon. By the end of the day I'm definitely feeling a bit of exam fatigue. I can't seem to see the end in sight. Thursday means history papers on the Cold War and Henry VIII. They both go fairly well, which is a huge relief. The day ends with a French writing paper which is difficult as it's my least favourite subject, but I hope I will scrape a pass. I barely register the exams now, as there have been so many. I just want them to be over so I can get on with my life. In my friendship group, no one suffered with the pressure as badly as we thought they would. There was a lot of build up. People thought they would break down, but when it came down to it we all just managed. After English language paper two, I go with my dad, brother and sister to see Sam Fender in the evening. It's good to be out of the house. Weekends are starting to get tedious and I spent much of it at the library. Mum is not keen on letting anyone stay over after the last time. I start the week with biology paper two, which goes well. Then Spanish on Tuesday and my final history exam on Nazi Germany. Wednesday is my final maths exam, followed by chemistry on Friday. I'm near the end now and it's hard to stay focused. My final science exam is physics on Monday and Spanish on Tuesday morning. I realise that despite being given extra time — I haven't used it once. My final exam is food technology. It was my lowest priority so I didn't really revise until the very end but I feel it went OK. That's it. They are all over. • Are we nearly there yet? The extended hell of GCSE exam season I'm happy with how I handled the exams, but I think exams and the curriculum needs to change to reflect what's going on in the world a bit more. I don't feel like some of the stuff I learned is going to really help me in life. I am keeping everything crossed for the results I need to do A-levels in business, history and politics. In the meantime I am going to enjoy my free time, my friends and the longest of summer holidays — ten whole weeks.
